Oh, I know. If I were God I would have slid the red bean out of sight with my foot, whistling innocently with my hands clasped behind my back while looking up at the clouds.
There are definitely behind-the-scenes things going on with the Weavers. It looked like every single team was ready to Yield them, and the stuff at the bus terminal spoke to some seriously tense dynamics with most of the other teams. The Weavers seem to be the absolute epitome of the type of Christian that thinks their salvation is assured and therefore they don’t need to actually, y’know, LOVE other people. Because they’re all damned godless heathens, after all.
Noooooooooooooo!!!
Wee Carissa was doing everything to hold back the tears. I knew it would be hard for her, but she handled it way better than the Rogers mom did a couple weeks ago. All because of a freakin’ red bean! At least it’s because of a parent, and not one of the rugrats.
I couldn’t believe that Weaver girl, after that guy stopped and gave them directions she snottily says something like, “Thanks but it didn’t help”-- how Christian of you.
Good episode again, but damn (why is there an ‘N’ in damn?) those Paolos. They’re scaring me.
…and remember, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”!
Meant to say, I would do the above if I were God and had to listen to the Weevils praying to me about a bean. Dammit.
We actually love the Paolos here in Chez JayjayFreak. I know that family dynamic. It looks dysfunctional as all get-out but they do love each other. And they’re not going to be tripped up by the usual Killer Fatigue because they already interact at a Killer Fatigue level of tension. It’s normal for them.
Like God has nothing better to do than help *that *family find a red bean in a dumb American game.
I feel sorry for that boy Weaver, what did he do in a previous life to end up with them?
Oh, God, where to start? I am in tears here, people. Tears! Phil is dead to me right now. I just … oh, sob. That crap right there, with the red bean? That is why it can be so hard to have a good work ethic. You do the best you can at everything, and you try to have a good attitude along the way, and then the Universe sticks a red bean up its nose so you need precision surgical instruments to find it. Bastards! I’m sure it’s all very Zen, in its own way, but it sucks. I really am quite beside myself here.
Fine with me, as long as we don’t confuse them with Team Weeble from last season (Gretchen & Meredith). I just want to point out that people like the Weavers are why I no longer go to church. Here’s a suggestion with which I think Jesus would agree: stop telling everybody how good you are, and actually BE good. Being a true Christian is like telling a joke – if you have to explain it to people, then you’re doing something wrong. I hated that Brandon & Nicole were like this back in Season 5, but at least you can say that the other teams did not actively dislike them. And another thing – Ma Weaver, you don’t get to judge whether you’re a good person or not. Only God does. Just remember that. Even Martin Luther believed that you still had to try to be good to be saved. What the hell ever happened to “This is My commandment: that you love one another, as I have loved you”?
Also: as a general rule, it is not a good idea to raise your children to be vicious hypocritical xenophobes. That’s going to bite you all in the ass later, I promise. I highly recommend that the Weavers read “Flowers in the Attic” and see what can happen when the only people you think are worthy of your respect is your own family. (Yes, I finally figured out who it is that Ma Weaver reminds me of, and that mother is it.)
A-friggin-men. Know what started the tears for me? The look on Tammy Gaghan’s face when Bill said to the family, “Are we quitters or winners?” Positively heartbreaking. You could tell that she blames herself for what happened with the bean, and she felt it was her fault that it wasn’t even close, there at the end, and she kind of wanted to just quit and get a room somewhere by the beach and have a few too many mai tais and maybe spend the night salsa dancing with Bill while tears rolled down her face, but she also knew she had to keep her chin up for the kids. Bless her heart. Wee Carissa started me sobbing, but Tammy set the wheels in motion.
Ooooh, bad Big Cheese, talking reincarnation like a godless heathen! Heheheheh. Oh, and if I may repeat what I saw on TWoP the other day: FREE ROLLY!
This brings up a couple of questions I’ve been wondering about.
-
Do the teams know in advance how many Yields, Fast Forwards and NELs there are on the course?
-
Can multiple teams use their Yields at the same time, either on different teams or the same team? I would’ve loved for all the Weevil-haters to have Yielded them at the same time and sent them home. I’m thinking not, since it seemed likely that at least one more Weevil-hater would’ve Yielded them since they were all so eager to get rid of them.
Go New York!
Tonight’s ending was priceless. They thought the best they did was to not be in last place, then found out they were in first. Dad’s a bull and he earned his kid’s respect while mom kept going even after she red-lined her heart running to the end. I’ll be rooting for the Paolos till they are eliminated or win.
As for the Weaver’s, maybe God will bitch slap them soon. I can only hope.
Heh! As I said to supervenusfreak tonight after one too many "Lord Jesus, help us!"es from the Weevils, God don’t give a shit, lady! It’s a game show, not a life-or-death, please-put-my-cancer-into-remission-and-give-Billy-a-puppy pivotal moment.
As Miss Alli over at TWoP says, God’s in the bath.
-
The teams know how many Yields, Fast Forwards and NELs are on the race, but they don’t know when they’ll occur.
-
A team can only be yielded once during the race. Also a team can only use a yield once on the race. So the Weavers can’t be yielded again and the Paolos can’t yield another team. I think only one team can be yielded at a time.
I think the Paolos wasted their yield. The Weavers are not a strong team. They’ve managed to get this far by shear luck, and since the Weavers were no where to be seen the teams there could’ve gotten through the roadblock before the Weavers arrived.
And now, I shall take the lonely position of defending and/or rooting for Ma Weaver and the Crazies. 
Yes, I’m still on their love train… if barely.
One thing that I think people overlook with them is what the Race does to its participants. Take a look at the other teams for an example. The Paolos probably bicker regularly in real life. On the Race, they scream at each other constantly. Ditto to a lesser extent for the Godlewskis.
So we have the Weavers, who on the show appear to be completely wacko at times. Shouldn’t we afford them the same leeway? They’re probably perfectly nice people in real life, but the stress of the race, coupled with the obvious fact that no one else likes them, is magnifying their personalities. Instead of fighting more, they pray more. I can certainly see how it bugs, but I’ll take them over the Paolos yelling at each other any day.
I was a little disappointed at their reaction at the Yield though. Yes honey, that’s a garbage truck. People actually have to empty those plastic bins outside your house you know.
Mrs. S and I were all kinds of sad to see the Gaghans go, especially while Carissa was holding back the tears. They should be very proud of what they accomplished, though, and I hope the kids got a lot out of it.
I don’t think there’s a rule limiting how many times a team can be Yielded, are you sure about that? It’s certainly never happened before…
I’m still pulling for the Weavers, though it’s mostly for the kids (esp. Rolly) who don’t deserve such a bitchy Mom. She’s supportive & caring where needed, but I’m starting to catch on why all teams hate them so much. Like lorene and others said, it’s the Christian thing. That sort of prideful, supercilious behavior isn’t so annoying in small doses, but boy does it add up. They are the first team in TAR history to be Yielded on the first Yield…basically by everybody! Not even Jonathan & Victoria garnered that much unified hatred. Seriously, when even the Paolos hate you…that’s a bad sign.
Of course, we all know God exists and is evil, like the Weavers, which is why He invoked the Haybale Of Doom rule and knocked out the Rugrats. Aw, poor Carissa. 
I’m a big strong man and never really warmed to the Gaghans, but when she was struggling to hold back tears on the mat, even I got a little misty-eyed. (Or maybe I’m just sad that we won’t get to see her & Billy begging for money on the streets of Calcutta…)
No time for Leaderboard tonight, got a serious Morrowind binge going down right now. 
I think they missed that day in Sunday School where they talked about the Golden Rule, and probably also being Good Samaritans.
DJ Paolo was definitely a Good Samaritan at the bus station, pointing out to everyone (except the Weavers, :D) ) where the bus tickets were.
I agree that there’s more to this than we’ve seen - they’ve done something to seriously piss off everyone.
Actually, I don’t think this is correct. A team can be yielded more than once, but a team can only actually use the Yield once, and each Yield can only be used once. So the Weavers can be Yielded again, but it must be done by another team, at another Yield point.
I decided sometime overnight that my new favorite team is the Linzes. (Probably because I had a dream in which one of the Linz boys figured prominently - whichever Linz it was who was looking all cute and scruffy last night - maybe the oldest one?) They’re kind of assy at times, but they do try to keep their fighting to themselves; they all give as good as they get, espcially Megan, although they do have a lot of teeth among them, don’t they?; and while they are not exactly hiding the fact that they don’t get along with all the teams, they are not especially openly hostile, either. They’re quite snarky, actually, which I admire.
Also, I have a feeling about them. In almost every Race, you get one team that comes in last in an NEL and then goes on to win the whole thing. My Spidey Senses are tingling, and I think the Linzes seem about right. Plus, I kind of have a feeling that this team will Yield the Paolos next, if they get a chance, and I think I might really enjoy that.
So, if you’re keeping score at home, my favorite remaining teams are: (1) Linzes, (2) Godlewskis, (3) Bransens … really big drop off … (4) Paolos … really big drop off … (5) Weavers. (The Gaghans now join the list of my favorite un-winners, along with Kris & Jon and Danny & Oswald and Team Guido.)
I didn’t like Team Guido, but I loved Kris and Jon. The Gaghans are right up there with Kris and Jon on my list of favorite non-winners.
I felt so bad for Carissa when she was trying so hard not to cry.
I just wanted to hug her.
Speaking of Golden Rules: I am considering sending a letter to the Producers telling them that once a team says “I quit!” or “I can’t do this!” or “I don’t want to go on!” three times, that’s it – they’re OUT! Quit or don’t, but shut up about it! And stay out of the way of the people who actually want to, you know, RAAAAAAAAAACE!
Well, in all honesty, I didn’t like them as much when they were racing as I do post-Race. The certainly had the Luck of the Evil way back when, but they’re actually pretty cool guys, from what I hear. Funny and charming, and still huge fans of the show. So, good on them.
There weren’t many dry eyes chez Lorene last night, either. I can seriously count on one hand the number of times I have seen my husband cry, and while he wasn’t, you know, wailing and sobbing, I did catch him taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes. Of course, IMO, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Wee Carissa and the Big Frowny Face~~~even the Grinch, pre-heart-enlargement, would have struggled with that.
As for Team Weevil…well, my hair looks like crap today, so I’m not going to, oh, cast stones or anything. But I did want to ask if there was any explanation of the thing on Rolly’s face last night~~~I couldn’t quite see it, but my husband said it looked like he had a big bandaid right between the eyebrows.
The Paolos are moving on up in my book, but I doubt they have the chops to take it all. Ma Paolo happens to be a dead ringer for my previous landlady, so I get to imagine what TAR would be like with that family along.
“Preach the gospel at all times — if necessary, use words.” — St. Francis of Assisi