Amazing Race "Unfinished Business" cast announced

Cafe Society
41

I imagine most, if not all, of the racers probably made comments both about how the situation sucks and about how the guy’s health is more important. It all comes down to which gets put on the air.

Although I will say that if the Cowboys get eliminated, “heart attack guy” might become the most hated person in TAR history. I’m not worried about them though. This isn’t the first “the race is still going on,” but they usually end the episode after the first team gets to the mat, not wait until all but one are there. And one thing the Cowboys are great at is bouncing back. They were already in dead last and jumped back into it. They fell behind again, but only because three other teams got help.

42

The cowboys, though I love them, have the fatal flaw of failing to read the clue.
I don’t understand why they didn’t finish - twice. Surely they saw all of the flags. Since there were more flags, why didn’t they finish decoding?

43

I dislike the Express Pass. I like that it gives an option for strategic play, but it’s just so limited when only one team can use it. Similarly, the regular U-Turn and even the double U-Turn are limited. The Fast Forward is too rare and predictable.

When Phil says this season is unlike any other, it’s too bad they didn’t take the opportunity to really shake things up. For example, they could replace the existing U-Turn rule: at the start of the race, all teams are given a Voluntary U-Turn. For any Detour, any team that completes both tasks may turn in (i.e. eliminate) their Voluntary U-Turn. After 3 legs, any remaining Voluntary U-Turns become Mandatory on the 4th leg. (And on the next leg, they could reset and redistribute new Voluntary U-Turns to all remaining teams, if the producers want)

This gives all teams an important strategic decision to make: waste time eliminating the U-Turn now or risk needing to do it later (when it could be inconvenient or highly detrimental). Teams can also judge the task difficulties and may quit halfway through a second Detour task, if they think it is advantageous to finish their Voluntary U-Turn later.

I think the audience doesn’t really enjoy the existing U-Turn rule. It’s kind of lame and the “drama” it’s supposed to create doesn’t really pay off. The audience also dislikes bunching points… it’s kind of nice to see a small bit of progress get carried over across legs. A Voluntary U-Turn would let all teams exercise tactics and would also give those unselected Detours some well deserved air time (the producers went to a lot of trouble setting up certain Detour only to see them not get chosen)

While I’m at it, I think the Fast Forward rule could be shaken up by having them appear more often, but make some of them extremely time consuming. So rather than a predictable “First team to show up to FF always gets a free pass”, it’s now a matter of deciding if the FF is worth the trouble or if you’ve already wasted too much time even going to the FF.

I’m thinking the “Unroll hay bales” task or “Perform synchronized diving to competition-level judges” task would make great Fast Forwards and would be entertaining to watch.

44

A to-be-continued leg! I love TBC legs! A leg like this sort of makes sense at the beginning here, because it ensures all teams will get at least two episodes of screen time, and it keeps the teams off balance.

For this week’s assessment, I’ve kept the notation for each teams original season/final placement/average leg finish.

Taxi Assessment:

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
No one yet, but Phil is waiting!

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Mel & Mike (Season 14/6th place/3.57 average) (holding steady) We didn’t really see much from Mel & Mike this episode, which is probably good. They were safely ahead of two teams, but Mel’s one episode older and more tired. Again, I think they could very well be in it for a number of episodes, previews notwithstanging, but I don’t see them making the final three.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Zev & Justin (Season 15/9th place/6.00 average) (up from “Flat Tire”) Contrary to my expectations, Zev & Justin did fairly well this leg. They were one of the first teams to identify Qantas, and they were the first team from the trailing plane to hit the mat (and one of the few teams on that plane to figure out the flag clue correctly the first time). They did the Globetrotters a favor, and although technically that and a buck-seventy-five will get you a cup of coffee, doing the favor didn’t hurt Zev & Justin, and may very well get them something down the road. I’m still pessimistic about this team’s chances down the road, so I’m leaving them ranked here.
Kent & Vyxsin (Season 12/5th place/3.63 average) (holding steady) So Vyxsin knew that she had only a tiny piece of the clue solved, but just left anyway? WTF? Obviously it worked out for them when Margie & Luke gave up the right answer, but a singularly unimpressive performance. And, not trying to be snarky at all, Kent looks kind of unhealthy to me. Yes, yes, I know: skinny Goth heroin chic, but I was comparing pictures of him now to original season 12 pics, and he looks a wee bit fragile.
Amanda & Kris (Season 14/8th place/4.50 average) (holding steady) This team was really lucky that the first plane was delayed. The auto-U-Turn, on top of battling only two other teams to stay out of last place, would have been a difficult obstacle. However, Amanda & Kris have a comfortable lead over nearly all the other teams, and I don’t see the U-Turn as much of a hindrance.
Ron & Christina (Season 12/2nd place/3.45 average) (holding steady) We didn’t see much from Ron & Christina this episode, either. They had a lower-middle-of-the-pack finish that doesn’t say much.

"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Gary & Mallory (Season 17/6th Place/4.63 average) (up from “Stopping”) A first-place finish this leg is more than I expected from Gary & Mallory (they had a string of seconds last season, but never first). They were helped quite a bit by the delay of the first plane, turning what would have been a race for last into a race for first, so the placement wasn’t entirely their doing. However, they now have a “Get Out of Task Free” card they can play any time, and I think that’s a huge benefit, because judicious usage will make it a “Get Out of Last Place Free” card. So I’m bumping Gary & Mallory up a notch.
LaKisha & Jennifer (Season 14/4th place/4.27 average) (holding steady) Hmmm. I’m rethinking my decision to rate this team this high. At least they did their own work on the signal flag code task, which is more than you can say about half the rest of the teams. Let’s see if they can make their third-place finish stick.
Jaime & Cara (Season 14/2nd place/3.92 average) (holding steady) Although working with Margie & Luke didn’t pay off 100%, that’s probably a great strategy for Jaime & Cara. I’m not sure what the attaction is for Margie & Luke (other than the obvious for Luke), but it’s a win for Jaime & Cara.
Jet & Cord (Season 16/2nd place/2.58 average) (down from “Cruisin’”) Wow, the Cowboys completely fell apart in this episode. They did reasonably well out of the gate, grabbing the Qantas clue in plenty of time, but imploded after that, falling farther and farther behind. If this was an unfamiliar team in a brand-new season, I’d brand them with a big L-for-losers right atop their hats. They’re obviously really, really lucky this was a TBC episode, but they’ll be starting way behind the other teams next episode. The only thing that stops me from dropping them farther in the rankings is their prominence in the episode-ending teaser: teams who appear to be in trouble in the next episode are almost never eliminated. Almost.

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Margie & Luke (Season 14/3rd place/2.75 average) (holding steady) A middling finish for Margie & Luke, but not all that bad considering the plane situation.
Flight Time & Big Easy (Season 15/4th place/3.09 average) (holding steady) The Globetrotters got a huge boost from Zev & Justin this episode. We know word puzzles are not their forte, and getting the answer from another team was a break.

Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
No one.

[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Rating[/sub]

45

I said last season that they should just give every team an Express Pass at the beginning of the Race. That way they all have to agonize over whether or not to use it, and all the teams have to worry about the possibilty of teams behind them unexpectedly using it.

The Fast Forward aused to be an interesting device, back when there was one on every leg, because teams had to make a choice about whether it was worth going after on that particular leg (since each team could only do one all Race). Now that there’s only two per Race, taking the FF is a no-brainer if you can get there before other teams. Less choice = less interesting.

46

Weird–I’m in a minority here: I hate a few of these teams and dislike others.

Amanda & Kris - Don’t remember
Gary & Mallory - Kinda like, but a little too heavy on the “Jesus, cheat to make me win” thing
Herb & Nate (Globetrotters) - Except for one ugly incident (that, to be fair) wasn’t totally their fault–who knew the boyfriend would go psychotic and try to throw her off? Without that, it would have been distasteful. With it? Creepy.
Jaime & Carla - Isn’t one of those the vaguely racist one?
Jet & Cord (Cowboys) - Great
Kent & Vyxsin (Goths) - Goths =! Hello Kitty fans. That said, mostly harmless if a little bit shrieky
LaKisha & Jennifer - I felt so bad when they messed up.
Margie & Luke (mom & deaf son) - One of the creepiest teams ever. Ignoring the fact that mommy infantializes Luke, Luke comes across as needing–he may not actually be retarded, but he acts it. Tantrums, screams of rage, unable to handle even the slightest bit of stress…I’ve worked with a few deaf people and yeah, sometimes they make weird-sounding vocalizations: this isn’t that. He’s got the emotional maturity of about an 8 year old.
Mel & Mike (White) - If Dad doesn’t keep whining about his groin…
Ron & Christina - Totally abusive dad and doormat daughter? The single most uncomfortable team to watch since Jonathon and Victoria.
Zev & Justin - The autistic guy? That team rocked. I loved that he never once used his handicap as a crutch like, say Margie and Luke constantly did.

47

Oh my gravy! If the Cowboys are eliminated, I think I’ll give up all will to live-or at least to keep watching.

StG

48

One quibble–I’ll check tonight, but Ron “fake-repented” about 4 times on his season. Even the final ep had him “fake-repent”. IIRC he gave a really backhanded faux-repent in the final interview. I’m totally butchering it, but it was something like “I was so mean to Christina. I feel so bad. If only she’d been a better daughter who tried harder, I wouldn’t have had to be such a jerk” (obviously, that’s not even close to accurate, but IIRC it’s the tone). I would personally send $10.00 to CBS if Christina blows up, tells her dad to go fuck himself and hits him in the nose.

I’d also love to see Kiesha and Luke have a fight and watch her kick his whiney ass while momzilla watches. :wink:

The clues on this season are more exciting than the “Go here. Do this.” but we’ve seen seasons before where the clues started great and dissolved into crap around the fifth or sixth episode. Still, I really like the start.

Kent–you’re losing Goth creds by describing your girlfriend as a “cute pink little mermaid”. This…isn’t Goth. Seriously.

It’s sad that the Cowboys haven’t learned from their earlier mistake–slow down and read the freakin’ clue. They’re nearly ideal racers: fit, smart, adaptable…but that flaw is gonna kill them.

I wonder if the “TBC” is because of the heart-attack thing-depending how long it took in Hawaii, they might have had to do that. I wouldn’t fault 'em for it–having a race where 8 teams are a day behind (or whatever) wouldn’t be all that exciting.

49

My wife and I always play the “which one of us would do this Road Block” game, and it usually involves us trying to figure out who’s less afraid of heights, or has more stamina, or a stronger stomach; things like this. The shark dive was the first Road Block I can think of where we’d be fighting over who got to do it. Me! No, me!

I’m sure that there was plenty of pre-dive briefing that every team had to go through, but I like to imagine myself gearing up and saying, “look, I’m Rescue certified and I know what I’m doing. Just tell me the particulars about this aquarium dive and let me go.” Of course, I’d probably completely screw up in finding a compass, so that would make great TV.

50

I’m pretty sure Kisha/Jen made a comment about seeing the second-flight teams come running in while she was working through the flag task…or at least the editing made it seem that way.

Although, now that I think about it, the producers might have held the lead three teams at the airport to keep them more bunched up, and cancelled the Pit Stop to meet some production scheduling issues (like pre-arranged transportation in the next leg, for example).

51

My wife and I watched the time stamps on the planes landing. The Heart-attack special landed 27 minutes after the other flight.

52

Never mind – I was confirming the timing of the planes but slitterst was more specific than me.

53

I know I watched their season but I have no idea what this means.

54

I think it’s referring to the guy in front of the GTs who tried to toss his girlfriend down the waterslide when she froze in panic, and the GTs made a comment designed to reinforce her fear (“I wouldn’t do it!” or something). That allowed the GTs to pass that team and avoid elimination.

I didn’t think it was out of line but some people were offended.

55

Another worrying thing about the Cowboys, other than them being last at the moment, is that it looked their highlight in the opening credit sequence was taken on the Sydney Harbor ferry. But they’ve fallen to the back and recovered before so I won’t be surprised if they pull it out next week.

56

Kent & Vyxsin are 35 & 32, according to the cbs website bios.

Is anyone else disappointed that Zev did not say “Definitely Qantas” when he figured out the first task?

Puzzle solving seems to be the cowboys Achilles heel. That’s what cost them the million bucks last time they raced. And this one seems to be very easy. If they get hit with an actually complicated one, they’re done.

I’m a little surprised they did scuba diving for the first task. Looks like they were 10-12 feet deep, which is definitely enough for serious barotraumatic injury if you panic & shoot to the surface.

The racers from the delayed plane definitely caught up with the other racers - Gary & Mallory saw other teams running up while they were decoding the flags. So either the Honolulu delay wasn’t very long, or they held the first group back to keep things competitive.

Jaime’s already getting pissed at people who are trying to help her. Yes, Jaime, the guys sailing the skiff for you know you’re in a race. You don’t have to yell at them.

And from next weeks previews:

Looks like Mel suffers another injury, though it’s not clear whether it’s his groin or not. If only he’ll let us know what the problem is.

57

I recall that now, thanks.

58

I know! When it was happening, I thought that surely no one would be crass enough to complain about how someone else having a heart attack is hurting them. At least phrase it as the Globetrotters did, i.e., this isn’t good for us but the important thing is someone’s life and health. Don’t ask for whom the internet chastising tolls, it tolls for the self-centered jerks!

59

It wasn’t out of line in the sense that it was cheating, but it struck me as bad form/poor sportsmanship. Really, when someone’s hysterical, it’s tacky to egg them on.

The problem was that in light of what came next (her boyfriend trying to shove her down the slide by physical force) it came across as really bad. That wasn’t the Globetrotters fault–they couldn’t have known what the psycho boyfriend would do–but it still somehow gets all mixed up together as a moment of poor taste to me.

60

I hope that the cowboys can come back. I don’t get how they were confused with the flags decoding.