Oh, and did they really have to go for two Central Casting “Go, girl!” queens for their gay couple this year? They need to cast a bear couple next season. They really do…
starts flashing Bertram and Jerry a couple of signals
Yeah. I think Sarah & Peter[sup]*[/sup] are a little intense for me already – the Race has only been going on for an hour and a half and she already said “I can’t do it” at least twice – but the Single Moms are awfully nasty in their general direction. I mean, you all know I appreciate some good snark, but it seems so out of place and misdirected so early in the Race. I also don’t like Rob & Kimberly, but I kind of think we’re not supposed to.
I think these random surprise elimination points are going to wig me out a little bit – does this mean that there will be more non-elimination Pit Stops than normal? And also even more bunching? Because it almost seems that the whole point of the mid-leg elimination is for everyone else to see it. Which is kind of gross, even for a reality show, although I can’t explain why I think so exactly.
** = My husband, who heard only the words “aritifical leg” and “Ironman” in Phil’s description of Sarah & Peter, suggested the nickname “Team Ironleg” for them. Am I a bad person because I thought that ws hysterical? Or am I just sleep-deprived?*
I was referring to the Indian (Pakistani?) couple, whose names escape me at the moment. They seemed lovely.
BiblioCat is the Queen of all nice things and has agreed to provide me with a tape of tonight’s show. I shall kiss her feet or something.
Woo hoo!
Both these teams seem pretty cool–don’t hate them because they’re beautiful. We didn’t see much of them in the wall climb, but the cheerleaders must have rocked it because they started well after 2 or 3 other teams there and finished well before them.
Didn’t get to see enough of the Muslim guys to know what we’re missing there. The second team eliminated (Vipul and Artie) seemed really nice–I was sorry to see them go.
Rob and Kimberly are kind of annoying, as are Lyn and Karlyn. I like the Father/Daughter team a lot–I hope they stick around.
Previews for next week look fun–lots of animal-related chaos! Were those oxen? :dubious:
Pardon me while I ogle one of the Wins, either God or Er. I don’t know which is which.
Nooooo, not Team Karma! I thought they seemed so nice.
The first Philiminations of the season prove that a) religious types are irritating Racers no matter what religion they are and b) Allah is in the tub. The constant “if God wills it” was annoying, but somehow not so profoundly annoying as the Jesus freaks demanding special favors. Mercifully it seems that this season we’ll be spared that noise, although Kentucky is veering dangerously close.
I’m torn between referring to Peter and Sarah as “Team Tripod,” “Team Three-Legged Race” and just going directly to Hell. Normally I wouldn’t be so mean (oh shut up, I would so) but she pissed me off by sniping that cab in China. It’s one thing to take advantage of the airline rules by getting pre-boarded (although what if any long-term advantage that might engender isn’t immediately apparent) and it’s quite another to point at your leg and tell people you have to get to the hospital so they give up their cab. Yeah, me and my fucking camera crew really need to get to the hospital.
So I’m leaning toward “Team Tripod.”
I’m impressed by Team Ex-Addict and Team WIN, although whichever one has the ponytail is making me wish for another head shaving Fast Forward. Team Babydyke seems pretty cool except that Dad creeped me out in the airport with that “I’ve been asking her out for years” line. Team Guido-Lite may be trying for the badass rep but they really aren’t quite butch enough or hot enough to pull it off. Plus I keep thinking their names are Tom and Jerry and it’s bugging me. Team Single Moms needs to go, preferably in a very humiliating fashion. Team Miss America seems pretty cool, if generic and blonde, but they’ll get washed out in about 7th place. Team Pom Pom won’t fare much better, although I was impressed by their strategic thinking in going for the dance-like Detour option.
Re next week’s preview: dare we hope that someone’s ox is BROKEN and that it’s BULLSHIT?!
Didn’t notice this footnote before posting. I hereby withdraw “Team Tripod” and urge unanimous consent for “Team Ironleg.”
Yay! Next week we get the Revenge of the Broken Ox!
Loved the amazing editors, showing the Cho brothers bragging about how bright they are, then next thing you know? They’re shooting water pistols in the airport. So much for brilliance!
I could not stand the way Sarah traded on her artificial leg whenever it might help her. I guess I’m of the opinion that if you’re in good enough shape to complete the Ironman, that means you’re physically in far more than good enough shape to get on the Race and so trading on a disability comes across as almost cheating. Yes, she’s missing a leg. But hey, she is not in need of special assistance or they wouldn’t have cast her. So I actually was in total agreement with the Alabama moms’ disgust with her, although I think they maybe carried it a bit far for the first episode. Although it does make me wonder if she displayed a snotty attitude towards other teams in the process of claiming privileges that might have brought about the instant dislike.
And speaking of instant dislike? The moment Kimberly rolled her eyes at Rob in their introductory interview, I dubbed her the Eye-Rolling Bitch. She is definitely an unpleasant young woman, at least according to her edit. I’m not sure if I hope they end up melting down on camera or not; the evil side of me says it would be fun to watch, but I try not to listen to that voice all the time.
Those previews for next week were the best ever. Trees knocking riders off their horses, runaway oxen throwing milk jugs across the countryside, and a horse rider getting dragged by the foot-stuck-in-the-stirrup. You just can’t get enough of that kind of thing.
Well, great. Two of my three pre-Race favorites out in the *first *episode. Sometimes, life’s just not fair.
I’m rooting for the Win-brothers at this point, with the father-daughter team my next choice. Does anyone else think that he might just be The Master?
I was very much impressed by both the cheerleaders and the Miss America contestants, in as much as I thought I would be irritated by all four of them. I’m still not sure I could tell them apart in a lineup, but they all started off pretty well.
I could still go either way on the other teams (I’m not even sure I can name all of them). They all had their ups and downs, but nothing enough to make me actively dislike anyone yet.
Early prediction: The final three will be the Boy Models, Er-and-God Win, and the Cheerleaders. The models will take home the million.
I really didn’t care for Sarah playing the handicapped card whenever it suited her. Maybe, if it meant the difference between winning and losing, but doing it just because you can is off-putting. And Peter creeps me the hell out. He’s like a cyborg or something.
My take:
Ms. States and cheerleaders: Yep, indistinguishable but who cares, they’re, like, hot.
Team Ironleg: I must’ve missed the “I lost my leg on a racetrack/in a moose stampeed/in a brick-laying accident, so I deserve special treatment” incedent*, so I was okay with them up till I read this thread.
Team Apu and Team Allah: Shame about them, I liked 'em.
Kentucky: Reminds me of a lot the parents of people I knew in coal-town PA. I can forgive them the hollerin’ and carrin’ on. They seem okay so far.
Team Koreans: My wife thinks they’re hot and I think they’re capable, if bloody stupid for the water guns in the airport stunt.
Everyone else: Meh. We’ll see.
I was cooking*
**Anyone heard anything about the Weevils lately? No? Good.
Re: Miss America candidates. They represent the two states with the biggest populations in the country (I think, not looking it up) and those are the two that are chosen? Honestly, I don’t think either of them are particularly hot. The cheerleaders are more attractive to me, although more annoying.
That really pissed me off when she used her leg to take advantage of pre-boarding. If you’re out to prove that you’re tough enough to compete and win this race “just like everybody else,” then by Og you’d better compete just like everybody else. And while the advantage might not be immediately apparent, there certainly is one. As I reminded my husband, especially on full flights (and that one was), early boarding ensures your carry-on bags go over your own head. Late boarders run the risk of having to stow their bags further back in the plane than they’re actually sitting, and when you land, it’s nearly impossible to get through the people standing in the aisles to get to your stuff. It sucks boarding late!
We were actually quite impressed with both Team Miss and Team Rah Rah. Both teams raced well and none of them were sreechy.
That Kentucky bitch has got to go!
I guess I’m going to be the voice of dissent on the pre-boarding issue. The way I see it each Racer has strengths and weaknesses that are going to be advantageous or disadvantageous at different stages. If a Racer can take advantage of a strength or turn a weakness into an advantage within the scope of the rules and aren’t grotesque about it, then I have no problem with it. Sarah’s disability gives her team an advantage in that specific situation. I’m more than willing to bet that she’ll experience enough difficulties (like, for example, leaking hydraulic fluid for the next dozen Legs) that it’ll balance out.
What angered me was when she used her disability to snipe the cab, mostly because she lied about it. Maybe it’s only in my own head but I see a big difference between the two.
I thought that too. I was surprised by the mid-leg elimination.
That’s usually zut’s baby.
Too early to really get a lot of impressions. About mid-episode, I thought, “while the diversity may have been a certain form of stunt casting, it certainly makes it a little simpler to distinguish the teams in these crowded early episodes.”
Now the two most diverse teams are gone in one swell foop. It’s mostly a buncha interchangeable white folks again. Bah! I say.
Erwin has the long hair.
Jamie is the brunette.
I’ll be damned if I can tell the beauty queens apart. One of them has slightly darker hair than the other and one of them has larger teeth.
No more Token Older Couple this time, they’re going for Token Ethnic Groups and Token Not-Really-Disabled instead, huh? That’s the enlightened post-9/11-fifth/anniversary America, I guess. Normally there’s a Token Not-Out Gay couple as well as a Token Faerie Queen couple, though, and that looks like Team Ex-Junkie Models.
Ditto on all of the above. Ironleg may be evem more annoying this time than Token Dating Couple With Issues Who Are Going To Implode Halfway Through this time. Maybe the rope climb was intended to nail her, or at least the Token Overweight Mothers?
The rope climb thing made me mad at some of the teams. You know, the ones who were dangling 2 inches off the ground shrieking, “I can’t do this! I can’t make it!”
After 9 seasons of TAR, do the physical challenges surprise anyone? Now, I’m all in favor of NOT just casting the beautiful and the fit, believe me—I don’t want to see Team Model (1), Team Model (2), Team Professional Athlete, Team …well, you get the picture. But if you were trying out for TAR and if, ultimately, you were accepted, wouldn’t you spend some time trying to achieve a better fitness level? It’s all well and good to go into it thinking that your brains are going to be more useful than another team’s strength, but brains aren’t going to get you up the goddamned wall, you know?
The previews for next week killed me.
Heh, I think their relationship issues may implode by the third episode. She rolled her eyes at him way too much just in this first leg alone. Her comment about not knowing what Thrifty Rental was - priceless. Will she make a Kendra comment about the people who keep breeding and breeding when they get to India?
I’m with Otto on Team Ironleg. If Sarah can use preboarding to her advantage, I think it’s okay. Sometimes the airline personnel will insist on it, if they realize someone is disabled, but not preboarding. It’s not really going to give them any real advantage in the long run.
Lying to the cabbie was bad form, though.
Team Kentucky annoys me.
[catty]Any money they get out of this should be used for dentist visits.[/catty]
The cheerleaders and beauty queens did a lot better than I expected.
I was really sorry to see Vipul and Arti go. I liked them.
I like Godwin and Erwin, although whichever one has the ponytail needs a haircut.