I don’t think being famous is actually a sign of genius, and that’s what the teams seemed to be reacting to. They knew of him. What they knew they didn’t like. Therefore they paid too much attention to him.
Well, to be fair, I don’t know that this says as much about “the genius that is Rob” as it does about “the stupidity that is everyone else.” And it’s not like Rob has brought anything new to the Race, either, except for the now-notorious 4-lbs-of-meat stratagem, which really was clever*. There are always teams on the Race who respond to other Racers moreso than the Race itself** – e.g., how Chris & Alex played off Wil & Tara (Season 2), or how 'Bama focused almost exclusively on the Beauty Queens (Season 9). The only thing that made Rob “special” on the Race was his pre-existing celebrity, which may or may not be a factor this time, since everyone is now famous/infamous for this go-round.
** Admittedly, I didn’t care for this particular move at the time, but I have made my peace with it, since I said that I didn’t want someone to deliberately skip a task and still win, and they didn’t. So.
** Which is the fundamental problem with Lynn & Alex and Susan & patrick (mostly Patrick), really – they tried to run the Race like they were on Survivor, which … they weren’t, so much.*
He also did something else that is still probably one of my favorite ever TAR moments. It was when they were all on the same bus and he got money together with three other teams. He then bribed the driver to not open the back door for a certain amount of time without ever putting in his cash. I thought that was hilarious and, while it really didn’t do much in the grand scheme of things, was pretty clever.
And for me, that one of my least favorite moments. Though his driving past the car wreck was worse.
Actually, after that aired, a number of people I know commented on how that very thing had been done for them, when they didn’t even have a camera crew with them, but were just about to miss a really important flight. Pilot’s discretion and all that. The producers have all explained at great length how it would be idiotic of them to do that, in any case, because they would jeopardize their own show, which as a game show operates under rules with lawyers hovering over their every move. Ain’t gonna happen.
Rob was just a sore loser, IMO.
And J&V aren’t on because they just had a baby within the past few months. Thank heaven (for us, not for the poor little girl, who they named, of all the idiotic things, Trease.)
Sorry for the hijack, but how does one pronounce that name? Does it rhyme with “oh my god I hate my parents”?
I just can’t imagine that as being true post 9/11.
I just do not understand this attitude at all. Yeah, Rob and Amber drove past the car wreck. The car wreck where there were a goodly number of peole already stopped. If Rob or Amber had some special life saving or medical training and still drove past then good on those who hate them for it. As far as I know, they don’t, they knew there was nothing they could do to further the resolution of the situation and they were in a, you know, RACE.
Yeah, don’t bother. There was no “reality” whatsoever involved in the first episode, starting from where they showed us Rob brushing his teeth and SUDDENLY having the epiphany that he wanted to be a poker player (yeah right, with a camera crew just happening to be in the bathroom). Not that I think that there aren’t a lot of fake moments in reality shows, but if I want something that’s completely scripted I’d rather watch *Deadwood *(or I would if it still was on).
Anyhow, to add something besides the hijack, I hope that they keep the quality of the challenges up, I enjoyed last season very much (especially in comparison to the one before). And if people are more versed in the mechanics of the game, it’s probably more important to have really challenging tasks instead of lots of “Needle in the Haystack” games that nobody picks.
Thank you for stating this so clearly. I’m actually a fan of Rob’s, and the “drive past the wreck” hate drives me nuts! I quit watching when they brought in the family twist, since who wants to watch little kids cry for entertainment?, and stayed away because I found that my life was actually pretty complete without watching shrill people freak out at ticket counters. But watching Romber scheme while the other teams bash their heads against the Romber wall and forgetting why they’re there is enough to bring me back to the fold.
And I’d like to applaud the lack of * and Victori, although it might’ve been fun to see Colin and his broken ox again.
Oh dude, you totally missed out on some of the best challenges ever last season. You missed tanks and robot camel jockeys and annoying people getting pelted in the face repeatedly with tomatos.
I understand yours, I just disagree with it. I don’t consider their behavior acceptable from human beings, in a race or not in a race.
When people you know are in real trouble, you at least roll down the window and ask if they are okay. People who can’t do that because it will cost them 30 seconds are not people I would ever admire or respect.
They should totally make that last one a permanent feature of each race, much like skydiving/bunjee jumping and rapelling. Nothing will bring in viewers like seeing reality show contenstants smacked upside the head with random fruit.
If the really annoying ones are pelted with watermelons, that’d be a bonus. 
Ooooooooo, great idea. Maybe the locals could decide themselves which fruit to use.
Sacre bleu! C’est le Jonathan et la Victoria! Pas le tomates! Jettez les watermelons et les durians!
That would be awesome.
If they could fit the robot camel jockeys in there at some point, it would be TAR heaven.
tomato
whack
watermelon
whack
As far as I can guess, rockle, Trease is probably *'s idea of how to spell “Therese.” But you just know she’s going to be nicknamed Greasy!
I wish Colin & Christie were on, too – even though I couldn’t stand them (her as much as him), Colin in particular was a simply fabulous racer. But apparently Christie is about six months pregnant; she was recently photographed and is clearly not available to race right now.
Oh lord, I’m sitting at work giggling like a ninny remembering the jockeys and tomatos and tanks. People are going to start staring.
Ooh! Brainstorm! Make this the new NEL penalty! They can keep their money and their clothes but everywhere they go on the next leg random villagers will run up and pelt them with fruit!
That very idea just made me so happy I might just pass out.