An article in ETOnline makes The Beanstalk more likeable:
mmm
No, I didn’t really think it was Sprite. I was just paraphrasing the Racer who said it was. Either way, I don’t see the utility of pouring water or sprite on a sewage soaked foot or an overheating engine.
Phew 
For my part, I’d surely be rinsing the sewage off my foot.
Last week embodied everything that is wrong with the race, and then this week showcased everything great about it.
Gary & Will represented internet nerds quite well, I thought. They sucked (and sucked HARD) at anything more physical than sitting in a chair. Glad to see them gone, as they were completely useless.
Can’t stand the twins, please dear god let them get a bad taxi and get eliminated.
Loved that trick with the mattress, still don’t have the first clue how it worked.
Can someone explain the sorcery with the mattress stuffing? I saw them roll it up, then unroll it and it was stuffed. Magic, I tells ya.
Get a pair of socks. Roll them together from the toe to the open end, leaving about an inch at the open end. Now take the open end of the outside sock and open it with both hands, rolling the edges outward and then over the rolled socks, making a little package. Then you can start pulling the inside out, carefully, making sure the inside sock stays lined up. As you’re unrolling the socks this way, the inside sock makes a lining, same as the mattress stuffing.
As to the competitors, I really wanted to dislike those twins from the beginning. While I do find them grating and annoying with all the yelling, man, do they own the challenges and just leap into everything with both feet. I was kind of endeared back when the one twin just dove into that fish barrel with all her hair flying and she was just head-to-chest soaked in fish water.
I’m kinda rooting for either the twins or the rocker dudes at this point.
While I find the twins excessively chatty, I don’t find that at all screechy or grating. I wonder if I’m helped by being very used to their accents due to working with a large number of Indians.
I find I notice the accent of the one Chippendale more than I notice theirs.
I wasn’t paying attention during the challenge. The first couple did the mattress stuffing by rolling it up and turning it inside out. Is that how the local workers did it? Did the other racers follow suit?
As far as I could tell, the first team was the only team to do the rolling-it-up trick.
No Ratings this week either?
The ranker said that there was an impending trip and last week there would be none, but maybe we should start to get worried?
zut alors! Do you think something might have happened to him?
I don’t know if it is the casting, or the Challenge design or just the amount of seasons I have watched but I am finding the show boring. I missed it this week and had to seek it out online and debated just bailing. I did watch though but still find I am not as engaged in the show as I have been. It is a couple of seasons now I feel this way.
ETA: To clarify, by online I meant CBS.com not something illegal.
I agree that the show seems to be less interesting lately. The bunch points have been getting more and more obvious, and the tasks have been less challenging. Add to that the fact that the show is at the mercy of King Football and does not have a fixed starting schedule…
I was once a solid fan, but not so much any more.
I am there as well, (the last few “seasons” have been entirely forgettable) but as I don’t have cable or satellite, it’s still one of the only shows I have any interest in watching, so I will keep watching as long as I have nothing better to do.
(I am going on vacation tomorrow, flying home next Tuesday, and I can’t imagine caring enough to try and seek out the episode I will miss on Sunday. I don’t know if I will even bother looking for a SDMB thread about it, but if/when I end up watching on Sun 11/4, I wonder if I will be able to figure out who got the axe the previous week, as the only truly memorable team this go-around are the Toxic Twins, who I would love to find out had been horribly maimed in a Roadblock involving rabid hyenas)
I figure he’s probably still on his trip. I don’t remember him saying how long it’d be, though.
Sorry if someone said this already, but how gross was it that the 1st pickup for the rats was a restaurant?
What was the strategy of everyone skipping the Fast Forward? It seems you would really want that.
It’s a risk/reward calculation, I think.
Everyone is playing to win the whole Race, not just a leg. The prize for winning the leg would be nice to have, and you start the next leg in the lead (which gets you to the airport first, better chance for an early flight, etc.). If you go for the Fast Forward, maybe somebody gets there ahead of you, maybe it’s a harder task and you can’t complete it. If you don’t get it, you’ve lost a bunch of time. In terms of overall Race strategy, it’s a big risk for not much reward.
It kinda makes sense that a mid-pack team would try for it. If you’re the first team to the clue box and see the FF, why bother? You’re in the lead; just be competent at the regular tasks and there’s almost no chance that all the other teams will excel and overtake you. But the further down the standings you are, the more you might need to take the risk to stay off the chopping block.
Sorry, I got caught up in all the Really Important Things that were on hold until I got back from my trip, so the Taxi Assessment slipped. However, better late then never, right? Right? …right?
Now in week four, I think we finally have enough information about team performance to comfortably differentiate the teams.
Taxi Assessment:
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Rob & Sheila and Amy & Daniel - Already eliminated.
Caitlin & Brittany (down from “Rapido!”, last week) - Yes, it sucks when you’re beaten out by a team that’s just not as good as you are, and it sucks getting a bad cabbie, but if you’d been better racers, you wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. Sorry about that.
Gary & Will (down from “Flat Tire”) - Even with the helpful airport bunching at the beginning of this episode, Gary & Will immediately fall behind everyone else. In retrospect, it’s amazing (ha!) they made it as far as they did, what with being nearly eliminated two weeks running, and being essentially incompetant at nearly every single task. Back on the couch with you, Gary & Will.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
No one.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Rob & Kelley (holding steady) - Rob & Kelley finish fifth this week, even after some bad cab luck and confusion over which ferry to take where. However, fifth is the highest they’ve placed all season. I think their judgement isn’t all that great, and although they’re not obvious losers like Gary & Will turned out to be, they’re the weakest of the remaining teams. I don’t think Rob & Kelley will necessarily be eliminated right away, but their chances of making it to the final three look pretty slim.
“Rapido! Por Favor?” - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Jaymes & James (holding steady) - I don’t quite have a read on Jaymes & James, as their performance has been up-and-down; this week they finish sixth, primarily because of James’s inexperience with Bondo. There’s nothing particularly wrong with what they’ve been doing, I think, but it seems unlikely that they’ll make it all the way to the final three.
Trey & Lexi (holding steady) - Although Trey & Lexi have scored two second-place finishes, they slipped to seventh this episode, ahead of only the hapless Gary & Will. That was due in part to bad cab luck, but also to Trey’s Roadblock performance and messing up their ferry transportation. With some luck, Trey & Lexi could go far, but I think their inexperience will bite them at some point.
Josh & Brent (holding steady) - Josh & Brent are the only team left, save Rob & Kelley, who have never placed in the top three. However, they’ve been quietly improving every week, and don’t seem to have ever really been in danger of elimination. Plus: drag queen skills! That’s an untapped resource. All in all, Josh & Brent are my pick for an overall fourth place finish, and possibly a slot in the final three.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
James & Abba (holding steady) - James & Abba score a Fast Forward for their first top-three finish. However, like Josh & Brent, they’ve never really been in danger of elimination, and the low-stress leg this week should keep them more rested than the competition. Plus, this team is ultra-laid-back, which should make them immune to the Killer Fatigue that affects teams later in the Race.
Natalie & Nadiya (holding steady) - I’m not sure if Natalie & Nadiya can keep up their exhausting schedule of loudly encouraging each other for the whole race, but it has helped them finish well nearly every week. Barring some particularly bad decision-making, they should go far.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Abbie & Ryan (up from “Passing Lane”) - Out of four episodes, Abbie & Ryan have placed first twice, and second this week (only because James & Abba took the Fast Forward). That’s enough to differentiate them from the rest of the pack. They don’t seem to have much problem with the tasks, and there’s no sign (yet) of the bickering meltdown that couples who Race to “gain clarity about their relationship” experience with predictable regularity.
Yay! Welcome back.
I love your ratings – you always point out at least one bit that I hadn’t properly appreciated.
This is the team I’m betting on. They just have killer attitudes, happily tackling every task and so far they’ve been competent at everything.
Abbie & Ryan might have the edge, they certainly fit mold of the ‘average’ winners, but I find them too vanilla to care about. I think if they won, and someone mentioned them to me a month later, I’d be Who??
My dream final 3: The Twins, the Chipmunks, and the Gay Goat Farmers.