I was hoping the Bickerazzi would be eaten by the lions. Alas! it was not meant to be.
I think all Pit Stops should involve carrying things on your head or some task that would tend to slow teams down so that it doesn’t devolve into a foot race. That was the most refreshing Pit Stop we’ve seen in a while.
It was another lackluster episode. Those women would have won if they would have read the clue. I also thought that someone was going to be sent back to pick up their fruit as the camera focused on a piece that someone dropped.
The way these threads have been going we might just want one for the whole season.
I loved the challenges of this episode. I would have loved to feed the crocs and walk with lions. I also like that teams actually shifted positions due to something other than an arbitrary queue time.
Also, how giant of an asshole was that guy for not giving all their free money to those kids? Admittedly he was not necessarily the only team to do that but wow, what an asshole.
I can’t believe so many teams declined to use the U-turn, and the team that DID use it threw it away on a team that was ahead of them. There’s this bizarre sentiment that using this tool is somehow “mean” or “unfair.” It’s not! It’s part of the game, designed by the producers, to mix up the order of the teams! USE IT!
I disliked the charity test aspect of donating to the orphanage. I wouldn’t have given everything, especially if I suspected the leg was not over. I would have kept at least the taxi fare to the airport. Sure, the producers were just about to give teams their cash for the next leg, but how were the teams meant to know if it would be enough to cover their costs? The whole money side of the race is a bit shadowy TBH, we never really know how much use it is to carry a balance from leg to leg.
IIRC, most seasons end with teams accumulating several hundred dollars in excess cash.
There’s no way in the world they would have designed the legs for that money to matter. The last thing they need is for someone to say “I wish I never gave to those orphans!” on their show.
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
The man of the bickering couple was right. They were last at a 1-at-a-time, wait for the queue detour. Waiting means they know they’re last (and getting laster), switching at least gives them the chance of not coming in last. Luckily, they were saved by the girls screwing up twice.
I really don’t understand the hate for the green team. They’re annoying, but overall haven’t been all that obnoxious on camera, especially not in proportion to the amount the other teams seem to be trying to do them in.
They were super annoying before this episode, but I think the hate wave broke on the rocks for them when they didn’t use the U-Turn on the god botherers. I don’t foresee much animosity toward them going forward.
It was nice to see the green team hand the guys their ass in canoe paddling.
The challenges looked like things which would be awesome to do, but as an actual competition, I found them incredibly lackluster. Almost all of them were more ‘tasks’ than ‘challenges’ - i.e., “go here, do this, move on.” No real skill involved. The paddling at least took a bit of work, but the gorge jump, croc cage and lion walk (aside from spotting the skull) are all busy work with no real chance to pass up another team. The balancing act at the end could’ve been a chance, but it seemed like they made it too easy (i.e., if you fall over, just pick up your stuff and keep going, no penalty). No one actually shifted positions there it seemed.
Eh. The only position switching was 1) two teams driving away from the gorge jump because they didn’t read the clue, 2) Alabama moving up thanks to the free Express Pass, and 3) the track girls falling behind because they missed the skull (because they didn’t read the clue). Yeah, reading the clue is definitely a required Race skill, but it’s more mistake than actually performing a challenge.
From a strategic standpoint,
I wouldn’t donate any money unless the money for the next leg was clearly spelled out. Running out of taxi money can doom your race, as has been seen in past seasons. In fact, were I able to busk like the Street Dancers team, I would see if it’s within the rules to busk for more spending cash during the race, since that’s almost the same as begging for money. You never know when that extra cash could make the difference from getting eliminated.
The male Bickerazzi was NOT right. The analysis that switching at least gives them a chance assumes two things: the chosen task takes longer than the alternate detour plus travel time AND no other teams screw up or encounter delays. Neither of those assumptions were true this time.
It is wrong to assume teams decline using U-Turns out of a sense of fairness. It is stupid to burn your only U-Turn chance this early in the race. Yes, teams are allotted one and ONLY one U-Turn per season (cite). However, I agree it was stupid for the last two teams to not use it.