The Amazing Race 11/16

Cafe Society
41

I get the impression their “entrepenurial” business includes a lot of accessories like razor blades, mirrors and hundred dollar bills rolled up into straws. And Victoria really looks like she’s had a lot of Botox, as well as more than a little plastic surgery - probably to fix damage inflicted in a “Passionate” moment from Jonathan. What a freakin’ tool.

Bolo is my favorite - he seems like a sweet guy, which I would’ve never expected. His wife is kind of a shrew, though. (Yeah, I was captain of the Understatement League in school).

42

Good job on the stats, next thing you’ll be founding SARR (Society for Amazing Race Research).

I was actually starting to warm up to them; mildly impressive given that
Avi has a whiny voice that made a bad first impression on me.

Likely to finish lower I think. They’re mental midgets and Adam is just annoying, with his bad, bad, bad hair.

Lori scares me. I think they’ll finish well (5th or 4th) but will lose the leg with a spectacular blow-up.

Look OK. Rather bland though. 4th or 3rd a possibility.

Very likely to finish in the top two or three. Now if only I can remember anything about them…

At the moment, look like the clear favorites. Relatively level-headed with a quietly competent (Hayden) person in charge and physically capable. Bonus points for sneakiness: Aaron was the one who led the Queenies astray…

Jonathan. Twice as shrill and nasty as Colin, with half the intelligence. Should get eliminated fairly soon. Is “entrepeneur” shorthand for “too obviously sleazy to be an used car salesman”?

Not that annoying, but I see them going out fairly soon; they’re not the sharpest
thumbtacks in the box.

They’ll do much better than that, they’re better than Kami/Karli and those two knuckleheads managed to make it to 5th. Most likely to be in the top 3 after Hayden/Aaron and Kris/Jon.

Likely to surprise and do much better than expected, I think. (By this, finish 7th or 6th instead of 9th or lower). There’s at least 1 team less physically fit than them left, and this season is rife with teams armed with self-destruct buttons.

Will be the next team to be eliminated; Gus is simply not fit enough to do the physical stuff.
My predicted order of finish:

  1. Hayden/Aaron
  2. Kris/Jon
  3. Lena/Kristy
  4. Freddy/Kendra
  5. Lori/Bolo
  6. Don/Mary Joe
  7. Jonathan/Victoria
  8. Adam/Rebecca
  9. Meredith/Maria
  10. Gus/Hera
  11. Avi/Joe [OK, this is is a gimee :wink: ]
43

They’re on their own for regular clothes, but I believe the show provides them with outerwear if there’s a stunt where they’d be endangered if not properly attired. The same thing happened in Calgary at the luge-or-bike thing last season, where they all had maple-leaf hats.

44

I think it’s pretty clear entrepenuer-guy is a total dick, and the sooner he gets off my television, the better. Which probably means he’s in it for the finale. Damn. Y’know, I had a bad feeling about this guy from right at the start of the episode, when he said something to the effect of “yeah, I have passion and some people misunderstand that, but that’s the way I am.” Cripes, why do some guys think, if they describe themselves as having “passion” or being “intense” (courtesy of Colin), then it excuses all sorts of asshole behavior? “Oh that Johnathon – he might seem like a flaming asshole, but he’s really just passionate.” Newsflash: he’s just passionately devoted to being an asshole.

Other teams:

I’m not sure how I feel about the wrestlers. Bolo seems like he might be a nice guy, but Lori seems pretty screechy. I can’t quite shake the impression, though, that the way they portray their relationship is just an act, like wrestling in general. Normally, I’d hate a team that was putting on an act, because it wasn’t natural, but these two are wrestlers… so they naturally act. So I’m conflicted. We’ll see how the rest of the season pans out.

The old couple seems nice, but I’m afraid they’re not long for the show. The only reason I wouldn’t pick them for losing next week is because CIA guy/daughter seems to have that wrapped up. Team father/daughter is both slow and stupid, as well as uninteresting. They’ll only survive if someone else does something even stupider.

Team Hellboy leaves me meh. They handled their near-disaster with the diesel well, but they shouldn’t have been in that position. Plus, I’m not impressed with anyone who labels themselves “eccentric.”

Team Loser: Sorry, but I’m glad you’re gone. You weren’t funny, and I’m unimpressed with people who boast about how cerebral they are. I’d like to point out that I was ecstatic that my three least favorite teams picked the slow and stupid detour, guaranteeing one of them last place. Ha!

The rest of the teams I’ve formed no opinion on. I suspect I might wind up rooting for Hayden/Aaron or Fredrick/Kendra, based on thier lack of screen time in this episode, which means their lack of acting like either idiots or assholes.

Aaaaand… what happened to the roadblock this episode?

45

Yeah, that and the “I don’t care what people think about me” line – people who say that, generally do.

46

They never have a Roadblock in the first episode. (Of course, with a 2-hour premiere, this time I’m sure they had time to squeeze one in…)

47

Phil (and others) have said in the past that once in a while there are roadblocks and detours that are just not aired, for various reasons. That may or may not be the case here, but sometimes things go wrong, or it doesn’t film like they thought it would, etc.

48

Diesel fuel.

Jonathan wants a killin’. So does psycho bitchface Lori. Hello, people, marriage isn’t about power, unless you’re doing it wrong.

49

If you’re released in downtownish Chicago (which these people were), you’d have to have a blindfold and both hands tied behind you, plus a ball gag and earplugs, to not find the blue line on the El. Seriously. This is about how impaired I am in direction, and I could still find my way to and from downtown and O’Hare (well, Rosemont, but it’s RIGHT THERE).

50

Actually, my understanding is that they have to provide their own gear but are given some general guidelines. My impression of Calgary last season was that the teams had dumped their cold weather gear for the sake of weight and had to buy new stuff (particularly the cheap stuff) at the airport once they got there.

Watch the packs throughout the season and you’ll see them get smaller as teams try to travel lighter, realizing that carrying a fifty pound pack that has everything they need is not a good idea.

51

OTOH, I don’t know that you could even fit a good parka + pants in one of those packs. The bulk is a bigger problem than the weight.

52

Best nicknames so far: Hellboy and Team 'Roid Rage.

Jonathan can’t be that big of a putz without trying. It’s gotta be an act. I figure he thinks that his best shot at extending his 15 min of fame is to be this year’s villain. I’m also thinking that “entrepreneur” means he sells magazines door-to-door, and rented the Ferrari for his intro video.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many teams make so many bad directional decisions in one episode.

Lolo & Bobo are weird, but “my implants are frozen” was the best line of the night.

We gotta unload a few couples soon, so we can tell them apart. Pity the nice Jewish boys from Brooklyn are gone so soon; at least they stood out.

53

Never in the history of TAR has a player made it onto my hate list as fast as Jonathan did. I think Phil said “J-” and I was already rubbing my temples.

I like these teams so far. I know there are models etc. but I liked a few of them, including Hayden and her guy and then there was one of the blondes (I am bad with names) and at least at this point folks are enjoying the race. It will change of course and always the first episode is a little hard to get a good feel. Quite often my impressions after the first episode changes dramatically by the end of the season.

I have always wanted to go to Iceland, I was so loving that.

54

That’s pretty much what I was thinking. There’s no way they can lug all of that with them the whole time, even if they are in awesome physical shape the speed they are going and the sheer amount of equipment they’d have to carry would be a problem (if not right away, eventually). The bulk would put them off balance and the weight wouldn’t help either.

I’m pretty sure they bought the hats from the airport (last season). I’ve seen them around town at the touristy places :stuck_out_tongue:

I knew the safety equipment had to be supplied for everyone, it was just stuff like the parkas that made me wonder. It’s obvious the little travel bags are provided, everyone has the same bag with the TAR stripe across it.

I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen TAR from the very beginning, before this I had only seen a show here and there and last season I managed to watch from a few episodes in to the end.

55

The hats last season were from a detour that didn’t get shown, where the teams had to go to three different stores in Banff and pick up all their snow gear. (Colin talks about it in an interview on www.tarflies.com – in fact, he says that’s why they boxed up their stuff to ship it back, because it was really high quality gear and they wanted to keep it.) So I suspect that the cold weather gear on the glacier was also provided for the teams. They’re expected to provide for normal climate situations, but not extremes of cold.

Nope, he runs some yuppie spa in Lalaland. Makes pots of money off the rich and not-so-famous. And clearly spends most of it on Botox. Man, I don’t think I have ever seen a forehead that smooth – can the man even move his face? I didn’t notice it changing even when he was screaming like a moronic banshee for the camera!

56

Oh, you nailed him, didn’t you!

I can’t believe that so many teams have devolved into screaming at each other on the first leg. They can’t possibly have travel fatigue yet; they must just have that bad of partnerships. What is Victoria thinking, to come on a show with that much artifical stress and to expect that guy to do well?

That said, the one team that impressed me as far as their behavior was the dating long distance couple. They at least seemed to be nice to each other. Oh, and the grandparents. I may not remember their names, though, and I bet that’s why the others are cast. That Lori certainly is memorable.

57

Stage 8 and beyond should be awesome to watch in a massive train wreck kind of way. If these people are this tense and ready to fly off the handle after 1 day of racing, I can’t even imagine what fatigue, closeness to the ultimate goal, and increasingly difficult tasks will lead to.

58

I don’t think any of the tightly wound teams are going to make it that far – remember, we haven’t seen anything but the merest glimpse of the winners, yet. There’s no way in hell Team 'Roid Rage or Team Botox will get through more than a few legs.

59

Fav part of last nights episode:

Grandpa deciding to ask directions from locals and declaring that the whole island is wasted. :slight_smile:

Previews for next week look good. I loves me some meltdowns…

60

I have a feeling that the conversation went something like:

“VICTORIA! Stop cowering in the corner. We’re going to try out for Amazing Race.”
“But…”
“WHY ARE YOU UNDERCUTTING ME AT EVERY TURN?!”
“…”
“MY GOD WOMAN, DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOU ARE LETTING ME DOWN?!”
“…ok.”

Someone had this guy nailed on the first page…he’s a Ben Stiller parody come to life.