The Amazing Race 11/25/07 - "Let's Name Our Chicken Phil"

Cafe Society
21

The dance challenge was painful. One hour of white people dancing is not my idea of fun. Not while I am sober, at least.

I agree that the natural instinct of hurting the team right behind you is not the best use of the U-turn. It is the first obvious thought, though. This is a race, and you race for position. Shortsighted but human.

Which brings us to the other point of teams jockeying for position in the middle pack. Makes no sense, but it is only human. I seem to remember recent previous seasons where teams were very cavalier about waiting for another team’s turn at the mat. Now they all rush to stand on it, as if every second counted.

22

I would just like to mention my appreciaton for not one, but two, women showing significant cleavage throughout tonight’s episode. That is all.

23

Especially after they showed a chicken walking around loose and then immediately cut to a close-up of Shana. (She is the taller of the two, right?)

Otto , (F)Lorena? I haven’t read the other threads about this season so I was curious what the (F) was about?

I liked Jason’s explanation at the end about not getting married. While some people may truly never, ever want to get married, I have generally noticed that when someone is that vehement about not getting married it is because they don’t want to marry the person they are with right now. I think the two of them do love each other, crazy as she may be but I think that Jason is probably smart not to marry HER. I’m sorry, last week’s meltdown was just ridiculous.

24

Chickens and dancing and gold and goats, oh my!

(F)Lorena is a reference to the infamous Flo of TAR3 who screamed and bawled herself all the way to first place. Thank goodness we won’t have to endure any more Flo-like meltdowns from Lorena.

ETA: Here’s Flo’s entry in the Reality TV Hall of Shame: http://www.realitytvhallofshame.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article1071.art&page=1

25

Ah, thanks. I remember Flo, I just wasn’t making the connection today. :slight_smile:

26

I love Vixen and want to hug her.

The baby goats made me sad.

I am talking in Sesame Street English.

I do not know why.

The Philiminated dude looked like Dana Carvey.

Ron should have gotten a hernia long ago. It seems to have calmed him down.

27

I rolled my eyes when one of the Blondes remarked, after U-turning Jason and Lorena and pasting up the pictures, “Hey, that’s a really good picture of us!”
Sheesh.

28

They thought they were U-turning the team closest to them. They looked, saw dark haired woman and man with some kind of headcover, thought that the only team behind them were Lorena & Jason, and U-turned them. As it turned out, the team they saw was actually TK & Rachel (who had gotten lost looking for Pan & then taken forever to get the gold), so it was a failure of eyesight, not strategy.

UTurning was absolutely the right decision - nothing to do with “playing like men” or whatever the other teams were claiming. That was the right way to play the game when you think you’re next to last (as it turns out, they were 3rd from last - but still).

29

It was also smarter to U-Turn Jason & Lorena than TK & Rachel because TK & Rachel are just not strong racers. Both of them get lost at the drop of a hat, and a poor sense of direction can be a killer on the race.

I just love Gramps! He may be a dirty old man, but he’s a dirty old man who does what needs to be done with no fuss or complaints. And I also love the way his grandson carries his backpack for him most of the time with no complaints whatsoever. Those two clearly have a lot of love between them; it’s wonderful to see.

Papa Tiger is convinced the “gold mine” was seeded. He recalls spending an entire day mining for one nugget; coming up with a full ounce that quickly meant there had to be lots of gold dumped in there for them to find. I don’t envy the poor local who ends up having to fish it all out again, though!

The Goths just keep getting better and better! Vixen’s realization of the limited future of people in poverty was really touching. She’s just a delight. And I was so happy to see the crowd reaction to their dancing – they were the only ones who had everyone clapping along, weren’t they? I’m sure it was partially due to just the WTF-ness of their appearance, but also Kent’s enthusiastic “dancing” was genuinely entertaining. Unlike most of the other dancers. The judges were great, too – although I’m still not sure what they were looking for!

All in all, I think this race is the best one in several seasons. The locations are great, the tasks are terrific, and the more animals, the better! This one definitely bodes well for more races in the future. Not to mention Emmy #6 next year.

30

I’m sure the gold mine was seeded. I don’t see how it could be done otherwise. I actually wound up confused about the U Turn. If the blondes were so sure Jason and Lorena were the couple who were right behind them, why didn’t we see a reaction shot when TK and Rachel closed in? I guess there wasn’t one.

Vysin (or however she spells it) is growing on me. While it may ruin the image she wants to project, I suspect she’s a good kid at heart, and Kynt doesn’t seem like a bad lot, either.

This episode wasn’t as much fun as the others, but it still wasn’t bad. The hernia may have calmed Ron down for an episode or so, but I caught a glimpse of the old Ron when Chris was loading her bicycle. I liked the photo finish for first place, especially since Azaria (?) was apparently getting on his sister’s case for being too slow, then nearly cost them first place for veering off to the side. I’d like to know how difficult the hotel and the checkpoint were to spot from where the taxi’s dropped them off.

31

Wow, is this the animal season of THe Amazing Race or what? Donkeys and camels previously, and chickens and goats this week.

But anyway, time for the…

Taxi Assessment

Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Ari & Staella and Kate & Pat and Marianna & Julia - Already Philiminated.
Lorena & Jason (down from “Stopping”) - This team wasn’t eliminated because of anything they did this episode. Really, they were eliminated because of Lorena’s poor Roadblock performance last episode. They started too far behind, and with no bunching points and no real mistakes by any other team this week, there was no chance to catch up. The U-Turn didn’t help, but I suspect, based on their late arrival at the Detour, that Lorena & Jason would have been eliminated even without the U-Turn.

Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Ronald & Christina (holding steady) - A reasonably good finish this week (top three, in fact). However, I’m not really convinced that this team has long-term potential. Between the (currently quiescent) father-daughter conflict and Ron’s physical maladies, I don’t see how this team can last much longer.
Shana & Jennifer (down from “Rapido!”) - The performance of this team has steadily degraded as the Race progresses; they just get more and more frazzled with each passing episode. I suspect they might have a major meltdown soon. However, I should point out they made exactly the right decision in hitting Lorena & Jason with the U-Turn. You could argue that Lorena & Jason were so far behind it made no difference, and that’s probably true, but Shana & Jennifer didn’t know that. The U-Turn kept them well out of last place, which is the point.

Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Nicolas & Donald (holding steady) - Nice work at the Detour. It’s nice to see the old guy actually Race smart and use skills acquired from knowledge and experience rather than, like some past teams, just talk about using experience. Still, this team is walking on the edge, because Gramps just isn’t that fast, and they have a disturbing propensity to be followers.

"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Rachel & TK (down from “Passing”) - I still like this team, but they have a frustrating habit of getting lost in every single episode. C’mon, navigation is a basic Race skill. So far they’ve gotten back on track fairly quickly, but they can’t afford to keep spotting the competition extra time. If not for the hapless Lorena & Jason this episode, Rachel’s wandering would have doomed this team.

In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Kynt & Vyxsin (holding steady) - This team has been steadily middle-of-the-pack. That’s good, because they’ve never been in danger of elimination, but if they expect to get into the final three they’ve got to step up their game.
Jennifer & Nathan (up from “Rapido!”) - Another top-three finish this week makes this team look pretty good. I’m not sure I like Jennifer’s sense of entitlement (“Wah! It’s my turn to be first!”), but they’re definitely in the upper tier of teams.

Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Azaria & Hendekea (holding steady) - Holy smokes, Azaria & Hendekea have taken three of four firsts so far. They’re racing smart, and don’t seem to be making many (or any) mistakes.

Next week: Ouch! Also, OUCH!

[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]

32

I thought they thought they saw Jason & Lorena in addition to TK and Rachel, in which case U-Turning Jason & Lorena wasn’t so dumb.

However, a general question: A U-Turn (or Yield) can only be used on a team behind you. How do teams know which teams are behind them? Do the producers check off teams as they pass? Or does the U-Turner have to pick from all teams remaining, with an incorrect choice (picking a team ahead of you) resulting in loss of the U-Turn? If it’s the latter, that puts a different spin on Shana & Jennifer 's choice.

Agreed. I figured at the outset that the correct Detour choice would be a slam-dunk for dancing. I mean, an ounce of gold is worth hundreds of dollars (and some teams had way more thn that). Does it really make sense that you can dig hundreds of dollars out of the ground in under fifteen minutes? Far better to choose the dancing, flop around for thirty seconds, take the ten-minute penalty, and be on your way.

33

Kynt’s dancing was the highlight of the show. He tore it up. I’m really enjoying watching the two of them race.

On the other hand, I can’t wait for Nate and Jennifer to be gone. We should be first because you’ve already come in first three times? What a brat.

34

That was hilarious. Have you ever noticed with people like that (and I’ve known a few), if you turn it around on them and say something about not feeling right about “letting them win” (as Hendekeah(?) did tonight), they’ll wave it off as if they never even CONSIDERED that to be an option and wouldn’t ever want it to happen no matter what (as Jen did tonight after Hendekeah said it)…and yet, isn’t that what they were just whining for?

35

It may have been a function of editing but I got no impression that the blondes thought anyone was right behind them other than J-Lo (sorry). Nothing in the Race footage and nothing in the interview footage.

36

I suspect the U-Turn is like the Yield in that you don’t know how many teams are behind/ahead of you based on the info at the box – you have to take a chance. Which is why it’s not a good idea to use these features unless you’re sure that the team you’re Yielding/U-Turning is behind you.

I suspect Jason and Lorena were so far behind starting that it was a slam-dunk that they were still behind when the blondes hit the U-Turn. Especially with the complete lack of bunching on this leg.

Speaking of which, that’s another good thing the race designers did this time – absolutely no artificial/hours-of-operation bunching thus far. Natural bunching, such as limited flights to an obscure African country, are unavoidable; avoiding any others really forces the racers to live or die by their own performance. And you’re absolutely right, zut – Jason & Lorena were eliminated based on last week’s performance. My liking for Jason went way up at his calm acceptance of their Philimination, especially since you know they both knew it was because of Lorena’s camel meltdown. I can’t say I’m sorry to see her go, though, except for the entertainment value.

37

The gold must have been seeded. Gold is currently worth around $800/ounce - if you could get an ounce of gold in Burkina Faso by digging a 2 ft. deep pit and panning for 20 minutes, you’d expect a bit less squalor.

I was really hoping the blondes would tell Phil that they named their chicken after him as well.

38

And then we might have found what what Phil named his cock.

39

That’s what I thought. They got to the U-Turn box, looked behind them and saw another team, and immediately said, “We’ll U-Turn Jason and Lorena!”
Cut to a shot of J & L in a taxi, somewhere else, and a shot of TK and Rachel, coming up with the Blondes in sight.
I was also waiting for the reaction shot of, “Wait… how did TK and Rachel get up here? Did we U-Turn the wrong team?”

The Blondes are coming apart at the seams. The one was so intent on using the U-Turn, and the other was unsure. When she was talking to TK at the Roadblock, she sounded pissed that her teammate had decided to use it. They’re headed for a major meltdown.

I was hoping for more Chicken Entertainment. They all seemed pretty passive once they were in the bags.

40

Still and all, if you’re gonna force teams to Carry Some Random Object For No Particular Reason for the whole leg, a Live Chicken is one of the best things I can think of, because you kind of have to be careful with it (otherwise, it’s a Dead Chicken), and it creates poop.

ETA: Maybe no Chicken Bag next time? That’d be good for a few laffs.