# The Amazing Race 26 \[2/25\] - Great Way to Start a Relationship **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657 "2015-02-26T13:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/21 "2015-02-27T01:20:01Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > I hated when the Truckstop beard boy said, a million dollars might not mean much to the others but it means a lot to us WTF? Made sense to me. Let’s say the two lawyers are making a combined $200,000 per year. (Yes, I know its not actually combined because they just met. I mean the total team income.) To them, $1 million is the equivalent of 5 years’ salary. To the truckstop couple, though, it might be 20 or 30 years worth of income. In other words, it wouldn’t change the lawyers’ lives forever. It could change the truckstoppers’ lives forever — for better or worse. > [@amarinth](#): > > But the really strange thing was that no one switched detours. After the first hour or so of not getting it, you’d think that someone would at least try the other task, just to see. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > But they didn’t know the sake task was easier. If there are still teams left at the dance task, and you’re making progress - doing better and better each time you try it - it’s safer to keep with the same task. Especially when just going to the other task means navigating your way through a city where you don’t speak the language. I’m with **amarinth** on this one. When the subtitled clocked one of the teams at “26th attempt,” I thought, “Why are you still there!? At least see what the other task is like!” Especially pilot and truck stop lady, who often started off wrong, right from step 1. Yes, by then we knew the saki challenge was easy and the racers didn’t. But after an hour or two, at least go look. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/22 "2015-02-27T01:23:04Z")
And, oh yeah — I’m sick of the selfies, and of the “Any sparks yet?” leering as well. Dump them both. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/23 "2015-02-27T03:26:41Z")
The gimmick of the season is working out better than I feared but this episode did not need to be 90 minutes. I started fast forwarding during the last half hour to just see who lost. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/24 "2015-02-27T04:17:40Z")
There are 2 clues left, an open U-Turn, and you don’t know who’s behind you…WAIT FOR THE OTHER TEAM! Grrr logic. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/25 "2015-02-27T05:26:55Z")
Ok, the World Order videos are fun. But I wonder if the Japanese dancers wanted to renegotiate the contract with the Race after four hours. And the poor guys at the Sake house went dry for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/26 "2015-02-27T08:39:31Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Ok, the World Order videos are fun. But I wonder if the Japanese dancers wanted to renegotiate the contract with the Race after four hours. And the poor guys at the Sake house went dry for a long time. Haha, I was thinking the same thing–those poor guys had to go through the routine all day, for every attempt of every group. I liked this episode and didn’t mind the random-pairing thing. Although the selfie-shit was totally distracting–hell, they even seemed to be highlighting “random” spectators who happened to have the exact same phones they were advertising. I don’t mind product placement when it’s done well, but I don’t like it when you’re clearly forcing the contestants to hawk your wares. Edit: So I was wondering what that armband thing some people were wearing was. Turns out they’re Fit Bits! So another product placement–albeit one that was much better implemented. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/27 "2015-02-27T08:54:02Z")
Actually…because of all the product placement, I’m now wondering if the odd non-switching behavior of the task might be due to some unseen rule or condition we’re not aware of due to World Order’s presence. After all, I very much doubt they’re going to have a well-known group out there all day with the potential of receiving little to no screen time. Maybe you could only switch after a certain amount of time? Or maybe the distance between the two challenges was huge? Something’s fishy… ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/28 "2015-02-27T11:53:56Z")
I forgot to watch Wednesday night. Thank goodness my DVR is smarter than me. Also, I probably would not have noticed that it started at 8:30 and would have missed the first half hour. I agree with the others who were surprised that some teams did not switch tasks. 25 tries? 4+ hours? I would have switched after 10 or 15 tries, especially if there were other teams who also appeared to be struggling. > [@FlightlessBird](#): > > There are 2 clues left, an open U-Turn, and you don’t know who’s behind you…WAIT FOR THE OTHER TEAM! > Grrr logic. The problem with that is, you don’t know how far behind you the last team is. You may be waiting a while. Team Truck Stop was second-last out of the dance task but beat 4 other teams to the mat. Apparently the U-turn was not easy to find. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/29 "2015-02-27T13:43:24Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > There are 2 clues left, an open U-Turn, and you don’t know who’s behind you…WAIT FOR THE OTHER TEAM! > Grrr logic. That forces you to look someone in the eye and screw them over, which I would imagine most people would rather avoid. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/30 "2015-02-27T15:27:46Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The problem with that is, you don’t know how far behind you the last team is. You may be waiting a while. Team Truck Stop was second-last out of the dance task but beat 4 other teams to the mat. Apparently the U-turn was not easy to find. Yes, after 45 minutes you may be thinking, “We could already be done by now.” But the safest solution is to wait and put another team on the same footing as you. If you pick the wrong team(as they did) you’ve basically checked out of the game. I mean, what were the odds? There were about 4 teams that MIGHT have been behind them (25%). They choose one of the 2 sake teams thinking that perhaps it was a difficult challenge(50%). They were wrong. Didn’t they choose the leg-winners?:smack: > [@Quimby](#): > > That forces you to look someone in the eye and screw them over, which I would imagine most people would rather avoid. I don’t think anyone would complain in that situation. “How dare you U-turn us! Why don’t you just go lose instead of using a perfectly legal and ethical way to maybe keep yourself alive and in the game?!”:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/31 "2015-02-27T17:07:29Z")
The other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes they put extra clues in the box, so just because there are two clues left doesn’t always mean there is one more team behind you. And unless there was a team right behind me that I knew I could u-turn for certain, I don’t think I would use it on the first leg. You only get one per race – I think I’d save it in case I needed it later. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/32 "2015-02-27T17:11:34Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > And, oh yeah — I’m sick of the selfies, and of the “Any sparks yet?” leering as well. Dump them both. I absolutely do not get the selfies. It’s not product placement - there’s no mention of the product (which have to be cameras, not smart phones). It’s not so we can see pictures of these people…THEY’RE ALREADY ON MY TV, FOR CRISSAKE. “Hey look, I’m in Tokyo!” No shit. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/33 "2015-02-27T17:48:09Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > They were wrong. Didn’t they choose the leg-winners?:smack: Close enough. I thought they chose the team that came second. The one that went into the parking garage before reading the clue that said, “…in the vicinity.” They would have been first if they had read the clue properly. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/34 "2015-02-27T18:00:43Z")
The phones: seem to be standardized models in specific colors given to each team. I noticed that the Lady Asian Lawyer was wearing a matching smartwatch. I suspect the racers have been encouraged to take lots of selfies and that the phones/watches/selfies will play some role in a future challenge. I hate the Bachelorization but it was less obnoxious in practice than I thought it would be this week. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/35 "2015-02-27T19:21:03Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I absolutely do not get the selfies. It’s not product placement - there’s no mention of the product (which have to be cameras, not smart phones). It’s not so we can see pictures of these people…THEY’RE ALREADY ON MY TV, FOR CRISSAKE. “Hey look, I’m in Tokyo!” No shit. It’s almost definitely product placement. They seemed to all be Windows 8 Lumia phones. Even the “spectators” had them in certain scenes. They’ll almost certainly state the name at some point. Right now, they’re just trying to get them to appear as an every-day thing. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/36 "2015-02-27T19:40:28Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The other thing to keep in mind is that sometimes they put extra clues in the box, so just because there are two clues left doesn’t always mean there is one more team behind you. > > And unless there was a team right behind me that I knew I could u-turn for certain, I don’t think I would use it on the first leg. You only get one per race – I think I’d save it in case I needed it later. Good point about the extra clue, but the Amazing Producers have wanted the double U-Turn to have the last team and the 2nd to last team both U-Turned so there is a race to complete the ‘other’ detour. I don’t think it has ever worked out that way. Rather it’s just been a race to the U-turn mat that determines the loser of the leg. ---
**Author:** ![Rudiger\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rudiger\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rudiger_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/37 "2015-02-27T19:43:48Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The phones: seem to be standardized models in specific colors given to each team. I noticed that the Lady Asian Lawyer was wearing a matching smartwatch. I suspect the racers have been encouraged to take lots of selfies and that the phones/watches/selfies will play some role in a future challenge. > > I hate the Bachelorization but it was less obnoxious in practice than I thought it would be this week. My guess is that they’ll use the SYNC feature of their fabulous Ford automobile in conjunction with the awesome Nokia Lumia. Maybe you can use your phone to parallel park your car into a 50’ long space? Or open the rear liftgate? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/38 "2015-02-27T20:00:42Z")
It is nice to see that the Ministry of Funny Walks is alive and well in Japan, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/39 "2015-02-27T22:50:52Z")
I just remembered that it’s on tonight. Since I couldn’t watch it Wednesday and had to watch it online yesterday, today just seems so quick! ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657/40 "2015-02-28T01:13:15Z")
Does anybody else get the idea that Lebya is anxious to get married, but CJ, not so much? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-26-2-25-great-way-to-start-a-relationship/713657.md?page=3)