[QUOTE=rockle]
Yup – that Fast Forward and that Detour option are both in my Top Five Amazing Race tasks ever. I think I love Hong Kong oh so very much.
[/QUOTE]
I actually thought that was the lamest FF ever. Yeah, it looked like a ton o’ fun, but where’s the challenge? All you have to do is sit there. It’s not like they’re going to die. Make 'em climb something, navigate something, shave something, or God help us, even eat something. Just sit there? Boo.
[QUOTE=jayjay]
I’m thinking that Intersected FFs don’t count toward that, if only because it would be supremely unfair if one of the intersected teams had previously taken a FF but the other hadn’t. You choose your intersection team before you open the envelope, right? There’s no way to know if there’s an FF in there until you open the envelope.
[/QUOTE]
That’s probably true, and if it is, it’s a sucky rule. It happened in reverse of the way you describe, anyway; the Intersection was first. So what were the consequences; IF there had a been another Intersection, and IF Oswald & Danny had teamed up with Uchenna & Joyce again, and IF there had then been a Fast Forward, only then they couldn’t have taken it? Taking the first Fast Forward is hardly a head-scratcher, is it.
There’s only three Fast Forwards on the whole race, anyway. If each team is only allowed one, then Intersections should damn well count.
PAR, thanks for the recap. Finding an alternate source for airline tickets isn’t cheating, or dishonest, but I can’t blame Dustin & Kandace for being annoyed about it. I’d hardly expect them to give up first place in line to look for something better. Now, what was with all the squabbling over stand-by order on the other flight. When Danny & Oswald got on the first flight, they tried to give their stand-by slot to Charla & Mirna? Should that have put them ahead of the Beauty Queens, or not?
I want Mirna gone next. Trying to work favors at the airline counter by calling everyone “friend”, and concocting some alliance are not why I watch. If I wanted scheming, I’d watch Survivor. Plus, there were her catty remarks about the Beauty Queens. From what I can tell, the BQs are just damn good racers.
Oh, and did all the Danny & Oswald fans notice him outright lying to that first cab driver in Hong Kong?
[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
one NEL penalty that ran smack into a charter bus schedule that kept them from recovering.
[/QUOTE]
I think those charters were supposed to be a lot closer together. Problem is the two last place teams couldn’t even get on the provided flights. And the Guidos barely made the second charter. I’m willing to both were moved back, and that second even farther back so they could get everyone on a bus.
Or, in other words, it was originally better planned and the plans fell through horribly.
Anyway, the Yield isn’t playing dirty. I don’t particularly like the BQs, but their decision to yield was good racing.
The Kung Fu Fighting was an awesome detour. I want to do that. And I’m afraid of heights. C&M do very well in airports, but they lost a ton of time switching between detours and going to the wrong ferry.
[QUOTE=Robot Arm]
PAR, thanks for the recap. Finding an alternate source for airline tickets isn’t cheating, or dishonest
[/quote]
It’s called strategy.
If they haven’t the smarts to try other, better ways to get their tickets, boo hoo. Everybody has stepped up their air ticket strategy game - these two want to get by on pretty, I guess.
Ninjas! Kicking down doors! Flipping over cars! Only a random TANK could be better!
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
John Vito & Jill and Kevin & Drew and David & Mary and Rob & Amber and Teri & Ian and Joe & Bill and Uchenna & Joyce- Who are these people again?
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Eric & Danielle - (down from “Rapido!”) - Eric & Danielle were essentially screwed not by anything they did, but by what the other teams did better–namely, airport wrangling. But them’s the breaks, too bad so sad, and they’re lucky not to already be eliminated. Next episode, however, will be a challenge for them. They need a leg that provides some bunching up front and a series of tasks where they can seperate themselves from trailing teams. They can’t really count on another team doing something stupid, not at this stage in the race, and they’re prime targets for a strategic Yield. It will be interesting to see when Eric & Danielle start next week vis a vis Charla & Mirna, because I’d like to know if Eric’s erratic, no-directions driving actually hurt this team or if it was standard TAR hype.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Charla & Mirna - (holding steady) - Ooo, a nearly disastrous ferry mistake! Who’d a thunk that from this team? I’m still not quite sure why Charla & Mirna didn’t incur a penalty on this leg, when the instructions clearly said to “take the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island,” and they took some other ferry instead. Anyway, Charla & Mirna are in better shape than Eric & Danielle, but they’re clearly outclassed by Danny & Oswald and Dustin & Kandice.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
No one this week.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
No one this week.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Danny & Oswald - (holding steady) - Nice, nice airport maneuvering by Danny & Oswald in this episode leads to a hefty lead, a fast-forward, and a first-place finish. Barring a meltdown, Danny & Oswald ought to easily cruise into the final three. However, it might be significant that Danny & Oswald have run out of money–if they’re unable to pay for a taxi at a critical moment, they might be screwed.
Dustin & Kandice - (holding steady) - All the airport drama essentially came to naught, as both Dustin & Kandice and Charla & Mirna got on the same flight. But while Charla & Mirna dithered and made mistakes, Dustin & Kandice powered through the Detour and the Roadblock for an easy second place.
Next week: a Yield, and we are coyly led to believe teams join up to Yield Dustin & Kandice…or do they? The obvious team to Yield would be Eric & Danielle, because they would be so easy to knock out of the race.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
[QUOTE=Draelin]
The BQs were so pissed because, if I remember right, they were the first ones at the airport. That’s it. No playing dirty, just playing different. You didn’t think of going directly to the airline office? Too bad, is what I say.
[/QUOTE]
This is the exact same thing that bothered me about Eric getting his panties in a knot last week, too: Everybody knows it’s a race, so you can’t really get pissed off when people out-race you. Well, I mean, you can, obviously, but you shouldn’t. It is not a reasonable expectation that other people are just going to drop everything and let you pass them. “Honoring the line” is only a valid concept if all parties agree to it. Race smarter. And for the love of God, stop whining! This was not the first time that the BQ’s saw Danny and Oswald use their patented airline office technique. At this point, you would think that they’d know to follow D&O around.
Mirna doesn’t do anything other Racers haven’t done since the beginning; she’s just louder about it, and doing it in a random accent. And anyway, Mirna is not nearly as catty as Danielle, I don’t think, and even she’s got nothing on Eric. He’s the bitchiest cuss I ever saw. No matter what Mirna says about the BQ’s and their padded bras, it’s not ever going to be as bad as calling someone a “dirty pirate hooker,” nor is it as insulting as some of the things that Eric said on his last Race about his own current girlfriend. (Can’t find a cite yet, but I’ll keep looking – I know there was a lot of talk about it in the TAR9 threads, but I can’t find any specifics just yet.)
[QUOTE=zut]
I’m still not quite sure why Charla & Mirna didn’t incur a penalty on this leg, when the instructions clearly said to “take the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island,” and they took some other ferry instead.
[/QUOTE]
Their taxi driver accidentally took them to the Star Ferry terminal on Hong Kong Island, and they rushed to board a boat that was about to leave. It took them back to the mainland side. During the ride, they figured out the problem, stayed on board, and rode it back to the island. Strictly speaking, they fulfilled the instructions, and it might not have cost them any time at all.
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
It’s called strategy.
[/quote]
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
If they haven’t the smarts to try other, better ways to get their tickets, boo hoo. Everybody has stepped up their air ticket strategy game - these two want to get by on pretty, I guess.
[/QUOTE]
Well, a couple things. First of all, if I was outfoxed by other teams in a game for a million bucks, I’d be annoyed, too. That’s not a reflection on the propriety of the other team’s actions, it’s just annoying in general to be outfoxed.
Second, and more important, there’s a couple things going on here (as I recall from the episode). Both Danny & Oswald and Charla & Mirna got on top of the standby list on China Air (the first flight). However, only Danny & Oswald got on top of the Malasian Air standby list.
When Danny & Oswald got on the Air China flight, they gave their standby code for Malaysian Air to Charla & Mirna. Charla & Mirna then claimed that, because they had this code, they ought to be at the head of the line, before Dustin & Kandace, despite the fact that it was Danny & Oswald who had obtained the code.
So Dustin & Kandace’s beef wasn’t that they’d been outmanouevered by Charla & Mirna, the beef was that they hadn’t been outmanouevered by Charla & Mirna. I think you could make an argument either way here, and I don’t blame either Dustin & Kandace or Charla & Mirna for arguing as vociferously as they could.
[QUOTE=Robot Arm]
Their taxi driver accidentally took them to the Star Ferry terminal on Hong Kong Island, and they rushed to board a boat that was about to leave. It took them back to the mainland side. During the ride, they figured out the problem, stayed on board, and rode it back to the island. Strictly speaking, they fulfilled the instructions, and it might not have cost them any time at all.
[/QUOTE]
Ahhhhh… it wasn’t clear to me that the ferry they were on was another Star Ferry. That’s OK; it made the episode much more exciting when I thought Charla & Mirna would have to sit out a 30-minute penalty at the end, giving Eric & Danielle a chance to catch up.
So at this point it looks like the final leg (is next week the two-hour finale?) is going to be The Chas, the BQs, and…
…some team that isn’t going to give either of them a serious challenge.
The problem with the airport scenario is that it acts as a sort of anti-bunching point. Four teams arrive at the airport, and the ticket counter is closed. The first place team has an interest in holding their place at the counter. The last place team has nothing to lose by looking around for some kindly office drone to help them. If they can’t find anyone, they come back to the counter and they’re still last in line. If they do find someone, it leapfrogs the last place team to first.
Plus, airlines sell a limited commodity, and they’re all about first-come-first-served. They have stand-by lists and those little cattle chutes at the ticket counter to enforce the idea. So, if some guy in the back office is willing to book tickets before the counter opens, shouldn’t he check to make sure there aren’t more people waiting?
It’s not a big deal, it’s just not my favorite part of the Race.
[QUOTE=zut]
…I think you could make an argument either way here, and I don’t blame either Dustin & Kandace or Charla & Mirna for arguing as vociferously as they could.
[/QUOTE]
Especially the very next leg after a team was eliminated when their failure at airport wrangling dropped them back 24 hours.
[QUOTE=amarinth]
I think those charters were supposed to be a lot closer together. Problem is the two last place teams couldn’t even get on the provided flights. And the Guidos barely made the second charter. I’m willing to both were moved back, and that second even farther back so they could get everyone on a bus.
Or, in other words, it was originally better planned and the plans fell through horribly.
[/QUOTE]
After further thought, you’re probably right, amarinth. It would make editorial sense to manipulate the times of the charter buses to keep the teams more-or-less together. Since the production staff controls the charters, that’s probably how they handled the BQs having a very large lead, of about 18 hours over Guido. So had there not been so much air travel screwage, Guido might have been able to overcome the NEL penalty.
Task-wise, I loved this leg. It’s the one leg I’ve seen in the few seasons I’ve been watching where I would have loved to do all the tasks. Of course, we all could have done without the airport drama.
I noticed that all teams after D&O assumed that D&O would’ve taken the Fast Forward, and we were not shown any team checking to see if they had actually done so. This is a good assumption; D&O were using a resource-denial strategy, making sure that nobody else could overcome their first-flight lead. Strategy would’ve been different had another team been on the first flight into Hong Kong, but hey, them’s the breaks.
The preview for next week “showed” that Danny & Oswald team with Eric & Danielle against one of the other teams. Given how much the editing seeks to screw over our perceptions, does anybody want to take a bet on the Beauty Queens teaming with Charla & Mirna out of raw practicality? (They did so before at the Intersection point.)
[QUOTE=Scuba_Ben]
The preview for next week “showed” that Danny & Oswald team with Eric & Danielle against one of the other teams. Given how much the editing seeks to screw over our perceptions, does anybody want to take a bet on the Beauty Queens teaming with Charla & Mirna out of raw practicality? (They did so before at the Intersection point.)
[/QUOTE]
The voice-over said something about a “surprise” partnership between two teams. Given that they “showed” a partnership between Danny & Oswald and Eric & Danielle to Yield Dustin & Kandace, but didn’t actually say team names, that leads me to believe the partnership is between two other teams.
Dustin & Kandace and Charla & Mirna would seem to be the biggest “suprise.” Also, I’ll say right now that whatever team is second-to-last next week had better use the Yield, or else they’re stupid and deserve elimination.
I, too, got a kick out seeing Charla’s roller-sneaks…and being pushed through the airport on the baggage cart.
This was the first time in two races that Charla and Mirna have done well at a physical challenge and had fun doing it. <snerk: Mirna kung-fu kicking on a bamboo scaffold>
[QUOTE=zut]
The voice-over said something about a “surprise” partnership between two teams. Given that they “showed” a partnership between Danny & Oswald and Eric & Danielle to Yield Dustin & Kandace, but didn’t actually say team names, that leads me to believe the partnership is between two other teams.
Dustin & Kandace and Charla & Mirna would seem to be the biggest “suprise.” Also, I’ll say right now that whatever team is second-to-last next week had better use the Yield, or else they’re stupid and deserve elimination.
[/QUOTE]
I meant to say something about this earlier. I don’t think Dustin & Kandace are going to get involved in any Yield-related drama, because they’ve already used the Yield and can’t use it again. What I’m most afraid of? Is Eric & Danielle and Mirna & Charla teaming up and using the Yield on the Chas. It actually makes sense, in a weird sort of way – Eric & Danielle would not Yield the BQ’s, I don’t think, to “prove” that they don’t need to “cheat” to beat anyone, and they don’t view Mirna & Charla as “real” competition. Danny & Oswald are the only team left who are not so distracted by interteam squabbles that it has impacted their racing.
[QUOTE=Robot Arm]
So, if some guy in the back office is willing to book tickets before the counter opens, shouldn’t he check to make sure there aren’t more people waiting?
[/QUOTE]
No. Why? They’re about selling tickets, not about grade-school line monitoring.
[QUOTE=scotandrsn]
So at this point it looks like the final leg (is next week the two-hour finale?)
[/QUOTE]
The site has four more episodes; possibly two hours next week to whittle down to three teams and two for the last episode. Or aren’t we about due for a ‘the race so far’ recap episode?
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
The site has four more episodes; possibly two hours next week to whittle down to three teams and two for the last episode. Or aren’t we about due for a ‘the race so far’ recap episode?
[/QUOTE]
Wikipedia claims a 1 hour finale episode will be aired 3 weeks from now. So that sounds like a double-length leg to wear people down. And I don’t mean just the racers, I include us viewers. (I don’t call this season bad, just that it’s turned on airline schedules and flights far too often, especially the last 4 legs.)
Great episode! Loved the detour task…and the roadblock. The FF was interesting to watch, and probably a lot of fun to do, but nothing really there to compete about. Not like the ‘find the right change’ fast forward from season 1. I also didn’t think Mirna and Charla were entitled to Danny and Oswald’s place on the standby list. If your name isn’t Dann or Oswald, then you don’t get that spot. I can understand the BQs being upset. That would have irritated me. I think what bothers me personally most about Mirna is that she acts like she’s not doing anything wrong by stuff like that. It’d be different if in a later video she admited that she really had no right to that spot, but that at this point in the race she had no choice but to try everything she could to get on that flight. Instead she acts like “but of course I’m entitled to someone else’s spot on the list!”
edited to add: One thing I wondered about the ferry thing with Mirna and Charla. I thought when I saw it at first that they had gotten onto the ferry at the Hong Kong terminal and were ridding it to another location rather than the one they should have started on. Googling real quick I see that there are 3 possible routes. I wonder if it mattered which terminal you left from as long as it was on a Star ferry going to Hong Kong.
[QUOTE=rockle]
What I’m most afraid of? Is Eric & Danielle and Mirna & Charla teaming up and using the Yield on the Chas.
[/QUOTE]
Oh, what a horrible (yet plausible) scenario.
I feel slightly chilled and must lie down.
Edited to add that one of the Google ads at the bottom is asking what kind of Mom I am, and another is suggesting relaxation techniques. On top of everything else, now I feel judged.