Yes, I know. I was only pointing out that if they got to the Yield first, they wouldn’t have had to worry about Oswald and Danny yielding them.
My sister lives in Chicago. How far is that from you guys? Maybe I can come out and visit. I’ll bring my TAR Season 1 DVD’s. … What?
Actually, one of the Outcasts was Lil, who was voted back into her original Morgan tribe, and then ended up finishing in 2nd place, to Sandra. Burton finished 5th, so they actually did pretty well, unlike Andrew, who got hosed by this twist.
Back on actual topic …
I think her point was not using the Yield, but the timing in using the Yield. I kind of agree with her: I would much rather use the Yield before a Detour, when you’re not sure how long either option might end up taking, than I would before a “take-a-number” task. Especially in the case of Eric, because all it did is piss him off, and he’s one of those guys who does well under those circumstances.
Not that the teams really had much of a say in when to use the Yield on this leg. This was actually really crappy leg design, I think. It’s really stupid to put a combo hours-of-operation and take-a-number task so close to the end, and it’s even more stupid to put the two Yields so close together.
And I love how Mirna was standing outside the Mini Moke, pulling on the bumper, like she could move it off the curb that way.
Are we assuming that? Why on earth would the producers do that? Head’s up to them if they are planning that—there is nothing special about a team who had 2 tries at winning TAR and failed to do so both times. Nothing! And if you’re just assuming that because you love Rob and Amber…well, different strokes for different folks, I guess.
I liked Treasure Hunters too (Go Team Southies! Boo Team “Geniuses”!) if for no other reason that Team Miss USA exploded the image of the vacuous beauty queen reality show contestant that a few of our TAR beauty queens unfortunately perpetuated. They raced, er, I mean hunted hard and smart, had a good sense of humor about themselves and weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.
BTW, it was Team Grad Students who were sidelined by injury, not Team Miss USA. Which was too damn bad because those women were tough. Two of them portaged a canoe for miles and carried their injured teammate the whole distance.
As I recall, the prevailign opinion while TH was on was that TAR could take a lesson on puzzle and clue design from them and rely less on the “go here, do that” sort of “clues” they mostly do.
On preview, agree with rockle on what Mirna meant by her speech, but since the teams have no control over where the Yield is placed she still sounded like a moron. They use the Yield where it’s placed or they don’t use it. Does she think they can drag the Yield sign around the streets with them and plop it down wherever they please? God I hate her.
Do we know for sure how much of the placement of Fast Forwards, Yields, NELs and the like is random? Like, does Bertram pull a numbered lottery ball out of a velvet bag to determine what leg has a Yield and what-not?
I also thought it was a good idea (on the Cha’s side). Not so much for the BQs. They knew they had a 4 hour lead on E&D and the Yield was at the beginning of the leg (and one team had a 30 minute penalty to go). They probably could have been yielded and still made it without problems.
Other than that, the Chas did a horrible job of racing that leg. They bought business class tickets instead of economy class (which wasted money) they didn’t drop the cab driver from hell. They didn’t ask for directions immediately when carrying the heads, when getting to the detour, when going to the pit stop, when going to the cars. They just floundered. They deserved to be gone for bad navigating. I was happy that they weren’t (I don’t want anyone else to win), but they played this round very poorly.
I’m also surprised how much money the BQs have when they hire cabs everywhere. I don’t think they’ve ever looked at a map, they just hire a cab and follow it. It’s a strategy that works for them as far as navigating goes, but I thought it would be more financially painful. It seems not to have been at all. How much did Danny pay for those newspapers?
Didn’t notice the business class thing although I did notice what appeared to be a lingering shot on an “economy class” sign when another team bought their tickets. I think their biggest problem was that when the cabbie took them to the end of the Detour first before picking up the dragon head they got flustered and stopped thinking. That and Danny picking a bad time to get assertive and Oswald’s decision to become passive at the same time, about finding the boats again, is what cost them. But had everything else gone step for step exactly the same it appears (at least from the editing) that had the cabbie not taken them to the wrong place initially they would have beaten Team Scumbag’s penalty time.
Ssssh! Don’t tell anyone I got it wrong – I have a rep to protect, you know!
Mmmph. Kind of an unexciting episode; we’re lucky there was at least some drama in finding if Eric & Danielle would make it through their 30-minute penalty. (and there was Mirna, who’s always good for some unassisted drama.)
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 cares?
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Danny & Oswald - (down from “Cruisin’”) - Poor navigation (by both their cab-driver and themselves) did this team in, in a leg where they should have had no problem coming in first. I think even the Detour option they chose wasn’t as hard as they made it. They’re very, very lucky this was a non-elimination leg. Now they need to hope some other team makes a key mistake next week; otherwise this team that once seemed like a shoo-in for final three will be the last team eliminated.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Charla & Mirna - (holding steady) - It suprises me how, week after week, the comedy of errors that is Charla & Mirna keeps surviving. And here they are on the cusp of making it to the final three. They seem to actually make some progress in between all the drama.
"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.
Eric & Danielle - (up from “Flat Tire”) - A nice, focused leg of Racing this week. They blew through the tasks as fast as they could, ending up not-last despite starting last, being Yielded, and incurring a 30-minute wait time at the mat. If they can keep their concentration intact, they look proetty good to make it into the final three.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Dustin & Kandice - (holding steady) - In a sense, I don’t think their decision to Yield Eric & Danielle by proxy was right–it cost them money that they could have used later. If, however, they had an inkling that Danny & Oswald would have Yielded them, it may have been the right thing to do. In any case, Dustin & Kandice have been by far the most consistent team over the last few legs, and they look good going into the last couple episodes.
Next week: Charla & Mirna seem to do something useful (surprise, surprise), and Danielle’s useless once again (no suprise there).
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
Everytime someone gets all moralizing and going on about karma over using the Yield and such-like, I miss Rob. The cheerful way that he screwed people over without a trace of false angst or bad My Name is Earl impersonations really endeared him to me.
Such as, for example, her speech at the top of the show in which she sainted herself for how she bravely endures having a short partner. Who she makes do all the hard tasks like walking in armor and jumping off tall buildings because Mirna is too much of a wimp to do them, and who she gripes at for not learning how to drive stick despite being too small to drive cars that aren’t modified for her.
God I hate her.
I don’t know…it seemed to bother Oswald a hell of a lot more than Danny…he was pretty much like “gotta do what ya gotta do” and it didn’t look like it bothered him that much.
I just want to reaffirm that watching Kandace hop up and down with her legs wrapped around the pole with that little smirk on her face was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen on broadcast TV.
When I was watching it, as I saw the little smirk I figured she was thinking to herself “yeah, bet there’s a lot of freeze framing going on right about now”. Like they both knew that every guy watching that scene was going to get a thrill over it, and found it amusing.
I’m surprised no one has commented on Dustin & Kandace’s little fib at the end. They told Eric & Danielle that they gave Danny & Oswald money to use their yield, but that they didn’t tell them who to yield. That can only make matters worse for D & O because now it makes them look even more like the bad guy to everyone. After they shook on it, Oswald said under his breath, “I’m not happy.” Was this because he had wrongly assumed that the D & K would have them yield Charla and Mirna?
Not so much a fib, as not telling the whole truth. And ethically/morally, it really was D&O who did the yielding and who bear the Karmic Responsibility for the Wrath of Eric, not the Beauty Queens…but, whatever. I agree with all others who can’t stand the ranting about the Yield, and how using the features built into the race rules is some EEEEvvvil.
And about the pole-bouncing…either the BQ’s were oblivious to the situation, or the Amazing Editors dropped the ball (or were suddenly stricken with moral rectitude). They let the whole spectacle pass without so much as a double-entendre, leaving it up to our fevered imaginations.
What more was needed? I mean at that point I believe my ears had shut down anyway so I wouldn’t have heard a thing.
I actually came away from this episode with a grudging new respect for Eric and Danielle. I have to admit they can really come from behind. Initially I thought the BQ’s shouldn’t have bothered to ask for them to be Yielded since they already had a 30 min. time penalty, but after seeing how much time they made up they made the right choice. As annoying as they are about Yielding morality and how much they bitch about everything, they are tough competitors and I wouldn’t want them in the final 3 either.
I am trying to figure out how the Schmirna’s are still in this thing too. As far as I can tell, it is a combination of luck, other teams messing up big time, and the fact that no one really hassles them or tries to eliminate them because they don’t consider them real competition. If I were one of the other teams, I would want them in the final 3. If it were the Schmirnas who were targeted for yielding instead of Eric and Danielle, I bet they would be gone by now.
The producers like to keep the teams close for the finale, and it usually comes down to a lot of fast / athletic tasks and running to the end, sometimes with a puzzle for good measure. There’s no way the Schmirnas can win with that kind of leg. If you throw in driving a stick shift somewhere, they are goners for sure.
You’ve apparently never been in fifth grade if you don’t associate “ride the pony” with a double entendre.
Hmmm… must’ve been home-schooled, or in a coma, that year.
Note that this is the Schmirna’s second Race, and she *still * can’t drive a stick…and yet, here we are. God looks out for fools, drunkards, and psychotic Syrian-American racers.
I think Erik is a tough competitor; he and his [del]boyfriend[/del] former teammate did come in second on their Race. Danielle is a fleshy millstone around his neck who didn’t contribute much to her team last time and really doesn’t contribute much now. I’d rather have them against me in the final leg than Schmirna, assuming it doesn’t come down to a foot race, because as bad a couple of Racers Schmirna are, they have a profoundly irritating habit of striking lucky.
They should put that on their damn t-shirts.