Damn! This season just gets better and better. Except for the fact that the lack of sponsorship for this run is painfully evident. I think the two Fast Forwards are less a game design idea than a “we can’t afford to keep an extra, usually unused, attration open for our show on every leg” consideraton. And notice that the first team to complete each leg no longer gets a prize.
Colin/Christie: Colin’s an excellent strategist, but what a DICK! He’d rather stomp on Christie’s head than admit the possibility that he might have been wrong. Puts the caviar episode in sharp relief. Could they have taken the fast forward because Christie was still having gastric pains from all the caviar?
Charla/Mirna: These two are just tedious now, but nice clandestine airport maneuvers. Lost? Again?!?
Brandon/Nicole: The less screen time Team Blue lagoon gets, the happier I am. The less said, the better.
Chip/Kim: A class act, all the way. How teammates split the challenges is more or less irrelevant, as long as it doesn’t create tension between them. Do these two ever even argue? Chip showed more of the charity Christians espouse than Brandon could ever squeeze out of his tee-totaling anal pore. I’m rooting for this team now.
Marshall/Lance: We won’t have Tweedledumb and Tweedledick to kick around much longer. Marshall’s knees are not going to make it.
Kami/Karli: How these two manage to barely scrape by each week is truly amazing. I find their constant backbiting of the other teams to be tiresome at this point.
Linda/Karen: Injury? No money? Are they doomed? Woe unto you if you write these two off, as we are only one airline or attraction schedule away from an even playing field once again. Also, do you not recall the time in Season One when Team Guido got the Fast Forward and came in LAST on that (non-elimination) leg?
As long as teams work this out, it’s not a big deal. For instance, if my wife and I were in the race, you would see me do just about every roadblock because I would be faster, stronger, and less likely to get freaked out by tigers or a rat church. She would likely do the ones that involved a logic puzzle or finding something small in a big place. My strengths just happen to fall into the categories the roadblocks come in. I reckon the same with Chip. It’s really only irritating when one teammate does all roadblocks because the other whines about it.
scotandrsn
Actually, it was an elimination leg. Team Guido and Emily and her mom were the two teams that were clearly behind all others, but were neck and neck with each other. Both knew that the Fast Forward was the clear way to save their hides, so both went for it. The task was to pick a bowl of marbles (stones?) that was the exact amount needed to put one in each available bowl. After many failed attempts by both, Guido won. They took the Fast Forward and Emily/mom had to backtrack and do all tasks. They were disheartened and tried doing them, but got so discouraged by being unable to find a taxi in a challenge that they gave up and headed to the pitstop, thinking they had no hope anyway.
Meanwhile, Guido was so giddy about winning the FF that they went and got plane tickets (because the pit stop was actually in a different country) and then lounged around enjoying the city they were in. They made no effort for a great flight, figuring the FF made them golden. Turns out that once in the new country, the task to be done was quick so Guido didn’t really save time with the FF. They moseyed up to the pit stop, found out they were the last group to arrive. However, since Emily/mom didn’t finish a task, the time penalty led to them being eliminated instead. Sadly, if they had found the cab (even with more time searching) they still would have beat Guido to the pit stop.
I must say, that for all the Mirna hate I have, they did handle themselves pretty well on those horses, for never having ridden before.
I was quite disappointed that all of the teams didn’t get to do the horse option, because nothing’s funnier than people who can’t ride and are afraid of the animals getting on a horse. And leading a camel! Comedy gold! I really would have liked to see the pizza brothers try that.
The thing I really liked about Chip & Kim was how he was motivating her during the stone pulling section. The whole time he was like “come on pretty bird, you are doing so great!” I was just like “awww, I really hope they get far”.
For the rest of them, I’m not impressed.
Mullinator, I thought Team Guido were the two gay guys with the Chihuahua named Guido. They came in third place overall and were told that the race was over, while they were in Alaska, right?
Mirna saying Charla looked like a jockey sounded really mean to me. But, I wonder if they have that type of relationship, where Charla will accept jokes like that from Mirna.
And did I hear Mirna say “Bellisimo”(sp?)to a cab driver while in Russia? Isn’t that Italian?
I think I’ve figured out how Colin and Christie lose their seemingly insurmountable lead. Please note that this is entirely my own conjecture, based on knowledge of how the game works and what happened during past seasons. I haven’t read any spoiler sites. I place it behind spoiler tags nonetheless:
When Colin and Christie checked into the Pit Stop, the subtitle showed them arriving at 11:27 am (or thereabouts). Since the mandatory rest period is twelve hours long, this means that they must leave at 11:27 pm. The next task possibly doesn’t open until morning, giving the other teams a chance to catch up.
Even though Chip did all the hard work, I think Kim definitely contributed to the “well-oiled” machine with her efficiency. Contrast with Nicole.
I was bummed out when the Bowling Mom sprained her ankle, even though she didn’t exactly cripple the team (they was close to the twins, if we believe the editing).
Lets just say that foreign laguages aren’t Mirna’s strong point.
And I know she said it to more than just the cab driver.
I didn’t have a good chance to really sit down and enjoy the episode last night (I work funny hours so I Tivo the show; that’s something really useful for catching the multitude of interesting tiny details in the show), but upon rewatching it I’ve got to say that this was the best episode I’ve seen. I can’t remember another episode this entertaining. Great locals, great clues, great team action, great editting (one of the few times the commercial hit and I was thinking “That’s it; they’re out of the race.” was with the Bowling Mom’s airport problem): this was the perfect episode of The Amazing Race with the sole exception that one of the evil teams didn’t get eliminated.
One more thing, it was interesting to review the departure times as it gave a real clue as to the scale of the caviar problem. Brandon and Nicole were over an hour behind the teams that were eating at the same time they were. The twins were forty minutes behind the Bowling Moms. So Bob and Joyce were likely at least an hour behind everyone else (they didn’t get to the restraunt before the twins left).
When oh when will they put this show on DVD; it’s got to be the reality show that most rewards a rewatching…
I agree. I hope someday I have a husband half as supportive and motivating. I thought it was so sweet. Certainly better than Brandon berating Nicole. snort
Yah, Team Stupid Nickname were the evil gay guys from Season 1. IIRC, they were more than 12 hours behind, still in Alaska, as the first two teams went over the finish line in New York. They did the Roadblock, which involved one member stripping down to his skivvies and jumping into a frozen lake to retrieve the clue. All for naught. The clue informed them that they had already lost.
I think that Italian is their default foreign language. Back in Latin America, they kept talking to the Spanish-speaking populace in what sounded like Spanish with a heavy Italian accent.
You are correct, that is the same Team Guido. The Alaska leg you refer to is about 2 or 3 legs after the leg where they were “beaten” by Emily/Mom. Man, Ihave way too much casual knowledge of this show.
And yes, Mirna seems to randomly throw out horribly pronounced and mangled foreign phrases whereever she is. It’s like watching the bastard love child of Latka Gravas and Emily Litella. If Flo wasn’t enough to do it, I can promise you that this chick winning the race will be enough to keep me from ever watching it again.
Is there any international way to signify train other than “choo-choo”? Taxi works everywhere, aeroporto works most places, bus (with omnibus as a second try) is pretty common. But how about train?
Okay, I thought you had them confused with someone else. I forgot about the fast forward that screwed them up. And yes, you do have too much casual knowledge of this show.
If Mirna and Schmirna win, I hope Phil announces a new twist wherein only ONE of them would get the prize money and give all of the losing teams voting power over which of the two should win it. Charla would win the $1 million, hands down!
I had a similar thought last night. I think it would be neat to have a rule where the portion of the million you get depends on how many roadblocks you do.
Say my wife and I go on the show. The lovely Mrs. Trion does 7 roadblocks and I do 3. My wife would get $700,000 and I would get a paltry $300,00.
Unfortunately, with us it wouldn’t matter, all the money would go to us. You’d really need a season where the teams are made up of randomly paired people - which might be kinda cool all by itself.
Hey, wait a minute. Somebody get me FOX on the phone!
So, who wants to apply for The Amazing Race 6 with me? We could be the “Two People Who Have Never Met Before In Real Life But Probably Argue a Whole Lot on the Internet and Are a Trainwreck Waiting to Happen” couple. I’m really quite serious. My brother is pretty good friends with Kevin (of Kevin & Drew fame from season 1), so we may have an in.
