The Amazing Race 9.14

Cafe Society
21

It’s still comical as hell remembering how Colin was bitching out in the ox field.

The man was wailing. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.

He would NEVER have found the clue had Christie not deigned to help and basically tripped over it.

Agree that my current amusement would roughly be increased by a factor of 1,000 had this in fact, been an elimination leg. Colin and Christie were talking muuuuuuch shit at the beginning of this episode.

Also: map reading skills are necessary, but better, IMO, is to have good rapport with taxi drivers.

Again, kudos to Chip and Kim – especially Chip’s brainstorm to get off the bus and catch a cab.

22

Nah, He (and Christie for that matter) is just hyper competitive.

23

The best part of the race for me was not just the yield, but the happy smiling faces of Chip and Kim giving C+C the yield.

The moms seem to have finally kicked it up a notch which is good to see. I’d root for them to win but their squels would knock out my tv’s speakers.

My SO and I just got done watching season 2 tonight* and on the last leg it was only 3 teams so I was sure that C+C would’ve been gone tonight what with next week being the finale.
*A brief word of advice, don’t try watching two seasons simultaneously. It tends to blend into one. Then again, there isn’t much difference in Wil and Colon’s assholishnesses.

24

Ox!? OX?!? The animal is not an ox. It’s called a carabao or water buffalo. It’s the traditional plough animal across the whole of Southeast Asia. Colin kept yelling “You stupid ox,” no wonder the poor animal wouldn’t cooperate. I wonder why their farmer didn’t help them lead the animal. I wonder why Christie didn’t think to do it herself?

25

Best hour of television EVER!

Granted, it would have been horribly satisfying to see C&C eliminated after all that, but still. Great episode.

The thing that got me about The Breakdown was that for once, Cristie lost it just as much as Colin. She’s got her dark side too. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they deserve each other, but I can see much more easily now why they’re together.

26

A couplea points–

  1. Um. For all that we’ve seen poor abused Christie and psycho Colin, I’m coming to the conclusion that she’s just as bad or worse than him. Note that in the (what was it called? The pimpmobile?) Colin was telling her that she was too intense? And then, sorry folks, I suspect I’m about to drop in everyone’s estimation, but if I were doing alone a task that was designed for two people and my partner was not only not helping, but hecking me while I’m standing knee-deep in yak-shit, I’d have thrown a handful of the stuff in her face. At least. Plus the “run them over” line. Her behavior (that we saw) was reprehensible enough to make me…welll…not forgive so much…understand Colin a little better.

  2. Kudos for Colin on one count-When he was yielded, he really really psyched Chip out by that creepy-ass stare of his. Good (perhaps unintentional) use of psychological warfare. (Plus, in addition to being good racers, Colin’s got balls. I couldn’ta done the tightrope act on the bridge that easily)

  3. I fully agree with Tangent–the Yield concept sucks. It turns a game of skill and luck into something a lot closer to a popularity contest. It doesn’t break the game or anything but it’s not a good sign–too “Survivor-esque”. I don’t like the teams being able to directly interfere with each other to that degree. I’m glad they tried something new, but I don’t like it, I think. (Plus, I suspect that the season after next, as people watch and learn the way the yields work) we’ll see them used a lot more and we’ll see them used, not as much for strategic reasons as personality reasons. I really don’t like that. This is (ideally) a game of skill, not of personality.

  4. I’m surprised that they didn’t ding C&C for not following instructions–they were supposed to use the ratchet/wheel thingie to get the first clue down.

  5. Has TAR ever gone around the world west-to-east?

  6. This may be one of the best TARs ever. There’s no-one I really despis (a-la Flo) and as a matter of fact, all the teams have some positive attribute.

  7. The Amazing Fenrisi Predicts:
    (No spoiler boxes 'cause it’s just a wild-ass guess.)
    I predict the final outcome to be:
    Winners: Team Blue Lagoon (bleh!) 'cause they made a fuss about Nichole giving up in the coming attractions.
    Runners up–Colin and Christie, Chip and Kim.
    Eliminated before the final leg- Moms (their lack of map skillz will kill them.)

Anyone else have a wild-ass guess? (Big request–if you see a spoiler or something somewhere else, please spoil-box it!)

Fenris

27

Jeepney. They’re called jeepneys. After World War Two, there were hundreds of jeeps left by the US Army. The Filipinos converted them to passenger service. Olive drab isn’t the most appealing of colors, so the jeeps were painted in gaudy colors and, uh, pimped out. Nowadays, color has unfortunately been replaced in favor of stainless steel and chrome.

Aside from calling the carabao an “ox” :rolleyes: this episode was actually a nice little slice of Filipino life. Jeepneys, rice paddies, ducks, coconuts, riding the bus from the countryside back to the city, grabbing a taxi right in the middle of a busy Manila street. Now if only they’d have a roadblock that featured eating balut…

28

“Ox” is often used as a general term for any large domesticated bovine, especially one used as a work animal. It doesn’t necessarily refer to any specific species. It wasn’t incorrect to call the animal in question an ox.

29

Sorry, I have never heard the term “ox” used to refer to anything other than cattle, Bos taurus or Bos indica, used as draft animals. The carabao is not just another breed of cattle, but a completely different species Bubalus bubalis.

30

This was the only time in the history of my watching reality TV I emphathised with a cow(yep I just called it a cow deal with it, :))

The poor thing was trying as hard as it could to do its job. It was pulling the plow with no direction from management, and doing its best to figure things out while a loud moron with no clue yelled at it. I totally understood the exasperated look in its eyes, because I have seen that same look in my mirror in a couple jobs.

I like Chip even more. All three teams were standing around with the same thought but nobody wanted to be the bad guy to do it until Chip produced the marbles to. ALthough I was a little disappointed at his wussyness crossing the beams.

P.S. So you women type people. Did the little episode with the mom’s map give you a hint why throwing the map down in a hissy fit and refusing to try and navigate is so obnoxious?

:slight_smile: just kidding.

31

Here is Gangster Octopus tonight

:slight_smile:
:stuck_out_tongue:
:wink:
:wally :wally :wally
:stuck_out_tongue:
:eek:
:stuck_out_tongue:
:eek:
:stuck_out_tongue:
:eek:
:slight_smile:
:stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
:frowning: :frowning:
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

32

Oh man. I predict Colin is going to main Chip sometime during the rest.

Even though (Chip & Kim) and (Brandon & Nicole) and (the Moms) all agreed to Yield (Colin & Christie), Chip was the one to go through with it and place the picture up while he was in first. It would have been better for him to quickly yell “Nobody!” and let one of the teams behind him root through the folder for the picture. Not that it took that much time, but when you’re in a three-way tie for first every second’s going to count, plus they pass the onus of being the bad guy off onto one of the other teams. Then (Brandon and Nicole) played suck-ups by nicely telling Colin where the jeepney was going as if they hadn’t agreed to hold (Colin & Christie) back.*

They didn’t find the clue with the plow either; Christie tripped over it. :wink:

*Parenthesized for entity simplification.

33

So much for history being on my side regarding this leg being elimination. I was right, though, that it was one incredible leg.

The best moment for me was when all three teams simultaniously attempted to Yield C&C.

I don’t see using the Yield any worse than using a Fast Forward. While obviously there was some editting involved C&C were certainly not a distant fourth, either. If they had done the detour well they might have been third. Everyone had the right idea and Team Psychos may well get yielded again next week. BTW, that look Colin was giving the teams at the Yield was downright creepy.

All of the teams did the exactly right thing hopping off the bus as quickly as they could, though I suspect the Moms would have rode it further if not for Brandon and Nicole hopping off. I was surprised to see that kind of thinking. Also, everyone worked the airports well with every team exploring as many possible connections as they could.

Chip and Kim played the race really well this week and I enjoyed Chip’s mantra as he went up the bridge. I know that I would be doing something similar in that situation (though being a hopeless geek I probably would have been saying, “I must not fear. Fear is the mindkiller.”). Their only real issue was the assembly of the decorations and that didn’t really seem to take that much longer than everyone else.

I have to take back what I said about the Bowling Moms, they are deep in the grip of fatigue and its not going to let go. There were a lot of little ways that it manifested throughout tonight’s leg. I don’t think they’re going to go into a full fledged breakdown ala Colin and Christie but they’re going to need a problem again to keep ahead. Still, it could happen. I did notice that they seemed to finish the detour at about the same time as Brandon and Nicole and considder there was maybe a five minute lead on Chip and Kim I think that it stands as a testiment to how easy the plowing was with a team that worked together and supported eachother. I know some people get annoyed at it, but enjoy their pessemistic outlook and simultanious ability to deal with it; the “We’re doomed but we’re going out kicking and screaming!” attitude is what has made them able to go this far and its an attitude that I wouldn’t mind seeing in other racers who too often can’t overcome the fact that they’re behind…

Brandon and Nicole show similar signs of fatigue but they haven’t really had a real problem from it yet. Maybe we’ll get lucky next week and they collapse entirely. Unless of course a break down from them lets Colin and Christie stay in the race in which case I hope they hold together one more leg.

Colin and Christie… well, I think they performed exactly as everyone was expecting them to perform. We’ve all been waiting for this and we got it. Colin trying to do the detour as a roadblock and screwing up badly, Christie going completely off the deep end with their driver (I was surprised that Colin wasn’t jumping down the driver’s throats). I loved that Colin was insisting that he do everything himself right down to the bus assembly. It would have been the perfect capper to the episode to have them wiped out.

I can’t wait until next week…

34

C&C may have been penalized for not using the wench, but a twenty minute time penalty when they’re last isn’t something that is brought up in the show. It will just show up in the departure time next week.

35

I figured out it was NEL as soon as Phil didn’t say, “The last team to check in will be eliminated” while introducing the pit stop. (That, and I was semi-spoiled about it last week…grrr.) Still, tonight was one of the most exciting episodes of this season.

Although I don’t hate C&C as much as everyone else seems to, I did shout a fist-pumping “YES!!!” when they missed their connection in Singapore. And again when they got Yielded. (Too bad only one person per leg can Yield, apparently…it would have been way cool if ALL THREE of them Yielded those bastards!) I wonder if there will be Yields in the next two legs? If so, I can’t wait to see them get Yielded again…twice!!

Still, I believe they’re gonna win. They may be evil but dammit, they know how to race. I predict C&K will take second, Blue Lagoon third, and the Bowling Moms a distant fourth. Actually, the only mystery for me is whether they will visit Alaska or Hawaii next week…certainly it will be one or the other. :slight_smile:

I’m not sure which part got the hardest laugh: Chip snoring, or Linda falling on her ass in the mud.

ISTR an interview with one of the producers who said that going east-west would be too big of a culture shock. (Or maybe it was some random message board speculation…can’t recall.) In any case, that would be a cute twist for season six (which starts in only a couple weeks! Yippeee!!!)

36

I wasn’t able to see the show last night (travelling) and I was hoping I could piece together what happened from everyone’s comments, but it’s still a bit disjointed. Could I trouble one of you for a brief recap, please?

37

This is pretty much as I remember it:

[spoiler]The 4 teams left in this order: 1) Colin&Christie 2) Moms 3) Brandon&Nicole 4) Chip&Kim. They need to leave the stop and head for some harbor, locate a particular boat and winch down the clue (which is hung in the rigging). This clue is a Roadblock.

The Moms get lost on the way to the harbor and fall in last place, otherwise the order is the same. The Roadblock involves boating out to beneath a bridge, climbing a ladder hung from the girders beneath the bridge, walking along the girders, then getting the clue and being lowered back down to the boat. Colin, Brandon, Chip, and Karen(?) do the roadblock.

Airport antics ensue, but everybody ends up on the same plane to the Phillipines. From the airport, everybody hops in taxis to the next point, a garage. Three teams agree to Yield Colin&Christie the first chance they get. The Yield is at the garage, and Chip sticks the Yield up on the sign (there’s also a “Yielded by:” picture, so you know who screwed you over while you wait).

The garage task is to pimp out a jeepney with mudflaps, seats, and assorted geegaws; I wasn’t really paying attention. The jeepney driver will then take you to the next point. Colin&Christie get there while the others work, and Colin stares a burning hole through Chip’s head. The Moms finish first, then BN, then CK. Colin and Christie wait.

The next point is a duck farm, and there’s a Detour: plow a shin-deep mudfield with a water buffalo (I don’t care what the heck it is, really) until the plow catches on a heavy rope with the clue on it, or herd a thousand ducks into a pen. Everybody goes for the plow.

The clue is directions to the Pit Stop. There aren’t any taxis at the farm, only buses passing by. The Moms and BN finish close enough to get on the same bus away from the farm. CK finish later and get a different bus. CC show up at the farm and have major trouble because they don’t realize that it takes both of them: one to plow and the other to steer. Colin tries to do both, and explodes in a ball of rage as his buffalo wanders all over the field. Christie literally trips over the clue when she finally decides to help.

If the editing’s to be believed, Chip and Kim decide to jump off their bus and get a cab first. The Moms and BN also decide to get off their bus at the same time and look for taxis. BN get a taxi almost immediately, and the Moms are stuck for an indeterminate amount of time waiting for another taxi to flag down. BN’s taxi has communication problems, or traffic problems, but whatever the reason they get bogged down. CC get a taxi.

The final order: 1) Chip&Kim 2) Moms 3) Brandon&Nicole 4) Colin&Christie. It’s non-elimination. Colin swears revenge.[/spoiler]

38

Thanks, BH, I’m sorry I missed it. Where was Christie’s “run them over” line in all that, and over whom did she wish to run?

I’m going to miss next week as well.

39

That line came from Christie when they were in the jeepney going to the location of the Detour and from what we could see, she encouraged the driver to run over either the cars which were blocking the roadway or (worse, and unsure) pedestrians we just caught glimpses of, who seemed to be waiting for a ride or waiting to cross the street and were standing a bit too far out into the flow of traffic.

I woke up my baby with my shriek of angered, betrayed disbelief when Phil said “However…” when C&C Sleaze Factory got to the Pit Stop. I still have a hard time believing that their arrogance, petulance and utter abbrogation of teamwork and decency (yelling at the Jeepney driver to run over people and holding an American cash bribe in the face of the taxi driver as an “encouragement” for him to break traffic laws were just sleazy, dirty, greedy, nasty and inappropriate) got rewarded with non-elimination.

The producers nearly lost me. I had to leave the room. I didn’t see the previews for next week, and I won’t, because I don’t watch a single other show on CBS. Probably for the best.

Anybody know if the show is still rebroadcast on Saturday? I might try to catch it again, as I neglected, for some reason, to TiVo.

40

Robot Arm!! Haven’t seen you around in a long time.
If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect you had been a contestant in the Amazing Race…wait a minute! Season 6 does start soon… :dubious: