Yeah I really wonder what Brooke is like in her normal work… which is apparently as an attorney. How’d you like to have her handling your criminal case, or your divorce?
I’m particularly enjoying this season, and I think the concept is really working. Most of the teams are reasonably competent, with little of the artificial drama of prior seasons. It seems that, mostly, when you put two people who are interested primarily in winning the race, rather than working out prior (overt or hidden) interpersonal issues, it makes for good TV.
I’m a little surprised that they are doing so little to identify the teams or team members by much more than name. In the first show, I keyed off the people’s occupations or noted hobbies, and they have never come back to them.
I’m really liking Tara and Joey, who seem to be mature, centered, and generally competent at everything. They get things done with a minimum of fuss, though as an army officer and police sergeant, I guess that is in their job descriptions. I see them as in this for the long haul.
Team Fun, Becca and Floyd, are, well, fun. They seem to be enjoying themselves, and doing well at the race to boot. I fear that there will be some task that trips them up, but so far, full steam ahead on the fun express.
I’m a little pissed they put the U-turn right after flight which bunched up all the teams, which meant that it was little more than random chance who got there first. It cost us Seth and Olive, who I thought would go far, but just couldn’t catch up after doing both legs (and Olive is just cute as hell). On the other hand, the way Matt and Redmond powered through both legs show how strong they are as a team. I don’t really like them as people, but they have the possibility to go far. Still, I think that because they are both similar types of racers, they are the type of team where there could be some particular type of task that could catch them both in an area of weakness.
Michael and Liz, Michael in particular, seem to have a lot of cool competence, though they ran off the rails in the last episode. I think they can come back and stay strong.
Other than the fact that their name is cute, my reaction to Team LoLo is “who the heck are they?” There is also another team or two who don’t have a memorable name. I think it is the one where the woman is hurt or whining, unless there are two or three like that.
In Shamir and Sara, he was the one who was the whiny bitch. Far be it from me to wish scrotal pain on anyone, but I’m sort of glad he’s the guy who got his balls in the wringer. I can’t imagine what warm, caring and supportive things the guys around the trading desk will say to him about that when he comes home. I’m perfectly happy with them being booted.
Vanck and Ashton seem to be the classic geek and hot chick-type paring and falling squarely into the stereotypes. That they haven’t imploded yet is a testament to the fact that they both individually appear to be reasonably strong racers, though the fatal blow-up is no doubt around the corner.
So far, there is no team I hate (though that pretty team that got bounced in the first episode would be one if they had survived), and most of them are pretty darn appealing.
That’s Brooke and Scott. See our previous complaints about Brooke’s whinging. She’s a drama queen but he’s also a drama queen.
Damn, I hate that scheming, backstabbing shit. If I wanted to see that I’d just watch Survivor.
Why did everybody hate Vanck? It was Ashton who was the bitch.
Brooke complaining that someone wasn’t “her type of people” after yet another round of her yelling “I can’t!” is beyond ridiculous.
Another truly awful person.
From all they’ve shown us, Vanck and Ashton were working out their differences and becoming a good team. They’ve never shown Vanck being less than supportive, even when his partner was being rude to his face. I thought Vanck & Ashton handled themselves really well in the face of a tough situation.
Brooke, otoh, is just an awful human being and I don’t care for the rest of them, either, except for Tara & Joey.
I’ve got to wonder what they didn’t show us. I mean, for one team, or a couple, to take against someone for trivial or bigoted reasons, yes, happens. But it seemed that EVERY SINGLE team conspired against V&A. Surely there must have been some ‘offense’ larger than call for turns by degrees?
Bullies. They’re bullies, picking on the nerd. From some behind the scenes footage, I think the U-turn scheme was instituted by Brooke & Scott and Matt & Redmond. Others went along as they were just relieved they weren’t the target.
Wondering the same thing myself, I wasn’t aware they were so disliked by the other teams. I haven’t seen indications of that so are they editing out too much information it might be good to know?
I think the teams spend their time together when they are not actively racing (e.g. in the rest breaks, on flights, etc.), so Vanck and Ashton may have been pissing everyone else off off-course. Most of the other competitors seem to be relatively down-to-earth and good-natured people, but I can see how both Vanck and Ashton, each in their own way, could give off this superiority vibe that could really rub the others the wrong way, particularly if you had to spend 16 hours a day with them. They did seem to be getting along better, and working out their issues, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they fell apart and cratered in another week or so if they hadn’t been bounced now.
The two best things about this episode were Lake Como, which was shockingly beautiful, and the practically visible waves of joy that were radiating from Becca when she had rock under her fingers and toes. Seeing that made me really understand better what makes her tick. I’m glad they edged out Matt and Redmond to win the leg. They really are Team Fun, and I’m glad to be along with them for the ride.
But Oh Lord, sweet mother of mercy, did I just want Brooke to fall off that cliff and break her mouth. I know it is emphasized by the editing, but the near-constant whinging and self-doubt makes me wonder why the heck she came on the show in the first place. I guess that it is her method of dealing with difficult situations (and we all have our coping methods), but boy, does it suck the energy from everyone around her. Her teammate is a saint for cheerleading her through it all without complaint (other than a meaningful look to the camera here or there).
Tara and Joey are still class and competence all the way. They didn’t win this leg, but I suspect that it was merely because they chose the task that took a fairly fixed amount of time, as opposed to the task that was powered through by a professional and an amateur enthusiast. (I always enjoy where one of the tasks is something that falls squarely within a competitor’s central skill set; it’s usually fun to watch, if slightly unfair.)
I’m glad Michael and Liz are working out their difference. I still like them and think they are a strong team. Matt and Redmond remain solid. And Team LoLo, to the extent I notice them at all, hasn’t shown me anything to explain why they are anything other than a generic, mid-grade team that will quietly disappear one of these weeks.
Team LoLo baffles me because on paper they should be a good team. They’re young, fit, and seem to get along well enough. Yet somehow they’ve managed to finish in the bottom half every single leg so far. They have the worst average finish of all the teams remaining, even someone behind Brooke and Scott.
Mike has an ugly vindictive streak, complaining about Team LoLo not helping them out when he had helped them previously. When did they ever help LoLo out? And with only six teams left, you need every advantage you can get. LoLo were in the back of the pack and knew it. They were right not to help out Liz and Mike.
I agree, team Lolo should be doing better, in fact I think they should be one of the better teams, I’m not sure what to make of them.
the best ever FF I remember were when a team had to shave their heads… the man was already bald and the wife long hair… I felt so bad for her and she did it… they ended up winning I think. Then the FF where they had to get a tattoo.
My all time favorite contestants were the cousin team and one was a little person and the other wasnt and she made her little person cousin carry a side of beef. That was the best.
For those who miss Vanck (or is it only me?), London of Team LoLo had him as a guest for her Youtube show that she does with her sister. He brought over some champagne, which they proceeded to finish off through the show. Drunken Vanck seems pretty chill.
What’s with the androgynous names this season? I missed the first episode this season; wasn’t sure which one was Vanck and which was Ashton, or who’s London and who’s Logan.
Try having kids in Kindergarten. “Is that a boy Dylan, or a girl Dylan?” “Oh, right, the girl Dylan is in your sister’s class.”
It was a good, solid episode this week, and there is now no question which are the stronger teams and which are the weaker.
At the top are are Matt and Redmond, Tara and Joey, and Becca and Floyd.
I could see any of those teams winning it all. Matt and Redmond took the lead with their usual unflashy competence this week. Joey was a beast with the luggage cart, and I think the judge of the mask competition was extremely generous in giving Tara a “belissimo”, but they always do well and tend not to get flapped. I always think the singing/dancing tasks are highly risky, largely because I would fail miserably if forced to do them, but Becca and Floyd did just fine, and looked cute as heck wearing their Gondolier shirts.
I would be quite glad those three were the final three, but I suspect that at least one of them will be knocked out by either the vagaries of the game, or because they get strategically targeted at the upcoming U-turn. (And isn’t it unusual to have three U-turns in a season?)
On the bottom are Logan and London, Liz and Michael, and Brooke and her long-suffering partner, Whatshisname.
LoLo performed adequately as usual, and may well make it to the final three if a strong team gets knocked off, but the they remain essentially a placeholder for indifferent, middling team. People are finally starting to tell Brooke to piss off, which is a good thing, and her partner realizes that his he has little choice to be her emotional support slave, stifling every urge to push her into one of Venice’s scenic canals. I was really worried when chose Brooke to go off to to the mask task, but she, after a few minutes of whinging and whimpering, she seems to have fallen into a task that she was pretty good at, so managed to catch up a few places. That left Liz and Michael screwed when Liz took just a little longer to complete her mask. However, they got lucky for a second time when this was a non-elimination leg. I certainly think they are better than Brooke and her lapdog, and if they keep their emotional shit together, they can knock off LoLo, but they have to step up their game from where they are now to do so.
I fear that next week’s U-turn will lead to a result that disappoints me.
Wow, that was a terrible leg for Michael and Liz and they were still in it right up through the Roadblock. How far out of their way did they drive and they still got to the wedding before Becca & Floyd?
Michael can be a stubborn ass, but he was right about one thing, that was a dick move from Brooke to U-Turn them after promising she wouldn’t.
Brooke finally accomplished a task without whining. They should have more tasks where if you whine you automatically fail.