# The (not so) Amazing Race (not around the world) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [March 20, 2024, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085 "2024-03-20T13:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/21 "2024-04-05T12:53:40Z")
I rewatched the first episode last night with my daughter, and I realized no one mentioned here mentioned Maya and Rohan, the most incompetent superfans I’ve ever seen. They literally drove down a very narrow road, that they could see came to a dead end, reached the bollards, and instead of backing out tried to make a 35 pt turn and somehow got their car stuck perfectly perpendicular to the road. Have they never seen [Austin Powers?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGiQOCX9UbM) > [@notfrommensa](#): > > A lot of incompetent teams in this edition. Zut would have most every team with 4 flat tires and stranded in the desert. Yeah, apart from Ricky & Cesar Cruisin’ with Earl, everyone else is Stopping for Gas at best. > [@DrDeth](#): > > I think this is the only time that no-one did a challenge, every did the other choice. According to this [reddit thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheAmazingRace/comments/wx1a6v/was_there_any_season_where_the_other_side_of_the/), it’s happened quite a few times. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > That always bugged me. “Yay! We got an earlier flight and beat the other teams by three hours! Oh…we can’t do anything for five hours and the other teams catch up.” They have to have bunching, or else you wind up with early season problems where teams are spread apart by 24 hours or more. At least when they have the “closed until 8 AM” locations they space the teams out in order of when they arrived. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/22 "2024-04-05T14:45:41Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > They have to have bunching, or else you wind up with early season problems where teams are spread apart by 24 hours or more. I get needing to have places where all the racers are back together but ISTM if navigating travel is part of the race then choosing planes/trains/taxis well (or getting lucky) to get ahead should give the racers an advantage and not just be made worthless when they arrive. And, I like the aspect of the racers having to deal with travel problems because that is a big part of travel. Otherwise, it is just a game show where the racers do various games in different locales. May as well be a studio set at that point. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/23 "2024-04-05T15:16:45Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Yet they still didn’t get eliminated because one contestant couldn’t orientate herself correctly. Speaking of which, I don’t think that team ever actually solved the map puzzle. They never showed her getting it right, and it was clear they got the clue to go to the pit stop well after the last team had checked in. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/24 "2024-04-05T15:31:21Z")
Well, last ep HE had his meltdown over the hill descent while THIS episode she completely failed with the map, so at least that should cut down on any blaming each other. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/25 "2024-04-05T15:35:25Z")
I think it is common for the show to stop the last team from finishing a task once all the other racers have checked in (when there are no non-elimination legs…which I also miss…or staggered starts). Why make them suffer once the result is known? ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/26 "2024-04-05T15:37:10Z")
And besides Phil wants to be able to go to bed at some point! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/27 "2024-04-05T15:49:14Z")
Though usually when they do that they send Phil to wherever the Racers are stuck to tell them they’ve been eliminated. It happened at least once last season. And sometimes Racers have arrived at a task where there’s a sign/clue “The task is closed, proceed directly to the Pit Stop at XYZ”. But I agree with AlsoNamedBort - I think she never finished it and the producers just told them to proceed to the Pit Stop. I also have to wonder if their Double Dutch Aerobics gym is going to suffer after these episodes, because whatever they’re teaching sure as hell isn’t working for them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/28 "2024-04-05T18:57:51Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > And besides Phil wants to be able to go to bed at some point! The last team got there after dark anyway. I do hope he has a folding chair and a cooler full of drinks on hand. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/29 "2024-04-05T23:41:38Z")
At least we got to see Phil do some “double dutching”. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/30 "2024-04-06T12:48:26Z")
Did team DDA lug jump ropes in their backpacks the entire race? ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/31 "2024-04-06T17:10:20Z")
I was saying to my wife, “This is really lopsided. Even the best dancers are going to take 10 minutes to learn and perform the routine — and none of these people are the best dancers — but the rebus takes about 20 seconds to solve.” And then the firefighters came in. Honestly, it seemed as if they didn’t understand how rebuses work. It’s been a rough week, saying farewell to my two favorite teams, the surfer dudes and the DDers (“Did somebody call for a cowboy?!” “I did! I did!”). Don’t know who I’m going to root for now. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/32 "2024-04-06T17:16:34Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > If this race is mostly in Latin and South America, Ricky and Cesar are going to have big advantage in navigation with Cesar? being fluent in Spanish. Cesar grew up in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish. One of the fighter pilots was born in Colombia and is fluent in Spanish. Someone else sounded fluent in Spanish, but I think it was the sister in the brother/sister team that was eliminated early on. The son of mother/son seems to speak Spanish well, albeit with a terrible accent. If I were on this race and didn’t speak Spanish, I’d be pissed that it stays entirely in Spanish-speaking countries (unless they go to Brazil, but still, that’s probably only one or two legs). ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/33 "2024-04-06T18:32:20Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > And then the firefighters came in. > > Honestly, it seemed as if they didn’t understand how rebuses work. I think that was literally true. “All who wander are not lost” ?? ! (But nice Tolkien shout-out). I grew up watching Concentration with Hugh Downs, so it was second nature. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/34 "2024-04-06T21:05:03Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > I was saying to my wife, “This is really lopsided. Even the best dancers are going to take 10 minutes to learn and perform the routine — and none of these people are the best dancers — but the rebus takes about 20 seconds to solve.” > > And then the firefighters came in. > > Honestly, it seemed as if they didn’t understand how rebuses work. > > It’s been a rough week, saying farewell to my two favorite teams, the surfer dudes and the DDers (“Did somebody call for a cowboy?!” “I did! I did!”). Don’t know who I’m going to root for now. That rebus had two issues- is it the Earth or the World, and the rat tail with the magnifying glass? But it wasnt _that_ hard. You were allowed to just say multiple guess and several teams had issues with those two- but got it right after several tries. I was happy to see the dude twins leave, but yeah the DD couple I will miss. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/35 "2024-04-12T04:51:56Z")
The K cousins finally got last place and out. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/36 "2024-04-12T06:11:27Z")
It’s Amber and Vinny I want to see go. Amber is ok(ish). Vinny’s a jerk. In this most recent episode (5?) she kept asking him to STFU as she climbed and he could not stop telling her what to do. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/37 "2024-04-12T19:51:06Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > t’s Amber and Vinny I want to see go. Amber is ok(ish). Vinny’s a jerk. Yeah, the Bickersons. 🙄 I am rooting for the Firefighters and the Military bros, but Ricky and Cesar are such a great team. of course, since the whole show has been in Latin America, they have a little advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/38 "2024-04-12T20:54:06Z")
The firefighters are strangely weak in the race. They are only just barely hanging on. Not sure what it is. They are smart and athletic but keep fucking up (navigation seems a problem). I want them to do better but I would not bet on them (although…they do manage to just hang in there somehow). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/39 "2024-04-12T21:07:39Z")
It seems like they are too used to satnav, and get turned around without it. They do great in most challenges (the rebus one an exception) , but they get lost too easy. I dont expect them to win, but I hope they dont get eliminated too soon. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085/40 "2024-04-12T23:06:52Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Honestly, it seemed as if they didn’t understand how rebuses work. I blame the fact that Concentration has been off the air for decades. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-not-so-amazing-race-not-around-the-world/999085.md?page=3)