Effing bunching. I don't necessarily feel bad for Lori and Bolo--Adam and Rebecca were behind 1.5 hours heading to Galle because they missed a train by a matter of minutes. So I don't feel like the size of L & B's lead over A & R was completely deserved. On the other hand, a bunching point 45 minutes in to the episode completely destroys the flow of the race. That said, I really liked the tasks--elephant polo is good. And the Lion Rock seemed pretty damn cool. I didn't mind the blessing from the one dude, nor the 4x400 relay in Addis Ababa. I just wish the leg could have existed without bunching. Oh well.
Also, I remember when TAR went to the famous sites of the world. I mean, the Brandenburg Gate is nice, but it's no Sphinx, or Taj Mahal, or Eiffel Tower, or Great Wall of China, or Sydney Opera House, or Victoria Falls or Cristo Redentor or Colliseum or Petronas Towers. Maybe TAR7 will be better.
Wilhite
P.S. How are Freddy and Kendra still in the race? Seriously.
P.P.S. Perhaps I'm being unfair about the famous locales thing. They've travelled to around 50 countries and done a great job of sampling an unbelievable variety of cultures. And it's still a fantastic show.
If they dont' want to repeat themselves, they're sort of limited to the B-list world locales at this point. And I kind of like the exceeding rural pit stops, as the tasks tend to be more local-civilization based. The problem of course is the necessity of multi-bunching at airports to get to them. Although they let teams drive all over Iceland...
Lori and Bolo's lack of brains finally got them--although it wasn't a unique mistake. What killed them was Lori haggling rather than retreating.
"Everybody in the Pool" was interesting. Although I thought Phil should have let them get to the mat, and then explained that they hadn't really finished.
Jon has now done 6 roadblocks, by my count. I think Kris knew this--she sounded frustrated about having to send him up. She really should have ridden the soapbox racer back in Germany, at the very least. That and a little bit of smugness there about reading the clues at the Roadblock are the only things I've seen about this team that are the remotest bit negative (especially compared to this season's offerings...)
You could definitely see the teams pissed at the bunching too. I hope TAR producers are getting the hint. But I doubt it--I believe Wilhite speculated that the move between races 4 & 5 to not have FF's on every leg was a cost-cutting one, trying to minimize setup and preparedness. I think a lot of this "things not being open" is the same way--you don't have to pay people to be on call waiting for teams to get within so many minutes of their task. After all, if everyone misses the train you expect them to make, people have to wait around and extra hour (and get paid to do it), etc.
For the record, I'd have wanted to do the elephant polo--I'd have feared freezing up twice as bad as Hayden did (and thus I have some sympathy with her--although I've done that sort of thing at an 8th grade retreat they more or less peer pressured us into, and can testify that fear-paralysis only makes it harder, and more scary, and it's a vicious cycle. Come to think of it, the only thing I learned there, other than rudimentary rapelling and wall climbing, was that I shouldn't let authority figures challenge me to do things I didn't feel like doing, which I suspect is rather different from what they had in mind.) But (digression over) clearly the ropes course was faster.
I'm not sure that Jon has actually done 6 roadblocks. I think that Kris has done 4: salt in Senegal, reverse bungee in Berlin, grapes in Corsica and medallion matching in Ehtiopia.
I think the bunching could be partially to save money. I think it's also a consequence of production a) not having as much time to plan legs and b) trying to make finishes more exciting. In TAR5, we complained a couple times about teams essentially being eliminated before their planes took off for the next destination (like dad & daughter in Patagonia, and internet daters in St. Petersburg). Now we're complaining because the beginning of the leg doesn't matter. One way, you get dramatic, if somewhat artificial, finishes. The other way you get less dramatic finishes, but the race flow isn't constantly interrupted. It's a tough balance to strike, and I do not think they've done a great job this time. Hopefully, TAR7 will be better. For one thing, the cast really can't be worse, can it? When Lori and Bolo are one of the more supportable teams near the end of the race, things can't be that good.
The man of many hats (literaly not figuratively), condensed matter physicist, passionate baseball and hockey fan, devotee of the late, lamented Satellite of Love, mutli-pronged geek.
9 comments:
I think that the Pats will probably open as 6-7 points favorites and that it will climb.
And I think that this will be a non-elimination leg.
God, I'm good. I'm half right, so far. I think it'll migrate upward now.
Favorite Point spread
NE -7
NE -6½
NE -7
NE -6½
Of course, I have no idea who will cover.
Wilhite
We need Amazing Race prop bets.
First girl to smile after reaching the pit stop country:
Kris 1-5
Kendra 3-1
Hayden 7-1
Rebecca 12-1
Bolo 23-1
Over under on guys doing the roadblock: 2.5
Next Pit Stop Location:
Cape Town, South Africa 10-1
Istanbul, Turkey 14-1
Bangkok, Thailand 25-1
Field 32-1
Green Zone, Iraq 5000-1
I'll take Kris and the field.
Wilhite
Since I'm bored at the end of the workday, here's the Roadblock count before tonight's episode:
Hayden/Aaron: 4/4
Lori/Bolo: 4/3 (FF = 1 less RB)
Jon/Kris: 5/3 (oops)
Freddy/Kendra: 4/4
Adam/Rebecca: 4/3
Effing bunching. I don't necessarily feel bad for Lori and Bolo--Adam and Rebecca were behind 1.5 hours heading to Galle because they missed a train by a matter of minutes. So I don't feel like the size of L & B's lead over A & R was completely deserved. On the other hand, a bunching point 45 minutes in to the episode completely destroys the flow of the race. That said, I really liked the tasks--elephant polo is good. And the Lion Rock seemed pretty damn cool. I didn't mind the blessing from the one dude, nor the 4x400 relay in Addis Ababa. I just wish the leg could have existed without bunching. Oh well.
Also, I remember when TAR went to the famous sites of the world. I mean, the Brandenburg Gate is nice, but it's no Sphinx, or Taj Mahal, or Eiffel Tower, or Great Wall of China, or Sydney Opera House, or Victoria Falls or Cristo Redentor or Colliseum or Petronas Towers. Maybe TAR7 will be better.
Wilhite
P.S. How are Freddy and Kendra still in the race? Seriously.
P.P.S. Perhaps I'm being unfair about the famous locales thing. They've travelled to around 50 countries and done a great job of sampling an unbelievable variety of cultures. And it's still a fantastic show.
If they dont' want to repeat themselves, they're sort of limited to the B-list world locales at this point. And I kind of like the exceeding rural pit stops, as the tasks tend to be more local-civilization based. The problem of course is the necessity of multi-bunching at airports to get to them. Although they let teams drive all over Iceland...
Lori and Bolo's lack of brains finally got them--although it wasn't a unique mistake. What killed them was Lori haggling rather than retreating.
"Everybody in the Pool" was interesting. Although I thought Phil should have let them get to the mat, and then explained that they hadn't really finished.
Jon has now done 6 roadblocks, by my count. I think Kris knew this--she sounded frustrated about having to send him up. She really should have ridden the soapbox racer back in Germany, at the very least. That and a little bit of smugness there about reading the clues at the Roadblock are the only things I've seen about this team that are the remotest bit negative (especially compared to this season's offerings...)
You could definitely see the teams pissed at the bunching too. I hope TAR producers are getting the hint. But I doubt it--I believe Wilhite speculated that the move between races 4 & 5 to not have FF's on every leg was a cost-cutting one, trying to minimize setup and preparedness. I think a lot of this "things not being open" is the same way--you don't have to pay people to be on call waiting for teams to get within so many minutes of their task. After all, if everyone misses the train you expect them to make, people have to wait around and extra hour (and get paid to do it), etc.
For the record, I'd have wanted to do the elephant polo--I'd have feared freezing up twice as bad as Hayden did (and thus I have some sympathy with her--although I've done that sort of thing at an 8th grade retreat they more or less peer pressured us into, and can testify that fear-paralysis only makes it harder, and more scary, and it's a vicious cycle. Come to think of it, the only thing I learned there, other than rudimentary rapelling and wall climbing, was that I shouldn't let authority figures challenge me to do things I didn't feel like doing, which I suspect is rather different from what they had in mind.) But (digression over) clearly the ropes course was faster.
Stevis
A couple quick comments
I'm not sure that Jon has actually done 6 roadblocks. I think that Kris has done 4: salt in Senegal, reverse bungee in Berlin, grapes in Corsica and medallion matching in Ehtiopia.
I think the bunching could be partially to save money. I think it's also a consequence of production a) not having as much time to plan legs and b) trying to make finishes more exciting. In TAR5, we complained a couple times about teams essentially being eliminated before their planes took off for the next destination (like dad & daughter in Patagonia, and internet daters in St. Petersburg). Now we're complaining because the beginning of the leg doesn't matter. One way, you get dramatic, if somewhat artificial, finishes. The other way you get less dramatic finishes, but the race flow isn't constantly interrupted. It's a tough balance to strike, and I do not think they've done a great job this time. Hopefully, TAR7 will be better. For one thing, the cast really can't be worse, can it? When Lori and Bolo are one of the more supportable teams near the end of the race, things can't be that good.
Wilhite
Ah, Wilhite's right, Jon & Kris are 5/4. I have it jotted down properly on my chart but can't count. That puts them in the same boat as everyone else.
Three hours in two shows; how many roadblocks will be left?
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