I'D RATHER BE A SPARROW THAN A SNAIL, BUT I'D ALSO RATHER NOT HAVE THE TROMBONE OF DOOM PLAYED WHEN I'M TRYING TO WIN A MILLION DOLLARS: In a leg more haul-assy than most, in which we try to figure out what a cow has to do to get blurred out by the CBS censors and why only the Cowboys seem to have their own theme music (paging Flight Time and Big Easy!), we actually ended up with a pretty good leg of The Amazing Race which catered to fans of racing fundamentals -- can you figure out how to get to Point A to Point B? When a ticket agent disappoints you, how do you determine if there's a better answer? What travel risks are worth taking? And can you follow instructions?
And now, a brief interlude: Hey, llama. How's it goin'? I like your fur, that looks really great. So you're a llama, right? What's that all about? [llama just stares ahead, oblivious] Okay, well it was great to meet you. Say hi to your mother for me, okay?
Anyway, the teams may be dumb -- or seem dumb -- but the leg was structured well, and the finish certainly was tense. Grab some kuchen.
added: Recaps by Fienberg; Denhart; NYMag, and from the last: "Animal challenges can be standouts if the animals in question are stubborn enough; Race fans have had many delightful moments of schadenfreude watching teams curse and weep at camels, llamas, and donkeys. Unfortunately, other than giving an errant kick and the usual dash away, none of these llamas gave the teams enough trouble to make the trial memorable. (Though the event was accompanied by another Amazing Race staple: the crowd of mocking local spectators. Perhaps this is meant as a we're-not-so-different-after-all life lesson for viewers: No matter where you go in the world, no matter how primitive or advanced the culture, people always like to laugh at outsiders who try to master their traditions.)"
I was excited by the fact that transportation-fu was back for at least one episode.
ReplyDeleteThe eliminated team annoyed the crap out of me, because I wanted to like them, and wanted them to do well, but man, that was some serious mailing-it-in. Sure, just grab whatever bus you can and say, "oh well, we'll only be 45 minutes behind the teams at the front" (apparently, in Chile, 9:00 is 45 minutes after 7:00). Then, just cruise around, no hurry, you're optimistic and just enjoying the experience. Then, when it turns out that at least one team has screwed up badly enough to get to the final task after you, display no sense of urgency whatsoever, and claim that you're still optimistic and just having an amazing time. That was the TAR equivalent of Garth Brooks trying out for the Padres; someone who actually might have tried to compete has to sit home and watch your optimistic ass.
My decision to jump on the Cowboys bandwagon during the first challenge is looking pretty good. Also, I might be in the vast minority but god I can't stand Jordan. I actually think Caitlin would win in battle of wits. Jeff's going to have to really carry them (again) if there going to win this.
ReplyDeleteBoy, did the Cowboys ever pick the right race to start in the lead. Animal Handling, Cow Mliking, and Farm Navigation. I'm curious how much their lead ended up, I'm hoping almost an hour. And in fairness to Grandma, who yeah, was mailing it in...DAMN! That cow had it in for her. Craploads of other contestants would have totally melted down at that point.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about what happened on the bus switchover. At 7-10 minutes away, how could you screw up by not getting back in time for the 7:00 bus departure? Did it leave early, or did they dawdle at the other bus stop? Overall, a really enjoyable episode. Obviously we have great love here for the Cowboys, Joe seems to be a solid racer, but not a jerk, and Jeff is surprisingly competent. No great racers, which hopefully means we should see a lot of close endings.
Yes, I admired a leg which was designed (though not clear if it was an accident or on purpose) so a team could get a substantial lead by playing smart with the busses. (And some of those teams may be hurting for money in a few weeks, depending on whether they were able to get a refund on their unused bus tickets.) Also made it interesting because teams didn't necessarily know who was in front of/behind them, which should have prevented more lollygagging.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Michael and Louie are the best detectives Providence has to offer, it's a wonder any crime gets solved there at all.
Yay! Mark Walberg talks to llamas!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Jordan, Dastardly. I so hoped she would be the one to make the kuchen, since I was sure she wouldn't know what a baker's dozen was (as the talking head seemed to confirm) - sadly, Jeff did it.
ReplyDeleteWhen all of the teams ended up catching the same bus from Valparaiso at the start, I began to wonder if the producers gotten too good at designing the race. Most legs start with the teams tending to get bunched up on flights or hours of operation balance out an hours-long lead. That said, mad props to the cowboys for working the bus station to get ahead.
ReplyDeletePerhaps (hopefully?) seeing what the cowboys accomplished on this leg will compel the other teams to go back to a little old school transportation creativity. Wouldn't that be nice?
ReplyDeleteJ. Bowman - Grandma's lovely, relaxed tour of the world was so annoying that it made us stupid with giggles by the end of the hour. When she finally got hit in the head by the cow (and had pretty much the identical reaction to that as she did to everything else), I'm sorry to say that my husband and I were hysterical.
Bus station-fu! W00t! I loved that, although I wish that there'd been a bit more penalty attached to the stupid terminal issue. Can't wait for one of those two teams that screwed it up to blame it on the cowboys, if the cowboys aren't smart enough to keep their mouths shut. I also wish that the Hours of Operation didn't make them lose so much of their lead. Some is fine, but not nearly all of it.
ReplyDeleteI thought both detour options were lame - neither required much effort or skill, though one required getting wet, and the condor detour was just "jump in the water wearing something silly and get a clue." If they'd had to make it a certain distance or something, fine. But nope - just jump and get clue. The llamas were way too easy.
Agreed that Grandma was just enjoying the trip and they completely deserved elimination, but I was impressed with how she handled the kick to the head, which I would not have been so blase about. Silly task, however - make them make some kuchen! I did like that Grandma was the only one to bring some back for her partner.
An enjoyable leg, although way too much was FIFO.
Totally agree re grandma. Btw: Nice of her to point out that Shannon is the grandchild she admires the most. Guess who's not getting invited to Cousins' Bowling Night any more?
ReplyDeleteI actually like Jordan. She's not the brightest bulb on the tree, but she's cute and relatable, and at least she's not reading words like "aDORution" and "conSTERnution" while repeatedly insisting that she's highly intelligent. Those are two models who do not know how to smize.