The Amazing Race 7 (1 Viewer)

[Todd Henry]

Other than at the bus station, there were no bunch up points in this episode. Based on last season, the funicular to the Virgin Mary statue would have been closed and all of the teams would have been tied again.

There was lots of flirting between Team Barbie and the brothers that could have made of interesting TV if they hadn't been eliminated.

So far, so good this season.

Todd

 

[Bob-N]

Yes, it's nice to see less bunch ups so far. Even at the airports, AR broke up the teams by having limited seating on each available flight by having 45 min. gaps between flights.

 

[Erich_S]

Good season so far. After the first couple episodes, there seem to many more likeable teams this race. At first I was annoyed with team Romber because it seemed like a gimmick, but they've already just become another 'amazing race' team to me.

I am already getting annoyed at the mother/son team that seem to think they're evil. It just goes against the spirit of the race in my mind; it's not about screwing the other guys, but keeping your head and working with your partner in a rough situation. I think that's the aspect that's kept drawing me into TAR - it's not like the other reality shows where everyone is constantly scheming to baet someone else. Of course, there may have been some exceptions, but as far as I remember, the 80 or so teams eliminated since the beginning of the series were beaten by their choice of cab driver, flight, or just lack of skill at a task - not because some other team maliciously beat them out of the race.

Actually, if someone can remember a team from a past race that was eliminated because of another team's plotting and scheming, remind me. (And no, scheming to run faster than another team doesn't count). Otherwise, team 'evil mom and son' should just race the clock and not worry about the other teams.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I came up with "Team Bates" to describe the mother and gay son, riffing off the Bates Motel in Psycho!

Uchenna and Joyce could be Team Unlucky or Team WorldRon due to one working at Worldcom and the other working at Enron.

Debbie and Bianca could be Team Lezzabe (others have suggested Team L-Word).

And I'm sure people all know who Team Suck-It-Up describes.

 

[Joseph S]

Well, it looks like so named Team

Bates and Rob n Amber may (yeah right)
may be in trouble according to the preview on CBS tonight.

 

[Patrick Sun]

3/15/04

You have to give it up for Rob, he is a heady player and has mastered Nash's game theory quite well to keep him and Amber in the race when faced with an obstacle he didn't think he could overcome the linear way, so he found another way.

This was one of the funnier TAR episodes ever, and the eat-off between the final two teams showed a lot of grit.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

Props to Rob, a lot of people probably will not be happy that he quit the roadblock, but knowing the rules of TAR and using them to his advantage, and then convincing other teams to follow was brilliant.

 

[Chris]

The fact that Rob convinced not one, but TWO other teams to quit is an incredible little feat. Hell, he got them to work on convincing others to also quit. He convinced people "hey, surrender the four hours" in the end, it worked out well for all of them, but he made them take a heck of a risk.

As the one team kept driving (having missed the exit) I turned to my wife and said "and here's the part where they exit Chile and begin to start getting into a rougher area of the world.."

 

[Jason Seaver]

That's the sort of thing that leads to rule changes, isn't it? I hope punting a task doesn't become a regular part of the game - it was interesting once, but probably wouldn't make very good TV on a regular basis.

And here I was thinking that Rob's biggest skill from Survivor All-Stars - convincing people to act on his behalf - wouldn't be much good on The Amazing Race. As much as I despised him on that other show, though, I find myself really liking him here - dude came to play, and is constantly trying to figure out the best way to go about it.

Also - I noticed Phil didn't include the times the teams had arrived the previous night. I was pretty sure Rob & Amber arrived later than noon, and was wondering if maybe the traditional 12/36/60 hour layover had been shortened to make sure everyone could get to the garage before it opened.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Well, he wasn't known as the Robfather for nothing on Survivor. Those were some good episodes back then too when he was pulling the strings before he ran out of tribal allies.

What's also funny is that Rob's ploy forced Team on Fire to have to finish eating all that meat because they were hellbent on beating Team Survivor. And considering the number of bunch-up points at the start of each leg of the race, as long as you don't finish last, then Rob's ploy looks better and better in retrospect.

 

[Micheal]

Rob came to play!
I wouldn't be surprised to see Rob and Amber take over first place again next week. I bet there will be some upset stomachs on the next flight...

He came up with the idea quickly and ran with it. Even Amber didn't look too sure about it at first but she always backs her man.

 

[Kenneth]

You definitely have to give Rob his due credit. It will be interesting to see if teams use their yields against Team Survivor to pay him back. However, it is just amazing that the teams play along with him, even knowing he is bringing a survivor focus to TAR. If Rob and Amber don't run into a real roadblock somewhere I could see them in the final three very easily.

Kenneth

 

[todd s]

Also, have to give Rob his props. I am getting annoyed at Lynn and ????? (The guys that won last night). Its ok to despise Rob & Amber. But, they seem more concerned sometimes about beating them than winning the game. And that can sometimes cause a team to make a mental mistake which can cost them.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The other fortunate thing that happened to Team Survivor is that that won't have to worry about Team Evil trying to get even with them after Rob surreptiously stole/outbidded them for their taxi at the hotel by offering $10 (over the original agreed upon $4) for the original fare because they got the boot in this leg of the race.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Guess I'm the only one left who despises Rob. The way he plays the game to me is synonymous with taking a Cadillac dealership and trying to make it more like a slimy used car lot.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

I'm not a Rob fan either and I'm tired of the other teams buying into his scheming. He plays the "Politics of the Weak" very well.

 

[Jake Gove]

Count me as another who can't stand that guy. I want him gone!

 

[Chris_Morris]

Had his "strategy" been actual strategy and not a secondary thought after wimping out, it might be a different story.
He whined just as much if not more than some of the women did last season during the eating challenges, yet none of them quit.

 

[EdHoch]

I still can't stand Rob and Amber, but I have to admit that was a smart play last night. Early in the race, as long as you don't finish last, there's really not a huge penalty. Once he conviced one other team to quit, after his clock had already started, he was in the clear.

Wonder why Lynn and Alex didn't win a trip or something. Did I just miss it?

Unchanna's reaction to Alex? vomiting was classic "Ohhhhhhh"

At this point, I still haven't picked a team to root for (probably the brothers) but I know who I'm rooting against:

Rob and Amber
The annoying Mother and Son
Team "Suck it up"
The POW/Beauty Queen

Teams I like:

The Brothers
Uchenna and Joyce
Lynn and Alex

Interesting show though, the food was nasty, and I thought the Hungarian Soup last time was bad....

 

[Patrick Sun]

I love the way Rob has introduced game theory into TAR, he gets people to do what he wants them to do because he presents the options so that the others feel like they are acting in their own best interest at that point in the game as well, and the teams involved appear to benefit from such gameplay at that point in time. Team AARP and Team Suck-It-Up played it right given the mountain of meat that was the obstacle to complete the task.