The Amazing Race 20 (1 Viewer)

Originally Posted by Walter C /t/318012/the-amazing-race-20/60#post_3910721
More like 2 weeks, due to the country music awards show next week. But by then, we won't have to worry about preemptions since March Madness will be over by then.

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Cheese and crackers, I forgot about the Masters tournament, which can cause TAR to be delayed tonight. In any event, prepare your recording devices accordingly.

Here's hoping for a double U-Turn in this upcoming leg, which I think, is due.

Starting time is 8:51PM, EST.

I probably won't get to watch until sometime tomorrow.

I'm on the west coast so not sure this affects me, but I've got The Good Wife set to record after The Amazing Race, so added an extra 90 minutes to the recording time. Hopefully I won't miss anything.
Thanks for warning us.

It should not affect you, Stan! The overruns only affect those in the Eastern and Central time zones!

Sadly tonight you needed even more overrun after good wife.
Great show however!!
I really hate team big brother.

"That's why we're not here with our wives"

Wow. The bickering between spouses and other teams.

Another exceptional week of The Amazing Race. In fact,
one of the best episodes this season. Absolutely love the
editing that is done on this show. Keeps the heart racing.

The border patrol guys moving slightly out of favor this
week by their desire to "stir the pot" with the teachers.
I suppose it's harder to keep that identity than I had thought.
Still, Art & J.J. are my pick to win this.

Really want to see Brendon and Rachel out of the game.
When Brendon told his wife to "stop whining," it put a
smile on my face. She has been whining since day one
and her crying (due to her "low self-esteem" as Vanessa
put it) is just getting old.

Vanessa's mean-spiritedness is getting old to me. The border patrol guys are jerks, too (regardless of their cash gift to the guys from Tennessee).

The casting directors of these shows have got to start doing better jobs in selecting people for these shows. I realize you need a mix and "interesting characters" to keep things interesting. But I'd like to think for TAR--the race itself and the locales should be enough to keep everyone's interest.

I thought it was nice that the DEA agents stopped to smell the elephants.

It is not San Diego Wild Animal Park or Disney's Animal Kingdom, but the real thing in Tanzania. As Dave said "hakuna matata", which should a term that BB Rachel should apply.

Ronald Epstein said:

/t/318012/the-amazing-race-20/60#post_3914738
The casting directors of these shows have got to start doing better jobs in selecting people for these shows. I realize you need a mix and "interesting characters" to keep things interesting. But I'd like to think for TAR--the race itself and the locales should be enough to keep everyone's interest.

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I like to believe that myself, but I always think back to season 15, when they did visit nice looking places like Tokyo, HCMC, Tallinn, and Prague. With that list of places, I would have thought it would be a great season. But nope, it had a cast of almost all unlikeable teams, to almost to a point where I could not watch anymore. And not a season I would want to watch again, especially with the final 3.

It seemed like Phil is acting a bit Jerry Springer like, when asking about the nastiness with other teams. Had those teams come at the mat at the same time, there would be a war of words. And I would not be happy at all, and lose respect for Phil.

Also, with Vanessa, and seeing her trying to ride that bike, I can understand the difficulty of trying to ride it after not riding it for so many years. So I did feel her pain a bit. But she does need to dial it down a notch when dealing with BB Rachel, as Ralph even seemed embarrassed with Angel's behavior.

No U-Turn in this leg, but in this case, I'm not disappointed, because neither task at the Detour seemed difficult. The entire leg seemed to be mostly getting from one place to another, with the only chance to catch up, is at the tent-building task.

Another thing... did anyone else find it interesting that the episode started off with a different type of recap? No mention of Azerbaijan or the elimination of the Jersey boys. Instead, it recapped the hate between teams in the entire race so far. Very odd when you really think about it.
Team Kentucky may be the only likable team left in the race. I also don't mind Ralph, but his teammate is not acting like an Angel.

Still watching, guess I have a minor addiction to this show, no matter how unlikeable some of the contestants are. Darn lucky for the female "agents" that it was a non-elimination round. I find them pretty boring and probably wouldn't even miss them if they were gone.
As for the editing of this show, they must have condensed the spinning target practice a lot. That looked really difficult and probably took many of the teams a lot of throws before they got through it.
Was hoping Dave and Rachel would be eliminated, but amazingly came in first. His attitude and the way he treats his wife are terrible.
Unlike past seasons, I really don't have any favorites this time around. Liked the Jersey guys, but they're gone now. Was rooting for the Border Patrol pair, but they got on my nerves with this episode.
Then again, like Survivor, editing can do wonders, so who knows what these people are really like.

It must be nice for teams to start the leg off, going on a safari, seeing animals like bamboons.

I thought the water task at the Detour was interesting in a different way. While the task itself was not hard at all, I thought it would show teams how in some parts of the world, water can be hard to come by, and have to wait in line for at least 30 minutes, to use it for who knows how long. And I hope the racers realized how great they have it, having easy accessibility to water, and not have to carry jugs of it very often.
The Roadblock would have been scary, with all those killer bees.

Cheese and crackers, I never thought I would see a huge fuss raised over a U-Turn not being used. Army Rachel did not want use it because she did not want to make enemies in the race, but their decision will end up doing exactly that.
I am not sad to see the federal agents gone! It is mind-boggling when they try to hide their identities so others won't see them as a threat. And turned out, no matter what they tell the other teams, they were never a threat at all, always finishing in the middle of the pack. When the pack starts thinning, that middle will become the back. And they were very dull throughout their run. Even though they caught up at the Detour, I knew they were goners since the Speed Bump was still to come. The Speed Bump did not seem like much itself, but it was enough of a factor to determine who would be eliminated. I knew that they had no shot to catch up.
Glad to see a team other than the border guards or GI Joe finish 1st in a leg. And about time, though I was worried with Bopper's bad knee. I hope it's not bad at all, because I want them to go all the way, and the only likeable team left in the race.
My second choice would be the border guards. They worked well together, and I do understand them getting upset when a team who does not keep their end of the agreement. Though I am not sure if I would side with them on that, because it's a race first and foremost, where it's always every team for themselves. Of course, that reason could be used why blonde Rachel should have used the U-Turn.
Team Big Brother's act is so old, it just makes me yawn. Ralph & Vanessa seem like the only dead weight left, as they seem like chickens with their heads cut off, and always in the back of the pack. Dave & Rachel is that typical bickering team that has done well in the race. But their attempt to stay out of the drama, will only get them sucked in, as the next leg may show.

Next week - India.

Walter, been meaning to post in this thread all day and as soon
as I saw yours, I thought I would respond as I agree with much of
what you have said.

I don't understand the Border guards getting all pissed off about
Dave and Rachel's decision not to do the U-Turn. The explanation
given was very clear....the teachers were far behind in the game.

And you know what? The teachers came in dead last and were
eliminated from the race. So, are the Border guards going to hold
a grudge? Quite frankly, I saw an advantage not giving a U-Turn
to the teachers. U-Turns were given to the two most unlikable teams
instead: Ralph and Vanessa and Dave and Rachel. How great was that?!

I am very happy that the teachers (aka federal agents) are gone.
They really added nothing to the race. Still, I probably would have
been much happier if crybaby Rachel came in last. I am tired of
seeing tears roll down her face. She is such a whiner.

And, here's where I really agree with you, Walter...

Mark and Bopper have moved to the front of my picks to win.
Funny how I have grown from hating them on day one to rooting
them to win. The border guys are my second pick.

Ronald Epstein said:

/t/318012/the-amazing-race-20/60#post_3917086

Quite frankly, I saw an advantage not giving a U-Turn
to the teachers. U-Turns were given to the two most unlikable teams
instead: Ralph and Vanessa and Dave and Rachel. How great was that?!

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I know, it was awesome to see the U-Turn being used against those teams. Too bad they weren't eliminated, though I can't really too upset there.

Also, don't teams only get one 1 u-turn per race (if a given race has more than one, which isn't always the case)? Not using the u-turn when it wasn't needed, notwithstanding "your word" to use is, is actually a smart move for both Team Army and Team Border. Now, while border has used up their u-turn, army still has theirs to still potentially use on Big Brother. This is the *exact* sort of decision that, in my opinion, was implied in "the deal." Use the u-turn if you have to, but, if you don't, save it so we can blow it later.

Further, Team Border has to realize that there are TWO members on Team Army--not just the husband. Just because one member agrees to something, the other member gets a say later, too.

Team Border totally over-reacted, and worse, wouldn't shut the hell up about it. They were worse than Big Brother on the "whine scale" this week. Ugh.

Ron, agree with you and Walter. Who cares if Dave & Rachel skipped the u-turn. The team they were after were so far back there was virtually no way for them to be safe anyway.
Brendon and Rachel coming in fourth really disappointed me. Granted we're down to five teams, but I'd feel more comfortable had they been last.
Border Patrol guys may really blow it by being so angry with the u-turn. Not only with Dave and Rachel, but the way they argue with each other this may have a negative affect.
Timing is hard to tell with this game, but seemed like all the teams finished within about an hour of each other, not much of a lead for anyone. Then again, the flight to India will probably be another catch up, and they all end up essentially starting even again.

Yuh know, you never know when you are being
manipulated or not. I watch Survivor week after
week and I know what it is like, as a viewer, to
be manipulated.

So imagine how I felt seeing this posted across
Facebook during the past week....



Now, we all know how the networks like to tease and lead us
down the wrong road.

And you know what? Something inside of me knew that if this
really was the end of Mark and Bopper, the network would not
be playing this angle.

I am happy my intuitions were correct. I'm elated that the boys
are still in the running.

Another great leg of the race.

I know some long-time race fans get tired of it going to India, but as long as Phil is hosting, it will continue to go there. I do find it interesting to see the reactions of the racers, as they passing by the streets in Indian cities.

Another win for Dave & Rachel, who clearly aced through the challenges. Dave needs to take it down a notch, especially after his wife got the Bollywood dance on the 1st try, while others had to take multiple attempts to get it right. And not really a "chick-thing", as both BB Rachel and Vanessa also did not get it on their first tries either.
I did like hearing the Indian version of the baseball themes, especially the one of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". And seeing the border guards get beat in cricket by Big Brother, after all the sexist comments they have made throughout this leg.

Speaking of the border guards, it seems like they have become babies themselves, with the way they argue about who should do the roadblock.

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein /t/318012/the-amazing-race-20/60#post_3919101
And you know what? Something inside of me knew that if this
really was the end of Mark and Bopper, the network would not
be playing this angle.

I am happy my intuitions were correct. I'm elated that the boys
are still in the running.

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I had a feeling it was a non-elimination leg, when the show played the montage a tad early, even before Phil said whether they were eliminated or not. Second time being saved, and I am so glad in this case, because I would have a hard time deciding who I want to win with the other remaining teams. Also, clips of them completing the tasks after the dance, was probably another sign that they would be around for another leg.

It sucks that Bopper's bad knee would be the reason why they are so far behind, not being able to run or dance, as he said that he was more of the dancing type. And Mark needing to relax after getting sick on the bus.

I had a feeling it was a non-elimination leg, when the show played the montage a tad early, even before Phil said whether they were eliminated or not.

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Walter, I picked up on that as well.

Have come to learn that if these shows lead you to believe
something specific is going to happen -- it won't.

Still hoping Bopper and Mark win this. The border guards
would be my second choice, though I agree with you that
they have become big crybabies.

"Waaah waaah! Mommy, Army Man and his wife were soooo mean to me and my friend today. They said they were going to play with us and they didn't. I hate them. Also, they made me dance, and dancing is for girls."

After this leg and the previous, I now hope Team Border loses in a spectacular way.