Amazing Race: Unfinished Business
Mar. 15th, 2011 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arduinnaI have a giant post that I've been adding to for, um, weeks now, about the shows I'm watching. It's getting ridiculous, so I'm just going to pull sections and post as I finish them up instead of trying to get it all done before posting the entire thing.
So since TAR was the last thing I watched, TAR is the first thing to get posted. I'm not going back and reworking these; this is what I wrote up week by week.
Rambly spoilers below for each episode to date!
18x01: "Head Down and Hold On" and 18x02: "I Never Looked So Foolish in My Whole Entire Life"
... Oh thank god. I was so worried about the cowboys during that first leg, and for a good chunk of the second, meep. It looked to me like leftover mental fatigue from their original race; they can't have had much of a break before having to gear back up again.
Although also, I was pretty pissy that so many other teams made it through that flag-reading challenge by being handed the answer. I don't think more than 3-4 teams total, including Jet & Cord, actually solved the puzzle. If everyone had sat down and worked on it properly, they wouldn't have been nearly so far behind. Hmf. (OTOH, it was sort of interesting to see who was willing to help whom, and why; Justin & Zev were only willing to help people they already knew from their season, while Margie & Luke were all about helping a weak team specifically to keep cannon fodder in the field as a buffer -- in which case I can't blame them for picking Kent and Vyxsin) (also, wtf, Kent-who-used-to-be-Kynt is 35 years old? I mean, his face doesn't look young, but -- good god, man, it is time to grow up, already!)
I was not at all sorry to see Kris and Amanda go out first. They were just non-entities to me; the only reason I could remember who they were from minute to minute is that they were the only dating pair in this batch besides Kent and Vyxsin, who are hard to mistake for anyone else. (And who can be eliminated very early on, please - god, they're annoying.)
The cheerleaders are about as bland and non-entity-ish to me, strangely, so I won't care when they go (I know Margie & Luke like them, which is a point in their favor, but I just don't care). But next up, I would very much like Ron and Christina to go, because he's already back to annoying me, and anyone who can't remember Phil's name, during their second race (!), should have gotten a 30-minute don't-diss-the-host penalty and should have lost that leg anyway.
Mel and Mike need to go soon, too, so the tv audience isn't treated to the sight of Mike having an actual fatal heart attack on screen. :( I like them fine, but I'm already very worried about him, and Mel is already in tears with worry over him, and this just can't end well if they don't get booted very very soon.
Beyond those few, I like pretty much all the teams, although I'm still rooting for the cowboys to win. ♥ (Okay, or Margie & Luke. But the cowboys have a better shot at it, and they're just such good guys.)
18x03: "We Had a Lot of Evil Spirits Apparently"
Aaaagh, the cowboys have got to stop scaring me like that. I'm getting really worried about them; still great attitudes, and once they hit a physical part of a challenge they do fine, but wow are they losing it on the focus parts. Although I loved the whole froggy byplay, hee.
Kent and Vyxsin have to be eliminated next to save me. I cannot stand that man at this point, and it gets worse every week. GROW UP ALREADY. God. I don't think I've ever hated anyone this much when they were this totally harmless before, but he is just. so. USELESS. And embarrassing, and cringeworthy. Ugh. I feel like I'm watching one of those badly socialized fanboys who perform nerdiness and "chivalry" and think it makes them awesome instead of sad and creepy. And in Kent's case, he's performing gender and "unity" or whatever, and coming across as forced and condescending. UGH. His obsequious bowing and scraping practically makes my skin crawl. I'm starting to feel bad for Vyxsin, who at least seems to have some solidity to her. (I sort of loved her saying she wasn't cold because she'd been working so hard out in the mud.)
Justin and Zev, on the other hand, are as adorable as they ever were, and I'm remembering more and more how much I liked them, and how much I regretted their elimination. I'm seriously impressed that they managed to stay in first among such a strong group, and after getting pushed to the back of the pack on the planes, to boot. Go boys!
Ron and Christina -- god. They can leave any time now, too. Ron is already melting down and blaming/attacking other people (wtf, yelling at random helpful woman and calling her incompetent or whatever that was), and honestly, Christina's not that much better. Flight Time and Big Easy didn't steal their fanny pack, or wander off with it; they picked it up by accident and left it safely where Ron was sure to find it immediately. Yeah, it's scary to not find something where you left it, but they figured it out on the hill, and it delayed them a minute or two, tops.
If you're that upset about it, you talk to the boys at the pit stop and see what they say, you don't go crying to Phil about how mean they are. (And no, in fact, if the situation had been reversed, I can't see the boys pouting at Phil because they came in fourth instead of third because Ron had brought their pack to the locker room. And I can't see Ron saying "Oh, dear, we have to run back up the hill to place this on the rock where we found it," either.)
Mallory was surprisingly non-shrieky this week; I like her so, so, so much better when she's not screaming (also, I cracked up at her cheerfully resigned little "It's Miss America all over again -- only fifty pounds heavier" as she ran for the mud pit in her "bikini"). And I've always liked Gary; he still seems like a seriously good guy, and I'd be really happy if she continues to shriek less so I can stand to pay attention to them more.
Margie & Luke I'm starting to worry about; they're much stronger than the teams they keep allying with, and I hope they break out on their own soon.
Mel & Mike - oh, thank god. I seriously couldn't have taken another week of that -- I was ff'ing through some of the more painful bits, but did Mike actually say "I'd rather die out here with you than home in bed?" while Mel cried on the sidelines? Good god. It's a GAME. There is NO DYING. Thank god Mel got him in the medical van and they started warming up -- by that time, I was worried about Mel, too, and his apparently 1% body fat that gave him no insulation. Those shudders weren't good. They are incredibly sweet, and clearly they adore each other, and I hope they go home and have a great time hanging out in nice, stress-free, warm places where they can sit around with their feet up and relax.
18x04: "This Is the Most Stupid Day Ever "
Wow, when Vyxsin loses it, she just completely and totally loses it. I'd forgotten just how hard she can fall apart. I still can't stand Kent, but I have to give him props for not flipping out when she told him that she'd been staring at a map of them going the wrong way for an hour without really realizing what she was seeing, because wow. Bad enough to point them in the wrong direction - it sucks, but it happens - but to admit that you really really should have noticed an hour earlier? Wow. Still, I was so happy to see them driving the wrong way for so long; it looked like they'd just totally fail to make it to China, at least within the next day or so. Woe for more daily flights than I thought. :( But hopefully Justin was on to something when he noted that they failed to take the required transportation, and they'll get a penalty at the end even if they manage to pull this out and make up the time. (... I seriously want them gone at this point.)
OTOH, I can put up with them for one more week if it means Ron and Christina get booted; I still like her, but I despise him. Enough with the screaming and shouting and throwing things, wtf! He's vile, and I feel so so bad for her -- when he's not being an asshole that she has to placate, he's being a child that she has to take care of. Ugh.
Mallory got points from me for not even thinking twice about steering Luke in the right direction for the zodiac thing (and also for not shrieking, again. I get the feeling that she's deliberately controlling the shrieking, so I wonder if she and Gary had a chat about it; if so, go them for handling it so well). I'm liking her so much more this season.
The yak thing was a blast, starting right with Phil happily getting his picture taken with the local guy, and moving right through everyone figuring out they were going to be riding those yaks, then actually doing so. They all handled it pretty well; I loved Jet yelling at Cord to stop hitting the yak with his hat, hee. Not a horse! And poor Zev, stuck with a yak who needed a bathroom break right off the bat.
I felt so bad for him during the zodiac challenge, but go him for pushing through the frustration and figuring out what was wrong. And go Justin, for holding on to his patience even when it was clear he was starting to freak out a bit himself. These guys have such a great friendship.
I was, as ever, rooting for Jet & Cord to come in first, but was almost as happy to see Luke & Margie take it (also, that trip they won? I have stayed in that very hotel. Recognizing it was a far more exciting moment for me than it should have been *g*). When they run their own race, they're so solid. <3 I'd love to see them hit final 3 again. (With Jet & Cord and Zev & Justin, for preference!)
So is the theme this year "You've all done this before, so we're going to make you run double legs each time to rack up the exhaustion more" or what? I can't complain, since it saved Jet and Cord the first time, but bah for keeping Kent and Vyxsin in for another week by default. Hmf. They're going to have to start doing double elims or -- wait, no. Maybe there are no (or at least fewer) non-elimination rounds this time. Huh. That's possible. Although if they do that, they lose the speed bump option that slows down the non-eliminated team more...
So since TAR was the last thing I watched, TAR is the first thing to get posted. I'm not going back and reworking these; this is what I wrote up week by week.
Rambly spoilers below for each episode to date!
18x01: "Head Down and Hold On" and 18x02: "I Never Looked So Foolish in My Whole Entire Life"
... Oh thank god. I was so worried about the cowboys during that first leg, and for a good chunk of the second, meep. It looked to me like leftover mental fatigue from their original race; they can't have had much of a break before having to gear back up again.
Although also, I was pretty pissy that so many other teams made it through that flag-reading challenge by being handed the answer. I don't think more than 3-4 teams total, including Jet & Cord, actually solved the puzzle. If everyone had sat down and worked on it properly, they wouldn't have been nearly so far behind. Hmf. (OTOH, it was sort of interesting to see who was willing to help whom, and why; Justin & Zev were only willing to help people they already knew from their season, while Margie & Luke were all about helping a weak team specifically to keep cannon fodder in the field as a buffer -- in which case I can't blame them for picking Kent and Vyxsin) (also, wtf, Kent-who-used-to-be-Kynt is 35 years old? I mean, his face doesn't look young, but -- good god, man, it is time to grow up, already!)
I was not at all sorry to see Kris and Amanda go out first. They were just non-entities to me; the only reason I could remember who they were from minute to minute is that they were the only dating pair in this batch besides Kent and Vyxsin, who are hard to mistake for anyone else. (And who can be eliminated very early on, please - god, they're annoying.)
The cheerleaders are about as bland and non-entity-ish to me, strangely, so I won't care when they go (I know Margie & Luke like them, which is a point in their favor, but I just don't care). But next up, I would very much like Ron and Christina to go, because he's already back to annoying me, and anyone who can't remember Phil's name, during their second race (!), should have gotten a 30-minute don't-diss-the-host penalty and should have lost that leg anyway.
Mel and Mike need to go soon, too, so the tv audience isn't treated to the sight of Mike having an actual fatal heart attack on screen. :( I like them fine, but I'm already very worried about him, and Mel is already in tears with worry over him, and this just can't end well if they don't get booted very very soon.
Beyond those few, I like pretty much all the teams, although I'm still rooting for the cowboys to win. ♥ (Okay, or Margie & Luke. But the cowboys have a better shot at it, and they're just such good guys.)
18x03: "We Had a Lot of Evil Spirits Apparently"
Aaaagh, the cowboys have got to stop scaring me like that. I'm getting really worried about them; still great attitudes, and once they hit a physical part of a challenge they do fine, but wow are they losing it on the focus parts. Although I loved the whole froggy byplay, hee.
Kent and Vyxsin have to be eliminated next to save me. I cannot stand that man at this point, and it gets worse every week. GROW UP ALREADY. God. I don't think I've ever hated anyone this much when they were this totally harmless before, but he is just. so. USELESS. And embarrassing, and cringeworthy. Ugh. I feel like I'm watching one of those badly socialized fanboys who perform nerdiness and "chivalry" and think it makes them awesome instead of sad and creepy. And in Kent's case, he's performing gender and "unity" or whatever, and coming across as forced and condescending. UGH. His obsequious bowing and scraping practically makes my skin crawl. I'm starting to feel bad for Vyxsin, who at least seems to have some solidity to her. (I sort of loved her saying she wasn't cold because she'd been working so hard out in the mud.)
Justin and Zev, on the other hand, are as adorable as they ever were, and I'm remembering more and more how much I liked them, and how much I regretted their elimination. I'm seriously impressed that they managed to stay in first among such a strong group, and after getting pushed to the back of the pack on the planes, to boot. Go boys!
Ron and Christina -- god. They can leave any time now, too. Ron is already melting down and blaming/attacking other people (wtf, yelling at random helpful woman and calling her incompetent or whatever that was), and honestly, Christina's not that much better. Flight Time and Big Easy didn't steal their fanny pack, or wander off with it; they picked it up by accident and left it safely where Ron was sure to find it immediately. Yeah, it's scary to not find something where you left it, but they figured it out on the hill, and it delayed them a minute or two, tops.
If you're that upset about it, you talk to the boys at the pit stop and see what they say, you don't go crying to Phil about how mean they are. (And no, in fact, if the situation had been reversed, I can't see the boys pouting at Phil because they came in fourth instead of third because Ron had brought their pack to the locker room. And I can't see Ron saying "Oh, dear, we have to run back up the hill to place this on the rock where we found it," either.)
Mallory was surprisingly non-shrieky this week; I like her so, so, so much better when she's not screaming (also, I cracked up at her cheerfully resigned little "It's Miss America all over again -- only fifty pounds heavier" as she ran for the mud pit in her "bikini"). And I've always liked Gary; he still seems like a seriously good guy, and I'd be really happy if she continues to shriek less so I can stand to pay attention to them more.
Margie & Luke I'm starting to worry about; they're much stronger than the teams they keep allying with, and I hope they break out on their own soon.
Mel & Mike - oh, thank god. I seriously couldn't have taken another week of that -- I was ff'ing through some of the more painful bits, but did Mike actually say "I'd rather die out here with you than home in bed?" while Mel cried on the sidelines? Good god. It's a GAME. There is NO DYING. Thank god Mel got him in the medical van and they started warming up -- by that time, I was worried about Mel, too, and his apparently 1% body fat that gave him no insulation. Those shudders weren't good. They are incredibly sweet, and clearly they adore each other, and I hope they go home and have a great time hanging out in nice, stress-free, warm places where they can sit around with their feet up and relax.
18x04: "This Is the Most Stupid Day Ever "
Wow, when Vyxsin loses it, she just completely and totally loses it. I'd forgotten just how hard she can fall apart. I still can't stand Kent, but I have to give him props for not flipping out when she told him that she'd been staring at a map of them going the wrong way for an hour without really realizing what she was seeing, because wow. Bad enough to point them in the wrong direction - it sucks, but it happens - but to admit that you really really should have noticed an hour earlier? Wow. Still, I was so happy to see them driving the wrong way for so long; it looked like they'd just totally fail to make it to China, at least within the next day or so. Woe for more daily flights than I thought. :( But hopefully Justin was on to something when he noted that they failed to take the required transportation, and they'll get a penalty at the end even if they manage to pull this out and make up the time. (... I seriously want them gone at this point.)
OTOH, I can put up with them for one more week if it means Ron and Christina get booted; I still like her, but I despise him. Enough with the screaming and shouting and throwing things, wtf! He's vile, and I feel so so bad for her -- when he's not being an asshole that she has to placate, he's being a child that she has to take care of. Ugh.
Mallory got points from me for not even thinking twice about steering Luke in the right direction for the zodiac thing (and also for not shrieking, again. I get the feeling that she's deliberately controlling the shrieking, so I wonder if she and Gary had a chat about it; if so, go them for handling it so well). I'm liking her so much more this season.
The yak thing was a blast, starting right with Phil happily getting his picture taken with the local guy, and moving right through everyone figuring out they were going to be riding those yaks, then actually doing so. They all handled it pretty well; I loved Jet yelling at Cord to stop hitting the yak with his hat, hee. Not a horse! And poor Zev, stuck with a yak who needed a bathroom break right off the bat.
I felt so bad for him during the zodiac challenge, but go him for pushing through the frustration and figuring out what was wrong. And go Justin, for holding on to his patience even when it was clear he was starting to freak out a bit himself. These guys have such a great friendship.
I was, as ever, rooting for Jet & Cord to come in first, but was almost as happy to see Luke & Margie take it (also, that trip they won? I have stayed in that very hotel. Recognizing it was a far more exciting moment for me than it should have been *g*). When they run their own race, they're so solid. <3 I'd love to see them hit final 3 again. (With Jet & Cord and Zev & Justin, for preference!)
So is the theme this year "You've all done this before, so we're going to make you run double legs each time to rack up the exhaustion more" or what? I can't complain, since it saved Jet and Cord the first time, but bah for keeping Kent and Vyxsin in for another week by default. Hmf. They're going to have to start doing double elims or -- wait, no. Maybe there are no (or at least fewer) non-elimination rounds this time. Huh. That's possible. Although if they do that, they lose the speed bump option that slows down the non-eliminated team more...
