Friday, May 04, 2007

Karma'ngeddit

... or ...

Pride Cometh Before The Elimination






... Spoiler Alert! ... Spoiler Alert! ...



If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 4 of The Amazing Race Series 11 – All Stars Edition (TARAS), do not read any further!



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The last TARAS episode we saw here in Australia ended with David & Mary being the last team to reach the Pit Stop and the third team to be eliminated from the All Stars edition of the show. The Pit Stop was located on a beach made of black volcanic ash near Playa Petrohué in Chile.

Teams chose between ‘Navigate It’ and ‘Sign It’ for this leg's Detour. In ‘Navigate It’, teams had to use a map of Punta Arenas to get to the town plaza where a sailor would hand them a compass. Then, using the compass, the teams needed to walk directly south to find the Nautilus Building, a deep-sea salvage business. In ‘Sign It’, teams had to choose a pole and building supplies and carry them up a flight of stairs to Magellan's Map. Using the map as a reference, teams needed to figure out that Magellan's journey around the world began and ended in Seville. Then, teams had to build a traditional local signpost listing – in the correct order – the fourteen ports of call from Magellan's voyage. While the signs didn't have to point in the right direction, all the cities had to be spelt correctly.

The Roadblock on this leg was to sort through 1,600 pieces of mail until they found one of two letters addressed to their team, which were written by one of the other teams from their ‘original season’. The team member completing the task then had to read the letter out loud to their partner, after which they received their next clue.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the Race:

1. Rob & Amber
2. Uchenna & Joyce
3. Eric & Danielle
4. Dustin & Kandice
5. Oswald & Danny
6. Teri & Ian
7. Joe & Bill
8. Charla & Mirna
9. David & Mary


Note:
If you're already ahead of this point in the series, please refrain from giving any spoilers in your comments. Thank you.

As always, I’ll provide my thoughts on each team in this episode, listing them in the order in which they arrived at the Pit Stop (hence the 'Spoiler Alert!').



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1. Oswald & Danny


Last week: 5
This week: Up four places

I don’t know why, but these guys seemed to come from nowhere. Perhaps it’s just because I’m a bigger fan of Eric & Danielle, so I was cheering them on in my head a bit more, but Oswald & Danny just seemed to take out the first place position with ease. It was good to see someone other than Rob & Amber winning a prize for arriving at the top of the pack, and after coming second to Rob & Amber for the first two legs, I guess these guys deserved a win. When host Phil Keoghan told them they’d won a holiday, Danny asked him, “Will you be coming with us?”, to which Phil’s reply was, “That’s a whole different reality show”. I love Phil – he’s very witty and an all-round top bloke (that’s the highest form of praise an Aussie male will give to another guy).




2. Eric & Danielle


Last week: 3
This week: Up one place

I really hoped Eric & Danielle were going to somehow beat Oswald & Danny to the mat, but I’m not too fussed about the guys winning – I just wanted Eric to win something (he came first so often in his ‘original season’ that I know he can do it … even if he’s carrying around some dead weight with him this time in the form of Danielle – sorry, darling, but it’s true). I thought the Roadblock in this episode was a fantastic idea (and one that would really only ever work on a season like All Stars - unless the team’s friends or family members were to write them a letter and they read them towards the end, when they were missing home a bit more), but I truly felt cheated when Eric opened his letter and it was from his former racing partner Jeremy and Danielle’s former racing partner Dani. I mean, it made perfect sense and I’m sure meant a lot more to them, BUT I WANTED TO HEAR FROM BJ & TYLER!! It’s possible that the two letters were penned by different teams in their ‘original season’, so maybe the other letter than Eric didn’t find was written by BJ & Tyler. And maybe it was a second copy of the letter Eric read aloud. I dunno. Anyway, neither of the top two teams really put a foot wrong on this leg, but starting out earlier in the pack and getting on the first charter flight really set the pace for them all being able to stay ahead of the game. (They could have made mistakes and fallen back, of course, but my point is they were in a better position by being in the lead.) Oh, and pretty much the only contribution Danielle made in this episode was confusing Argentina for Australia. Nice. She’ll be getting no sympathy from me.




3. Teri & Ian


Last week: 6
This week: Down three places

I’m starting to wonder about these two. They don’t strike me as quite the smarties I initially thought they were. I suppose, to be fair, I should point out that their only real mistake was to head down the wrong path when they reached the beach and were looking for the cluebox … but as we saw later, they weren’t the only team to do this. And they also managed to talk their way onto the 9:50am flight, so they were doing alright, really. In fact, if they hadn’t headed the wrong way at the beach, they may have been in the first ferry, and possibly finished the leg in first or second place (Eric – who grabbed the first ticket for the ferry – would have been racing them for the top position … with Danielle in tow, I suppose).




4. Joe & Bill


Last week: 7
This week: Down four places

What a pair of tossers! There’s really not much to like about these guys at all, IMHO. They started out the leg by repeatedly asking the guy at the airport check-in counter if he could let them on the flight (that Teri & Ian had just successfully talked themselves onto), but when the guy said the flight was closed, they just DIDN’T GIVE UP! Why don’t you guys SHUT UP for a moment? The dude said it’s closed! (I can understand them wanting to do everything they could to talk themselves onto the flight, but they really went on about it FAR too much.) They did well to overtake Rob & Amber and Dustin & Kandice during the Detour, and seemed to sweep ahead and leave them far behind – at least until most of them caught up with each other at the pier while they waited for their ferry. After leaving the letter Roadblock task, they bickered all the way to the mat – whereupon everything was okay again (once Phil told them they were the fourth team to arrive). The ad for next week’s episode looks interesting. Eric seems to have a pretty heated argument with them, and I can’t help but wonder who comes out looking better from that little run-in. Eric certainly seemed to be making the childish comments, from what we saw on the promo, but that’s often just Eric’s way of dismissing those he’s arguing with, so we can’t really tell at this point who’s being more petty.




5. Dustin & Kandice


Last week: 4
This week: Down one place

These girls made another big mistake in this episode: Joining forces with Rob & Amber! Who would have thought we’d ever be saying that was a poor decision?! One important thing we learned in this episode (courtesy of Oswald) was that Kandice (the slightly more attractive of the two, IMHO) is a noisy snorer! We have no idea if it’s true or a vicious rumour/lie/joke, of course, but it’s worth noting nonetheless … because it points out that no one’s perfect. Except for Wifey. When they teamed up with Rob & Amber and found themselves running in the opposite direction to Joe & Bill (who were using their map and compass), based purely on Rob (who wasn’t using either item) believing he knew where the building they were looking for was, the girls should have stopped in their tracks, checked their compass, and done things properly. That was a warning bell indicating Rob’s panic if ever there was one. So although Rob led the foursome off track, the beauty queens only had themselves to blame for following him. Moving up into fifth place from this pretty major setback was actually a very good turnaround.




6. Uchenna & Joyce


Last week: 2
This week: Down four places

After a great result last episode, it was disappointing to see Uchenna & Joyce plummet so far down the ladder. Having said that, however, their drop wasn’t as dramatic (or final) as another team I could mention, so let’s keep things in perspective. Joyce had apparently asked an airline employee for directions to the next cluebox before visiting the ladies room, and while in there, Rob allegedly (actually, he admitted as much himself) took the instructions and high-tailed it outta there. Perhaps the employee assumed they were ‘together’, but seeing Uchenna must have witnessed it (or at least knew about it), why he didn’t say something to Rob is a mystery. Maybe he did and it just wasn’t captured on camera (which would explain why both Rob and Uchenna were re-telling the story in their respective taxis later). When they reached the Detour, Uchenna & Joyce selected the ‘Sign It’ option (as did Rob & Amber), and both teams struggled to complete the task. Rob knew a surprisingly large amount of history, as evidenced by knowing that Magellan's trip started and ended in Seville (he didn’t simply work this out by looking at the map – he actually knew his facts!), and Amber was right in telling him to keep it to himself because the other teams didn’t know that. Uchenna & Joyce worked on the assumption that Magellan's voyage started in Guam (for some inexplicable reason), and it wasn’t until they re-read their clue and studied the map a little closer that Joyce worked out they needed to start and end with Seville. This pleased Uchenna no end, and led to their departure from the task (and being the only team – of the four who attempted it – to finish the task). Joyce’s ability to decipher that clue seemed to make up for her abysmal attempt at the boardroom Roadblock a few episodes ago. I know they all want to be pleasant to one another when there’s no actual racing going on, but I was surprised how heartily Joyce in particular was laughing at Rob & Amber’s re-telling of how they’d tricked Charla & Mirna into thinking there was a cluebox down the wrong path at the beach they’d just left.




7. Charla & Mirna


Last week: 8
This week: Up one place

Well, that another big episode – no pun intended – for these two. We started off with Mirna practicing some stand-up material at the expense of her diminutive cousin (“I have to make up for our shortcomings”), and stating – with a straight face – how she has to do more than any other person has ever had to do on the Race. Once the scoffing stopped, I saw her point. Mirna’s always carrying everything, running (and sometimes dragging) Charla along, doing all the driving, speaking to most locals herself, and so on. It’s true; she has a rough time of it – but at least she can see over the counter at McDonald’s. Have some perspective, Mirna! You’re cousin’s a dwarf! She hasn’t exactly had a problem-free life, herself! I imagine. Not that I’m advocating treating Charla with felt gloves or patronising her with sympathy, but COME ON. She was HOOKED-UP WITH A LITTLE DWARF MAN WHO SPOKE NO ENGLISH at the end of the previous leg, woman! You don’t have to blow your own trumpet about your work on the Race. (Of course, I’m just being funny – I actually greatly enjoy watching Charla & Mirna in the Race, and if Eric & Danielle, Oswald & Danny and Uchenna & Joyce were all eliminated, I’d be delighted to see these girls win.) When Charla didn’t bring their purses up the steps from their car and Mirna had to run back down again (all the while verbally insulting and embarrassing her tiny relative for forgetting their passports, etc), I couldn’t help but feel for Charla and the onslaught she was receiving. Why didn’t she ask if Mirna had brought their purses with her? But I guess that’s just how they are. New Yorkers. Loud and brash, getting near-hysterical and carrying on like loons … but they love each other all the same. (And the Full House audience goes: “Awwww.”) Although things settled down between the girls after that, the pressure of frequently being in last place clearly played on their minds because as they carried the signpost materials up the steps, Mirna had another shouty meltdown directed at her cousin (who – it must be said – was probably trying to be helpful and not look useless, but really needed to do as Mirna was saying and stop making things worse for everyone). When calling for a taxi later, it was amusing to learn that the girls have a whistle! Probably a great idea when you aren’t gonna know every language and be able to hail a taxi very easily in foreign lands, but I don’t know why we haven’t seen it until now. Then there was the taxi run-in with Rob & Amber as the two teams were the last to leave the airport. This was the first of three noticeable run-ins with the season favourites (the other two major run-ins being when Amber lied about the fictitious cluebox at the beach, and the brief verbal spat between Mirna and Rob during the letter Roadblock), and in each instance I couldn’t help but side with Charla & Mirna. They were pretty much the victims in each instance, showing that when their backs are against the wall, Rob & Amber’s tactics will happily turn to bullying. Misleading I understand, psyching their opponents out is fine, and I’d even try my hand at some sneaky dealings if I was on the Race and wanted to avoid being eliminated. But I’d never want to win by being a bully. When Charla & Mirna caught up with Rob & Amber (and Uchenna & Joyce) on the pier, Mirna naturally demanded to know what Amber was ‘playing at’ by lying about the cluebox. This was a little silly, but Amber’s reply was misunderstood or misheard by the girls. Amber claimed that she was telling Rob she’d “got it” (realised where the clue was), rather than telling the girls as she passed them that she’d got the clue, but Charla told the camera later that it made no sense for Amber to be telling Rob that she got the clue. Um, that’s not what Amber said, Tiny (even though what Amber said was a blatant lie). Mirna’s claim that she knows when someone’s lying because she’s an attorney seemed a little boastful (not to mention unlikely), but all-in-all these girls are the sort of team I can’t help but watch with fascination. One other thing: Consider what the ad for this episode was saying. For Charla to be a ‘hero’, the implication is that they were going to out the ‘villains’ (which I guess isn’t far from the truth). But it was probably wrong of Channel Seven to presume that everyone prefers Charla & Mirna over Rob & Amber. I know of at least two people (Javatari and Mars) who’d disagree with that assessment quite strongly.




8. Rob & Amber: ELIMINATED!


Last week: 1
This week: Down (and out) seven places

Okay, I know I tipped Charla & Mirna last week to be eliminated in this episode, but in my defence I hadn’t yet seen the ad that went on and on about Charla (“the girl everyone loves” – you say what, now?) being asked to be a “hero”. When Colls Bolls left a comment about this ad in last week’s post, I didn’t know at that point what she was referring to (although I agree with her view that the term ‘hero’ is overused – and because Charla wasn’t in fact asked to save anyone’s life, the term was definitely misused in this instance), but once I did see the commercial, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen. At least Phil’s voiceover last week didn’t make it 100% certain that Rob & Amber would be last (he could just have been referring to a fight, as I said in last week’s post), but good old Channel Seven again spoilt things for everyone by making it a no-brainer that Charla & Mirna were going to beat Rob & Amber to the Pit Stop. (I have too much integrity to go back and change my tip mid-week, however.) Rob & Amber spent a bit of time researching the shipwreck on the Internet (why does no other team think to do this?), but then wasted most of that time thinking it was a painting they were looking for (tip to the show’s producers: send teams to find a painting but let them think it’s an actual landmark in some future series – that’s a frickin’ great idea!). Why Rob “doubted” that Uchenna & Joyce’s taxi driver would know where the shipwreck was (when, as Amber pointed out, their own taxi driver had known) is anyone’s guess. I think it was just Rob’s ego and misplaced bravado at work. At the ‘Sign It’ Detour, it was amazing that Rob misspelt the word ‘Philippines’. How he could possibly misspell Phillipeans is beyond me. It was written right there on the map! Philipenes! He even said, “It better not be a spelling thing”, but apparently neither he nor Amber thought to check the spelling of the word ‘Fillepeaunes’! How dumb is that. (Seriously, though – why didn’t Amber go and check the spelling of each word as Rob hammered them all in, once they’d gotten it wrong twice already?!?) Clearly they’re not used to being in last place, and when the pressure’s on, Ron in particular likes to charge ahead with no pause to think things through properly. Teaming up with Dustin & Kandice didn’t really help their cause, particularly when Rob let his ego lead them off in entirely the wrong direction! When you’re holding a compass in your hand and you need to head due south, why you wouldn’t have a look at the compass before tearing off towards some building you’d seen earlier (and don’t even know if it’s the right one – and while another team is running off in the opposite direction) is just ludicrous. Later, Rob & Amber even started to get snippy with each other while they were waiting in the airport. When they took what was arguably Charla & Mirna’s taxi, Rob lied that they’d rung a taxi as well. But inviting bad karma like that was always going to come back to bite him. I must say that despite my criticism (which wasn’t really criticism as such anyway) of Amber tricking Charla & Mirna into thinking that the cluebox was further along the wrong path at the beach, I thought Amber’s “cover story” later when Mirna accosted her about the incident was brilliant. Claiming that she was simply telling Rob she’d worked out where the cluebox was (although impossible and obviously a lie) would have been transparent and infuriating for the girls, but there was nothing they could do to prove Amber’s story wrong. Apart from using Amber’s own admission on tape as evidence that she was lying. No matter which way you slice it, Rob & Amber’s elimination last night was their own fault. They can’t blame anyone other than themselves, and they can’t even really put it down to bad luck. There was a bit of bad luck involved, but the fault was definitely their own. Even though I didn’t mind them this season, it was kinda amusing to see them fall so far.




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Last week's tips:

First Team: Eric & Danielle. (Wrong) – I was very close, though!
Last Team: Charla & Mirna (or possibly Rob & Amber – but my tip is for Snow White & The Angry Dwarf). (Wrong) – I was very close again! But no cigar.
Yield? No. Correct!
Fast Forward? Yes. (Wrong)
Elimination Week? Yes. Correct!
Biggest Argument: Charla & Mirna. Correct!
Smartest Team: Dustin & Kandice. (Wrong) – Not considering they teamed up with Rob & Amber (which – on any other leg – would ordinarily have been a smart move). I’d have to say it was either of the first two teams; Oswald & Danny or Eric & Danielle.


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Next week's tips:

First Team: Eric & Danielle. (I’m sticking with them because they’ve been steadily increasing through the ranks from 4th place, to 3rd place, and now sit comfortably in 2nd place – with no Rob & Amber left to steal 1st place from them!)
Last Team: Charla & Mirna.
Yield? No.
Fast Forward? Yes.
Elimination Week? No.
Biggest Argument: Joe & Bill.
Smartest Team: Oswald & Danny.



[-- Aside --]

I’d like to offer my most heartfelt condolences to Mars. I’m not sure if she’s going to be reading this post or not (she’ll possibly boycott it – and the rest of the season of TARAS - now that Rob & Amber have been eliminated). I’m not gonna say, “I told you so”, because that would be childish (and redundant, because – as we all know – I did tell you so).

[-- Aside Ends --]




If you haven’t already done so, check out the review of this same episode that Javatari posted on his blog.


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6 Comments:

At Friday, May 04, 2007 4:20:00 PM, Blogger Javatari said...

Awesome review!

I think that Ch7 saying that Charla was asked to be a hero was in reference to all the crap that Mirna expected her to do rather than some not so subtle clue protraying Rob and Amber as villians. The clip on the ad even showed the argument between Charla and Mirna as the footage. Do you honestly think that Ch7 staff are clever enough to be even a little cryptic? They can't even get their shows running on time.

Oh, and if you ever refer to Rob and Amber as bullies again, I'll come around to your place, put you in a headlock and punch you in the guts with my free arm! ;p

 
At Saturday, May 05, 2007 7:42:00 PM, Blogger Mars said...

for the record - i am GUTTED. honestly. i suppose now i have to pick another team, so i'm choosing oswald and danny... but honestly, they are such a far cry from rob'n'amber.

get this - i actually had a migrane on thursday night so went to bed early and taped TAR... so i'm trying (desperately, for the love of god!) to sleep.. so it gets to 10.30 and the phone rings. i grunt at who-ever was wanting to gloat on the other end and tell them to PO.

ANNOYINGLY, the phone then went on to ring THREE more times within about 5 minutes, all people wanting to HAH HAH me.

jerks.

so i used my super-sleuth skills to deduce that my favourites had been kicked off. why-o-why couldn't it have been a non-elimination round???

GUTTED.

 
At Sunday, May 06, 2007 2:26:00 PM, Blogger magical_m said...

Ohhhh the happy dance that was performed in my house when Team Romber was eliminated was a sight to be seen.

I've never been so happy to see a couple go.

Karma will always getcha Rob. You prat.

Now can we get rid of those horrid, bitchy old men Joe & Bill (known in our house as Team Gerbil)? Honestly, I'm happy with anyone else in the race winning. But them. They need to go.

 
At Monday, May 07, 2007 7:21:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I kept waiting for the hero part....typical ch7 crap. Thankfully Mirna & Shcmirna are still at the back of the pack & will hopefully go soon. I said in my comment last week that they were entertaining, I think I'm over them. Do they ever have a rational conversation??? All they seem to do is yell.

I think I'll go for Danny & Oswald too, the others are boring or just plain horrible.

Great review again Bevis & posted in a very timely fashion!!!

 
At Monday, May 07, 2007 10:12:00 PM, Blogger thanh7580 said...

I too was so happy when Rob and Amber got eliminated. They were getting too big for their own egos. I hate how arrogant Rob was getting.

I hope that Eric and Danielle do well too. I really like Eric's competitive nature without resorting to lying and being totally arrogant. I hope Danielle starts to do something soon. She may as well not be there.

Charla and Mirna are also great for laughs. I hope they stay in for a few more episodes.

 
At Thursday, May 10, 2007 12:31:00 PM, Blogger BEVIS said...

STOP THE PRESSES!!

It's a double-episode tonight, and although the ad implies that there'll be two eliminations, there may not be. Either way, I'm going to have to re-submit my tips for tonight’s episode(s) below, so that I've placed my tips for both episodes. Hopefully Javatari will have a chance to do likewise on his own blog before 9:30pm AEST.

Tonight's tips: (redux)

Episode 5:

First Team: Eric & Danielle. (However, the ad makes it look like they get kicked off a plane, so they may be eliminated – I’m not going to change my tip at this late stage, though.)
Last Team: Charla & Mirna.
Yield? No.
Fast Forward? Yes.
Elimination Week? Yes.
Biggest Argument: Joe & Bill.
Smartest Team: Oswald & Danny.

Episode 6:

First Team: Oswald & Danny.
Last Team: Uchenna & Joyce.
Yield? Yes.
Fast Forward? No.
Elimination Week? Yes.
Biggest Argument: Teri & Ian.
Smartest Team: Uchenna & Joyce.

 

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