11/1 Show Discussion *Spoilers*

[realityfan778]

Did anyone else think that only one person had to ring the bell? I think that's why Tiffany was trying harder. Maria knew she didn't have the strength to get it up there.

They showed only Brian from the married team and one of the Globetrotters ringing the bell. If both teammates had to ring it I think they would have played up Ericka's attempts at ringing the bell since the other two ladies were having such a horrible time.

I say this only two defend the poker players who slowing grew on me, especially Tiffany. I really think they gave it their all (let's face it Maria is just not physically strong) and looked physically exhausted.

[jadewarlock]

You can't honestly be suggesting that all of the men who got it on the first shot just happened to do it accurately while the girls after 100+(?) tries couldn't?

Yes, there's "skill" and you could see the thing go up different amounts with each swing but you also need the arm strength that these girls obviously did not have.

I am because I'm a woman, not nearly as strong, and I've hit the bell with the swing. They were also NOT hitting the button squarely, and that's also why it didn't work. Additionally, I have worked carnival games and know some of the tricks that make them seem hard, but it's really a lot simpler than it looks. It's also why places such as the Six Flags parks will consider automatic termination if a member of the staff plays a game - on or off duty - because they know how it works.

Same with golf. There's a reason there are separate men's and women's tees. The two men teams took 7 drives to get the ball close to the tee. Even if strength only played a small part of it that still means they have to make up for 7 times the difference.

There was an equalizer even here - the wind. The poker players mentioned the wind was 30 MPH there. None of the groups save the team that won first made it in one go each hole - and even there they ALMOST had to do the third one again.

Maybe they were weak women but it seems odd (and boring) to cast people that simply can't physically do a challenge. Why would TAR do that? I hope after this and the Myka foolishness they've fired their casting director! (why would you cast someone deathly afraid of heights and water? dumb for her to apply, dumber for them to accept her)

I'm going to be blunt - again they place these things well in advance of the casting. They also don't know who's going to still be there the further the legs into the race. They didn't know if Mika would be there nor did they know the poker players were going to be weak (they don't look weak, they look rather average and capable of handling that mallet - which BTW, can't be 40 pounds (from their interview), or they'd hit the bell with one swing if they hit the button on the mark with their swing).

They had the slide in the race because it's a really cool slide that slides under a shark tank. Production wanted to show people some of the more unique things that the country had to offer - and Mika's meltdown was just one of those things that happened.

It's as I said a lot like Tammy and Victor having an advantage knowing Mandarin in China - but as we saw, even there they struggled.

Point is - it's really not fair to blame the casting of this group, nor the contestants.

[NFL1]

There have been many contestants who were scared of heights, water, nasty food, and other things - but many were able to either have the partner do that part OR they overcame their fear to stay in the race. This individual just couldn't overcome her fear - combination of two big fears of hers. I don't think it was the casting - perhaps they thought with their overcoming challenges she might be "ready" for it by that time in the race if they were still there.

[CCL]

Did anyone else think that only one person had to ring the bell? I think that's why Tiffany was trying harder. Maria knew she didn't have the strength to get it up there.

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Only one person had to ring the bell. If it was both I doubt they would have stayed at the task as there was no way that Maria was ever going to get it up there.

[Duckyface]

They really do seem to want an all female team to win so I doubt they thought this task would be so hard for them. From what I've read they test out the tasks throughly to make sure it's not to hard or too easy, and well before the race even starts.

It was quite obvious from the way they swung at the bell and at the ball that neither of the poker players had any sports experience whatsoever. I would hope that was rare for a female in the USA these days and assume the show would not have anticipated such wimpy females. They were swinging neither accurately nor efficiently. It seems to me that anyone who has ever played softball, golf, tennis, raquetball or any other such sport would have been able to do these tasks. Brian is no example of male strength and neither is "the brain" , yet they managed. Pinky could not hit the ball as well as his Dad and I don't think that had anything to do with upper body strength, but more to do with eye hand coordination.

At any rate I'm glad the charity workers, err... rich poker players are gone.

[Duckyface]

Next week's episode has that infamous rolling out the bale of hay! I don't remember the season, but it is something I would never have to do on this show!

I think the hay bales will take more strength than the "golf" or the "bell" from this week. For those who have never had to move hay, it's heavy, especially in those huge rolls.

[Wind Dancer]

I just saw the Poker Gals on Bonnie Hunt and they said that basically they got really tired and couldn't do much more so they decided to quit.

[captain]

The clue said they had to take turns swinging with the mallet until one of them hit the bell.

[aname2]

Personally, I think both casting and the type of challenges were at fault for the defaults of the last two episodes (Myka's balking at the water slide and the poker gal's inability to ring the bell using mallet). There are probably so many people that sign up for this show even more than some of the others, that to cast those with phobic type fears is unnecessary (unless they are specifically looking for those types for the dramatic element). Of course, people with those type of fears are idiots to sign up. The challenges usually do not favor girl teams, especially those requiring upper body strength. Athletic girls do well, but most others do not.

[Stump]

Point is - it's really not fair to blame the casting of this group, nor the contestants.

Two groups have now quit the race because they were not able to complete a task. That's either poor casting or poor task creation. And the slide wasn't poor task creation so I think you have to blame the casting.