3/13 Show Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

[Bearcata]

First of all it's kinda funny to see all Vyxin and Kent have all this bad luck over at least a 3 day period.

Wow, what happened to Ronald? After he lost his temper and threw a rock at the bus he reverted to total kid mode and Christina the exasperated mommy? Very strange.

Nice to see Phil do that public announcement for the Red Cross and the victims in Japan. Yeah, it is kinda weird to see the teams in Japan after seeing all the footage of the tsunami damage. Were they even in the areas that were effected?

[Sk8Leigh]

Wow, what happened to Ronald? After he lost his temper and threw a rock at the bus he reverted to total kid mode and Christina the exasperated mommy? Very strange.

I was wondering if part of it was the high altitude and lack of oxygen to the brain. For him and Vyksin both, actually.

[Arielflies]

I was watching for an announcement and missed it somehow. I'm glad he did that as he has done previously.

[Sk8tergirl]

JMO, but yes Ron & Christina shld be penalized for not returning to the start and catching the correct bus.

But, if they are penalized shdn't the TAR producers penalize all those teams that are giving one another answers so they can complete the tasks quicker thus saving a whole lot of time.

I thought it was a rule that one team could not help another. Clearly, by giving a team the answer is helping, and both offending teams should be penalized.

[CCL]

I don't think it has ever been a rule that teams couldn't help one another. That said, I do wish they'd stop giving each other the answers. Maybe it is because these are "All Stars" and so more of them know each other going in then previous, so they feel more friendly and prone to assist.

[jadewarlock]

JMO, but yes Ron & Christina shld be penalized for not returning to the start and catching the correct bus.

But, if they are penalized shdn't the TAR producers penalize all those teams that are giving one another answers so they can complete the tasks quicker thus saving a whole lot of time.

I thought it was a rule that one team could not help another. Clearly, by giving a team the answer is helping, and both offending teams should be penalized.

Helping is not a penalty - it's just not a smart idea long term.

If you break a rule - hiding items, not following instructions, refusing to do a detour/roadblock, etc. then you are penalized.

Some cases they have been a bit grey area - the Cowboys' season the brothers that won finagled their way into first class during the flight - even if close to the end of it - to get a head start in the race. Technically, flying at all in first class unless there is no choice - i.e. they get bumped up by the plane itself so the plane doesn't lose the ticket sales, is a time penalty. But that season, that didn't happen, and to this day I think the fracas of opinions afterward by fans is why we have the whole controversies afterward.

That all said, it will be interesting how or if penalties will play a part in the rest of this leg of the race. Kent and Vyxsin will definitely be penalized for not taking the required flight. Christina and Ron will possibly be penalized for not going back up to the top of the mountain and starting over again on the right wagon (they would incur a 30 minute penalty here though).

[fan999]

... Kent and Vyxsin will definitely be penalized for not taking the required flight....

Just curious: Why penalize them? The intention of requiring everybody to be on a specific flight is to prevent one team from finding a way to gain an advantage over the others. The broader intention of penalties is to discourage teams from cutting corners. But when a team misses the assigned flight through sheer ineptitude and has to catch another one, landing several hours behind all the others, they've already penalized themselves pretty severely. Why hit them again? It would be like penalizing a team for walking across town when the clue said catch a cab. They certainly intended to be on the right flight, and only suffered by their failure. I vote for giving 'em a break.

[Maybaybie]

Helping is not a penalty - it's just not a smart idea long term.

If you break a rule - hiding items, not following instructions, refusing to do a detour/roadblock, etc. then you are penalized.

Some cases they have been a bit grey area - the Cowboys' season the brothers that won finagled their way into first class during the flight - even if close to the end of it - to get a head start in the race. Technically, flying at all in first class unless there is no choice - i.e. they get bumped up by the plane itself so the plane doesn't lose the ticket sales, is a time penalty. But that season, that didn't happen, and to this day I think the fracas of opinions afterward by fans is why we have the whole controversies afterward.

That all said, it will be interesting how or if penalties will play a part in the rest of this leg of the race. Kent and Vyxsin will definitely be penalized for not taking the required flight. Christina and Ron will possibly be penalized for not going back up to the top of the mountain and starting over again on the right wagon (they would incur a 30 minute penalty here though).

I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that they are not allowed to BUY first class tickets (to keep production costs down), but if they are bumped or manage to get into first class in some other way I don't think it is considered against the rules and therefore wouldn't incur a time penalty.

[Sk8tergirl]

I clearly remember in season 5 there was an elderly team struggling with a physical task and Chip and Kim wanted to help them but stated that they were not allowed to help one another.

If that rule is true, giving another team answers is clearly helping. If someone who knows the rules possibly can clarify this it would be helpful as I find it frustrating when watching the race.

I agree, helping your competitors is not a wise idea as it may come back to bite you in the butt.

[CCL]

There is a difference between helping someone with a physical task and giving them the answers...because with a physical task, the helping team would have to actually do the work, whereas when a team gives another team the answers, the helped team still has to be the one to complete the task ie go to the captain and give him the saying, or put together the mobile etc.

Maybaybie - I believe you are right regarding the first-class ticket issue.