3/20 Show Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

[tarfan77]

I didn't mind R/C not getting a penalty, but I thought it was hypocritical for TPTB to give one to K/V. Both teams made the same mistake. They accidentally missed their intended transportation. Neither team meant to get on the wrong plane/bus. What was fair for one should have been fair for the other. I think penalties should be reserved for times like last season, when the clue clearly said walk but some teams took a cab, anyway. Or when teams deliberately give up and don't finish a challenge.

Rules are rules. (A) Apparently there was a specific list of flights they had to take, and they did not take one on the approved list. (B) There is NO rule against Jet & Cord "stealing" someone else's cab, as long as they don't take another team's belongings in the process.

[tarfan77]

What hurt Jamie and Cara? - telling Kent and Vyxsin that there was one other team besides the two of them they knew were still racing. The goths knew they had to be at worst next to last - and you DO NOT RISK a chance that you are the last two teams left and not U-Turn the team right behind you. I thought it was a smart move on their part because it gave them enough of an advantage to get to the dinos and place respectable.

Also, people mention why not turn the GT's? - It sounded like Jamie and Cara were going to U-Turn them anyway, and in addition, there was the chance as we saw the GT's could complete the task quickly, and both they and Jamie/Cara were going to complete the Roadblock quickly and still beat the Goths. It still was a smart move to not risk both non-penalty teams getting done with the road block quickly and K/V being eliminated.

BTW - I thought the goths took their penalty with grace and had every right to celebrate that they only lost one spot in the rankings for it. Plus, Kent for the most part didn't complain on the dino challenge, even though he did bug me a bit on the solar panels.

Loved that the cowboys beat Gary/Mallory; however, it was very wise of G/M to use the express pass here. The only other place I could see them using this was if and only if they had the haybale challenge.

The Globetrotters also took their penalty with the "OK, let's just get this over with" and completed the second challenge. I would love to see how many times it took to complete the memory challenge, but apparently not too many times or they'd shown the GT's struggling. So, there is an improvement there for FT and BE on memory.

Overall, not a bad leg of the race. This is a lesson though - never EVER imply that you and another team ahead of you may be the last two teams in the leg of the race. A lot of the racers aren't going to count how many clues are in the box, so if you think they aren't doing that, you could possibly get away saying there's 5 teams behind them, no doubt they'd make it near the top of the leaderboard, and you are less likely to be U-Turned.

Here's the really interesting scenario: if I were first, I would have U-Turned Gary and Mallory immediately. The worst case scenario is that you force them to put the Express Pass out of play BEFORE they get to the U-Turn. . . .

[jadewarlock]

Here's the really interesting question: if I were first, I would have U-Turned Gary and Mallory immediately. The worst case scenario is that you force them to put the Express Pass out of play BEFORE they get to the U-Turn. . . .

I agree, except that odds were they were ahead of the teams (as far as Kent and Vyxsin were concerned), they were way ahead and it'd be a wasted U-ey. The teams as far as I remember were only allowed to use this ONCE on another team during the race. Better to take it on a team who they knew was behind them than risk wasting it.

And, I wondered how many of the teams remembered the express pass.

Given the circumstances, if I were a team with a team right behind me, thinking I was next to last, I'd automatically U-Turn the team behind me. It was better odds that I'd be ahead of them and I'd feel that I didn't waste the U-Turn.

Now, if I did a count of how many clues there were in a box, and there were more in there than half less my team, I'd do what you did - take a chance a team in the back had the express pass and force them to use it early.

[tarfan77]

I agree, except that odds were they were ahead of the teams (as far as Kent and Vyxsin were concerned), they were way ahead and it'd be a wasted U-ey. The teams as far as I remember were only allowed to use this ONCE on another team during the race. Better to take it on a team who they knew was behind them than risk wasting it.

And, I wondered how many of the teams remembered the express pass.

Given the circumstances, if I were a team with a team right behind me, thinking I was next to last, I'd automatically U-Turn the team behind me. It was better odds that I'd be ahead of them and I'd feel that I didn't waste the U-Turn.

Now, if I did a count of how many clues there were in a box, and there were more in there than half less my team, I'd do what you did - take a chance a team in the back had the express pass and force them to use it early.

I'm talking about Margie and Luke who DID know they were first, and chose not to use the U-Turn.

And, BTW, Jet & Cord winning the leg despite Gary & Mallory using the Express Pass: Priceless . . . + $10,000,

[jadewarlock]

I'm talking about Margie and Luke who DID know they were first, and chose not to use the U-Turn.

And, BTW, Jet & Cord winning the leg despite Gary & Mallory using the Express Pass: Priceless . . . + $10,000,

Oh, my apologies. In the case of them, I still think they may not have known (more unlikely but a chance), and I think remembering how Kris and Amanda were when M/L U-turned them in the first race they ran, they chose not to risk creating ill-will amongst their fellow racers.

I don't know really except guilt from the previous race or miscounting the clues and thinking a team was a head of them.

Yes... J/C's win over G/M was priceless, but at least it was close. Both made wise choices in the end to get those finishes.

[Endit]

This is one of the best episodes I've seen of TAR.

- K&V penalty then totally catching up
- Everybody following Christina around like lemmings, yet she lead them to the wrong place, first and last switch places
- Footrace to double uturn
- Kent surprises everybody by not listening to the redheads and uturning them instead
- Both teams uturned do the other task in record time, leaderboard flip yet again
- Express pass used but frantic race to #1
- K&V penalty wait out almost coincides with globetrotter check in
- 7 and 8th place footrace

Kent told Vyxsyn not to tell anybody else what happened though! I am very surprised she did, some of the other teams could have used that to their advantage.

I didn't mind R/C not getting a penalty, but I thought it was hypocritical for TPTB to give one to K/V. Both teams made the same mistake. They accidentally missed their intended transportation. Neither team meant to get on the wrong plane/bus. What was fair for one should have been fair for the other. I think penalties should be reserved for times like last season, when the clue clearly said walk but some teams took a cab, anyway. Or when teams deliberately give up and don't finish a challenge.

I completely agree! K&V didn't deserve a penalty. It's not like they said "We chose to take a different flight!", they made a huge mistake (though I don't know how you can drive for 2 hours without thinking something is fishy. It should not take 2, over 5+, hours to get to the airport).

[CCL]

This is one of the best episodes I've seen of TAR.

- K&V penalty then totally catching up
- Everybody following Christina around like lemmings, yet she lead them to the wrong place, first and last switch places

Well, the cabbie took them to the wrong place. I'm not really sure that was Christina's fault. Unless she wasn't clear at first with him which cultural centre he was to go to.

- Kent surprises everybody by not listening to the redheads and uturning them instead

That was great, especially considering that Kent doesn't usually take the lead in decision-making.

Kent told Vyxsyn not to tell anybody else what happened though! I am very surprised she did, some of the other teams could have used that to their advantage.

Wasn't she the one telling him not to tell any one? She told people after the uturn had been used, when there was no point keeping it a secret any more (before, if people had known they had a penalty, they might have stuck them with a uturn as well to make sure they were eliminated and the uturning team was safe. That was the thinking, anyhow).


I

[SugarMama]

While I've not yet watched last night's episode, I'd like to comment on the Goths...they missed that flight because they were going in the wrong freaking direction! It wasn't due to traffic, an inept cab driver, or a broken down car.

Call me picky, but I'd say that kind of mistake should count in a race around the world!

[Arielflies]

This is one of the best episodes I've seen of TAR.

- K&V penalty then totally catching up
- Everybody following Christina around like lemmings, yet she lead them to the wrong place, first and last switch places
- Footrace to double uturn
- Kent surprises everybody by not listening to the redheads and uturning them instead
- Both teams uturned do the other task in record time, leaderboard flip yet again
- Express pass used but frantic race to #1
- K&V penalty wait out almost coincides with globetrotter check in
- 7 and 8th place footrace

[snip]

I agree with your assessment and list. I also enjoyed the pick up game initiated by Cord when he said he knew the Globetrotters had a basketball with them. Of course Flighttime and Big Easy had to also break out the extra jerseys for the other players. It was fun to see a few Globetrotter moves on the court.

Kynt loves dinosaurs so I wasn't that surprised that he finished fairly early despite his tumble off the ladder. He and Vyxyn really showed some moxy this portion of the China leg and I hope they can keep it up.

Cord is the better puzzle man than Jet so I'm happy he took on the dinosaur challenge. It is interesting that teams seemed to realize "tradition" meant a memory challenge and "future" meant a physical challenge.

I think Jaimie (?) met her haybale with the dinosaur puzzle and did well to finish so they could reach the mat for their elimination.

No one truly annoyed me this episode which is why I think I enjoyed it so much. Even Mallory toned down the chirpiness though she did erupt in snapishness at one point.

I HATE the India legs! Can you imagine how hyper the tea drinkers will be - as well as needing many bathroom breaks? I wonder if there is a train from Calcutta this time.

[CCL]

Did Jamie (or Cara - can't distinguish the reds) actually finish the dinosaur challenge? I thought she quit? The last couple of minutes was a bit of a jumble for me.

I don't really care for the Indian legs - they seem the same every race - focusing on the culture shock each time.