10/2 TAR 19 Episode 2 *West Coast Spoilers*

[Maybaybie]

I loved the ending because was in last wasn't necessarily going to be eliminated because of the twist of giving all your money to the orphanage. Somewhat sneaky since I believe thier clue card said to give over the money they made in the task, but the sign on the table said to give ALL their money up. Loved that! I have a feeling there was a lot of editing done at the mat. Something felt wrong when Phil asked each team if they gave up all their money and most teams said no and then Phil said they had to go back and do it and each team very calmly said OK. I would have been asking questions "what do you mean, Phil? I did what the card said!" Even Jenna had her hair down when she first arrived on the mat and a split second later it was up in a bun- definitely some serious editing (and probably Phil had lots of 'splainin' to do!

[SugarMama]

I loved the ending because was in last wasn't necessarily going to be eliminated because of the twist of giving all your money to the orphanage. Somewhat sneaky since I believe thier clue card said to give over the money they made in the task, but the sign on the table said to give ALL their money up. Loved that! I have a feeling there was a lot of editing done at the mat. Something felt wrong when Phil asked each team if they gave up all their money and most teams said no and then Phil said they had to go back and do it and each team very calmly said OK. I would have been asking questions "what do you mean, Phil? I did what the card said!" Even Jenna had her hair down when she first arrived on the mat and a split second later it was up in a bun- definitely some serious editing (and probably Phil had lots of 'splainin' to do!

I agree. Even the showgirls...when Phil was "teasing" them...their acting didn't seem right, I think it was rehearsed. Just my opinion.

[Rembrant]

Indeed, I noticed that the bit about giving all their money to the orphanage wasn't in the clue itself, it was just on that sign at the table in the orphanage. Only three teams got it right, so they were paying attention to their surroundings, always smart racing. Good on them, especially on Sailor Duo and Showgirls, getting to jump from 8th and 10th up to 2nd and 3rd respectively. Ron & Bill didn't make much of an impression but seemed like nice people, and I was pretty surprised to see Ethan & Jenna eliminated.

The teams are likeable enough so far, for the most part. I hope Cindy won't become the typical whiner, because I like her, but not her immediate turn to whiny when they found out their goof-up. Marcus is full of one-liners and seems to really be having a blast. I am liking that, despite mistakes and running in the back of the pack, these teams do seem to be having a lot of fun. Well, with the exception of Jennifer, of course. I don't mind Justin much, but Jennifer gets on my last nerve, she's done nothing but snap at Justin over anything and generally having a sour face and bad attitude.

[Babbred]

Can't believe I forgot to come here and post last week.

Since I didn't, I have a question. What is the relationship of Ethan and Jenna? Are they married? I have have never watched Survivor, so I had no clue who they were until the other contestants started talking about them. I have to confess, at first I was one of those people who was a little ticked off that they were trying to win more money. However, after reading the comment about his medical bills, I realized that commenter was probably right. Having suffered at the hands of the American medical system myself , I can understand how Ethan might have used up much of his previous money. He also sounded like a very nice person. I was sorry to see them go tonight, but that was a little silly to lose their clue.

And losing your passport? Really? I believe we had this discussion last season when some contestant left behind his fanny pack with his money and passport in it. Man, that sucker would stay glued to my body until I got to my hotel room at night. My husband is English, so we travel to Britain every year. From the moment we leave home, we are always checking with each other. "Got the passports?"

And just a minor note: my dad was telling me just the other day that he had read that most football players only play for about 2-3 years, and that the vast majority make considerable less than a million dollars. Salaries like that only go to the star players who make the headlines. Therefore, I can believe that this particular former player might not have a ton of money now.

OK, on to tonight's episode. I loved it.

The spelunking challenge was cool. I've been rappelling down a cliff before, and that was one of the scariest things I've ever done. Kudos to the contestants for not freaking out and to some of them for enjoying it.

Go Ma and Pa! I thought they should have done better on the very first challenge, but I've really grown to like them now. I laughed when the husband made it out of the cave first. Man, they must have smoked it untangling those knots. I love how they don't tear each other apart but keep focused on the challenge and working together.

Love the snowboarders, too. That was also my favorite line of the night. "Dude, don't call me dude." Whoever compared them to the Cowboys nailed it. No wonder I like these guys so much. The "dude" line reminds me of the Cowboys' first season, when one of them beat all of the other contestants on a lassoing challenge. As they ran away, he told the other, "Man, they'll never let me live this down at home they I missed it on the first try." The snowboarders have that same kind of easy camaraderie. I bet that they won't be nasty towards the other contestants, either, as the season goes on.

People, people, people. There was a sign right in front of you and you never thought to read it? That's just sad. I also wondered why all the contestants were so calm when Phil told them they had to go back. I think it was pretty obvious that the producers had told them already. I think the first team were the only ones to really freak out, and that most of the teams would have shown some sort of negative reaction if they were truly finding out for the first time.

Somebody mentioned the baseball play-offs. Go Rangers! Sorry, just had to throw that in.

[Tilden]

Can't believe I forgot to come here and post last week.

Since I didn't, I have a question. What is the relationship of Ethan and Jenna? Are they married? I have have never watched Survivor, so I had no clue who they were until the other contestants started talking about them. I have to confess, at first I was one of those people who was a little ticked off that they were trying to win more money. However, after reading the comment about his medical bills, I realized that commenter was probably right. Having suffered at the hands of the American medical system myself , I can understand how Ethan might have used up much of his previous money. He also sounded like a very nice person. I was sorry to see them go tonight, but that was a little silly to lose their clue.

And losing your passport? Really? I believe we had this discussion last season when some contestant left behind his fanny pack with his money and passport in it. Man, that sucker would stay glued to my body until I got to my hotel room at night. My husband is English, so we travel to Britain every year. From the moment we leave home, we are always checking with each other. "Got the passports?"

And just a minor note: my dad was telling me just the other day that he had read that most football players only play for about 2-3 years, and that the vast majority make considerable less than a million dollars. Salaries like that only go to the star players who make the headlines. Therefore, I can believe that this particular former player might not have a ton of money now.

OK, on to tonight's episode. I loved it.

The spelunking challenge was cool. I've been rappelling down a cliff before, and that was one of the scariest things I've ever done. Kudos to the contestants for not freaking out and to some of them for enjoying it.

Go Ma and Pa! I thought they should have done better on the very first challenge, but I've really grown to like them now. I laughed when the husband made it out of the cave first. Man, they must have smoked it untangling those knots. I love how they don't tear each other apart but keep focused on the challenge and working together.

Love the snowboarders, too. That was also my favorite line of the night. "Dude, don't call me dude." Whoever compared them to the Cowboys nailed it. No wonder I like these guys so much. The "dude" line reminds me of the Cowboys' first season, when one of them beat all of the other contestants on a lassoing challenge. As they ran away, he told the other, "Man, they'll never let me live this down at home they I missed it on the first try." The snowboarders have that same kind of easy camaraderie. I bet that they won't be nasty towards the other contestants, either, as the season goes on.

People, people, people. There was a sign right in front of you and you never thought to read it? That's just sad. I also wondered why all the contestants were so calm when Phil told them they had to go back. I think it was pretty obvious that the producers had told them already. I think the first team were the only ones to really freak out, and that most of the teams would have shown some sort of negative reaction if they were truly finding out for the first time.

Somebody mentioned the baseball play-offs. Go Rangers! Sorry, just had to throw that in.

It's not just that Ethan had cancer. It's also that after his season of Survivor in Africa, where he had a reward that involved going to an orphanage for children with AIDS (it was a better reward than it sounds--they got to deliver a bunch of stuff to the orphanage and had a lot of fun with the kids), he got very involved in charitable efforts there. In fact, the t-shirt he was wearing tonight had the logo for the charity he started. During his season of Survivor, it was also pointed out that even as a teenager, he was enormously helpful to his mother when his father became terminally ill, literally doing all the heavy lifting when his father became bedridden. I suspect that if they had won, they would have been paying medical bills with the money and/or funneling much of it back into his charity. I was sort of surprised that the other teams seemed not to know anything about him other than that he won. If they followed Survivor enough to know that, I don't know why they wouldn't know the rest of it, including that he was one of the more decent people to win Survivor.

By the way, since I mentioned Jonathan in an earlier post, I just found out that his partner, Victoria, who eventually married him and had a child with him, has now divorced him. Bet that was one contentious divorce, since Jonathan snapped at her about absolutely everything.

[MHcarrollton]

I am having a seriously hard time figuring out how the two older contestants got that far ahead. Was their taxi that much faster? They all left at the same time, how did some get that far ahead. They had time to do the extra task even. I am glad because I like them, but it seemed odd they got that far ahead.

I like when they add extra things like the money sign. It makes the show more interesting than knowing who will come where so soon in the episode. I like change ups based on paying attention and following directions instead of always physical. I think like in Survivor sometimes they make things too physical, and I like the awareness and intelligence aspects.

The brother and sister should have never come on together. My son and daughter are 11 months apart and they argue nonstop, and I could never see them doing anything together. Their arguing is normal for siblings, but is going to make the race too hard for them. The sister has to learn to just move on and try a little harder to get going.

[NCLurker]

I really enjoyed last nights episode. I loved that they threw the sign in to muddy the waters on that last challenge. The only pair that I really don't like at this point are the siblings. They really do not work well together and they never just stop with the words.

[Bearcata]

There was an interesting paragraph a couple of weeks ago in the TV Guide from the producers of The Amazing Race saying even though the show has been on the air for 10 years the contestants keep making the same mistakes over and over again, they don't take the time to read clues all the way through and they don't take the time to think through which challenge/activity to do they just follow the crowd.

[Bearcata]

Was kinda sad to see Ethan and Jenna go simply because after they lost the clue they didn't lose energy and time by beating each other up about it when it happened and later in the cab. Seeing how they handled it spoke volumes to me about their relationship.

Asian chick chill and read the above.

The hard assed sister of the sister brother team, also read above. I feel for her brother, he is trying to get her feedback and getting nothing. Or maybe nothing is what she was giving him. Still if he had chosen wrong I am sure he would have heard about it. That women needs to give a little.

Hope Ma and Pa can keep the mistakes to a minimum and go far in the race.

[AZChristian]

The hard assed sister of the sister brother team, also read above. I feel for her brother, he is trying to get her feedback and getting nothing. Or maybe nothing is what she was giving him. Still if he had chosen wrong I am sure he would have heard about it. That women needs to give a little.

While she was on her rant at the train station, I found myself saying - out loud - PLEASE!!! JUST SHUT UP. But I doubt she would have heard me. All she can her is her own mouth. I think it's obvious how much she has alienated people with that attitude, including her brother. When they were sitting together, talking to the camera at the end, she broke down and cried (probably from exhaustion). The natural thing would have been for her teammate/brother immediately to reach out and try to comfort her. He just looked at her. Never touched her, never said a word. That spoke louder than all of her vitriolic words to him. She has really set a nasty tone for their relationship. Sad.