11/11- TAR 21 Show Discussion **West Coast Spoilers**

[jadewarlock]

I was looking at the start times with interest this week. Does anyone remember what the Globetrotters got as a penalty for moving the other team's bags? If Texas/Twins had even gotten an hour penalty for taking the rockers' money, Texas wouldn't have won that leg and there was a chance the Twins would have been eliminated. Sorry to beat that dead horse again, but I'm still mad those two teams didn't even get a penalty.

There is a chance they got a penalty but it didn't factor into the standings so it wasn't shown. This has happened before. I will leave it at this as it's just as you say beating a dead horse into glue... dried glue by now.

Felt bad for the Rockers, but this week I will definitely say they should have kept a better eye on their stuff, and why wouldn't they both keep their passports on them at all times? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I do wonder how trustworthy that cab driver was-it didn't seem like they were there long before they realized they should dismiss that cab and get another one when they finished the task. I don't know why he would leave with their stuff.

Rule No. 1 - you can risk the backpacks, DO NOT risk your passports. That's why the passports are always around your waist. We've had teams race in just what they were wearing because they lost their backpacks, but they weren't eliminated because of it.

What helps the rockers here are a. They have about 10 hours on the last two teams and b. one of the two said they know exactly what the car looks like. If they contact another taxi they may luck out in finding out who the person is and have them come back. If they do NOT have that luck - they'll be out. The last time this happened it took a day or so for the passes to return. They didn't have to get them - the taxi found them but it was too late for them to continue.

My dad went to Russia a few times back in the '90s shortly after the fall of communism there. He said that the drivers tended to be a bit of speed demons to begin with (with literally hair-raising passing) and that sometimes he had to argue a bit on money. That said, they normally didn't leave but instead let the meter keep running so to speak during any stop. I don't know why they'd leave here.

Well, Abby/Ryan definitely get through to next week, I guess it's between the farmers and rockers, boo. Not sure I understand the farmers/Abby and Ryan's strategy of staying together considering they had to know they were in the back of the pack. Did they think Phil wouldn't eliminate someone if they stepped on the mat at the same time? I'm actually kinda interested to see that scenario now-would they producers eliminate two teams or send them both on? Kudos to Ryan for rehabbing his image some and sticking to his word on this leg

I think this is stupid, and I think the producers would either have Phil tell them they're NEL but two teams are out the next go, BOTH would have to do a speed bump, or Phl tell them one is eliminated and there be a huge fracas as to whom would be leaving.

My guess it'll be an NEL unless one of those teams wakes up and realizes it's a one team wins game.

It's an interesting strategy, but it's obvious to anyone that you should be running the race on your own terms, and especially when you know you have one team that could mean you're out.

[jadewarlock]

I don't remember that ever happening before where a team doesn't have a choice of which task they will do because one location closes and they have to do the other.

It's happened once or twice before, but more often than not what happens is that a contestant can't do a task for whatever reason and that is the hinderance. Examples were the soccer player not allowed to skydive and the taller of the two Globetrotters not being allowed to ride a ride for being too tall.

[Fanny Mare]

WTG Trey and Lexi. Team Metal gave up to easily on their first task. They just seem so bored, I don't care if they stay or go. Abbi and Ryan team up( and take the same cab??) with the goat farmers and Ryan was talking about the twins teaming up- ha!

Chip and Dale I knew they would do the synchronized swimming, and do it well! They are fun to watch, they have won me over.

It was all going so slowly I knew it was going to be a *to be continued*

[Bearcata]

Team Twinnie needs a reality check they came in third are still in the race, still have an express pass and are miserable about it.

[pretlitdev]

I meant to mention this earlier, but it blows my mind that anyone on this race-really anyone ever, but especially on this race when the stakes are so high-would chose a flight that has a connection of less than an hour. ESPECIALLY when they'd be flying overnight and getting a new flight would be even more difficult if you missed the connection. I was laughing at them running through the Frankfort airport-they never would have made that flight once they learned their first flight was delayed. I know they're trying to be aggressive and get ahead, but stop and think about it for a minute. The flight would get you in at 3am, the second flight would get in at 5 am. If those were daytime flights, I would maybe understand rolling the dice to get those extra two hours, but an arrival in the middle of the night means that more than likely, whatever place they had to go to next would be closed. And it was. Even if there had been a second flight from Frankfort to Moscow, there's no guarantee they would have been able to get on it.

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when they don't think about connection times on this show. I remember one time a friend of mine was travelling and she had a choice of taking a flight that only had 1 hour between connections, or another one with 6 hours between connections. I told her I knew it was boring being stuck in a terminal (and trust me, I know-I spent two solid days in airports travelling between Sydney Australia and Atlanta Georgia once because heavy fog in Sydney delayed us, causing us to miss all of our next connections) but it was better than missing the short connection and getting stuck overnight somewhere because the next flight out isn't for a long time.

Abbie/Ryan and the farmers were very lucky they were at least with another team. I think the rockers might be eliminated, but at least they believe there is a chance to move on, unlike there would be if only one team had taken the Frankfort flight

[Tilden]

Do we know for sure that the goat famers and R/A intended to land on the mat at the same time? The deal could be that they'd do the tasks together and then let who went home be decided by the race to the mat. I really can't believe that they'd be assuming that if they arrived on the mat simultaneously that they'd both be saved. I'm still impressed that it was Ryan, who's been so competitive, who wanted to stay and offer the farmers encouragement when they were having so much trouble with the task. He could have just insisted on taking off at that point, and I don't think even the farmers would have been that upset, given the fact that one of them was having trouble literally keeping his head above water.

As for bad--well, maybe not bad but questionable--decisions being made this leg, I think there were a number of them. If J/A hadn't given up on the first task so quickly, the cab issue wouldn't have even come up. If R/A and the goat farmers had thought about the tightness of the connection, they'd not have missed their second flight (to be fair, the farmers did consider it, but they let a coin toss decide, which wasn't the smartest mood they could have made). Heck, if finishing better than third was that important to the twinnies, they shouldn't have listened to the Chippies and used the Express Pass anyway. Listening to other competitors on the race is, IMO, always somewhat questionable, because even if you've gotten along with them, they're still your competitors. Besides, aren't you always going to feel better if you base your decisions on what you thought, no matter how they turn out, as opposed to listening to the advice of others? If I were potentially going to lose a leg--and all of them, save the winners, are eventually going to lose a leg--I'd rather it be because of something I chose to do than something I allowed myself to be talked into choosing. Oh, yeah, and the dismissive attitude the twinnies and Team Texas have taken toward all the other teams--when they were alone at the airport, one of the twins, I can't remember which one, made some comment about how it was nice that it was just the four of them and they didn't have to deal with the rest of the racers, whom she referred to disparagingly--could come back to bite them too. They need to remember that at some point, they may need some help too, so it might be a good idea to keep the snottiness to a minimum. They don't have to help the other teams, but they don't have to behave rudely towards them either.

One other thing--didn't Natalia use the wrong key or something at the lock task and not realize it for a while? It didn't hurt them much, but it still wasn't all that smart.

[Shoepie]

I was surprised the Chippies encouraged the twins not to use the express pass. This would have been the perfect time to encourage that! They all knew 2 teams were way behind them so there was no chance of the twins being last. It would have gotten it out of play. Since the Chippies came in 2nd, I suppose they were thinking they may be first.

The cab may have left, not understanding they wanted him to wait. Their laid back manner probably prevented them from communicating emphatically. The driver many have not remembered they had back packs in the trunk. He picks up so many fares each day, most of them without luggage, I can see this happening.

At the end of his day or when he needed the trunk he would have registered on who left them. Not likely to forget a camera man riding shotgun. It was probably in the paper that Amazing Race was filming there, as well. Someone will know how to contact production. I think the cabbie will return their backpacks.

I do not have a lot of sympathy for them, given the lost money incident. My passport has never left my body on trips out of the country unless the hotel has a safe.

[Fanny Mare]

I do not have a lot of sympathy for them, given the lost money incident. My passport has never left my body on trips out of the country unless the hotel has a safe.

Absolutely agree ! I am never without mine, and I check often to see we have it.

[Shoepie]

Absolutely agree ! I am never without mine, and I check often to see we have it.

I check and recheck it too!

And I would never leave anything in a cab that I asked to wait for me in the US, never mind Moscow! The culture is too foreign to even know if cabs do that.

[Arielflies]

Can the Chippendales run the rest of the race in the speedos because I am liking what I am seeing!

So were the swimmers. Twinnies were once again so annoying. The way they cozied up to the Turkish cab driver and when they left him at the airport he had a look on his face that made me wonder if they used their stolen loot to tip him extra. Then their complaining at the swim club that their trainer didn't speak English. Enough with that. The head trainer spoke English very well and that made the girls look petty.

Done ranting. I'm feeling for Abba who looks absolutely beat. His knee must be killing him and now without the cab they are walking a lot. I know they will get renewed passports, but will they receive their originals along with their packs before the Moscow leg ends?

I, too, think the Beekman Boys will take a time penalty for a non-finish of a task, which would place Abbi and Ryan ahead of them at the mat. I mean Josh...really...you have watched the show (or have you?) and know you must learn to drive a manual auto and learn to swim.