11/18 TAR 21 Show Discussion **West Coast Spoilers**

[Bearcata]

Wow, what an episode. Almost 30 minutes late. Then they go show all the nice, goody sides of all the teams even the Twinnies were not annoying. I can't hate anyone on this leg of the Amazing Race. That is amazing. I was so hoping Abba and James would be able to find their passports I really thought they would win this season.

Best challenge was that time one.

[sweetpea]

I'm firmly on the Chippies to win bandwagon. Love how much fun they are having, but man was I yelling at them to get to the pit stop rather than help Texas find a taxi...I mean c'mon... RAAAAACE!!! I don't know if the u-turn preview is a fake out or not. It would be smart of them to u-turn Texas or the twins, but I somehow think they won't go through with it.

Sorry to see the rockers go. Really tough luck how it all turned out, but then again they were screwed from the get-go with the missing passport. The editing with the check-in and start times and stuff seemed a bit off to me, too. I wonder if they had to rearrange everything on the fly? Phil allowed them to check in 4th and said they were still racing, but then we didn't see them attempting to replace the passport until AFTER the goat farmers started their 4 hour penalty. The rockers checked in well before the goat farmers, so why weren't they able to start their leg and try to get the passport replaced sooner? I didn't get it at all. Kind of a wonky episode.

So funny to see Ryan proclaim himself the best at something and then completely lose his mind. The judge of that task was hysterical. Loved it!

At this point I would like to see the twins come in last (yes, I'm still holding a grudge) and the Chippies come in first. The rest of the order I don't care.

[Bearcata]

Did anyone notice that they didn't show the team start times? They have never done that before?

[Arielflies]

The professor reminded me of Alton Brown from the Food Channel....not sure if this is who you meant, but it's who I thought of when he first appeared.

WELCOME to posting!

Yes, with his pursed lips and didatic manner, he and Alton have similar personality traits. I loved that it all seemed an act, though, as he even teased Ryan before breaking into a huge smile and laugh.

I loved that the Beekman Boys took on the costume party. For editing we didn't see whether they had any trouble with identifications as it appeared they did not. They thought they were last (once again) and once again took the time to enjoy the experience. That was my favorite part of the episode.

[yourefired]

RE start times: I have to wonder if it had something to do with being so far north. I went to a music festival in Saskatchewan a few years back, and the headliner came on at 11 p.m. and it was just dusk. Since Russia is on the same level as Alaska, I'd assume they have "midnight sun" or something similar. That most likely explains the extensive daylight.

RE Chippendales: I've loved them since day 1. Jaymes is really funny. I love his commentary. I want him to replace Brooke Burke-Charvet on DWTS.

RE Goat Farmers/Team Metal: I believe Team Metal had to finish last because of the lack of passports. That is an automatic last place finish if memory serves. The only reason they got to continue is that this leg was staying in Russia. Usually not having a passport is automatic elimination. So even though they checked in just after the goat farmers, they had to wait to leave after them because of the automatic last place.

I'm hoping for a great equalizer and I hope the Chippendales wise up and u-turn either Twinnies or Texas. That would make them really smart (all star) racers. If they're guilty of one thing right now, it is being too nice. Quite honestly I would have let twinnies use that express pass last week to flush it out. Then everyone starts this leg on equal footing. But no they had to play the nice guys. And then they played the nice guys again this week trying to stay with Texas. Boys you should know better. This is a race and there can only be one winner.

Finally, how great was it that the express pass was used and twinnies still finished in 3rd. They just knew they'd win the leg where they used it. I really loved that.

[Maybaybie]

Did anyone notice that they didn't show the team start times? They have never done that before?

YES!! See my post on page 6...it bugged me too!!

RE start times: I have to wonder if it had something to do with being so far north. I went to a music festival in Saskatchewan a few years back, and the headliner came on at 11 p.m. and it was just dusk. Since Russia is on the same level as Alaska, I'd assume they have "midnight sun" or something similar. That most likely explains the extensive daylight.

.

Ahhhh!! Yes! I googled it... and in May and June (race was run May 26-June 16) the sun doesn't set until 10pm in Russia! Awesome- thanks for that! I can't beleive I didn't think of it. It's also weird to think the race is run in 21 days. It takes so many weeks to actually watch the episodes that it seems they are away from home for so long, but in actuality, it's only 3-4 weeks.

[Tilden]

Does anyone have any idea how far apart the teams are? I know Rybbie and BBoys were 8-10 hours behind on the last episode, but I noticed (for the first time) that when it said "Trey and Lexie are the 1st depart" it didn't say the time or show it on the screen. It appeared as if all teams finished the leg during daylight hours, but I"m trying to determine how that is even possible. If the first detour didn't open until 8am- that would put Rybbie there at 4-6pm (or a bit earlier if the first teams had to wait a little while until 8am) and then they still had to complete that task (Ryan 20+ times) and then the dancing task. The BBoys also had a 4 hour penalty on top of all that and all of them seemed to arrive on the mat while it was still quite light outside (just getting dusk for the Rockers). It just doesn't compute. Is it possible they changed everyone's start times to get them closer together, but just gave the first few teams a big lead? Have they ever done that before?

Sad to see the rockers go. I know they would love to go straight home so the one can see his Dad, but they are usually stuck at Sequesterville until the race is over. I hope the show made an exception for them.

So happy the Chips got first place- I hope they can hang onto it!

I'd think the show is between a rock and a hard place with regard to letting Team Hair go home. Obviously, it would be the sympathetic thing to let them go straight home so one could see his dad and the other his own doctor about his leg, but I'd guess the moment they got home, they'd be hit by people/press letting them know what happened to their money in Bangladesh, and I'm guessing AR would just as soon not have that incident revived. Though I suppose they could let them go home with the instructions that they were not allowed to talk to anyone about the show, which would eliminate the possibility of them being interviewed, but I don't see how they could control someone else blurting out to them what had happened. At this point, they may not care, but I just don't want them to feel worse than they already may about their experience/

[ElizabethG]

I'd think the show is between a rock and a hard place with regard to letting Team Hair go home. Obviously, it would be the sympathetic thing to let them go straight home so one could see his dad and the other his own doctor about his leg, but I'd guess the moment they got home, they'd be hit by people/press letting them know what happened to their money in Bangladesh, and I'm guessing AR would just as soon not have that incident revived. Though I suppose they could let them go home with the instructions that they were not allowed to talk to anyone about the show, which would eliminate the possibility of them being interviewed, but I don't see how they could control someone else blurting out to them what had happened. At this point, they may not care, but I just don't want them to feel worse than they already may about their experience/

No one at home should know anything about what happened to them during the race (money taken, passport lost) because the show was taped in May/June and did not start airing until late September.

[pikachu]

Tis a sad day for Junkyard Royalty. The team captains have been eliminated.

Per the rules of myself, the remaining Junkyard Royalty team that placed highest in this leg will become new team captains. Jaymes and James, in this case. Therefore the team shall also be renamed. That, I am still thinking on.

Yeah, that was a hard loss for me, too. I debated adding James & Abba or the Chippendales and ultimately chose the wrong team. It's too bad because I liked the Chippendales better and wanted to choose them but James & Abba seemed to be doing better in the race up until recently.

[Photobabe]

May I join the tearful bandwagon that is mourning the loss of 2 fine team members?