41 replies to this topic

[graytex]

For me, they were one of those fun teams to dislike. I love their fight with Aimee. It made good television. I wish they had lasted a little longer. Another reason the classic TAR is the best.

[auntlada]

I think a large part of it was arguing with the taxi driver over a piddly amount of money. That's certainly how it appeared, anyway.

ETA: To this day, I don't know which is which. Most of the time, I don't even remember their names. They'll just always be Light Hair and Dark Hair.

Edited by auntlada, Apr 13, 2006 @ 8:51 PM.

[graytex]

In Miss Alli's words:

Kim and Leslie arrive at the Arc, and pause to argue with the cabbie over thirty francs in change that he doesn't want to cough up. Leslie wants those thirty francs, damn it. Meanwhile, Nancy and Emily make it to the Arc, and dodge the traffic trying not to die. They come in eighth, and high-five. Leslie is still arguing over the change, and she is trying to get the name of the cabbie. I'm not kidding. That's how they're spending their time. Then, after once again baiting me by discussing how stupid they are, they proceed to get lost trying to get across the street (which apparently requires the use of a tunnel) to get to the Arc.

[NotPatrick]

If that were the actual reason they got eliminated. The editing for that episode was all out of wack. Dave & Margaretta dissapeared halfway through the leg and materialised again at the Pit Stop. It's possible that the editors thought that "acted like whiny pissing bitches by trying to squeeze every last buck out of their cab driver" was a better ending than "got lost somewhere".

Additionally I am apparently alone in not thinking that calling a woman of fairly normal to thin weight a "fat bitch" is exactly the jape of the century. Kim & Leslie were certainly off-putting in their smugness, but that was just silly. If she'd called her a "rude bitch" then I would have been all for it...

Edited by NotPatrick, Apr 14, 2006 @ 6:52 AM.

[strategery]

may I ask how the teachers from Texas got eliminated? I couldn't really understand it when I watched it.

While arguing with the cabby could have been the last straw, it could be just editing that makes it look like other teams are passing them as they argue. Nancy and Emily reached the pit stop 40 minutes before Lenny and Karyn -- though that info would not be revealed until the next episode -- and they couldn't have been arguing that long. I've never heard what the final time gap between Lenny/Karyn and Light Hair/Dark Hair was. (I found it amusing, though, that the cabbie's face was pixilated -- meaning that he wouldn't sign the release.)

What really did them in, however, was wasting so much time wandering around the Eiffel Tower. They failed to notice the clue box (or the little hint about its location on the figurine they got), and IIRC they went all the way up to the top level looking for it. On one of the extra bits on the Season 1 DVD, Light Hair says they wasted 2 hours and 15 minutes there. If they had not botched that, they could have had sex with their cabbie in the middle of the Champs Elysee and still avoided elimination.

As for Amie's priceless comment, I do think Leslie was on the chunky side, but I agree that something like "smug bitch" would have been better. Still, one of the more staifying eliminations IMHO.

Edited by strategery, Apr 14, 2006 @ 11:25 AM.

[joem]

If that were the actual reason they got eliminated. The editing for that episode was all out of wack. Dave & Margaretta dissapeared halfway through the leg and materialised again at the Pit Stop. It's possible that the editors thought that "acted like whiny pissing bitches by trying to squeeze every last buck out of their cab driver" was a better ending than "got lost somewhere".

They lost time driving to the Eifel Tower. They walked all the way to the top of the Eifel Tower, walked around the top level for a long time, walked back down, found the clue box, read the clue, then one had to walk back up to look for the monument flag, then on top of that they had their argument with the cab driver at the end. That argument gave the editors footage that they could use to make the finish appear closer than it really was. As far as the disappearing Oldster team, that was explained the next week. Rather than try to explain the penalty, and break up the continuity of that episode, they moved the explaination to the beginning of the next leg when they were leaving out of order.

[strategery]

One of the more satisfying ones? Why?

Because they (primarily Leslie) were obnoxious at Johannesburg airport ("And she's not with me" / talk to the hand), and extremely obnoxious in stealing Paul and Amie's cab. (At least when Rob did it it was a) funny and b) payback). And then they got immediate karmic payback and were eliminated. Sweet justice, IMHO.

Oh, and I almost forgot about this bit (from the recap):

Meanwhile, Light Hair/Dark Hair bitch that they hate Paris. No, really. "Who wants to go to Paris? I don't want to go to Paris," one whines. "I hate Paris."

I mean, who actually hates Paris? Parisians, maybe, but not Paris. Later, be-yotches.

[SVNBob]

Meanwhile, Light Hair/Dark Hair bitch that they hate Paris. No, really. "Who wants to go to Paris? I don't want to go to Paris," one whines. "I hate Paris."

I mean, who actually hates Paris? Parisians, maybe, but not Paris. Later, be-yotches.

I always took this as a joke myself. Or a really bad attempt at sarcasm.

[NotPatrick]

This team, Kim and Leslie, was the other. Kim, like someone mentioned upthread, broke down on the very first leg. No one who breaks down that early can be excused.

To be fair to her, I'd put the task that made her cry in amongst the scariest ones I've seen on the programme, and I think plenty of racers would have had a snit over being made to do it. Half the teams refused to skydive in TAR 3 and I'd say that was about on a par with this scarifying wise.

Danielle and Dani from the recently-ended TAR9 were one for their immense stupidity regarding the simple task of taking care of their possessions.

Linda & Karen did pretty much exactly the same thing in the water-park during TAR 5. If you're going to hate teams for forgetting their bags, then you should hate them too.

[NotPatrick]

I agree that it wouldn't have knocked them out of the race, but there's no way they could have predicted Matt & Ana's impromptu jaunt into the wilderness of Zambia. They could have had a 3 course dinner, a power nap, and a calisthenics class in the time it took Matt & Ana to finish. It doesn't mean that doing those things wouldn't be bone-headed maneouvers either. IMO you should always take the faster option, unless it leaves you incredibly physically drained near the beginning of a leg.

I mean don't get me wrong, I thought they were nasty and catty individuals based on the second leg, but I didn't really see anything too objectionable in the first one.

Edited by NotPatrick, Jun 6, 2006 @ 9:30 PM.

[spentcigarette]

One thing I never find fair, and never will, is writing off someone's fears as being stupid or unnecessary. It's great that there are people who find bungee-jumping off a cliff exhilarating, but there are plenty of others who don’t agree with you. I find Kim’s tears completely understandable. Maybe not reasonable, but that’s ultimately not my place to judge, because fear is something that cannot be compared and is different for everyone. Some people are scared of spiders, some people are scared of clowns, some heights, some being upside down. I’m personally scared of flying. My chest bunches up, air can’t reach my lungs properly, and I’m often left crying because I’m so petrified. While I know there are millions out there who would scoff at such a silly fear, I really don’t give a shit because it’s my fear and unless you’re me, you have no idea what taking off in a plane does to me. That’s using my own fear as an example, but I hope this illustrates how fear is different for everyone, and people’s fears can have different extremes.

I hated Kim and Leslie more than anyone, but I do think they need to be cut some slack in this case. Kim was obviously put outside of her comfort zone, and when you’re put into situations you are uncomfortable in all logic is thrown out the window. To bitch someone out for crying when they were scared is a bit heartless, IMO. Same goes with Heave in Season Three: detestable team, yes, but I find it impossible to hold their honest-to-god fears against them. I give them credit for completing the task, as I am all too familiar with the terror one feels before doing something one’s particularly scared of, and the accomplishment one feels after facing the fear and doing it.

Edited by spentcigarette, Oct 14, 2006 @ 6:25 PM.

[Pointe3579]

I don't hate Leslie for Kim's meltdown. It was her behavior toward Amie on the second leg that made me hate her.

WORD. Me too. Paul and Amie did nothing to these two to warrant the attitude in the airport. I was so happy to see these two gone.

[spentcigarette]

I came close to cutting Kim slack, but then I remembered that Margarita, Nancy, Paul, and Ana -- all of whom were also scared of that Detour -- didn't cry.

And again -- I don't find this a sound reason to hate someone. Like I said in my above post, fear is incomparable. People fear different things to different extents, and as a result are likely to respond to situations differently than others. To look at someone's reaction to something they're scared of and say, "Well, that wasn't a reasonable response," just is not fair, since fear is not about reason.

Disliking Leslie for her treatment of other racers is completely understandable, and I would agree with that wave of thinking. But to piss all over her because she was scared and cried? I can’t support that.

[auntlada]

Yeah, I can't hate her because she cried. I probably would have cried the whole time I was doing that detour.

I can hate her because she was an idiot and because she made Amie cry (and I liked Amie) and because these two had really annoying voices. That last, I know, is probably not a sound reason to hate someone, but they were really, really annoying to me, so I do anyway.

[Miss Alli]

It's really not the topic of the thread to discuss whether you can "support" other people's reasons for feeling the way they do. Stick to how you feel, and please don't rewrite what others are saying to suggest that not liking someone is "pissing all over" her or what have you. It's about the show, not other posters.

[Oholibamah]

One of my favourite TAR quotes of all time was when Amie said to one of them "you're a fat bitch"... I crack up every time I think about it.