108 replies to this topic

[Paron Xanthis]

Hi. We're dating.

[possibilities]

I want to like him, but his desire for his partner to learn she's not alpha (and that apparently he think he should be), turns me off. She wants them to be less mean to each other and he wants to dominate. I peg them for this year's bickering fiasco.

[jessied112]

I like Vanessa and I think she sounds like a great girl (And he ends his sentences with prepositions...haha) and I like Ralph and how honest he seems, but let's face it, the majority of dating couples don't last in my book. As in, they can get annoying quite quickly and it doesn't take long for them to bicker and have me hate them. Last season was an exception, but I don't know if it can happen for this season.

[FrogsRule]

I'm betting they are this year's Godbothering team. Here's wishing for their unanswered prayers. ;-)

ETA: After posting the above, I wondered if her comment about religion meant that she was a God-botherer, or that she didn't like religion. Went in search of the answer.

Did not find it, but learned that after the show, Vanessa and Ralph broke up.

Edited by FrogsRule, Jan 27, 2012 @ 6:03 PM.

[graytex]

Apparently, the best way to get on TAR is to be friends with a former racer, as this happens a lot now. Vanessa worked with Kellie of TAR10 on a local television station in San Antonio. Lazy casting.

[Isuzu]

I would agree with this if she was friends with someone from the past two years of so, but Season 10 was eaons ago in terms of television and it's not as if Kellie was some sort of iconic character of the show.

What likely happened is Kellie speaking more privately of her experience of the show and/or the desire to go on the show once you realize you personnally know someone who did and can help you by giving yout tips on the casting process for instance. I would be shocked if their previous relationship was even important, let alone essential, in her casting.

[OldHeaveHo]

You know what? I like Vanessa. I don't have a great read on Ralph yet, but right from their pre-race introduction I took an early shine to her. I'm not sure if it was her uterus comment of the way she lazed around on Ralph's back while he did pushups (during the opening montage), but she seems like a girl with a light sense of humour. I'm digging her.

[TDI Ashley]

I like Vanessa, too. And I especially like that she seems to tick Rachel off down the road. If she does that, she'll be one of my favorite individual racers ever.

[Nimberlane]

Chiming in on my like for her! The uterus comment along with her desire to smash her face into the empanadas made me grin. Also? Her going toe-to-toe with that crazy bag of mess Rachel in the future is giving me LIFE.

[ribboninthesky1]

I wasn't sure I'd like Vanessa, either, but her comment about smashing her face in the empanadas was hilarious. And the uterus comment as well. I don't know much about Rachel other than stunt-casting, yet I also derived a fair share of pleasure from the preview.

[BettyPoz]

The article says:

The S.A. pair’s connection was that they’re both divorced and dated each other. (They were still dating during the show’s taping, but broke up right after.) 

and then further down says she recently split from her "more high profile husband" blah, blah.

Combine those comments with the other that says she's wanted to do the show for 10 years and I smell something rotten in Denmark.

But even with that -- I like them!

[ribboninthesky1]

Well, I guess they're better off friends than lovers (unless they only pretended to be a couple for the sake of the race).

Did I hear Ralph call Vanessa "angel" a few times? If so, that's sweet. I like these two - they seem to compliment each other well, which is nice given how many couples constantly clash.

[TDI Ashley]

I like them. Especially Vanessa. She handles herself really well.

I think she should've at least helped Dave at the Roadblock, though. Try and knock one of the fit men's teams out by helping the struggling middle-aged couple.

[BettyPoz]

Well, I guess they're better off friends than lovers (unless they only pretended to be a couple for the sake of the race).

After reading the article that's what I'm leaning towards.

[ribboninthesky1]

I'm glad these two are still in it, though Vanessa seemed easily distracted this leg, especially during the watermelon task. I mean, I don't care for Rachel, either, but Vanessa came off rather childish, and it made HER look silly that Ralph had to reign her in and keep her focused. Who gives a damn whether you can see Rachel's ass or whatever? Focus your ass on your task and getting it done.

[TDI Ashley]

Not Vanessa's best moment, for sure, but the other teams don't seem to like Brendon & Rachel, either, so I don't think she's the first to be smack-talking them.

That said, I'm glad that, out of the bottom two teams, they stayed in. They really sucked on this leg, but at least they never gave up and held onto some hope that they'd still be in it. Plus, I wanna see her annoy Rachel some more. That's always good.

[Zach808]

I really hate Vanessa now. No matter how much you hate someone, you do NOT go around yelling about how you can see their ass. There is no valid excuse for that behavior. That's the kind of thing that gets you punched in the face.

Edited by Zach808, Mar 5, 2012 @ 4:28 AM.

[Pooki]

I really like this team. They're not quitters (or whiners, like BB Rachel is), and they're affectionate and encouraging with each other, but not in a sick-inducing way.

[DAngelus]

I really hate Vanessa now. No matter how much you hate someone, you do NOT go around yelling about how you can see their ass. There is no valid excuse for that behavior.

I don't even think she was talking about seeing Rachel's ass, but rather her vagina. Which is even more uncool, IMO.

Nice job by Ralph persevering on the tasks, though.

[TDI Ashley]

Zach808
I really hate Vanessa now. No matter how much you hate someone, you do NOT go around yelling about how you can see their ass. There is no valid excuse for that behavior. That's the kind of thing that gets you punched in the face.

I absolutely loved that she picked on Rachel viciously and for no apparent reason. I watched Rachel on both of her BB seasons, and Vanessa did to Rachel what Rachel has done to countless others. Almost left her speechless.

The thing with Rachel is that if you're aggressive to her, she shuts down. (Hence why she and Brendon eventually switched Detours.) She's big and bad talking to a camera or when she has an advantage on someone else, but if someone wants to cut loose on her, she crumbles. Quintessential example of one who can dish it out, but can't take it.

So IMO, what Vanessa did was just glorious.

Edited by TDI Ashley, Mar 5, 2012 @ 6:52 AM.

[Smagu]

I get the feeling, not having watched Big Brother, that Rachel is a mean girl-type, and probably Vanessa is as well. The problem for Rachel is that Vanessa appears to be smarter than her (or at least more well-spoken) and is much prettier, so when she starts in on Rachel, Rachel has no comeback.

And since Vanessa seems tough and capable and Rachel has already had at least one crying fit, my sympathies lie with Vanessa.

[Nimberlane]

I was cackling last night when Vanessa went in on Rachel. Since I know Rachel is NOT a nice person at all it was funny to see Vanessa toss back what she's dished out in the past as others have said.

[momlyd]

I suspect that Rachel and Vanessa will be one another's kryptonite and it will fall to their partners to keep them from blowing up. So far, Ralph is the better of the two at this task.

[BettyPoz]

I HATE Vanessa!
I'm already suspicious of her and Ralph's actual relationship based on the linked article ("Angel"? Blech) and this episode did not help.
I can't believe she made Ralph do the bottle roadblock - I bet she didn't want to be to blame if they came in last. Do not like her!

[NotPatrick]

Have we even seen Vanessa talk about Rachel before this point? At least when we saw people call out other racers in vulgar fashion (ie Amie yelling "YOU FAT BITCH!" at the teachers, whichever one of the Pizza Brothers yelled "BITCH!" at Mirna as they sped past her, all of TAR 16) we were given some larger context and the racers talked about why they didn't like the other one. Doesn't seem like good editing to have Vanessa just start laughing at Rachel's vagina and leave us to pick up the pieces as to why. Even when everyone hated Rob for being a douchebag/homophobe on Survivor they at least included some of them saying that. This has just left Vanessa looking like a nut.

[SirDigbyPollo]

You would have to watch the extra clips at the CBS site to understand Vanessa's behavior. In the airport prior to the flight to Asuncion, Brendon and Rachel are telling the cousins, Kerri and Stacy, that Vanessa has been bad-mouthing them. When asked what Vanessa said, they have a hard time providing details, but finally say that Vanessa called the twins "stuck up". (Why would Vanessa have been trash talking another team in the presence of Team BB? Since we haven't seen her doing that, and because of their inability to provide specifics, I got the feeling that Brendon and Rachel were just making it up, trying to foment divisiveness.) Anyhow, as the four are talking, Vanessa and Ralph walk up, so they may have overheard some of that.

On the plane, supposedly the cousins were sitting next to Vanessa and Ralph, while Brendon and Rachel were further forward. V&R claim that Team BB and the cousins conspired with some other passengers to "block" the other racers when the plane landed so that they wouldn't be able to get off the plane quickly, allowing Team BB and the cousins a head start. On the mat with Phil, Kerri and Stacy tell him that Ralph instead blocked Kerri from getting to the aisle and let everyone else get off the plane first. She was angry about the way he acted, but I didn't hear the cousins deny that they had planned something with Brendon and Rachel.

When Vanessa and Ralph catch up to Brendon and Rachel at the watermelon task, Vanessa starts talking about "blocking out" Brendon and Rachel, and tries to maneuver her cart behind theirs. When I first saw the episode, I didn't understand why she was going on about "blocking" them out, but now I see that it's in reference to what happened on the plane, which was instigated by Brendon and Rachel. I didn't care for Vanessa's reaction, but it wasn't exactly unprovoked. She should listen to Ralph, and just worry about what they're doing, which might have helped them out since I noticed that the first several watermelons she put down for the pyramid's base weren't arranged evenly.

They spent seven hours at the watermelon detour. I think Vanessa was pretty wiped out when they got to the bottle dance, which is probably why Ralph did it. And his ability to do it well allowed them to pass the twins, so that was maybe their only smart decision of the day.

[Pooki]

I'm still really liking Vanessa & Ralph (it probably helps that I can't stand their nemeses the whiny, annoying Brendon & Rachel). Ralph seems like a really sweet guy, and Vanessa's funny. I was cracking up when Vanessa was saying about how she hadn't eaten that much salami since high school, and when she was doing her KITT impression. I'm really glad they beat Team BB this leg after their watermelon disaster last time.

[Smagu]

I love these two. They get along great (so far), and she's legitimately funny--the KITT line sealed it for me. Plus her crack about nose jobs suggest that she's able to laugh at herself, which bodes well for avoiding future team conflicts or meltdowns. I find that the more laid-back teams tend to do better on the Race.

[TDA Jake]

I totally felt Vanessa upon seeing Rachel's choice of clothing for this leg. I'm not into sparkly clothing, either.

[Chyna]

Vanessa cracks me up, and Ralph seems like a pleasant, fun guy. I like 'em.