124 replies to this topic

[TWoP Roxy]

From zap2it.com:

Intense heat in Bangladesh makes teams crumble; emotions run high as a team receives disappointing news from home.

[mojoween]

That greeter! SO gorgeous.

I would have picked the straw detour for sure. It surprises me that only one team did it.

Jaymes is growing on me, I can't explain it.

[bandita]

Yes, the TWINEEEES can rock tasks but OMG they are annoying. I would hate to be doing a task with them.

Do producers tell gay people not to hug or kiss in certain countries so they don't get arrested??

I am voting for the long hair don't care guys to be in the final three and praying to the man in the tub to knock out the TWINEEEES.

Edited by bandita, Oct 28, 2012 @ 8:05 PM.

[cooksdelight]

I am so rooting for the Abba guys. I've been away when a family member was dying, I applaud their perseverance.

[SilentMinority]

Really? Yet another leg entirely within the scenic confines of urban southeast Asia? Starting to feel like Groundhog Day.

I don't like the race design where the FF is put in the first of 2 legs in the same country/city with no bunching. That's almost a guaranteed double-win for whomever succeeds at the FF. I noted that we never once saw the Rockers in the same place as another team, so we have no idea whether they ran the leg better or worse than any of the other teams.

I would also much prefer the NEL to be in the same leg as the FF, or at least not the leg immediately before a bunch. This was like the absolute worst placement of those 2 elements.

The twins are starting to slowly get more and more annoying. Still respect the game, but they're getting a little mouthy (not just in the "Twinnie!" sense) and it seems like they don't have much respect for some of the other teams. I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

Ryan needs to reset his goals to something a little more achieveable -- like just winning the whole thing, and forget about records. Especially when the FF team is almost guaranteed to win this leg as long as they don't screw up something fierce.

[enlightenedbum]

Natalie and Nadiya are utterly humorless about themselves, which is pretty much the worst sin for a reality show contestant (well, if you're not Jonathan the wife beater, as spousal abuse is worse). Cannot stand them.

The YDC and the Jameses are all pretty amusing and James and Abba at least have sentimentality behind them. Don't have a particular like or dislike for the Beekman Boys, and Kellie's pretty cool. Rob... seems to love his wife, so at least there's that for him.

Edited by enlightenedbum, Oct 28, 2012 @ 8:15 PM.

[Lantern7]

Obvious question: did the producers have to warn the locals about this leg? Maybe put out leaflets? "WARNING! Americans may be transporting long bamboo poles today! Walk in this area at your own risk!"

Good leg . . . I know it felt more like a McLeg, and it would've been crap had we had fewer teams, but the locals were fun to watch. Also, I find it ironic that we had to say goodbye to the "Superfans" last week, yet the last-place team this week had their own fan following prior to this season. Speaking of whom . . . damn, rough week for the Beekman Boys. Between the taxi hunt and Brent falling behind at the Roadblock, not even the Chippendales' Detour fuck-up could've saved them. Lucky for us they race another day . . . this past Wednesday, I had to watch the ever-ugly Frank on The Challenge. Between that ass and Colton, I figure the gay community needs better representation, and the Beekmans fall under that criteria.

I'm guessing James & Abba are now the de facto fan faves now that James is running for his father. Has there been a precedent for Racers hearing from home, other than through tasks on the race itself? Good for the longhairs to gut out another win, and without a Fast Forward this time. Shit, most of the teams were decent this week. Could have done without Ryan's bitchface on the mat, though. Dude, you and Abbie have finished in first or second in all but one of your legs! Who gives a fuck about setting the legs won? If you two win the final leg, that's $2 million . . . and last I checked, that's $1 million more than what Rachel & Dave got. BTW, I had to look up TAR20 on Wikipedia to confirm the record and get their names. Shows how memorable that season was.

Still liking the twins, even with one of them sucking at least one local into a round of "GO TWINNEY!!!" I can see how that can get annoying, but they're still cute to me.

Edited by Lantern7, Oct 28, 2012 @ 8:11 PM.

[TheRabbi]

Decent episode. I actually like the placement of FF's/NEL's here. If the NEL had been in leg 4, Gary and Will would have mulled about far in last place for the whole episode, plus having to do a speed bump, and would have finished hours behind. Now, assuming an airport bunch next ep, the Beekmans still have a good fighting chance.

I'm slowly starting to leave the Twinnie bandwagon. They lost me when they were complaining about Ryan and Abbie joking about them. So you're allowed to make dumb comments about your race/nationality about yourself, but other teams can't joke around with you about it (A/R were obviously joking with them, but they weren't having any of it).

Pretty grueling leg overall, though I was a bit let-down that there was really no travel at all this leg, just more running around Dhaka. If you're staying in the same country multiple legs, at least head out of the city to somewhere else for a bit.

I like all 3 male teams well enough, though the chippendales are probably my faves. Both of the dating couples are pleasant as well. Rob and Kelly can still leave at any time without argument from me, though they were a bit tamer tonight.

ETA: Ryan's "pure Jute force" comment was the highlight of the episode for me. I love dumb puns/word-plays.

Edited by TheRabbi, Oct 28, 2012 @ 8:18 PM.

[ReadIshmael]

I love the twins and their toughness and their confidence in the face of Abbie and Ryan's scorn, but neither team is exactly coming off well in that rivalry. The twins are quick to use insults in their interviews, and Ryan's utter humorlessness the rest of the time makes his teasiing look really ugly and meanspirited instead of at all playful or funny.

Glad the Beekman boys are still in it, although it was such an obvious NEL. I'm also really enjoying James and Abba and James and Jaymes, although they need to get smarter.

I like that Kelley is so tough, but she's also pretty dour, and Rob is a giant asshole (with a giant ego), so, no love for them.

[ShadowDenizen]

I hate Non-Elimination legs.

Yes, the TWINEEEES can rock tasks but OMG they are annoying. I would hate to be doing a task with them.

I found myself thinking that as well.

Do producers tell gay people not to hug or kiss in certain countries so they don't get arrested??

Actually, even though one of the James' is straight, I still thought the Chippendales guys (whom I'm now seriously rooting for!) came off as way more gay than the gay guys! That hug at the end was pretty bromantic... (And I would still totally watch a reality show about their antics!)

RObb and Kelley still just need to get the hell of my tv screen.

Edited by ShadowDenizen, Oct 28, 2012 @ 8:24 PM.

[StinkPill]

Rooting for my rockers' even more after tonight! That has to be so hard. I don't know if I could do it, but if he is following the wishes of his family, then I say good for you! The twins do annoy me a tad, but I do love to see some ass kickin' females, so i'm rooting them on too.

[SilentMinority]

Decent episode. I actually like the placement of FF's/NEL's here. If the NEL had been in leg 4, Gary and Will would have mulled about far in last place for the whole episode, plus having to do a speed bump, and would have finished hours behind. Now, assuming an airport bunch next ep, the Beekmans still have a good fighting chance.

This is precisely the reason I don't like the placement of the NEL. I hate NELs anyway, as they're just another random element of luck, and I'd just as soon the team that draws the lucky spoon get eliminated the next leg -- and with a bunch immediately afterwards, that really means that there is zero real penalty for finishing last in an NEL. Why should Amy & Dan be penalized for bad taxi luck with elimination, while the beeks run a really bad leg and get no penalty at all? That's just grossly unfair IMO.

Good for the longhairs to gut out another win, and without a Fast Forward this time.

I like James & Abba, but it's precisely because they got the FF and a big lead last time that they were able to win this time with no competition. The FF essentially doubled their win total (or at least, there is no evidence that they ran the leg faster than anyone else -- they might have actually run the slowest leg of anyone, and we wouldn't really know any better at this point).

[Charlie Baker]

Wow, what a grueling, physically demanding leg. I knew we were due for an NEL and this was gratifying to see. Wasn't ready for you to leave yet, Beekmans, and the mat speech was very touching.

I like most of these teams, even Rob and Kelley were more tolerable, since they got to show just how tough folks they are.

[Harry24]

Separated at birth: Abbie/Fauxmanda from Revenge, Lexie and tennis player Kim Clijsters.
Sound alikes: Jaymes and Harry Connick, Jr.

[etagloh]

Yeah, the FF seems to have given James and Abba enough of a lead for this leg that only a major mistake would have cost them the win.

Surprised that only one team took the jute task: if you grasped the technique to separate the strands, then it seems like it was fairly quick to complete. (I have a jute bag, and seeing the mills was an eye-opener, even though I know that the export of jute cloth is important to Bangladesh.)

Also, the editing at the end was a bit odd, as it looked like there was no sign of the Beekman bike when the Chippendales returned for their missing poles, even though they were shown arriving at the bamboo warehouse earlier.

[SueR]

I agree about the editing at the end. I thought for sure we were headed for a suspenseful producer created race to the mat, but no. I felt horrible for James and Jaymes when they had to go back, and also for the Beekman - I think it's Gary - when he couldn't get his scale built. It was clearly brutally hot there. I also am starting to dislike the twins, as much as I admire their abilities. I really hated Ryan being upset because they finished second. What a jerk. Longhairs for the win!

[happyhippy]

Omg, shut up, TWINNIES! I'm so sick of hearing them prattle on about being the only f/f team left. Puh-lease. They are more alpha than the Beekman Boys (and I say this with nothing but love for the BBs). You are strong, capable women, so stop acting like your performance is some amazing feat because you lack penises. And get a sense of humor while you're at it, please.

J&J, please use your brains and fuel your bodies. I love you, but that comment about not eating just made me shake my head at your stupidity.

Edited by happyhippy, Oct 28, 2012 @ 9:29 PM.

[burtog]

I'm shocked at how likable the Chippendales are coming across - I pretty anticipated hating them from the get-go, but they seem to be pretty laid back & funny. I can't quite say that I'm rooting for them to win because I'm not sure that I want to be rooting for an all-male, physically-strong team like that (it seems cheap to root for the most physically fit team) but I hope they go far, just for the entertainment reasons.

With that said, I can't say who I'm actually rooting for - there really isn't a team left that I'm totally, 100% behind. And the only team that I'm actively rooting against is the Twins.

They remind of me of twins that I grew up with, that seemingly always got angry when anyone was trying to be part of 'their world' - they were so in sync with each other that they struggled with being too social or friendly with anyone else. Whenever people tried to joke with them, they'd get aggravated even if that person was making a joke that they'd be making to each other. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them in a different environment, where they can't keep on referencing their nationality every 10 minutes - and more than that, I'm looking forward to one of them making a major mistake just to see the vitriol that they'll spit at each other.

All in all, though, a pretty entertaining episode for me.

[Miss Molly]

Lexie and tennis player Kim Clijsters.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees this!

As for the leg, I enjoyed it. I didn't even mind Rob and Kelley today since he didn't treat any locals badly. She looked like she was in pretty bad shape putting the scales together but she got through it. The twins still rock and I'm still not truly hating anyone.

[sab85]

The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw that jute factory was 'Triangle Shirtwaist Factory'. Now obviously I never saw the Triangle factory but those conditions just looked grueling.

The tropical sun/heat/humidity are not to be trifled with. I really felt for the Beekman who said he couldn't think straight. Dehydration will zap you of coherency fast.

Honestly, I thought it was a pretty boring leg. Absolutely physically demanding sure but pretty much just go to two locations in the same city and do two tasks. Not much strategy or racing or cleverness.

[auntlada]

I couldn't believe how many of them saw the roadblock clue about "it's not heavy" and thought it would be something easy for the physically weaker team member to do. I thought it should have been obvious that the clue was an indication it might actually be heavy.

[Emily Thrace]

I'm slowly starting to leave the Twinnie bandwagon. They lost me when they were complaining about Ryan and Abbie joking about them. So you're allowed to make dumb comments about your race/nationality about yourself, but other teams can't joke around with you about it (A/R were obviously joking with them, but they weren't having any of it).

I think it was less that he made fun of them but more that he was a "tool" about it(which seems to be his default setting). Jaymes made similar jokes last week at the bus detour but no one batted an eye. Ryan came off as arrogant definitely mysoginistic and possibly rascist. He wasn't even funny about it he just copied them like a seven year-old.

I was a little disappointed with the Chippendales this week I thought they would be a little tougher than that. Although I suppose that the problem with liking the pretty teans they may be fun to look at but they don't usually make the casting cut because of their competitive skills. Plus not eating is just plain dumb the race is an endurance challenge not eating cuts you off at the knees. Also does anyone know the story with Jaymes dog tags? I figured him for former military but after this week I'm not so sure.

I actually kinda wish the Beekmans had been eliminated this week I never saw them a competitive plus their bickering is annoying.

Team Long hair don't care continues to be awesome although I'm worried all this attention on them is just leading to a heartbreaking surprise exit.

edited cuz Rob is the guy with the funny coloured beard not the over intense judo jerk. Sorry Rob.

Edited by Emily Thrace, Oct 28, 2012 @ 11:35 PM.

[Quilt Fairy]

The tropical sun/heat/humidity are not to be trifled with. I really felt for the Beekman who said he couldn't think straight. Dehydration will zap you of coherency fast.

I really don't understand what was going on there. When the Chippendales collapsed, it was at the (they hoped) end of the detour, the final task of the leg. Brent was already exhausted at the beginning of the roadblock, the first task of the leg. The only demanding thing he had done up until that point was hunt around for a taxi. And why did the BBs have such a hard time finding the marked taxi stand, when everyone else found it easily? They have now replaced the Superfans as the current Dead Team Walking.

[msburg]

I thought they were starting the Ugly American edit for Ryan and Abbie -- all of their comments about their setting at the beginning did not put them in a good light. Also, there is some kind of false competition between them and the twins -- totally producer driven? While I'd be annoyed if I had to compete next to the din of "twinnies," it cracked me up that the twin (Nadiya? Natalie?) picked up on Ryan's annoyance and then elicted the local children to join in. Cracks me up to tweak the alpha male who alpha-ed over everyone around him.

Also looked like Abbie was in tears at then end when her efforts were deemed not good enough by Ryan at the mat.

The Ja(y)mes were charmingly decorative, yet not functional tonight. It cracked up Mr. Burg when they were happy to have a physical challenge -- they like to pick things up and put them down. :)

Beekmans -- no sense of urgency, ever....

Favorite is still long hair, don't care. Hope the knees don't take them out any time soon.

[shura]

seeing the mills was an eye-opener, even though I know that the export of jute cloth is important to Bangladesh.

Judging by the troops at the mill, it looked like the jute industry is not only important, it's downright strategic! Any ideas on why the army was there?

I couldn't believe how many of them saw the roadblock clue about "it's not heavy" and thought it would be something easy for the physically weaker team member to do. I thought it should have been obvious that the clue was an indication it might actually be heavy.

Exactly. "It's not heavy, it's a Roadblock" sounds to me like "it is heavy, but what did you expect from a Roadblock?"

I'm a little confused. Are James and Abba half-brothers? It sounded like James' father has terminal cancer, but not Abba's. Or was it the father-in-law?

ETA: Nevermind, CBS lists them as "friends". I could have sworn they were brothers.

Edited by shura, Oct 28, 2012 @ 10:39 PM.

[backformore]

happyhippy:

Omg, shut up, TWINNIES!

Please make them stop. The show is becoming less and less enjoyable for me, with that shrill yelling. They have so little respect for the other teams, and no awareness of how annoying their own yelling can be.

I also did not care for them using the term "gora" to talk about another team. Yes, it means white and the other team is white. But it's disrespectful to refer to another team that way. The way it was being used, to the cab driver, was to point out that the twins had something - skin color - in common with the driver, and that the other team was "not like us."

[peeayebee]

I was curious how the Chippendales would react when they discovered their error. I was impressed. James felt terrible and apologized profusely, and Jaymes collapsed for a while because he was exhausted, but then they just got up and finished the task. Can you imagine if this had happened to Rob & Kelley?

Could have done without Ryan's bitchface on the mat, though. Dude, you and Abbie have finished in first or second in all but one of your legs! Who gives a fuck about setting the legs won?

I saw this as Ryan realizing that they didn't need to achieve his goal. He saw that he was pushing Abbie too hard on this -- though I don't remember seeing him doing this on camera -- so we'll have to see if he drops this dream.

I really don't see Ryan as a jerk to the Twinnies or to anyone else. Obviously he (and everyone else) is annoyed by the Twinnies' shouting, so maybe he let some of that dislike out when he tried to tease her, but it didn't seem so bad to me. As someone else here said, the Twins (or at least Natalie?) seem pretty humorless unless they're the ones providing the humor. Still, there seems to be something going on betw these two teams that we haven't seen yet.

I liked how Abbie handled the Roadblock. Even though she didn't do it right at first, she didn't get upset.

But I kinda shook my head at how she approached the jute task, as if what was important was to strike the jute on the spikes five times. I think what was important was to separate the strands. However, when they got dinged on it, it looked like what they did wrong was not knot the strands correctly. I suspect that one of the real workers had to redo these strands.

Man, I feel for James learning that his father has terminal cancer.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Judging by the troops at the mill, it looked like the jute industry is not only important, it's downright strategic! Any ideas on why the army was there?

I expect those were just police or security guards at the plant even though the uniforms looked somewhat military.

[dogfoot75]

Surprised that only one team took the jute task: if you grasped the technique to separate the strands, then it seems like it was fairly quick to complete. (I have a jute bag, and seeing the mills was an eye-opener, even though I know that the export of jute cloth is important to Bangladesh.)

Dude! That was such an awesome task! It was so cool to be able to see what actually goes in one. And yeah, it's not the same as seeing a Banana Republic garment factory or whatever, but it was still pretty eye-opening.

And clearly, it was the better choice. Ryan/Abbie passed up the sisters, right?

[possibilities]

I like the Twins. I don't mind the yelling. I like when teams get excited and I love how competent they are. They're like each other's cheerleaders. It would probably irritate me if they weren't backing it up with good racing. They also seem to enjoy themselves.

It's what I like about the Ja(y)mes team, too. They're not as efficient at the Twins, but they are enjoying themselves and being upbeat and positive and occasionally funny. They also make an effort to be polite to the locals.