The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business post
Apparently I forgot to do one of these for the last two episodes? I don't know why, so let's just pretend I did and carry on like nothing's wrong.
First of all, I feel I should mention that when I saw what the roadblock was for this leg, I turned to Chris and was all "I want to do this one!" (Because we're lame, and run our own little fantasy Amazing Race while we're watching, and decide which Detour option we'd do, and who'd take which Roadblock.) He correctly deduced that I wanted to do it because I like cleaning. Seriously, I would have had a blast doing that Roadblock. I so need to get out more.
Anyway:
Zev & Justin: Wow, I bet they're incredibly grateful for Flight Time & Big Easy's navigation issues, because they pretty much got a free car out of it. It's interesting that the team that ended up coming first was one of the teams that attempted both Detour options, because that seems to be where most teams bled time in this leg. This isn't bad for a team that finished the Detour fifth - I'm a bit shaky on the timeline, but I guess they must've just made up a fair bit of time driving to Salzburg. Perhaps they should thank Kisha & Jen and Kent & Vyxsin's navigation issues as well (although, in all fairness, Kent & Vyxsin's navigation issues seem to be largely "Kent"). I'm not the biggest fan of Zev, but he did make me laugh with his "I want to see the manager" comment after they failed to eat all the food on the Detour.
Flight Time & Big Easy: I can understand Big Easy looking so annoyed on the mat - to have come that close to a pretty decent first prize and then miss out through a stupid last minute error has to be pretty demoralising. I like to think that this was some sort of karmic retribution from the public library in Vienna, which didn't take terribly well to being peed on. They're putting in a decent performance, all things considered, and had the good sense to go straight for the couch Detour option, though Flight Time's knowledge of Freud leaves a little bit to be desired. Thank goodness neither of the options gave them the letters DRFUE and asked them to unscramble them, at least.
Kent & Vyxsin: Third place? What strange world is this? Especially considering they didn't work all that effectively this leg - they performed terribly at the couch-moving Detour (again, Kent seemed to be primarily the issue here), and I think the only thing that saved them was that unlike three other teams, they hadn't bled time trying to eat on the Ferris wheel first. Kent also seemed actively opposed to receiving Vyxsin's directions when she was navigating, which I think cost them some time as well. Still, it's their best placing to date, so good for them. Maybe now if they can just learn to function effectively...
Kisha & Jen: Oh, girls. Those navigation issues that frequently thwarted you in TAR14 clearly haven't been entirely banished yet. I think they struggled a fair bit with the driving and navigating this time round, although they seemed pretty effective at the tasks. I'm not going to hold their failed attempt at the Ferris wheel Detour option against them because nobody managed to complete that, and they did seem pretty good at moving the couch. But they're definitely going to need to get their act together soon, because the field is thinning and it's getting to the point where one wrong turn could see them eliminated.
Jet & Cord: I really have to take issue with their airport strategy, because it makes no sense to me. I can understand not wanting to book a trip that requires two separate layovers, because if you miss one, it could be severely problematic (although the duration of the layover should be a factor here because if it's a couple of hours or something, I'd think you're fairly safe). What baffles me is thinking that you're somehow safer booking on a flight that NO OTHER TEAMS ARE ON. If they'd booked on the "dangerous" two connection flight, even if there was a delay, everyone else would have suffered exactly the same setback. Instead, they booked themselves onto a flight that guaranteed them a setback if the other route wasn't delayed - and it wasn't, so they spent half the leg playing catch-up. If it hadn't been for teams being slowed down by a failed Detour attempt, and Jet & Cord having luckily picked the better option first, they could've been in real trouble this week. I mean, not serious trouble, because it was non-elim, but still. At least I object less to them not finishing last when nobody went home anyway.
Gary & Mallory: I really felt for these two - they got off to a bad start by their failure to correctly understand the product placement, and then choosing the wrong Detour option allowed Jet & Cord to overtake them. They were pretty swift and efficient at everything else, though, and I admired their dogged determination and refusal to give up. Also very endearing: Mallory lowering her voice because she was in a library, bless her. I had a sense this leg would be non-elim, and I'm glad it was this team that was saved, but like several of the others mentioned above, they really need to get it together soon if they want to be in with a shot at winning.
First of all, I feel I should mention that when I saw what the roadblock was for this leg, I turned to Chris and was all "I want to do this one!" (Because we're lame, and run our own little fantasy Amazing Race while we're watching, and decide which Detour option we'd do, and who'd take which Roadblock.) He correctly deduced that I wanted to do it because I like cleaning. Seriously, I would have had a blast doing that Roadblock. I so need to get out more.
Anyway:
Zev & Justin: Wow, I bet they're incredibly grateful for Flight Time & Big Easy's navigation issues, because they pretty much got a free car out of it. It's interesting that the team that ended up coming first was one of the teams that attempted both Detour options, because that seems to be where most teams bled time in this leg. This isn't bad for a team that finished the Detour fifth - I'm a bit shaky on the timeline, but I guess they must've just made up a fair bit of time driving to Salzburg. Perhaps they should thank Kisha & Jen and Kent & Vyxsin's navigation issues as well (although, in all fairness, Kent & Vyxsin's navigation issues seem to be largely "Kent"). I'm not the biggest fan of Zev, but he did make me laugh with his "I want to see the manager" comment after they failed to eat all the food on the Detour.
Flight Time & Big Easy: I can understand Big Easy looking so annoyed on the mat - to have come that close to a pretty decent first prize and then miss out through a stupid last minute error has to be pretty demoralising. I like to think that this was some sort of karmic retribution from the public library in Vienna, which didn't take terribly well to being peed on. They're putting in a decent performance, all things considered, and had the good sense to go straight for the couch Detour option, though Flight Time's knowledge of Freud leaves a little bit to be desired. Thank goodness neither of the options gave them the letters DRFUE and asked them to unscramble them, at least.
Kent & Vyxsin: Third place? What strange world is this? Especially considering they didn't work all that effectively this leg - they performed terribly at the couch-moving Detour (again, Kent seemed to be primarily the issue here), and I think the only thing that saved them was that unlike three other teams, they hadn't bled time trying to eat on the Ferris wheel first. Kent also seemed actively opposed to receiving Vyxsin's directions when she was navigating, which I think cost them some time as well. Still, it's their best placing to date, so good for them. Maybe now if they can just learn to function effectively...
Kisha & Jen: Oh, girls. Those navigation issues that frequently thwarted you in TAR14 clearly haven't been entirely banished yet. I think they struggled a fair bit with the driving and navigating this time round, although they seemed pretty effective at the tasks. I'm not going to hold their failed attempt at the Ferris wheel Detour option against them because nobody managed to complete that, and they did seem pretty good at moving the couch. But they're definitely going to need to get their act together soon, because the field is thinning and it's getting to the point where one wrong turn could see them eliminated.
Jet & Cord: I really have to take issue with their airport strategy, because it makes no sense to me. I can understand not wanting to book a trip that requires two separate layovers, because if you miss one, it could be severely problematic (although the duration of the layover should be a factor here because if it's a couple of hours or something, I'd think you're fairly safe). What baffles me is thinking that you're somehow safer booking on a flight that NO OTHER TEAMS ARE ON. If they'd booked on the "dangerous" two connection flight, even if there was a delay, everyone else would have suffered exactly the same setback. Instead, they booked themselves onto a flight that guaranteed them a setback if the other route wasn't delayed - and it wasn't, so they spent half the leg playing catch-up. If it hadn't been for teams being slowed down by a failed Detour attempt, and Jet & Cord having luckily picked the better option first, they could've been in real trouble this week. I mean, not serious trouble, because it was non-elim, but still. At least I object less to them not finishing last when nobody went home anyway.
Gary & Mallory: I really felt for these two - they got off to a bad start by their failure to correctly understand the product placement, and then choosing the wrong Detour option allowed Jet & Cord to overtake them. They were pretty swift and efficient at everything else, though, and I admired their dogged determination and refusal to give up. Also very endearing: Mallory lowering her voice because she was in a library, bless her. I had a sense this leg would be non-elim, and I'm glad it was this team that was saved, but like several of the others mentioned above, they really need to get it together soon if they want to be in with a shot at winning.