TAR - All Stars Episode 8

... Spoiler Alert! ... Spoiler Alert! ...


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 8 of The Amazing Race Series 11 – All Stars Edition (TARAS), do not read any further!


--------------------



Note: If you're already ahead of this point in the series, please refrain from giving any spoilers in your comments. Thank you.

As always, I’ll provide my thoughts on each team in this episode, listing them in the order in which they arrived at the Pit Stop (hence the 'Spoiler Alert!').



--------------------


1/2. Oswald & Danny


Last week: 2
This week: ???

I don’t even know who came first or second out of the top two teams due to a stupid task called an ‘Intersection’. This meant that teams had to pair up with one other team and O&D joined U&J. Starting ahead of the other teams (except for D&K) gave these two teams the chance to do the fast forward task of counting steps in a couple of towers. Upon completing the fast forward, they were then able to reach Phil at the finish within about 10-15 minutes from the start of the episode, which is why I think that this combination of tasks was really stupid from the viewer point of view. The reason I don’t know who was first or second was that when they reached the finish with E&J, they all jumped on the mat together and Phil just announced both teams as number one.

Earlier in the episode at Auschwitz concentration camp, it was touching to note how moved they were by merely being at that monument to the atrocities of mankind. The more emotional one started crying again as he talked about how fortunate they are to have the freedoms that they have today. Admittedly just about every other team was emotionally effected by the place.

As a side note on the Auschwitz thing, I found it interesting to note that most of the teams with the exception of Eric and Danielle and Dustin and Kandice (unless they’re Jewish and I don’t know) would have likely been placed in a concentration camp for their differences if they’d live in the area during Nazi times. Thank goodness with live in more progressive times.

It should be noted that although both teams finished together, there was only one prize and they had to choose who got it! O&D very generously allowed U&J to have the prize with no arguing at all.

1/2. Uchenna & Joyce


Last week: 3
This week: ???

As mentioned above they finished together with O&D and most of what I said about them can be applied to these two.

I’ll just use this opportunity to reiterate how stupid I thought it was to use an intersection and a fast forward at this point. If the producers decided to get rid of fast forwards and non elimination rounds, I at least would be happy. Such things exist for no other reason that to allow the producers to manipulate the game if you ask me.


3. Dustin & Kandice


Last week: 1
This week: Down two places

I’m not the biggest fan of these two, but even so I was pretty pissed to see that in the first 10 minutes of the show they had gone from having a huge lead at the end of the last episode to dropping back to third place! Then the intersection meant that they had to wait around for hours and hours for the back of the pack to catch up! MESSAGE TO PRODUCERS: If people are crap enough to end up being way behind then leave them there to be eliminated! Stop giving these losers chance after chance to catch up! (END RANT).

The team that D&K least wanted to join up with (C&M) just happened to be the next team to arrive, so after deciding whether they should hide instead, they joined up with them rather than wait longer.

When given the choice of a task where they had to make and deliver some pastries, or make some sausages and then eat a thick 24 inch sausage, the three skinny blondes and the little person decided to do the sausage task. I don’t think Charla was too happy about this.

After the mammoth sausage eat, when one of the beauty queens had finished, she promptly threw up (not on purpose though) and Eric who was there by then made the funny comment, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Florida.”

Even though I think the other two teams finished the same task a little before them D&K managed to find the cars first and get a taxi driver to lead them to the next task. Basically one of them had to put on a suit of knight armour and lead a horse up a path. From there they only had to walk up to Phil who was standing with some crack-ho………or perhaps it was in Krakow, I can’t remember.


4. Charla & Mirna


Last week: 4
This week: No Change


Where do I begin?? This episode should have been called, Poor Charla, cause she had such a crappy day and that just describes her time with Mirna. At the sausage eating task I believe that she was the last to finish and much to my amusement had to throw up a couple of times which really disturbed the opposing teams. C&M could also put a lot of professional burpers to shame.

In their attempts to drive to the next task Mirna had to enlist the help of a task driver to take the hand brake off in the car and then got into a massive fight about which driver would direct them and how much to pay. When her yelling yet constantly referring the to the taxi driver as ‘friend’ failed, she broke down into tears. Begging and possibly cause he was on camera convinced one on the drivers to accept a lower price than he wanted. Throughout the rest of the journey to the castle Mirna did nothing but complain and made verbal attacks about how useless her cousin Charla was and how she did nothing. Charla was soooo over it all that she just agreed with Mirna, clearly having no energy left to argue.

At the knights armour task Charla volunteered to do it and I’m sure that this had nothing to do with Mirna’s hassling of her in the car! Seeing her in armour reminded me of one of the dwarves from Lord of the Rings and she did well to direct the horse to the destination in spite of the fact that she was clearly scared of it (understandable with her height) and fell flat on her face twice.

Even though these two are clearly insane, I’m glad they’re still in the race.


5. Eric & Danielle


Last week: 5
This week: No change

If it wasn’t for non-elimination rounds these two knuckleheads would be gone this week. As it was Joe and Bill had to stand aside for 30 minutes and that’s why they are still in the race.

The biggest thing that happened with E&D was the big fight that they had over their communication. Danielle stormed off after Eric refused to allow her to buy a $2 cup of coffee. Eric is purely competitive and Danielle seems to treat the whole race like it’s a big holiday and just an experience. I don’t side with either of them and would probably be more interested in this team if Eric had kept his old partner Jeremy.

They got stuck with Joe and Bill in the sausage eating task and the only one who really didn’t want to do it was Danielle. I would’ve thought that she had eaten plenty of sausage in her time and 24 inches wouldn’t be a problem, but apparently not (oh you know I had to include some innuendo!!).

I don’t really remember much of what happened to them after that task, only that they finished after Joe and Bill, but were saved cause of their 30 minute wait.

6. Joe & Bill - ELIMINATED!


Last week: 6
This week: No change

Finally they are gone. They started off by claiming that they were going to use brains to beat Eric and Danielle. This was followed by footage of them walking straight passed a box with the bus pass that they needed in it, three times! Funny stuff.

Naturally they were eager to do the sausage eating task and I think they were the first to finish……no comment.

At the knights armour task, upon seeing Charla in armour, I believe it was Bill who commented that she looked like, “A dressed up rat”! I have no idea what he meant by this, but it seemed rude and nasty. Which nicely summed up how the two of them came across in the race.

--------------------


Tips note:

Upon looking at the tips I put for this episode last week (although it was only posted the other day!), I realise that I did not amend it with my actual tips when I hastily posted it. This occurred because I was so far behind and had been trying to write three reviews at the same time which made things confusing. For one thing I had meant to specify that I figured J&B would go in this episode as noted in my comments for last week.

As a result of this and the fact that I haven’t gained much enjoyment from tipping, even when I have on occasion been right, I’m discontinuing my tips entirely.

Sorry to anyone who actually cares what my tips have been so far, but the tipping omission should allow me to get my reviews online a bit quicker as well, believe it or not.

If you haven’t already done so, check out the review of this same episode that BEVIS posted on his blog.


.