TAR - All Stars Episode 12

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


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 12 of The Amazing Race Series 11 – All Stars Edition (TARAS), do not read any further!


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The last TARAS episode we saw here in Australia ended with Eric & Danielle being the last team to reach the Pit Stop but the third team to be saved from elimination on the All Stars edition of the show. The Pit Stop was located at Trilho da Taipa Pequena 2000 Park in Taipa, Macau, China.

In the Detour for this leg of the Race, teams had to choose between ‘Care Package’ or ‘Engine Care’. In ‘Care Package’, teams had to fill a 500-pound package with various humanitarian aid items for a neighbouring island. Once that was completed, the teams then had to board a transport plane and participate in an ‘air drop’ training exercise. Though the easier of the two Detour tasks, the mission took at least half an hour to complete. In ‘Engine Care’, teams had to clean an engine pod and associated flap section on the wing of a B-52 bomber until one of the base's sergeants felt the portion of the plane was clean enough.

In the Roadblock, teams had to perform a search-and-rescue mission. Using a GPS receiver, team members had to locate a pilot in the Guam forest, receive new GPS coordinates from him, locate the landing zone, and signal for a helicopter to pick them up and take them back to the naval base.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the Race:

1. Dustin & Kandice
2. Charla & Mirna
3. Eric & Danielle
4. Oswald & Danny


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!').



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1. Dustin & Kandice


Last week: 1
This week: No change

I think everyone, including myself really discounted this pair of blondes from the start of the race. Early on this discounting seemed fairly valid, but as the race progressed they’ve really shone and done well. Perhaps as no one thought of them as a threat that has played to their advantage. In the last few episodes they’ve really been disliked by the other teams and yet still seem to get to the head of the pack, so good on them I say.

They didn’t do anything wrong this week and in a leg where everyone seemed to be racing very close together they did well to not fall behind at all. It was funny seeing the girls trying to charm the drill sergeant into thinking they had done an adequate cleaning job.

Whichever one of them did the navigating task had no problems finding the lost soldier and making it back to the landing zone. Best of all she really seemed to enjoy herself doing the task. This summed up the one good quality that I like about this team, that no matter what the task was, they were always cheerful to do it and I don’t think I recall them ever being really prissy or precious about it.

Of the remaining teams these two are the most deserving to win, but I’m not too bothered if they do or not, cause for some reason I just can’t empathise with them. I don’t think they are horrible people or disagree with much of what they did, but I just don’t care much about them.



2. Eric & Danielle


Last week: 3
This week: Up one place

Who? Oh that’s right, they’re dead to me.


3. Charla & Mirna


Last week: 2
This week: Down one place

I actually don’t care if these guys win the race as long as someone beats, ‘dead team walking’. And I don’t really think this team should win, although if they did maybe Mirna could afford some driving lessons. As it was pretty rich to hear her telling the soldier who was chauffeuring them somewhere, “I hope you’re a good driver.”

These two were the only team to choose the task which involved packing and dropping off a care package. The soldier who was supervising this task had to tell them to be careful with the stuff they were packing as it was not garbage, when they were just chucking the food and books into the box.
I actually thought that they were goners when they chose this task when no one else did, and although the care package drop off took about 30 minutes, it didn’t put them too far behind everyone else.

I reckon that if I were to write a script for TAR which involved C&M, my summary for detours would read: (Charla performs detour – hilarity ensues). And indeed this was the case! I think I heard the soldier who walked with her on the navigating task tell Charla off at least 3 times for pushing buttons on the GPS device. Each time the guy sounded more and more pissed off as well, “I’ve told you mama, don’t press any buttons.” I could have sworn the guy was muttering, ‘Moron’ under his breath. It was made even funnier by the fact that in the beginning even Mirna had told her not to press any buttons, as though she had some predisposition to press random buttons on any electronic device that she got in her hands.


4. Oswald & Danny: ELIMINATED!


Last week: 4
This week: No change

Apart from Bevis, who’s nose is so far up Eric’s butt, he appears to be his tail (kidding!), everyone who’s anyone wanted this pair to win. Unless you’re a gay hating homophobe…and you’re not one of them…are you??? Now that hope is gone. The final three really should have included them, but that’s not to be. It doesn’t matter how deserving you are, or how many legs you win, this game has so many random elements that even complete jerks, plastic mannequins, or….Charla and Mirna have a chance at winning.

O&D bowed out gracefully and made a few more funny comments as they left. After Rob and Amber left these two were my main reason for enjoying and being entertained by this shows ‘personalities’. Without wanting to sound like one of the homophobe types I mentioned above, I find that with many game shows, the gay people or couples they have on them really seem chosen to help portray a certain type of bitchy, overly sensitive personality, but O&D were a refreshing change from this. They were always funny and very entertaining. I was a little thrown by their wanting C&M to win, but after their incident with yields, D&K and E&D, I can understand they might be biased against the other two teams.

So may the best of a bad lot win.



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


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TAR - All Stars Episode 11

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


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


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The last TARAS episode we saw here in Australia ended with Eric & Danielle being the last team to reach the Pit Stop but the third team to be saved from elimination on the All Stars edition of the show. The Pit Stop was located at Hong Kong Jockey Club, Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island, China.

In the Roadblock for this leg of the Race, teams had to perform the world's tallest Skyjump, walking around the outer rim of the observation deck of Macau Tower, and then take a tethered jump off the deck to the ground below.

The Detour was ‘Noodle’ or ‘Dragon’. In ‘Noodle’, teams had to make two bundles of traditional Chinese noodles. In ‘Dragon’, teams had to carry a dragon head and drum and carry it 3/4 of a mile to Nan Van Lake to find the one dragon boat the dragon's head matched.

After the Detour, teams had to locate a marked Mini Moke and drive themselves to the Pit Stop.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the Race:

1. Oswald & Danny
2. Dustin & Kandice
3. Charla & Mirna
4. Eric & Danielle


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!').



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1. Dustin & Kandice


Last week: 2
This week: Up one place

Well, so much for Karma catching up with them this episode! And it almost could have. I have to say that I thought it really stupid to have an equalising situation at the building that had the second yield in it. Three of the four teams basically ended up in a footrace to the yield and the order with which they grabbed some place cards was the order that they had the chance to yield. D&K got the first one, but had already used their yield and as I understand it, being first meant that the teams behind them couldn't yield them either. Second came O&D, and this was where it got interesting. While waiting at the entrance O&D made the offer to D&K that they would sell their yielding power for cash as they had none left. Not missing the chance to sink the boot in, D&K bought the opportunity to have E&D yielded again (although cruel, I found this very funny). True to their word although hating themselves they yielded E&D.

So you'd think that in choosing to shaft E&D again the bad karma would really be chasing the blondes, but they didn't seem to have any real problems after that and obviously stayed at the front of the pack, throughout this very close leg of the race.

The only note I made about these two was that I actually found it quite arousing to see them bouncing up and down on the noodle flattening pole in their black singlets (umm, anyone who saw this will know what I mean).


2. Charla & Mirna


Last week: 3
This week: Up one place

These two were their usual charming selves with Mirna yelling at Charla for telling her to cut the noodles thicker, when they were actually supposed to be thinly cut. While at this task they made the noodle flattening look even more amusing that it does when it's being done normally by lying across the pole and generally looking very awkard.

Now you would think that if you were going in a competition such as this where you know that there is driving involved that you would know how to drive. Apparently not so for Mirna, who managed to get their mini moke car, parked up against a pole and then needed to resort to getting a taxi driver to help them out of the situation (the second time we have seen this happen with her). In fairness to Mirna, Charla can't drive the normal cars either due to her height, so Mirna gets stuck with all the driving.

I think that Eric and Danielle actually beat them to the finish, but due to their wait from last weeks non-elimination they were finally passed by C&M.



3. Eric & Danielle - ”Marked For Elimination” (but SAFE!)


Last week: 4
This week: Up one place

These guys are dead to me. They should have been eliminated last week.

IMO, IF this show must use non-elimination rounds, they shouldn't punish them with delays, or taking cash, but insist that they must finish the next round in first place or they're gone, along with whomever finishes last. This at least shows that they deserve to be in the race (or end up being very lucky).

The only thing worse that could have happened this leg would've been if E&D came last again, only to the told, "Don't worry guys you're getting a third chance at this crucial stage of the game."

From what we saw of it, E&D actually did better in this round than in a number of their previous ones. Dispite getting yielded, they still finished the noodle making task ahead of C&M. They have also had quite a lot of bad luck at airports, but basically I think it's a joke that they are still in it.

I actually find Eric most humourous when he's annoyed, such as the times he was swearing and cursing O&D. Also when he wanted to throw them off the cliff at the end and after the blondes explained that it was mostly because of them, he offered to throw them over as well. If the cameras weren't on him, I think he might have!


4. Oswald & Danny - SAFE!


Last week: 1
This week: Down three places

Two non-elimination rounds in a row! Wow, two weeks in row where the game has not progressed at all...good thinking producers. Instead of non-elim rounds, I would prefer to see extra long legs where the leg was stretched to two episodes.

I believe that in reality game shows it IS important to be fair to all competitors in terms of the rules and so if you are going to give 3 or 4 teams a second chance (even if there's a penalty), it should be given to all teams. A second chance can and has made all the difference in the world. Not being eliminated at the end of a leg is a very different advantage to being the first to a random yield, or making a good or bad decision on a detour.

Anyway, this was a really bad luck round for O&D with a combination of choosing the wrong task and getting a taxi driver who didn't speak English at all and had no idea where they wanted to go. Perhaps the producers told the taxi driver to send them off course, to avoid the embarrasing potentional of E&D getting two non-eliminations in the same series.

Some of the funniest comments still came from this team as Oswald did things such as praying that the body of the driver wouldn't be found after he strangled him (while sitting in the back seat of the cab). Or telling the driver that he should be able to find the next destination as the name was written in Chinese on the clue and then asking him if he could read Chinese.

The sucky thing about O&D coming last now is that they are at a disadvantage at perhaps the most important stage of the race when they have done so well throughout the rest of it, whereas E&D have generally sucked through 70% of the legs.

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PS. Bevis - I'll answer any or your questions I missed, in the comments of the previous post.


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


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TAR - All Stars Episode 10

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


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 10 of The Amazing Race Series 11 – All Stars Edition (TARAS), do not read any further!


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The last TARAS episode we saw here in Australia ended with Uchenna & Joyce being the last team to reach the Pit Stop and the sixth team to be eliminated from the All Stars edition of the show. The Pit Stop was located inside the grounds of Carcosa Seri Negara, a luxury hotel located near Perdana Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In the second and final Fast Forward on this Race, teams had to travel five miles to a film set located at the former Kai Tak Airport where a high-speed stunt was being filmed for an action movie. When they arrived, they had to get in a car with a professional stunt driver and complete a stunt course, which involved sharp turns and ended with the car flipping over.

This leg's Detour was ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ or ‘Lost in Translation’. In ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, teams had to travel five miles to Tonkin Street and find a nearby building (the former Cheung Sha Wan Police Quarters). Once there, they had to climb up an 11-story bamboo scaffold while avoiding an ongoing battle between stunt kung fu experts to reach the top and retrieve their next clue. In ‘Lost in Translation’, teams needed to make their way four miles to Kowloon City and find Nga Tsin Wai Road. Once there, they had to search among hundreds of similar-looking Chinese signs for the specific sign shown in a photo in their clue. When they matched the photo with the correct store sign, the owner would hand them their next clue.

In the Roadblock, one teammate had to kick down stunt doors in an abandoned building and search through the rooms for their clue.

Teams also had to pull a model boat carrying a Travelocity gnome from one end of a pond to the other without having the gnome fall into the water.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the Race:

1. Dustin & Kandice
2. Charla & Mirna
3. Eric & Danielle
4. Oswald & Danny
5. Uchenna & Joyce


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!').



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1. Oswald & Danny


Last week: 4
This week: Up three places

I hope these guys win at this stage. This is the second fast forward they've won and as a general rule they have stayed at the front of the pack throughout the entire race, so of those that are left they have played the best game.

Once again the start of this leg came down to who had the best ability to get on a standby list for a flight and then get on that flight. With the few teams that are left at this stage everyone knows where everyone else is, so Oswald and Danny knew that once they saw the fast forward challenge, no one else would beat them to it. The task itself was a complete joke, as all they had to do was sit in a stunt car while a stunt driver flipped the car. Scary if you'd had a serious accident perhaps, but a bit of a thrill to most. Getting to the fast forward first won them a very nice Hong Kong holiday after the race.


2. Dustin & Kandice


Last week: 1
This week: Down one place

I usually find D&K to be rather bland, but this episode I was slightly attracted to them and felt somewhat sympathetic. I think it's probably because the three other teams decided to gang up against them and pretty much made an alliance that the final three teams would not include these blondes.

There was a lot made of the yield issue from last week and about how karma would bite them back, but not much came of it this episode. It is possible that the editors are setting up Eric and Danielle yielding them next week, or that they will be eliminated next week, but who knows. If that's the case, then it couldn't be scripted better.

It was funny to see them in an argument with Mirna over who was placed first on the standby list for their flight, but it turned out to be them.

Also amusing was the brief ride they had in a lift with Eric and Danielle, during which no one said anything nor made any eye contact.


3. Charla & Mirna


Last week: 2
This week: Down one place

Firstly kudos to Charla for climbing the bamboo scaffolding on the outside of a large building while having kung fu fighters suspended on cables, stunt fighting around them. I'm not sure I could have done that, cause I absolutely hate heights and have a morbid fear of widths...also lengths don't thrill me either.

Mirna was her usual loud and brash self throughout this leg, but strangely I found myself wondering what it would be like to be married to her! It's not a fantasy or anything...hey stop looking at me like that!! Her support and praise for her diminutive cousin was a nice, albeit unusual touch for her.

Mirna was the instigator of the alliance against D&K, which the others agreed upon at the airport. Not that it did any good at this stage though. Perhaps next week it'll mean something.

The worst thing that occurred to C&M was that towards the end they had to catch a ferry to Hong Kong Island, but unknown to them, they were driven there and when they finally got on the ferry, they were informed that it was returning to the mainland. This delayed them somewhat as they had to do a round trip to get back to Hong Kong.


4. Eric & Danielle - SAFE!


Last week: 4
This week: Down one place

Ahhhh!!! They should be gone! Non elimination rounds are the bane of this game. To me it just feels like the entire leg has been wasted when they do them. I though they only had two in the race, but perhaps I'd just forgotten the third one. These two have been limping (metaphorically) the last few legs, and now would have been a good time for them to go. But nooooooo! Random loser teams get given a second chance. I hope they're gone next week.


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


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