TAR:10 - Down & Dirty
A nicely entertaining installment. I’m not a huge fan of the “no-pitstop” episodes, as it usually means that there will just be an equalizing bottleneck (usually related to catching a plane) right at the start of the next episode. That said, it’s still fun to see the racers spout their race-related assumptions, only to have said assumptions dashed to bits by the ever-sneaky producers.
The Blondes ran another strong leg, continuing to make smart racing decisions. Combined with their overall good attitude, this cements them even more firmly into being the team I want to see win the race. (Thus, I have given them the kiss of death… 
)
Racing-wise, no one else really distinguished themselves during this grueling leg of the race (huge amounts of travel & very physical tasks).
Mostly, things bubbled on the interpersonal side. The BackPack alliance moved ever closer to a final rupture, but not before they took the time to further antagonize Rob & Kim. KarLyn showed once again that they are this season’s most polarizing team, and the team that I most desperately want to be banished from my TV. (Thus establishing them as the odds-on favorites to win it all… 
) Their hateful venom towards the Blondes was embarrassingly shallow, and their reaction to the video email was just annoying. I. don’t. like. them. at. all.
Overall, the star of this episode may have been Finland. It looked like a great place to visit, with gorgeous countryside & friendly locals. Granted, the locals might be a bit, shall we say, odd, what with the mud & muck training grounds, but I guess that centuries of long winters might do that to a people… 
Only a few episodes left, with two more eliminations before the final three teams compete over the final two legs. Let’s hope it’s an interesting & tight race to the finish.
-ghp
TAR:10 - Cow lips & intersections
A good episode, but I’m just not in a bloggy state of mind…
- I liked the introduction & execution of the Intersection twist. ErGo didn’t seem too thrilled at teaming with the Blondes, but they made the best of it, made quick work of the Detour task, and came out ahead because of it — there’s no way they would’ve finished as quickly if they’d have teamed with either of the other BackPack alliancemates.
- The Blondes rock. They are currently the only team showing the smarts & gumption necessary to win this race. IOW, they are actively doing what’s necessary to take the race by the throat & impose their will, rather than acting in a more passive way.
- Too bad the Intersection couldn’t have resulted in both KY and KarLyn/AL being eliminated. They’re both weak teams that have no business still being in the race. They deserve each other… losers.
- It’s always nice to see it when the Fast Forward is positioned with a strong strategic component - i.e., when it’s not just a rubber stamp to a big lead. Smart racing on the part of the Blondes & ErGo, combined with the repulsive nature of eating cow lips, erased any advantage that the FF might’ve offered.
- Interestingly, the Blondes are running the race like the stereotypical “strong guys” teams of the past, while the Abercrombies (Tyler & James) are filling the traditional “girly” teams of the past role.
Like I said, in all this was a nicely executed & presented episode — very enjoyable.
Next week, however, looks like it’ll at least have one segment that is a pain-in-the-ass to watch, as the previews showed KarLyn/AL getting a weepy, “heart-tugging” video message from home. Blech.
-ghp
TAR:10 - Where’s your sixpack now?
I’m getting this out tonight, just in case I don’t get the chance tomorrow because of my having to report for jury duty…
Lots of posturing by the 6 remaining teams, with most of the drama resulting from 3 of 6 teams (ErGo, KarLyn, & KY) banding together as the “SixPack” Alliance. I don’t mind ErGo (although they should be too smart to hook themselves up with anchors like KY & (especially) KarLyn…) all that much, and even KY doesn’t annoy me the most (mainly because of David). KarLyn, however, needs to be banished from my tv post-haste!
A nice set of challenges this week, in a very nice setting — the island Republic of Mauritius. The Blondes deserved 1st place this week (even with the weak reward of scooters), if only because they were the only ones smart enough to not waste any time on the crapshoot that was searching through the piles of salt! That type of challenge has a long TAR history of being a huge gamble. Thankfully this time it wasn’t a roadblock, as these types of “luck-of-the-draw” tasks are quite unfair as roadblocks, but not so much as detours.
KY went from worst to first, and now back to worst — only to be saved again by a non-elimination leg. The only thing that could’ve made it better would’ve been them having been directly sold out by KarLyn or ErGo on a race to the finish. I’m blown away by Mary’s naivete concerning the “friendships” & the race, particularly as manifested in a willingness/willfulness to plan on waiting for the other members of the SixPack Alliance before moving on. I’d be interested to know her reaction when she saw/heard that such a willingness was not reciprocated by the others, especially KarLyn. If ErGo is smart, they’ll dump the SixPack Alliance, and do it early on in the next leg!
Those little Nissan cars were pretty darned cute, and they sure seem sturdily built, what with how well one survived the Blondes’ little fender-bender! Ah, but it served as an opportunity for Dustin to show off her red shorts again, so all wasn’t lost…
All in all, not a bad installment, although no team other than the Blondes is showing an ability to race a clean leg (fender-bender notwithstanding) free of mistakes, blunders, or meltdowns. Unless someone else can step it up, the Blondes might actually be the first all-girls team to win TAR!
Next week: A new race twist — The Intersection!
-ghp
TAR:10 - Not a kind individual
Late entry, I know, but today’s not been the best of days, wellness-wise…
This was a very, very, very satisfying installment. Annoying in spots, but ultimately satisfying. Why? Peter the Putz was banished from my TV, and not a moment too soon!
Honestly, I’m stunned at the arrogance contained in that guy. Many realitytv-folks have complained about how the “editing” made them look less than appealing. Last night, however, I think we saw that the producers had really eased off on the portrayal of Peter in previous weeks - IOW, they tried to avoid making him look like the asshat he is. Last night, the gloves came off, he was “edited” & outed for the full-bore boor that he is. Letting Sarah take on yet another physical challenge? Pathetic. Blaming Sarah for getting lost? Pathetic. Constantly berating Sarah via a steady stream of thinly-veiled passive-aggressive put-downs? Horrifically pathetic. Getting exposed as the small-weenied, insecure, hatefully arrogant assclown that he really is? Priceless…
Best of all, we got proof that Sarah has seen the light, as she thoroughly & completely threw his sorry carcass under the bus. Normally, I would feel bad for someone when they were described on national TV as being someone who “isn’t a very nurturing or kind individual” — brutal, but oh-so-satisfying to watch. Sarah deserves so much better that that, and it’s great to see that she recognizes it! I’ll miss watching Sarah compete, but she is acceptable collateral damage at this point…
Next on my hit-list is Mary (and, sadly, David), and/or KarLyn (take yer pick). David has a modicum of class that Mary just doesn’t, but it’s just not enough to make up for listening to her any more. She just ain’t that nice, although I don’t doubt that she basically means well. It was ok to see them get the FastForward, so that they didn’t have to worry about the 30 minute penalty (though I don’t think it would’ve mattered in the end, what with Peter & Sarah’s getting lost). And it was nice to see Team ErGo do such a nice thing (setting aside the fact that it was a blunder, strategically speaking) by letting them take the FF - I was glad to see that it didn’t hurt ErGo & put them in jeopardy.
KarLyn need to go because they keep messin’ with my Blonde Bombshells (esp. Dustin - Rawr! ). They ought not to do that anymore!
Btw, it’s come out that the next edition of TAR will be an All-Star edition! Hopefully they’ll do a decent job of choosing the teams who’ll return — or, at least, a better job than was done on Survivor!
-ghp
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