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Mar. 7th, 2011 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hnpccSecond episode of this season's Amazing Race:
I ended up kind of disappointed by this episode, despite enjoying most of it. The main reason I was disappointed came down to who was eliminated, and why. I found it seriously bad that the Cowboys, who were considerably behind all the other teams - we're talking at least 3 hours if the photo montage I linked to last week is correct (it claims the last team to check in was about 3.30pm but I think they were thinking of the Goths - especially as they're claiming that the teams at Town Hall were there at 6.15pm), not least given that they were shown wandering around Sydney after dark before finding the charter board and the sun didn't set that day until 7.42pm - were then not actually given a U-turn to complete as well.
I realise that this isn't the main reason that Kris and Amanda were eliminated - that would be that they (a) took a taxi back from Shelly beach to the CBD; (b) without having any clear idea of where they were going and (c) then failed to go somewhere where they could get the information they needed quickly. They should have made the first charter flight which would have kept them in, and they should definitely have had enough time to complete both halves and beat Ron and Christina, who bled time like you wouldn't believe at the Detour, to the mat (and God I wish they had... Ron is irritating the hell out of me this season.) Kris and Amanda did bleed time both at the Detour, and getting to it. But it still annoyed me that one team, whose entire mistake was not finding a paper aeroplane quickly enough in the first five minutes, were eliminated partly because of it while another team who were several hours behind not least because they failed to complete the Roadblock task correctly three times, and who checked in bone dead last at the "pit stop" were completely unpenalised. If nothing else there should have been a double U-turn simply to make things more interesting. It's possible that Jet and Cord would still have come in in the middle of the pack, and it's possible that Kris and Amanda wouldn't have. But it wouldn't have led to the situation where nothing that happened in the first leg mattered at all except whether you found a paper aeroplane quickly enough in the first five minutes.
Having said that, I enjoyed making the teams dress up in kangaroo outfits and hop around Broken Hill, especially as it would have been hot as Hades out there. The Aboriginal-themed Detour was less cringeworthy than it could have been - and I loved the woman who kept telling Kent and Vxysin that they were wrong, her accent cracked me up entirely it was such a strong country accent! - and even the TAR Australia standard of "first leg urban, second leg "Aboriginal" "culture" irritated me a bit less than normal. The clues were actually hard - that "To Ship To Shore" thing I'd never heard of, and I've done four Urban Maxes up in Sydney. I'd have gotten Hg = Mercury but would never have remembered Bi = Bismuth. Who the hell uses Bismuth? (Other than miners, presumably). I can honestly say I don't think I've ever come across that one before and I did Chemistry up to the end of second year University. (Or if I did come across it it obviously wasn't for longer than it took to remember it for an exam and forget it as I walked out the door again.) I hope they keep this level of trickiness up, it's entertaining.
But damn I wish Ron and Christina had been eliminated *sigh*. Part of it is that she consistently refers to him as "Daddy", which is just... ergh. I was reading the most recently novel by Sara Paretsky recently, and she had a quote in there about how "Daddy" is this omnipotent figure, that everyone knows who they are and who doesn't need a different name because it's obvious, whereas "Dad" or more specifically "my Dad" is a recognition that he fits into the world but isn't actually known as a towering figure within it (unless your name is Packer or Murdoch, I suppose). I found it interesting - no idea how true or not it is, but it certainly bugs me that that's how Christina consistently refers to her father. Who is not only not a towering figure but also a bit of a dick, really.
I ended up kind of disappointed by this episode, despite enjoying most of it. The main reason I was disappointed came down to who was eliminated, and why. I found it seriously bad that the Cowboys, who were considerably behind all the other teams - we're talking at least 3 hours if the photo montage I linked to last week is correct (it claims the last team to check in was about 3.30pm but I think they were thinking of the Goths - especially as they're claiming that the teams at Town Hall were there at 6.15pm), not least given that they were shown wandering around Sydney after dark before finding the charter board and the sun didn't set that day until 7.42pm - were then not actually given a U-turn to complete as well.
I realise that this isn't the main reason that Kris and Amanda were eliminated - that would be that they (a) took a taxi back from Shelly beach to the CBD; (b) without having any clear idea of where they were going and (c) then failed to go somewhere where they could get the information they needed quickly. They should have made the first charter flight which would have kept them in, and they should definitely have had enough time to complete both halves and beat Ron and Christina, who bled time like you wouldn't believe at the Detour, to the mat (and God I wish they had... Ron is irritating the hell out of me this season.) Kris and Amanda did bleed time both at the Detour, and getting to it. But it still annoyed me that one team, whose entire mistake was not finding a paper aeroplane quickly enough in the first five minutes, were eliminated partly because of it while another team who were several hours behind not least because they failed to complete the Roadblock task correctly three times, and who checked in bone dead last at the "pit stop" were completely unpenalised. If nothing else there should have been a double U-turn simply to make things more interesting. It's possible that Jet and Cord would still have come in in the middle of the pack, and it's possible that Kris and Amanda wouldn't have. But it wouldn't have led to the situation where nothing that happened in the first leg mattered at all except whether you found a paper aeroplane quickly enough in the first five minutes.
Having said that, I enjoyed making the teams dress up in kangaroo outfits and hop around Broken Hill, especially as it would have been hot as Hades out there. The Aboriginal-themed Detour was less cringeworthy than it could have been - and I loved the woman who kept telling Kent and Vxysin that they were wrong, her accent cracked me up entirely it was such a strong country accent! - and even the TAR Australia standard of "first leg urban, second leg "Aboriginal" "culture" irritated me a bit less than normal. The clues were actually hard - that "To Ship To Shore" thing I'd never heard of, and I've done four Urban Maxes up in Sydney. I'd have gotten Hg = Mercury but would never have remembered Bi = Bismuth. Who the hell uses Bismuth? (Other than miners, presumably). I can honestly say I don't think I've ever come across that one before and I did Chemistry up to the end of second year University. (Or if I did come across it it obviously wasn't for longer than it took to remember it for an exam and forget it as I walked out the door again.) I hope they keep this level of trickiness up, it's entertaining.
But damn I wish Ron and Christina had been eliminated *sigh*. Part of it is that she consistently refers to him as "Daddy", which is just... ergh. I was reading the most recently novel by Sara Paretsky recently, and she had a quote in there about how "Daddy" is this omnipotent figure, that everyone knows who they are and who doesn't need a different name because it's obvious, whereas "Dad" or more specifically "my Dad" is a recognition that he fits into the world but isn't actually known as a towering figure within it (unless your name is Packer or Murdoch, I suppose). I found it interesting - no idea how true or not it is, but it certainly bugs me that that's how Christina consistently refers to her father. Who is not only not a towering figure but also a bit of a dick, really.
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Date: 2011-03-11 04:34 am (UTC)Our favourite bit was the cameraman panning from the mob of dressed-up-as-kangaroos racers to the Animal Control van. hee hee!
And I was very impressed that Kent knew Mercury and Bismuth straight off! Well done, little pink goth!