<p>Somehow I don’t think it was superior strategic thinking that made the cowboys give the girls the express pass, though it worked out to be great move. They never struck me as strategists–I think they just melted at all the blonde begging and were happy not to have to contemplate how to handle the express pass in the future. They have enough trouble getting from one place to another without having to keep any eye on anyone else.</p>
<p>One of them, I don’t recall which one, stated that just after turning it over to the girls, MommaJ. He said that they were now the only team left with an express pass, which is, if I recall, the first time that this has happened since the express pass was introduced a few years ago. Whether that was the impetus for the decision, who knows, but it was clear to them when they gave it to the girls that it was, indeed, a good move.</p>
<p>AR dodged a bullet and got lucky no one was hurt during the whitewater rafting segment. How did they expect to save someone if they were knocked out, or submerged and tangled up in underwater debris? Kudos to the father and son who misread the clue, but came all the way back up the river and still beat everyone else.</p>
<p>I suspect there were a large number of lifeguards just off camera. They had multiple camera crews in the river - they used the same angles as each rafter went down river. Also, the water wasn’t deep - not more than knee deep in the two shots where rafters were dislodged and in the river.</p>
<p>I was amused to see during the waterfall scene, you can see a hand reaching around and rearranging the yellow clues to make them more visible. Lots of guys running around behind the scenes making things just right…</p>
<p>I was happy to see some more physical outdoory type of challenges. I think that has been lacking the last few seasons.
I was sorry to see the U Tubers go but they made a rookie mistake of not having their taxi wait. A returning team should not have made such a careless error.</p>
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I am fascinated with the behind the scenes efforts that must go on in order to conceive of and set up the tasks and video the results (I can’t even imagine how many people it takes to pull all this stuff off), and I can’t wait for the day a veteran of the show writes a tell-all. I’m sure there endless stories about negotiations with governments, challenges of logistics and weather, interference from locals, etc., to say nothing of dealing with some of the more difficult team members. I think the job of visiting a country to scout for ideas and implement them would be fascinating. But maybe it’s hell on wheels, and that’s why I want that book! My admiration for the invisible AR worker bees means I always feel terrible when no one chooses one of the detours and all the effort involved in arranging it has been for nothing.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that the rafting challenge wasn’t as particularly challenging as TAR would like us to believe. What made it challenging for some teams was when they weren’t careful about staying away from the banks of the river, and some teams clearly had more difficulty than others, both in building the raft and in navigating the {small} ‘rapids’. </p>
<p>And, yes, the taxi error was just plain dumb. </p>
<p>You said it well! So happy for Dave and Conner - every time they talk to his dad he brings me to tears - he gets so emotional!!!</p>
<p>MommaJ, I too am hoping that a veteran will someday write a tell-all. Have you read this? <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/My-Ox-Is-Broken-Roadblocks/dp/1932100911/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1394514869&sr=8-26&keywords=amazing+race”>http://www.amazon.com/My-Ox-Is-Broken-Roadblocks/dp/1932100911/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1394514869&sr=8-26&keywords=amazing+race</a>
Published in 2006. It’s interesting. </p>
<p>I hate it when all the teams choose the same detour; I like seeing them both. And in last night’s episode, I thought it was amusing that Big Easy was too big to do the Roadblock!</p>
<p>Thanks, Manders09, that looks worth reading, and my library has it, so I’ll take a look.</p>
<p>This was Rachel’s week to shine. She calmed Brendon down enough so he could pour the drinks, and she helped the mother-son team when it looked very bleak for them. She handled the pressure well. </p>
<p>The most “amazing” part of this episode was the fact that Rachel was wearing pantihose with shorts in a tropical climate! I thought nobody in her age group wore hose anymore at all, so this was truly weird.</p>
<p>I’m tired of watching Luke have a breakdown/tantrum. He’s not stable enough for this show, and it’s beyond my comprehension that his mother thinks it’s a good idea to have him embarrass himself over and over again on network television. Their relationship seems to belong in some co-dependency textbook.</p>
<p>I agree about Luke . . . it got old several tantrums back. Some people just aren’t cut out for reality television.</p>
<p>And Rachel really redeemed herself this evening. Those few moments of encouragement to Luke an his mom made the episode worth watching.</p>
<p>Luke is gay. Who cares? What was the point of this?</p>
<p>Well, now both the deaf community and the gay community can identify with him and watch the show . . . although I’d guess that his behavior is more likely to have the opposite effect. :(</p>
<p>The point was just talking about their relationship. That may be a defining moment in their relationship - not for us to judge if it’s important or not - it was important to them. </p>
<p>I’m going to side with Luke a little on this one. There was NO alternative task for them to do. Because he is deaf, the other challenge was OUT. What frustration that must have been to know there were no options and to see others being able to make that option. Agree he went a little over the top dropping the glasses, but again, we see what they choose to see - others may have freaked out too. How about Rachel chanting, “it’s not fair! It’s not fair!” - it WAS fair - they had the choice to move tasks and didn’t - there was nothing unfair about that part of the leg for them - just unlucky or unskilled perhaps. </p>
<p>That drink challenge would have put me over the edge!! But yes, kudos to Rachel for helping the spirits of Luke and Mom. And as for the pantyhose??? At first I thought - well maybe they are like support hose - but no, I don’t think so. She must just be really conscious of her pale legs or something!! Surely she doesn’t wear them for the water tasks!!! </p>
<p>I am liking the Garanimals much better this season. 
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<p>I was on the phone during the episode, so I’m sure I missed some of what happened. I do remember Rachel saying that since she’d been a cocktail wiatress, she wanted to do the drink task, so how was it that Brendon was the one doing it.</p>
<p>I was as surprised as all of you at the pantyhose.</p>
<p>Isn’t this the third time for Luke on TAR? He doesn’t seem to have the emotional fortitude to handle the frustrations that alot of these tasks engender. </p>
<p>I guess it was karma that it was a non-elimination leg. Rachel got rewarded for her helpfulness. </p>
<p>I am not saying that it is not an important part of their relationship; I’m sure that it is. However, this is Margie’s and Luke’s 3rd trip to the rodeo and Luke has been out since before his first appearance on TAR in 2009. I’m complaining that CBS chose to package this as a 5 second throwaway piece in 2014.</p>
<p>I did, however, get a newfound respect for Rachel after her interaction with Margie and Luke. And I really like the Garanimals. :)</p>
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<p>The point was that it was a defining moment in their relationship. When they were last on the show, although Luke had lived openly as a gay young man, TAR made a point of not making any mention of it. They took a lot of flak for that and it’s likely why this moment was included in the show last night.</p>
<p>When they were struggling with that challenge, I immediately thought of the tea challenge in the previous season for Luke, and I smiled when he also mentioned it later on. I felt for them because it would have been impossible for them to have switched to the DJ challenge.</p>
<p>I thought it was a good episode with interesting challenges that were actually challenging! I like Leo and Jamal. I think they are a good example of racers who have improved their racing in the second time around. </p>
<p>Felt a little sad looking at the beautiful sites of Kuala Lumpur, and wondering how many of the people on Flight370 had enjoyed their time there.</p>
<p>^^^ Same thoughts re: Flight 370 Alwaysamom… </p>