<p>Justin attended UNC, and he and his sister now live in Georgia, where he’s a doctor and she’s a teacher.</p>
<p>Cathy and Bill make me laugh! </p>
<p>Those counting tasks are always such a problem for so many teams. It was difficult to tell what the actual timing was but I can’t believe that Marcus and Amani didn’t take better advantage of the information provided to them by Andy and Tommy (who also gave good advice at the bucket challenge to Laurence and Zac -which they ignored). What saved Marcus and Amani was the fact that they had a terrible taxi driver and so they let him go prior to the final roadblock.</p>
<p>abasket, I don’t think they ever leave that type of decision to the locals who are running the task, unless it’s a simple answer that the team is providing.</p>
<p>I don’t like how the snowboarders gave the answer to Marcus and Amani even though it ended up not doing them a lot of good. I don’t think teams should give other teams a complete pass like that and would rather see all teams have to figure out the tasks themselves and I don’t really like ‘alliances’ either. The snowboarders seem to be trying to be ‘nice guys’, and they seem as if they actually are nice guys, but I think it ruins the show to just give away answers.</p>
<p>abasket - I was thinking the same thing as your S - it seems that the father/son team shouldn’t have been given the clue since they did the task wrong and they’d need to stay to get the task right after figuring out, hopefully for themselves - that’s what’s usually done on an intermediary task.</p>
<p>That’s what he said - he said the time penalties at the end are usually only for in-between task stuff - like taking a cab instead of walking - not for tasks themselves. </p>
<p>I don’t keep track of stuff like that, but my S, Mr. “it’s all about being fair” apparently does!</p>
<p>My husband and I were remarking last night about the much higher incidence these past few seasons of alliances and sharing answers. For the first several seasons, this didn’t happen. Now it is happening all the time. </p>
<p>Do people think this is Survivor, where one wins by alliances? </p>
<p>I was dumfounded by the couple that didn’t pay attention to the answers they were given about the buddhas, and amazed that they stayed in the game.</p>
<p>"Former racers told the site that “time adjustments happen all the time. We only hear about it if it noticeably affects the game in some way, such as altering the order in which teams leave the pit stop.”</p>
<p>I see a difference in some of the alliances and just blatantly telling another team the answer as they walk up to the task so that if they were paying attention they could have completely skipped the task and just headed straight to the task end and give the answer. If this is the way the snowboarders are going to play it I hope they lose soon.</p>
<p>I pretty much figured Liz and Marie would be safe when they started talking about being eliminated, etc. Glad they have another week but think they might be getting the boot next anyway… Those umbrellas looked killer! I would have had to do the umbrellas/chairs though because no way could I have built the coral thing and gotten it out in the water in one piece. The rock climbing looked scary but fun. Thailand is gorgeous!</p>
<p>The snowboarders are beasting it! They are so athletic and hunky. The old folks also deserve a high five for sticking it out - I thought they would be long gone by now! I’m not really disliking anyone but the dating couple seems to be cracking up a bit. You had to love Jennifer giving Phil “the face.” Hilarious!</p>
<p>I also thought the latest episode was physically harder. I think “Mom & Dad” deserve a medal just for coming through it! The snowboarders seem to have it all…strength, calm, and a good sense of humor. The brother and sister team seem like they’re making progress - relationship wise. Still haven’t formed a “favorite” team yet.</p>
<p>The dad and son “sailing” team and the older couple are growing on me. Snowboarders still the favorite and also a fan of the football player and his wife - good teamwork! Apparently football practice has NOTHING on Amazing Race tasks though- he was WORE out! </p>
<p>I’m going to complain a little bit about the countries though - seems like the last couple of seasons we hardly get out of that western region.</p>
<p>I felt a little badly for the twins last night but they weren’t thinking when doing that beach task. I still don’t have a favorite team. It’s funny this season, the teams are generally more likeable than usual, so it’s harder to root for or against a particular team.</p>
<p>abasket, each season includes stops in different parts of Asia and of Europe, with an occasional stop or two in Australia, Africa or South America.</p>
<p>It may seem that way but a quick look at the five seasons previous to this one shows that 32 different countries were visited and the repeats were Japan, China, India, Russia, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. I think that if you look at the five before that, you’d likely see a similar variety.</p>
<p>Part of the fun of the Race is seeing new places and, after 19 seasons, it’s difficult to find unvisited locations! I wish they’d go to South America more often.</p>
<p>Security has to be a consideration when they pick countries though both for participants and what must be a huge camera crew. Wasn’t there a couple locations where they got into dicey legal/scarey areas? Not for nothing but I think they go where there isn’t so much overt anti-American sentiment. </p>
<p>I like how the snowboarders basically gave away the Borobodur 17/17/17/18 answer without thought to whether it would affect their “game” - seems like karma wise, they are going to do fine.</p>
<p>Tonight’s episode was stressful… I was really hoping Liz and Marie wouldn’t get kicked off since they were pulling out all the stops to stay in the race. The dating couple that almost came in last doesn’t interest me as much.</p>
<p>Did anyone else totally think Cindy and Ernie were going to get a penalty for taking the first class bus?? OMG! I felt so bad that the father and son got off the right bus and wasted all that time waiting for the second class bus. Ugh. At least they didn’t get kicked off. The dad seems to be pretty stubborn sometimes (like when they should have taken notes and didn’t). The son had the right idea. Anyone else feel bad for Ernie? I feel like he is really hard on himself when he can’t live up to Cindy’s psycho level. Yikes!</p>
<p>So happy to see Marcus and Amani come in first! Good for the old folks coming in second (although Cathy makes me shake my head, ha ha - “hot dog!”). Lordy… Also couldn’t believe it when the snowboarders let that woman walk away with their clue - not a good idea! Had no idea they were so holy.</p>
<p>Great show tonight. I watched very carefully but could not figure out how the bus timing changed the order of the teams so much. Did the 4:30 bus get in after the 5:30 bus?</p>
<p>Liz and Marie were starting to grow on me, so also sad to see them go. I agree, the Dad is being too hard on his son and not taking responsibility and Ernie is being too hard on himself. I am pulling for Marcus and Amani, but there are lots of twists and turns to go.</p>
<p>Liz and Marie were starting to grow on me too. DH loves elephants & would’ve been as exuberant as them if he got to get up close & personal with one.</p>
<p>I wonder how explicit the rules are regarding first class travel. Does it say first class plane travel and the father/son team just forgot that? Cindy & Ernie weren’t concerned about it or didn’t realize they were on a first class bus.</p>
<p>I liked the twins and was sorry to see them go. They seem like really sweet girls and I loved their enthusiasm about the elephants. </p>
<p>shellfell, it’s clearly stated that participants must purchase economy tickets for flights but may accept free upgrades offered by the airline. There’s no similar rule about other modes of travel. I can understand why Laurence and Zac would get off the bus, if they weren’t 100% sure about the rule. Fortunately, it didn’t result in an elimination for them. Was happy to see Marcus and Amani finish in first.</p>
<p>Ok, so this week’s episode was fun. I was laughing out loud at the twins, and found it was the first time I actually liked them. Thought they were infectious about their elephant love!</p>
<p>More than once thought the snowboarders were out, and thought that was a twist I hadn’t seen coming. Along with their spirituality. Hadn’t seen that coming too.</p>
<p>Felt bad for Ernie.</p>
<p>Laughed (again) at Cathy falling down. </p>
<p>And still have no favorites in the game. But this episode made me realize how much I love the show!</p>