Amazing Race

[RunningGirl]

The problem I had with this season is that too many of the tasks were subject to one team helping another by giving them the answer. That gave the alliance too much power.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

The problem I had with this season is that too many of the tasks were subject to one team helping another by giving them the answer. That gave the alliance too much power.

I agree. If they had more tasks that other teams can't help you because it's physical or they put you in stations where you can't see each other or interact. There are things they can do to keep an alliance from having so much power. This is probably the first year an alliance worked so well. I think part was the 5 teams were strong teams and the tasks themselves were perfect for an alliance set up.

 

[gometros]

Does anyone know when they were in NOLA for the final leg real time? Just curious whether it was during the time that the Wonder was cruising out of there.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

I remember the old ones where they would eat gross things- little person Charla who had to eat an ostrich egg, or for fast forward shaving head. I used to love Amazing Race and watched all previous seasons earlier this year. I was very disappointed this season and don’t think it will be back.

 

[bethbuchall]

I remember the old ones where they would eat gross things- little person Charla who had to eat an ostrich egg, or for fast forward shaving head. I used to love Amazing Race and watched all previous seasons earlier this year. I was very disappointed this season and don’t think it will be back.

The part that I didn't remember until I started rewatching was the quantities of those gross things that they had to eat. They had to eat huge amounts of food that would have been difficult to get down even if it was really good. The one season it was caviar; I can't remember how much, but it was pounds.

 

[robinb]

The part that I didn't remember until I started rewatching was the quantities of those gross things that they had to eat. They had to eat huge amounts of food that would have been difficult to get down even if it was really good. The one season it was caviar; I can't remember how much, but it was pounds.

I remember them needing to eat camel and live octopus! I also remember when teams needed to eat an two big pieces of Gino's East deep dish pizza in the finale and then continue to race. For anyone who has ever eaten two pieces of Gino's knows that it's hard enough to walk not to mention run to the finish line.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

I think Boston Rob ruined the large eating challenges when he realized all he had to do was convince a few teams not to do the challenge and take the penalty and still not be eliminated. Of course the last team to be convinced not to eat was the one to be eliminated, but he managed to convince teams there was no way to finish the food. In fact very few teams were able to eat it all. The couple who ended up winning that race also changed how the roadblocks worked as the husband ended up doing pretty much all the roadblocks, after that the challenges had to be split evenly.

 

[skeeter31]

Does anyone know when they were in NOLA for the final leg real time? Just curious whether it was during the time that the Wonder was cruising out of there.

They filmed this season from November 10-December 3, 2018. So the New Orleans date most likely would have been 12/2/18 or 12/3/2018. If memory serves me, the Wonder didn’t start sailing out of New Orleans until January 2020, so they missed it by over a year.

 

[china mom]

One thing about TAR that has bugged me from the beginning - and mind you, I know it is a stupid peeve but its my peeve... Phil always refers to the envelope as a "clue". Its almost never a clue. It is a task or a set of instructions. A clue would be something they have to solve to figure out where they are supposed to go next. Yes, once in a while it is like that but most of the time, it is just telling them where to go next.

 

[starvenger]

I think Boston Rob ruined the large eating challenges when he realized all he had to do was convince a few teams not to do the challenge and take the penalty and still not be eliminated. Of course the last team to be convinced not to eat was the one to be eliminated, but he managed to convince teams there was no way to finish the food. In fact very few teams were able to eat it all. The couple who ended up winning that race also changed how the roadblocks worked as the husband ended up doing pretty much all the roadblocks, after that the challenges had to be split evenly.

They've had eating tasks since so I don't think it did much outside of no longer forcing people to eat a lot of food, then keep racing. It certainly hasn't convinced them to stop wasting food, as this season has shown.

Rob did figure out how to game the penalties though, so full credit for that. We don't see many Racers go this route (I think it happened on a recent season of TAR Canada). But then again most Racers can't influence others like Rob can.

As for Roadblocks, you are thinking of Chip and Kim from a few seasons prior, not Uchenna and Joyce. Kim and runners-up Christie (of Colin and Christie) and Nicole did 1 Roadblock each. Not that the imbalance hadn't happened before (Zach did all but one Roadblock when he won season 3), but it wasn't so prominent as having a Final 3 where the guys did almost all the Roadblocks. So in Rob's season there was a maximum number a Racer could perform. I believe now the rule is that Racers have to complete a minimum number of Roadblocks prior to the Final 3.

 

[justafigment27]

The food challenges were just gross. I’m kind of glad they are gone.

My daughter and I have started watching old seasons and I was pretty surprised to see that alliances were part of the game since season one. I watched a few of the earlier seasons back when they originally aired and I had not remembered any alliances, but it appears its always been the case - they usually just don’t usually work out that well.

As far as calling them “clues”, they were kind of like clues the first season - it had a much more scavenger hunt kind of quality where teams were given a lot of pictures or vague directions.

 

[FigmentSpark]

The fast forward I remember that bothered me was the one where they had to each get a tattoo. Luckily it was a father/son duo that did the FF and they didn't mind getting the tattoos. But I thought something that permanent was too big of a requirement.

I don't remember the shaving their heads (Big Brother did that at least once), but at least hair grows back.

 

[nicolita3]

I don't remember the shaving their heads (Big Brother did that at least once), but at least hair grows back.

I think this was one of the seasons that Rachel and Brandon were on, and if you shaved your head you went right to the finish line skipping other tasks. Rachel got there first and when it said you had to shave your head she refused to shave her head.

 

[CdnCarrie]

All I could think of as a diabetic when they had to eat those beignets was what if a racer was diabetic?
I would have felt sick after eating all that sugar and carbs

 

[starvenger]

The fast forward I remember that bothered me was the one where they had to each get a tattoo. Luckily it was a father/son duo that did the FF and they didn't mind getting the tattoos. But I thought something that permanent was too big of a requirement.

I don't remember the shaving their heads (Big Brother did that at least once), but at least hair grows back.

ESPN had a reality competition called Beg, Borrow and Deal where one of the tasks was for all four members of the team to get a tattoo. One person - Josh Gates, the Expedition Unknown host - got one on his heel... which must have been fun to deal with during the remainder of the show.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

All I could think of as a diabetic when they had to eat those beignets was what if a racer was diabetic?
I would have felt sick after eating all that sugar and carbs

Throughout the seasons that was really nothing to what they've eaten or what strenuous activity they have done when they've had little to eat and tons more activity. That was hardly anything truthfully by comparison but I can understand how it may appear like a lot to you.

 

[starvenger]

All I could think of as a diabetic when they had to eat those beignets was what if a racer was diabetic?
I would have felt sick after eating all that sugar and carbs

Throughout the seasons that was really nothing to what they've eaten or what strenuous activity they have done when they've had little to eat and tons more activity. That was hardly anything truthfully by comparison but I can understand how it may appear like a lot to you.

This is true. A few beignets does not compare to four pounds of meat, or a timed eating session.

But to the previous point, I would hope that production would be aware of Racer's food allergies or pre-existing conditions, and adjust accordingly (such as declaring that a specific Racer had to do the task).

 

[justafigment27]

All I could think of as a diabetic when they had to eat those beignets was what if a racer was diabetic?
I would have felt sick after eating all that sugar and carbs

Leo is diabetic - he was on a podcast discussing it post race. If I remember correctly, he was born with a medical condition that caused his pancreas to hyper secrete insulin, so he had to have part of it removed and most children who have it done ultimately wind up with diabetes. He was diagnosed in college. He traveled with insulin and a continuous glucose monitor. I was surprised that someone with diabetes would pass TAR medical screening since I’ve often heard contestants say that they ate like crap and never knew when they would next eat ...

 

[DisneyLover1217]

They do seem to have tasks where someone on the team cannot do, I forget which one it was this race, but Gary could not do it because of his size. To me I think they need to make every task something that everyone on the race is able to do. If you are going to allow a 6'6" 300 pound + football player on, he should be able to participate in everything they line up. Also, if they are going to allow a diabetic on the race, they shouldn't have a task where they have to eat a sugary dessert like beignets, JMHO.

 

[bethbuchall]

The fast forward I remember that bothered me was the one where they had to each get a tattoo. Luckily it was a father/son duo that did the FF and they didn't mind getting the tattoos. But I thought something that permanent was too big of a requirement.

I don't remember the shaving their heads (Big Brother did that at least once), but at least hair grows back.

There were two that I have watched relatively recently. The first one had two models arrive to find that the Fast Forward was having your head shaved. The female instantly said that they were not doing that. She made it sound like her boyfriend needed his hair for modeling, but I don't think she would ever have done it herself. The second time was Uchenna and Joyce. She cried through it and was self-conscious afterward, but she realized how important a move it was in the game.