[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by phill363

Can't believe at the end I was rooting for Rachel and Dave :roll eyes:

I know, when i though Art and JJ were going to win I almost gave up watching, but then when Rachel and Dave caught up to them I was cheering them on, says much about how much I didn't want Art and JJ to win, lol!

the best thing i can say about the end was thank god Art and AJ didn't win.

Indeed!

oh well bring on The Amazing Race Australia season 2.

Looking forward to it muchly, though I understand they have introduced some new quirks I'm not sure I like, as yet.....

[steve9999]

Originally Posted by Kyle123

I think the controversy stemmed from the fact that it was the fourth time in around 5 years that CBS had cast them on a reality show, as well as giving them their own show, and that they had both already won major prizes on Survivor.

CBS never gave Rob & Amber their own show. They broadcast the wedding, Rob and Amber: Against the Odds was on the Fox Reality Channel

Anyway about the final sorry to see Vanessa not make it to the end. I guess you can look back to when she bottled the easy honey task in Africa and made Ralph do it

I think the winners came from same lab as Kim from Survivor. Head and shoulders above the rest but kinda dull. However i thought the final of the season was excellent

[Kyle123]

Originally Posted by Muttley76

Mark and Bopper are likely for another all stars, sort of sign posted like Gary and Mallery were a few seasons back. But I don't want to see another all stars for a long time yet, I tend to think there was too short a gap between all stars and second chance concepts, really, even though I much preferred the second chance concept.

I loved Mallory! I always kind of got the impression though that they were drafted into UB because Brook and Claire were unable to compete though. I'd like to see Brook and Claire race again in the future!

I totally agree that they needed to have a onger gap between the AS and UB though. The UB cast was really lacking in genuine Allstar teams and relied far to heavily on Season 14. As much as I really liked them all, Amanda & Kris, Mel & Mike and Jen & Kisha were not Allstar material. If the race is still running, the next Allstar season should come no earlier than season 25 at the very least.

[dylanpartyon]

That was a great end I thought. It kinda always changing who was kinda looked like were winning. But I thought it was clear Dave and Rachel were gonna win, and they deserved it. Sure they had 8 first places, if they didnt tell you at all...

The only thing I hated, was Art and JJ beating Brenchel. Brenchel were my favourite team, although I knew they werent gonna win. But it would've been amazing if they had beaten A/J, cause of all the shit they went through.

One thing that made me laugh. Was when they were doing the clue thing for the towers. And A/J were saying how Big Brother would've only gotten it by luck. Yet they did the exact thing that A/J didnt do, and get the taxi peps to find out.... A/J might be one of my least favourite teams ever!!!!

[starry]

Originally Posted by dylanpartyon

The only thing I hated, was Art and JJ beating Brenchel. Brenchel were my favourite team, although I knew they werent gonna win. But it would've been amazing if they had beaten A/J, cause of all the shit they went through.

One thing that made me laugh. Was when they were doing the clue thing for the towers. And A/J were saying how Big Brother would've only gotten it by luck. Yet they did the exact thing that A/J didnt do, and get the taxi peps to find out.... A/J might be one of my least favourite teams ever!!!!

Agreed. They could be nauseating sometimes, their arrogance was just out of this world. And yet sometimes I did find them funny, most of the time probably unintentionally by them. And I accept that they did have a role as villains, but you don't really want villains with a chance to win. Maybe the focus was sometims a littlte too strongly on them, certainly I felt that was the case with Vanessa who seemed to have a bigger role than she warranted. One villain team is enough anyway.

The final was pretty good, though I did feel they crammed too much in. They should have put more of their effort around some of the more lackadaisical legs than putting most of it in just a few of the legs (in my opinion).

Originally Posted by Kyle123

I'd like to see Brook and Claire race again in the future!

I would too, I liked them in TAR 17 and wanted them to win at the end. Mainly for Brook really who was hilarious at times and really lightened up a series with a couple of jerks like Chad and Nick. Some people seem to say she was putting on an act, but even if she was at times (and I think all racers exaggerate a bit for the cameras) I thought she was entertaining. And her going loopy on the bungee jump at the end seemed genuine anyway.

[Yobaba**]

Cheese and crackers! What a finale there at the end. The final result was correct though. As much as I've been supporting Brendan / Rachel over the others, in the end they let themselves down. Or rather Rachel did which is a shame. I have to say though, Brendan's handled himself very well this entire race. He's shown a lot of patience, and I'm not going to put that down completely to editing.

Vanessa I felt bad for at the chicken game. She showed some strength there. Although the fact that afterwards she was more concerned with putting her fake eyelashes in sort of summed that team up. I don't think they were very competitive.

The season has been average to me. TAR is one of those shows where the cast isn't everything to me. I can still watch and enjoy because of the travel aspects and the competitiveness of the teams. But it was a shame to watch so few teams dominate and not much real competition behind silly personal and petty rivalries. Also I thought the tasks this time were a bit rubbish. The cast themselves were fine for the most part, I'd have liked to see Misa and Maya get a bit further but they were never likely to last anyway. I hope next year they have more teams who are tough and competitive though. As little as I like Art & JJ they were probably the most compelling team to watch this year from a casting point of view.

[starry]

Again I will repeat I am not accepting their edit of Brendon and Rachel. I think they wanted to make Brendon out as the good guy, but Big Brother, even bits in the episodes of this show and some of the insider videos suggest otherwise. I will not take the edit at face value.

I had no sympathy for Vanessa at all, and I think her whole role in the race was exaggerated artificially by the producers. Felt a bit sorry for Ralph who must have felt he got shunted aside by the whole focus on Vanessa. No idea if Misa and Maya would have been any good, very difficult to judge a team that goes so early. The producers wanted to make it about petty rivalries and their questioning of teams was definitely designed to encourage them in that. As usual on this show we never hear the questions only the answers that they elicit.

[Yobaba**]

Originally Posted by starry

Again I will repeat I am not accepting their edit of Brendon and Rachel. I think they wanted to make Brendon out as the good guy, but Big Brother, even bits in the episodes of this show and some of the insider videos suggest otherwise. I will not take the edit at face value.

I had no sympathy for Vanessa at all, and I think her whole role in the race was exaggerated artificially by the producers. Felt a bit sorry for Ralph who must have felt he got shunted aside by the whole focus on Vanessa. No idea if Misa and Maya would have been any good, very difficult to judge a team that goes so early. The producers wanted to make it about petty rivalries and their questioning of teams was definitely designed to encourage them in that. As usual on this show we never hear the questions only the answers that they elicit.

What's the point of watching a show though if you don't accept the edit at all? At the end you kind of have to accept the show for what it is rather than just complain about edits all the time. If stuff isn't being shown then we have no knowledge of it, we can only speak of what's been shown, and apart from the insider clips we don't have much else to base our opinions on. It's not that I think Brendan is the 'goodie' and Rachel the 'baddie', nor is it vice versa, but I do think he handled himself quite well from what we saw. I still like Rachel but dear Lord she is hard work at times.

I only sympathise with Vanessa because she'd hurt her leg and she showed guts to keep going without complaining. I felt her pain in that challenge. I still don't really like her but credit where it's due.

Misa and Maya just seemed sweet and they tried hard and it would have been nice to have a team like that last a little longer. But that's the only team who went early that I kind of regret losing. They got off to a bad start which is a shame.

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Yobaba**

I only sympathise with Vanessa because she'd hurt her leg and she showed guts to keep going without complaining. I felt her pain in that challenge. I still don't really like her but credit where it's due.

Indeed, I think you'd have to be a bit hard hearted not to feel for her there. At the end of the day we should never get so wrapped up in the show and the people we like or don't that we lose perspective so much we can't even empathise with someone in significant pain fighting through the pain barrier when many people would have given up.

eta: good post btw, i feel i've beaten my head against a brick wall enough on that topic for one day...

[starry]

It's just a bit frustrating on 'reality' shows where you don't get lots of reality. And I wish there was a live element (or at least some full unedited scenes to it) as on Big Brother rather than it being prepackaged a few months beforehand. While I like some things about it that doesn't mean I can't think that it can be improved in some ways. I really hope we see the full unedited version of the Rachel/Dave reaction to getting turned back on the mat, I'm not holding my breath though.

As for sympathy, well Rachel hurt her leg in the water tank task but it wasn't edited for sympathy. I don't think Vanessa was that hurt as was shown by the fact that she completed it. She whinged on the bike in Africa about dying as well.

[Anachrony]

Originally Posted by starry

And jonnythemoose, blame the editors. They gave you what they wanted you to see, they thought you would like to see that.

Not everything is down to editing. Some people can go an entire week without being a jackass to their partner. If you consistently say things that allow them to present you in a certain way, day after day, multiple times per day, then it's not just editing. You are that way. Maybe they emphasize it or downplay it for their purposes, but they aren't inventing it from whole cloth.

Big Brother Rachel really whines and breaks down frequently. The editors didn't make her do it. Brendon is kind of a pompous, entitled, jerk, but put him next to Rachel and most of the time he'll come off looking like the calm, rational one, because nearly anyone would. They did show him behaving poorly several times during the show, so if the editors were on a mission to improve his image they weren't trying very hard. It was probably just more fun to focus on Rachel.

Art, JJ, Dave, and Vanessa really said those things that make them look unsympathetic. The editors didn't say them, they did.

Other Rachel came off looking better by comparison, and Vanessa's boyfriend was fairly forgettable. Those two may well be a product of editing. Maybe if we saw more of them we'd have a different opinion. Or not. We don't know. But the others have nobody but themselves to blame for not looking good.

[starry]

People can help themselves obviously. But another problem is that people always confuse these kinds of programs as normal situations, just like you just did. It is a highly pressurised and unusual situation just like other reality programs like Big Brother. 'More fun to focus on Rachel', well I think you explain yourself there, people wanted them to focus on her. Even those who hate actually want that, they just don't want to admit it.

The problem is I think they concentrated on hate edits for too many people in this show, making out Mark and Bopper to be somehow the only nice team. You need more balance in the presentation than that. And I think in reality programs in general it's better not to feed the hate too much as after a while (after the initial excitement of hating dies off) much of the audience feel they can't connect with the cast if they have little sympathy for them. They do guide the cast with questions as well (which we never hear, we only get the answers).

[javjamoll84]

Episode 11 - I figured they'd make an 'hours of operation' based clue considering they'd time plan much in advance and map out multiple travel scenarios and I doubt they'd want to make a 6/7hour gap by chance.

I also felt a bit of sympathy for Vanessa doing the chicken task as her ankle did look painful when we saw it. Though I assume her constant whining was a bit ott.

Also was it just me or was anyone else annoyed Art/JJ (whichever one did the task) always 'tripped' to the side off the belt... Ok, enough conspiracy from me! And I'll repeat this as I always do every season, theres ALWAYS a damn team I don't like in the final! :angry:

Finale - Going in I wanted Rachel and Dave to win. None of the teams were outstanding this season but they were the best out of the final 3 and really deserved it. I know they've mentioned they won about 7 legs prior, but it honestly didn't feel like they did without them mentioning it. Btw, who were the other two teams they said were tied on 7 legs?

Glat Art/JJ seemed screwed from the start. Surprising they decided just to 'follow' another team. Did they not mention they hate coasters? Or am I mixing them up with someone else... The sledging task looked painful though.

There was a good amount of tension as all teams made some form of fatale mistake where it was anybodies game. With Brendan/Rachel's 'walk' it happens. We've seen it multiple times before. I assume the last leg is more nervewracking so as much as teams say 'we can't make a mistake' it just happens... With Rachel/Dave's missing out a clue/task. It also happened in S11 when Dustin/Kandice who bypassed a task by mistake if I'm correct.

Have to say when Rachel/Dave came into the Pit Stop for the second time, the eliminated teams looked so unenthusiastic.

[starry]

Originally Posted by Anachrony

Some people can go an entire week without being a jackass to their partner.

If you want someone who is literally a jackass to their partner rather than simply someone who gets upset over some tasks (and not at their partner) then what about Dave to Rachel, or that Jonathan guy in an earlier season, or guys like Chad and Nick in TAR 17. Actually it's the men, from the seasons I've seen, who act like the biggest jackasses to their partners in this show.

Originally Posted by javjamoll84

Episode 11 - I figured they'd make an 'hours of operation' based clue considering they'd time plan much in advance and map out multiple travel scenarios and I doubt they'd want to make a 6/7hour gap by chance.

Glat Art/JJ seemed screwed from the start. Surprising they decided just to 'follow' another team. Did they not mention they hate coasters? Or am I mixing them up with someone else... The sledging task looked painful though.

There was a good amount of tension as all teams made some form of fatale mistake where it was anybodies game. With Brendan/Rachel's 'walk' it happens. We've seen it multiple times before. I assume the last leg is more nervewracking so as much as teams say 'we can't make a mistake' it just happens... With Rachel/Dave's missing out a clue/task. It also happened in S11 when Dustin/Kandice who bypassed a task by mistake if I'm correct.

I expect a bunching towards the finish, as they know the audience like a close finish. It's actually part of the manipulation that I'm willing to accept for entertainment purposes, as I think it does make it more entertaining.

Yeh I'm sure last legs are more tense, it certainly was for Kandice in S11. The penultimate legs probably are too though as they know it will be an elimination, and people don't want to miss the final.

Yeh Art and JJ kept saying that Rachel and Brendon were followers, though I think there are others in the past who far more obviously did that. Part of the game though is to learn from what others do as well. That's why those who are last are doubly in trouble as they sometimes are on their own in tasks and can't see what others do. Art benefited from seeing what both Rachels did in the sledging.

[Kyle123]

Originally Posted by javjamoll84

Finale - Going in I wanted Rachel and Dave to win. None of the teams were outstanding this season but they were the best out of the final 3 and really deserved it. I know they've mentioned they won about 7 legs prior, but it honestly didn't feel like they did without them mentioning it. Btw, who were the other two teams they said were tied on 7 legs?

The record was previously held by Nick & Starr and Meghan & Cheyne.

[QuincyMD]

Loved the look on Art and JJs face when they realised they were actually winning and then loved even more the look on their faces when they were passed.

Big Brother would probably have won if they hadnt taken the taxi to the wrong baseball ground.

[starry]

Originally Posted by QuincyMD

Loved the look on Art and JJs face when they realised they were actually winning

Big Brother would probably have won if they hadnt taken the taxi to the wrong baseball ground.

Had been winning, but when Rachel and Dave arrived they realised they had missed a golden opportunity to get easily to the finish line first.

Also R&B must have asked the taxi driver where the helicopters might be and they ended up going a long way in the wrong direction.

[Muttley76]

No Amazing Race to night. This depresses me.

[Yobaba**]

I know. At least I have Amazing Race Australia to keep me occupied. I love it, partly because I generally like Australians anyway and they usually come across as lovely, laid-back people.

Spoiler

Mos & Mo got eliminated! Yay. I am pleased that they didn't Dandrew their way to the top.

I love Kelly & Dave! My favourite team at this moment in time.

Chris is such a jackass. The way he speaks to his partner is quite disgusting really.

[Muttley76]

Originally Posted by Yobaba**

I know. At least I have Amazing Race Australia to keep me occupied. I love it, partly because I generally like Australians anyway and they usually come across as lovely, laid-back people.

Spoiler

Mos & Mo got eliminated! Yay. I am pleased that they didn't Dandrew their way to the top.

I love Kelly & Dave! My favourite team at this moment in time.

Chris is such a jackass. The way he speaks to his partner is quite disgusting really.

For the most part I liked Kelly and Dave, though I wobbled on Dave a few times, my favourite team was Matt & Tom...

[gray_v]

Unfortunately, for me, this was the final nail in the TAR coffin. I gave up halfway through this season because I found a great deal of the teams totally unlikable. It's a shame because I've always loved this show but I just couldn't get on board with the teams this season. I may try again with the next one, we'll see.

But I am SO happy Art and JJ did not win. I wasn't keen on Rachel and Dave but they were a much preferable win in my eyes!

[Kyle123]

Originally Posted by Muttley76

For the most part I liked Kelly and Dave, though I wobbled on Dave a few times, my favourite team was Matt & Tom...

I really liked Sam & Renae. I was surprised to find that reaction to them on most boards was pretty negative.

I did actually like most of the cast though. The only one I really disliked was Chris, but I actually liked his girlfriend, so there were no teams that I ever really actively disliked.(I did dislike the business couple, but they were fun to have because the others loathed them so much!!)

[Yobaba**]

Originally Posted by Kyle123

I really liked Sam & Renae. I was surprised to find that reaction to them on most boards was pretty negative.

I did actually like most of the cast though. The only one I really disliked was Chris, but I actually liked his girlfriend, so there were no teams that I ever really actively disliked.(I did dislike the business couple, but they were fun to have because the others loathed them so much!!)

Who were the business couple? Do you mean the ones who shaved their heads, because I actually liked them and I am still sad they got eliminated.

[dylanpartyon]

Originally Posted by Kyle123

I really liked Sam & Renae. I was surprised to find that reaction to them on most boards was pretty negative.

I did actually like most of the cast though. The only one I really disliked was Chris, but I actually liked his girlfriend, so there were no teams that I ever really actively disliked.(I did dislike the business couple, but they were fun to have because the others loathed them so much!!)

Sam & Renae were my favourite team that series, along with the farmers. And yes, I liked Chris' girlfriend alot, but not Chris at all

[Kyle123]

Originally Posted by Yobaba**

Who were the business couple? Do you mean the ones who shaved their heads, because I actually liked them and I am still sad they got eliminated.

Yes them ones. I think they were called Richard and someone. I didn't like their personalities, but they were well worth having on the show just for how much the other teams hated them! I wanted them to last longer.