First of all, the fast forward delivered! It was challenging, even though it was luck-based. Normally, at least one team would win a challenged fast forward, and I thought Will & Alex would pull an Adam & Bethany.
Luckily for the episode, it was a nice twist to see both teams quit the FF.
I completely did not expect that.
The prawn task was a nice way to put a strong team like Tres & Lou off for a bit, but I also appreciate how TARA5 has an ARI every leg. That's not a common thing to see in the US TAR.
The detour was meh. I don't see the connection of flowers or badminton to Vietnamese culture. The badminton task was challenging enough, and it was fun to watch Tres & Lou finish it since they're the only ones who went for it, which seemed like the faster detour surprisingly?
On the other hand, the flower task was just okay. It was just another delivering task like many of those that existed in TAR.
The roadblock was much better. It was amusing to watch teams react to the exotic delicacies.
Rona was really fun to watch there, especially when she made Tres & Lou laugh for a while.
Also, I think it's a good thing TARA doesn't do title quotes, because they might suck if they do. Anyway, "As long as it's cooked, I'll eat it." by Yvonne
should've been title quote in my opinion. (Well, maybe not, since it's out of context now.
The way she said it on the confessional was funny though.
)
Pit stop was really familiar, like TAR15 familiar. (Yeah, same location, I know.) Anyway, I didn't want Tres & Lou to win at first since they've been winning too many legs already, but I'm glad that they finally got a well-deserved leg prize.
Considering there was an FF this leg, there was a chance that someone who was lucky to win the FF had a chance to win that prize instead.
Yvonne & Chloe seem to show that they are not a team to be underestimated, especially for a pair of beauty queens. I initially thought they'd be typical ones, but I'm glad I was wrong. They are strong for a beauty queen team.
On the other hand, a male team like JK & Mike seem to be the underdogs of this season. They've just gotten lucky in the past legs they've messed up, thanks to other teams who messed up worse than them.
I wonder how long they'll survive in the bottom.
I like the character developments in this episode. This episode had hungry Rona at the roadblock, vegetarian Parul also at the roadblock, the risk-taking muscle bros at the fast forward, and more!
What I really like towards the end of the episode is how JK & Mike and Tom & Anita thought they were fighting for last. After all, they knew Will & Alex went for the fast forward, but they didn't know they failed it. The roadblock battle between these two teams was so fun to watch, with JK & Mike being the latter team to arrive, yet JK finished the task faster than Tom. Tom finished right away or not long after, however. Their race to the pit stop was fun to watch too, because Tom & Anita thought they were really fighting for last, and JK & Mike thought they'd get 2nd to the last again.
I like it when teams think they are fighting for last, when in fact there's a team way behind them that they do not know is way behind them.
The sky was darker when Will & Alex finished the prawn task, so I knew they were really way behind from there. The editing tried, but the sky can't be cheated.
They were a fun team to watch, and even though they are the alpha male team of the season, they had so many misadventures that they were mostly at the middle or at the bottom for the whole race. Another team to be missed.
Although the music and live chat commercial hinted that this leg would be an EL and not a NEL. I hope the editors and the commercials don't take out the suspense like that.
Meanwhile, Tom & Anita was the team I was hoping for to win the leg, but how they survived the FF that they quit and how they've been fighting for "last" for this whole leg was a nice angle to watch them from after being at the top for almost every leg (including the 1st leg where they dropped from 2nd to 8th on the last task). I'm thinking this leg's mistake was a humbling experience for them, and I'm glad they survived.
Hoping for another great leg next week!
P.S. It's a fact easy to notice: Parul & Maggie have 5 different final placements in 5 different legs, from 3rd to 7th.
