Author Topic: TAR 30 EPISODE 2 LIVE UPDATES & COMMENTARY WED 1/10/18 8PM EST *read Post 1*  (Read 22233 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline NumfarPTB

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 738
Weird leg. Less exciting than expected. I would've swapped the placements of (ugh) head-to-head ARI with the RB, having them actually have to navigate the streets to find Phil, instead of just having him standing there. The US version of the Face-Off, turned out a lot less eventful, that I thought it could be.

Still not into the "most competitive season" narrative, they been trying to sell.

Offline HavaDrPepper

  • RFF Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 158
I really enjoyed the episode.  The only team that has mildly annoyed me is now gone.  I can't say that I dislike any of the teams.  I do believe this is a good cast!


Offline BourkieBoy

  • Aussie Updater (TAR and Survivor)
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5814
  • I'm a Reality Television Nerd!
Why did the Face-Off Head 2 Head? Gods sake KEEP THE SAME WORD!!!

This episode was MUCH better than the premier. 4/5

Anyway, sad that 2 FF are out already...  :cmas4 :cmas4

Offline Marionete

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3174
  • The sky's more blue
This face-off seemed much better on paper.
Didn't like it, wish it wasn't there.
Even moreso wish Phil wasn't so desperate about having more air time.

The FFEMTs are the most boring team this season and them getting saved by it is frustrating.

Also surprised at the lack of penalties for teams that lost their clue at the RB and Lucas & Brittany for using a mirror (or is that allowed?).

Offline Jro

  • RFF Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 309
Next week on TAR! Teams head to Morocco where Jessica makes a strategic move to put behind Lucas & Brittany. Meanwhie, Cedric & Shawn are at odds with... themselves. "You've got to drag me out of here, Phil!"

End credits. So how did everyone like tonight's episode?

I liked it. Just wish the face-off didn't directly determine who was eliminated. I'm more of a fan of the other formats where the last team just gets a time penalty. Other than that, I didn't mind the face-off. The other tasks were also pretty cool.


Offline RachelLeVega

  • RFF TAR Updater
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5032
  • Fearless of ticket agents - too hot to be handled!
The problem with the "Stop n go" isn't the concept itself. Phil being centrally involved in this entire process from narrating what was going on was just irritating to initiating the last wave was dragging this down. I watch too much live sports to hear narration of what's going on in the arena and know that outside narration is just super annoying. Had the racers themselves said what their problems were, how they were feeling, and what they were doing to win their wave(s), I think this would have been a very intriguing race element. Especially since this is a brand new one.

It reminds me of season 15's wasabi bomb Roadblock for starters and that's good!
<3 Family, friends, food, freedom...FULFILLED <3
Countries "raced": Greece (2019), Italy (2017), Switzerland (2017), Taiwan (2016), U.S. (WA 2013, CA [S.F. 2014, L.A. 2023], TX 2021, IL all the time)

Online Maanca

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4217
Yeah, this didn't change my view on it at all. At least when the other versions do it, there's always at least one more task after it to still allow placement shift.

To make the Pit Stop rely on it is kinda crappy and unfair :(

Offline Marionete

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3174
  • The sky's more blue
Oh what a task you reminded me of, Rachel!
And that looked like a face-off, too, only with an element of randomness in it.

Offline ianthebalance

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1263
Watch the ratings fall starting in the third episode due to the Head-to-Head

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
THANK YOU RACHEL!!

AWESOME UPDATE!! 

:tu :tu :tu

And so do the 27 Members and 226 Guests who are viewing this board!

GUESTS! :welcome: but Wouldn't you have more fun if you could comment? Become a member today!
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.


Offline RachelLeVega

  • RFF TAR Updater
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 5032
  • Fearless of ticket agents - too hot to be handled!
THANK YOU RACHEL!!

AWESOME UPDATE!! 

:tu :tu :tu

And so do the 27 Members and 226 Guests who are viewing this board!

GUESTS! :welcome: but Wouldn't you have more fun if you could comment? Become a member today!
Thank you! And the waffles & fries I made today turned out fantastic! Just to celebrate them visiting a Belgian chocolatier, I'm eating a Godiva bar right now. :)
<3 Family, friends, food, freedom...FULFILLED <3
Countries "raced": Greece (2019), Italy (2017), Switzerland (2017), Taiwan (2016), U.S. (WA 2013, CA [S.F. 2014, L.A. 2023], TX 2021, IL all the time)

Offline NELs

  • RFF Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 335
  • Excited for TAR 34!
This episode was better than the premiere. Now to start on what i think about this week's episode. The return of Belgium was nice. The roadblock looked challenging, but teams completed it quickly. The first detour looked a bit on the medium side side on the difficulty scale, if you know how a printing press works you can complete that one easily, if you are an expert at looking closely to detail and math, then the diamond one is it. The "Head-to-Head" should have been placed better. I did like the design of it, but it shouldn't have been the deciding factor that gets a team eliminated, it's unfair. The "Head-to-Head" should have been placed at the beginning of the leg instead.

Overall, I would rate this episode 4/5 for great tasks was better edited than the premiere. The only downside was the "Head-to-Head' placement.

Offline dryedmangoez

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2383
    • DryedMangoez.com
The actual task was better than all the sports Face Offs on TAR Canada. But making it the deciding factor in elimination and placing it right at the Pit Stop is absurd. There have been poor Double Battles/Face Offs/Duels before, but the way it was used here was the worst I've seen.

Offline ianthebalance

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1263
As plenty have said, that was not a good place for the head-to-head. At least the detours were really cool

Edit: I found it interesting they aired one of the twins saying that Goat Yoga was the better team today as they beat them at the detour. I wonder if this was included as the editors and/or producers dislike or have regret for how they structured the task?
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 11:45:39 PM by ianthebalance »

Offline Marionete

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 3174
  • The sky's more blue
Goat Yoga would have been an awesome underdog team to root for, so possibly.
There are a lot of comments on Facebook on how one of the twins played dirty by hitting April on the course, too.

Offline theschnauzers

  • TAR Detectives
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4268
  • An original TARfly
I’m still digesting the episode, especially the Head to Head. I haven’t seen any of the international version, much less their versions of this kind of task, so it’s totally new to me. But it was a way to get Phil more visibly active on screen during the episode, which I think is in part prompted by how the Emmys have not given as much credit in that host category as we may believe is warranted.
I’ll try to comment further after I sleep on it and rewatch in the next couple of days.
-- theschnauzers

Offline georgiapeach

  • Amazing Race Admin
  • RFF Administrator
  • I Live at RFF
  • *****
  • Posts: 54196
  • TAR Detective
The actual task was better than all the sports Face Offs on TAR Canada. But making it the deciding factor in elimination and placing it right at the Pit Stop is absurd. There have been poor Double Battles/Face Offs/Duels before, but the way it was used here was the worst I've seen.

Totally agree. There should always be another chance after a face off. You can have a penalty but never should it be the Elimination decision. UGH UGH UGH. :groan:
RFF's Golden Rule:
Have RESPECT for each other, regardless of opinion. This of course includes no flaming/insulting other users and/or their posts.

Offline dryedmangoez

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2383
    • DryedMangoez.com
I mean, on TARPH2. The worst Duel was on the first Leg where teams raced in a 100 meter sprint. Certainly unfair to less fit teams. But there was a Detour and a whole costumed dance performance before the Pit Stop still. The losing team from the Duel actually beat two other teams at that last task and were eliminated because Manila's streets turned into rivers that night from a big storm and they didn't hop out of their taxis soon enough to continue on foot.  That's certainly much more "competitive" and exciting. This execution of the Head-to-Head was just...  :cmas30:

Offline TheRabbi

  • RFF Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 333
Not a big fan of the episode. The head to head challenge took up at least half of it. I wasn't a fan of the concept, and would rather have seen more of Belgium. That said, the detours were good, even if a bit unexciting to watch.

Offline Musicon

  • RFF Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
The detour was good, didn't seem easy.  That was really the highlight for me.  The head to head seemed to mean only the two physically weakest teams were in danger of getting eliminated and it wasn't that hard to predict most of the results.


Offline cbacbacba1

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 896
Not a big fan of the episode. The head to head challenge took up at least half of it. I wasn't a fan of the concept, and would rather have seen more of Belgium. That said, the detours were good, even if a bit unexciting to watch.
same do I hate this twist  :cmas11  I hate this ever since it's implementation in international versions  :cmas11
I don't get it. Why would the progress of my team being slowed down because I have to wait for another team to compete with? :cmas11
The twist is even worse when it is the last task of the leg and the sole determining factor of elimination  :cmas31:

I just hope that the next time we have it on the race, it will be the first task of the leg rather than the middle, not to mention being the last task :cmas11

Offline stunami

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1091
I was just checking the Live sightings threat and realized we had a photo of the last race, firefighters vs. Yoga all along.
This is the exact moment team Goat Yoga was eliminated... :(

Found this!




Online Xoruz

  • RFF LInk Master!
  • TAR Detectives
  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1565
Episode 2

Overall, this episode was better than the premiere. Editing did't feel as rushed. We saw all the teams complete their tasks. Also, we had an interesting array of tasks in a pretty full leg.

Prior to this season, I had always been skeptical of TAR bringing over the Double Battle/Face Off.

I know it sounds cruel, but I loved seeing teams lost in Belgium.

Pineapple  :cmaslol
April nearly losing $20,000  :cmaslol
Random Macarena  :cmaslol
Greeter being kind of impressed  :cmaslol

Roadblock: The Roadblock was straight forward and quick. I can deal with that though considering how full this leg was.
Detour: The Detour in general was pretty good.
Print: There were so many small details and menial work. I liked that a simple mistake could result in teams starting over.
Diamond: The task reminded me of a combination of the gold task from TAR 15 & the alcohol task from TARC 2. There were also a lot of details and a single mistake would be detrimental.
Head-to-Head: Not the biggest fan of the name probably because I'm used to the term Face Off. To talk about just the task itself. It was ridiculous and very HaMerotz, and I loved that. The task didn't necessarily favor fast teams as going too fast resulted in a loss of control. Teams that won did so by implementing a proper technique, so the task itself I liked.

Now, to talk about the placement. Phil hinted that we might see more Head-to-Heads. I hope that the Pit Stop placement was just to introduce the task and going forward we see it in the middle of the leg. I'll forgive it this time since the task wasn't 100% physical, but if we see more final task Head-to-Heads I might get annoyed.

4/5

Offline dryedmangoez

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2383
    • DryedMangoez.com
It's funny how Bertram and Elise criticized the Intersection because it forces teams to wait for another team. Yet they bring the Head to Head over  and make it the deciding task of the Leg. lol

Online Maanca

  • RFF Frantic Poster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4217
It's funny how Bertram and Elise criticized the Intersection because it forces teams to wait for another team. Yet they bring the Head to Head over  and make it the deciding task of the Leg. lol

I was thinking that, too. I remember that article.