So I finally got around to watching the Laos episode and I was thoroughly impressed with the tasks and variety in navigation this leg with tuk-tuks, on foot, longboats, and via elephant. Finally some naturally engaging material! I got my questions of Colin becoming this zen person answered - when Elissa basically described the opposite of what he was in season 5 - and couldn't be happier for him pushing away his calamities. I feel bad for the editors now hoping they would act as if they were still pitting themselves against Charla & Mirna.
Corinne & Eliza blocking the tuk-tuk from beating them to the alms ritual site,
. As for the ritual itself, I felt it was unnecessary on broadcast, a filler, and likely could have been a cool CBS exclusive clip.
The DETOUR (Boston Person Saying Everything or Freaking Out about Fish):
Lovely execution of the pre-Detour U-Turn, and I'm glad Becca & Floyd killed it at both tasks. Corinne & Eliza won me over with their imagination for the alphabet, "Team Life Hacks"! I would have loved if the skewering task offered teams share a sample of the grilled duck or tilapia afterward. It just felt strange seeing a food preparation task without some sort of end product teams could just grab on the go - like the empanadas from the premiere of season 20 (but that was a Pit Stop so I'd assume those were baked for the teams during the rest period [note: ask Art & JJ or Rachel if they ever got the empanadas]). Otherwise, I'm bummed that I didn't get to experience this episode live on Wednesday.
The ROADBLOCK (Slowest foot race to complete a task):
This is one of my favorite moments so far and I genuinely felt like this was a task that more properly showcased the care and adventurous quality for elephants than that deliberately forced labor from that Sri Lankan Millennium Elephant Foundation in godforsaken 24. It was a paced task, but yet it still felt like teams were having fun and racing along the way so I'm glad I got to see that (that first place foot race between Afghanimals and Nicole & Victor was intense!). Reminded me of TAR12's donkey task in Ireland where it all depended how well your reception with the animals were. I was hoping they would add more intense music when Rupert was stuck with Meredith & Gretchen's bad elephant but...
.
The PIT STOP (Prince Pretsarath's Palace):
I wish more legs had an intermediate navigation obstacle before arriving at the Pit Stop! That's all I'm saying! But the editing during this segment was such a mess. It's like they wanted you to feel bipolar. Was I supposed to be calm as a breeze and have adrenaline rushing through my system at the same time? Felt so sad for Rupert & Laura biting the dust after such an interesting comeback in the premiere, and I hope Rupert didn't fret on the loss too much. They are one remarkable couple!
Next time on The Amazing Race preview: Afghanimals cracking before the other half of Brenchel? This is something I NEED to witness live. Also, what's up with the LED dance troupe getup? Vietnam's Got Talent judgment after Japanese-style variety show stunts?