Here are some new observations:
Had a chance to see the ep 11 promo in action and have observed the following (you can catch a lot more when the scenes are in motion rather than just still vidcaps (as good as they are.)"
Pix 23 - Rob is standing by the bus, and the bus is BACKING UP. Is it being driven by another racer or is an official backing it up so Rob can try again?
Between Pix 30 and 31 - There is a missing pix of Rob and Amber running on the street, Amber is holding a Blue Route Info envelope. To their right (screen left) there is a particular stone fence with stubby square posts and a park behind. Now compare this with:
Pix 44 - Sign saying ABBEY ROAD, 8NW, The City of Westminster. The sign is on the same wall that we see Rob and Amber running by. Therefore, Rob and Amber have reached the first clue box at Abbey Road.
Pix 45 - Pair running by same park, and across zebra crossing (used in the cover of the Beatles' Album) BUT although one person who looks female has a red jacket on with white armpits, she is wearing blue jeans. The person running with her has a midlength brown suede jacket on and blue jeans. None of the team racers is wearing blue jeans or has a midlength brown suede jacket. (Joyce has a red jacket but she has no hair!, which the person in pix 45 has! Amber has a red and white jacket but is wearing dark blue sweats with white stripes. Neither Kelly nor Gretchen has a red jacket) Conclusion: this is setup by production people to introduce scene which is so often the case. Shot has no meaning except to establish location so disregard.
Pix 29 - Upon further review, this is not a shot of Rob and Amber either entering a subway car or a airplane. Rather it is a shot of them at some kind of ticket counter. Amber is holding a ticket stub (boarding pass part of a ticket??) which Rob snatches out of her hand as she turns back to the counter. Behind the counter are two people with blue uniform smocks on, one is shuffling through a stack of papers which she holds in her hand. Must have something to do perhaps in Cologne about getting on a connecting flight or in Istanbul when they are booking space. There is a Red and Yellow stripe to Rob's right which are the colors of Germanwings Airlines.
Pix 42 - This may be high angle shot from the London Eye. Camera seems to zoom in on a red, double-decker bus standing on a corner. Maybe there is a TAR marking on it (can't see shot too well) but this could be what they are looking for from the London Eye (find a distinctive London landmark with our flag, etc. This is typical when a task is being introduced by Phil) The location seems to be behind the wheel, not across the Themes river where they are looking. Could be parked along the Bankside. Here they may find clue telling them to go to the Millenium Dome and find the next clue. The Roadblock Bus Driver's test.
Pix 51 and 55. Behind Meredith and Gretchen are Uchenna and Joyce standing on the underground station platform. They all seem to be looking to their right as a train leaves. So at least we know that M/G and U/J arrived together. Did they just miss the train in Heathrow and know that they will have another delay getting into the city? Joyce is reading some kind of instructions.
So it looks like we have on this rainy Saturday morning the following:
Rob and Amber pulling a chancey move to get ahead of the others by taking an early flight on Germanwings through Cologne to London.
Rob and Amber make it to the Abbey Road 8NW location to find the first clue.
Detour: Go to Baker Street Sherlock Holmes Museum and SLEUTH for clues to solve a mystery (of where to go next?)Rob and Amber become Sherlock Holmes for the task.
OR, go to the Serpentine and STACK. Move four rental rowboats up from the Serpentine and stack them along a path in Hyde Park. Uchenna and Joyce and Meredith and Gretchen are the stackers.
Where oh where have Ron and Kelly gone? But they must have done one of these tasks to get to the London Eye.
Clue perhaps tells them to go to the London Eye to spot their next clue.Up on the Eye, Gretchen and Meredith; Uchenna and Joyce; and Ron and Kelly all have seperate, private gondolas to ride up and around (est. time 30 minutes the producers must have reserved space or are using it at a time when it is normally closed as was the case with the water slide in Dubai) and must spot a red, London double-decker bus with the TAR flag to get the next clue.
Where oh where are Rob and Amber? But they must have been to the London Eye to get the next clue.
Clue sends them to the vacinity of the MILLENIUM DOME to do the ROADBLOCK. Here they first find the YIELD. Rob and Amber are in the lead and they chose to Yield, Uchenna and Joyce.
Doing the Roadblock is difficult: driving and backing huge London double-decker buses along the same course used to test professional London bus drivers. Rob, Kelly, Joyce, and Meredith all are having trouble.
Question does Rob quit or is this just him waiting to try, try again to back the bus without hitting one of those pesky, little red and white cones.
Then off the the pit stop and the Eighth and Final elimination.
Who goes home disappointed tonight? What could be more appropriate at this time in the race but to go to the Tower (which is across the Themes from the Millenium Dome) a place well known in British History as a place for Executions!
