Team Reports
Boy what a mess of an episode, team performance wise. But I loved it. I also think this episode has more great quotes then any single episode of the race, ever.
Rob & Amber: Well a really strong leg, with three minor problems to it. And all of them were about navigating. The first one was probably the most costly, with Rob letting his feelings about others teams, get in the way of making proper choices. But later when he paired with Eric & Danielle that was a smart move, for two reasons. One both teams have been consistently in the top third of the teams. 2cd if you think you canbeat a team at tasks then having another team means that even if your are significantly lost you have a good chance in not getting eliminated. To this teams straights, getting good flights (and checking alternative methods for getting tickets a big plus with a lead), and generally making smart tasks choices and getting them done quickly. They also generally work very well as a team.
Uchenna & Joyce: Well Joyce redeemed herself on being detailed oriented, by making a great choice in looking for a hotel with internet access to get tickets (a smart choice). It is also a good choice to get other teams (at least one or two) to be in it with you, just in Case a flight gets delayed). They performed the roadblock well as well as getting a cab to direct them there. They made a poor choice to do the 40 foot climb but recovered from it very quickly and managed to do very well rafting. So far this team has been middle of the pack, but they made significant progress this episode.
Eric & Danielle: I love that Eric realizes this is a race. Small things like getting to the route markers as fast as possible. But, it still seems like Danielle is not navigating much (on this show a driver really does need a solid navigator). They made a good move working with others to cover the ticket counters, and when their plans with others failed to get them seats on the earlier flight, their persistence in trying to get them in person paid off. At each route marker location they passed at least one team who arrived in cars first. So this team does have some hustle (betting at one Uchenna & Joyce the other Rob & Amber). Danielle faired poorly at the roadblock, and Eric truly didn't help matters. Hopefully he at least tried at first being supportive, before he started yelling at her. Telling her to use her "boobs" is actually good advice, but he might want to say chest next time. They were probably the other team to try the rock climb. If so I can understand why, they did use ascenders in season 9, and while Eric faired worse then Jeremy at this tasks, both Danielle's did okay in the third group of teams. They still need to work more as a functional team. But they are managing a very consistent race.
Dustin & Kandice: Oh my. You placed well, but made to significant mistakes that in some cases could get a team eliminated. First getting lost for an hour an a half on trip that should take you 15 minutes at most, to an area you were nearly at the day before. Ladies, thank the race gods, that an airport equalizer was next. Then not following a clues instructions. And finding the route marker. that is a huge error. This is something that has cost teams the race before. When you are ever questioning yourself, don't just keep going. Luckily though they manage to shave some time off by sharing the cost of cab to guide them in the first part of the day, and that Kandice did fairly well performing the roadblock. The lost two places with a stalled car, but most likely would have still lost those places when they back track to the detour route marker (about 5 miles altogether I am guessing, so a round trip of ten miles).
Oswald & Danny: Fall to their worst level yet, but with a leg where they really didn't make a lot of mistakes. They failed to take advantage of their lead to try and get an earlier flight. They did very poorly on the roadblock (only Mirna faired worse), but they travelled and performed the rest of the day fairly well. I do have to give a huge, WTF to the fact that Oswald can't either drive in general or just not a stick. My God, people. So far thats Kevin, Oswald, Charla (With a valid reason), and Danielle who we know can't drive at least a stick shift. And Mirna has trouble with them.
Teri & Ian: Well they didn't place much better this week, but the team overall performed much better. They suffered with losing an hour an a half being lost following Dustin & Kandice in the early morning before the airport equalizer. They did okay on travelling (getting lost to a small degree like all the teams) and did the tasks well including Teri drowning and being a great, great sport about it. This teams as portrayed this season is 100 times more enjoyable then their appearance in season 3. And we almost got a We're coming Phil.
Now all the rest of the teams made, huge, huge errors.
Joe & Bill: While the were smart enough to give their security code with their credit card information to gain the early flight, and they did fine performing the roadblock. They for the 2cd leg in the row, didn't follow the clue. This time with an error that should have in most cases cost them the race. Joe didn't write the full clue down. Because of this they had no idea that La Maquina was near Petrohue. In fact they drove 70 kilometers to a harbor were a ship was named La Maquina. They only recovered at all due to finding Charla & Mirna. And Charla & Mirna being foolish enough to provide them the full clue when they discovered they didn't know it. A terrible, terrible leg. Not as bad as their cup of tea, in season 1. But damn close.
Charla & Mirna: God, why didn't Joe back into them instead of a post. They ran, a poor poor leg. To start with Mirna performed the roadblock terribly. The worst of all the teams. They continue to be unable to navigate at all. And even with using Bill's Spanish to communicate with locals and having a local with them they still continued having trouble navigating. There giving Joe & Bill the rest of the clue was foolish in the extreme. They already had the local with them at this point. They also lost some time losing their keys int he tents provided to change in, allowing Joe & Bill to pass them at check into the Pit Stop first. At this point they were unaware that David & Mary were behind them. This team is consistently performing basic tasks of the race poorly, yet managing to stay alive.
David & Mary: Actually run a good leg, for them except for. Getting so lost that they basically gave themselves a 3 hour handicap. If that is accurate and they still ended up only about 15 minutes behind Charla & Mirna it shows how poorly Charla & Mirna and Joe & Bill did this episode. While I think they have no business being cast in this race, they actually managed better then I thought they would without the Cho's.