11 is a really bad season in term of leg design, task and route. The only thing that save that season is the cast (Maybe except Eric & Danielle but they aren't that bad during my rewatch when I somehow consolidate with the fact that they're winning over BQ and Charla & Mirna) and all those drama. <3 Such entertaining. (Non-stop airport drama starting from Mozambique to Hong Kong <3 BQ VS Charla & Mirna <3 BQ VS Eric & Danielle <3 Charla & Mirna VS Eric & Danielle <3 Notorious Yield's selling at Macau Tower <333)
But if somehow, let say, they use this route for like season 9 or 10. I think it's gonna be a total disaster.
-
Spending 4.2 LEGS in South America? Seriously? The route suffer a lot from this start. To make it worse, none of the SA's leg really pass the average. The first leg like BritishTARFan said, it's all about testing who can read map in Ecuador. Umm, at least add some RB or make the detour a bit more complicated? Then the second leg come and it get even more worse with having team doing a really difficult RB and then flying to another city? WTF? So the RB is pointless then! And then we come with another super easy Detour before Pit Stop. This leg would become absolutely crap had Charla & Mirna not melting down at the Taxi driver in the middle of the desert. <33 Leg 3 was OK since it's really physically challenging and the scenery was cool. Then Leg 4 suffer with the same thing as Leg 2, they make team perform a relatively hard Detour before bunching them at the Airport again.
And then it's all coming down to a luck task before Pit Stop, WHATTTT. (But at least it create one of the most amazing moment in TAR history so I'll happily overlook it <3)
- Then we have 2 African leg, one of them is in new African nation that hadn't been visit too. Sound cool. However, it all felt flat since the task was really bad. Mozambique's leg is OK at least I guess since the Detour is a bit tricky (The one that sounds impossible to finish become the one that unexpectedly faster) and the RB is a bit funny to watch. But the Tanzania's leg scream one of the worst leg in term of designing ever. First, why in high hell did WRP not realizing about the flight problem? Maputo is not really a hub for airport but they decide to just let teams do the flight anyway. How about flight in advance for team in case that they cannot find the faster fight they still have this backup flight to get out of the country. It's sad and miserable to see Teri & Ian and Joe & Bill struggle for like 48 hours++ just to try to get to Tanzania. And this flight fiasco continue in Tanzania when they cannot find the flight to Poland AGAIN. This lead WRP to scrap a lot of tasks in both Tanzania and Poland leg which is kind of sad.
The Zanzibar's leg really could have been better than finishing Kindergarten's puzzle in a freaking hotel or transport LOGS to some random beach.
- Then we have Poland legs, a double leg, which will 100% fall flat had Charla & Mirna not save it again. And even with Charla & Mirna in it, I still can't make myself to enjoy this legs. It's the only 2 European legs this season and it sucks. I don't know if it's because of the flight fiasco so they had to do a last minute change of task to make it more suit with the filming table or something. But the task is so bad. What's the point of X-Raying doll in Poland. That task was so weird and it's not even entertaining. Then, we have a mini unair RB which include rowing boat for 5 minutes. (LOL thank god they unair it) Then the second half is even more worse with the Intersection, yeah, Intersection. Of all leg they can place this twist they decide to place it on the leg that 1. Had 3 teams that were bunching to be 3 hours apart of each group. 2. And one of them in the last group is Marked for Elimination.
And yeah, add a FF too because why not, let's just make the first pair win even more easier! The FF is easy and lame. The Detour is OK. (I still don't get the love for this task, or this Poland leg in general) The RB included dressing like a Knight and walk with horse for like 5 minutes, yeah and then Pit Stop. Such a waste opportunity.
- LOL. And then Asian Part. I absolutely DISGUST the Malaysia-HK-Macau A LOT. (Even more then the China-Indonesia-Bangladesh from 21 OR India-Thailand-China from 14) All 3 legs feel almost the same and I can barely notice the different. The Malaysian leg is OK. I like the Detour but the RB is really lame and can be done almost everywhere in THE WORLD. Then we come HK with the FF involved sitting in the car for 5 minutes
. The RB involved kicking the door in an ghetto apartment.
And the Detour involved climbing the building. Ummm, OK! I get that HK is best at stuntman show but cram 999 stuntman tasks into one leg is so overdone. (Not to mention that all of it was so ridiculous easy too) Macau and Guam are both big fat MEH to me overall. (I don't get the point of Guam's leg, can't they just do task like that at almost every military base in USA? I mean, you go to freaking Guam! How about showcasing scenic beach? Marine task? This is such a big waste chance!)
- I'm not even bother to talk about the Finale. I hate all the finale before 12 where all teams perform like 4/5 of the Finale in one city before flying to another city just to run to the Finish Line. (And maybe eat Pizza lol) I'm actually really OK the the Final, umm, Memory Challenge. Had they not been the error with the box, it would have been better.
OMG such a long ranting, I mean. I didn't hate 11 with a passion but I think WRP also realized a lot of their mistake from this season which make the 11 -> 12 is such a big gap of change in the history of TAR. It still a really entertaining season to watch. (I still watch 11.06 for fun each time I need to relax, such classic airport drama. <33)
Typing all this make me realized that I miss the old season so much. It's truly what make I fall in love with this show. *sobbing*
