The Amazing Race > The Amazing Race Discussion

TAR25 twists: What worked, and what should go?

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albiegato:
Do It Again!

*Live with Phil!: But fix the cinematography (or something), since the only one that looked good on TV for me was the first one in the US Virgin Islands.
*Hidden Express Pass: This was a great twist! The Double EP was getting old (and since Jet & Cord figured out the correct strategy, it's time to give 2EPs a rest). You could do it twice (Legs 1 & 3?), but surprise the teams so they couldn't strategize around it. (Like Leg 1 EP is used to speed to the Leg 3 EP).
*Blind Detours: Adds new flavor to the old task, what's not to like? The trick here is to not place the two sites too far apart.

Their Choice
*Public Starting Line: Doing it for the 25th season was nice, but I don't know for the next few seasons...
*Final Four and Final Leg Elimination: A nice twist, considering the last 3 legs of a given Race are immediately planned out based on the outcome of Leg 9. The other way they could do it is to make Leg 10 a KOR, and Leg 11 a double-elimination leg, w/ warning to the teams at the start of Leg 11.
*The Save: This is honestly a good pseudo-replacement to the EP. The problem that happened is that a very strong team received the Save. My ire for this is that the rules isn't clear cut for the audience. They could also make the usage of it more volatile (unlike giving it back to the team on a non-elimination leg).

Please No, Just... No.
*Hashtag Team Names: I thought it was eyeroll worthy when the season started, and that opinion never changed. The only good thing about it that happened in this season is that the final 6 had relatively good or tame ones. But considering the dating couple twist next season, probably hashtags are here to stay *eyeroll*
*Only 10 Roadblocks: Look producers, old Dave isn't going to be on the show anytime soon, you could revert this now.

Jobby:
Am I the only one who thinks the Hashtag team names got everyone talking about Scientists, Wrestlers, Dentists and Surfers easily? It generated discussion easily and facilitated recognition of teams without trouble. :cmaslol

Hated it at first, but just thought they needed to get more proper team names.. The Dating Couple and College Sweethearts are just gross.

Tim and Te Jay could easily be Team California (not the best name i know)... (but I think they want to make the fact that the two of them are dating and gay... i know).. but College Sweethearts hashtag for a gay couple just sounds... inappropriate.

And Shelley and Nici could easily be #FlightAttendants, Keith and Whitney's Team Nashville is fine.. but really don't make an impression. I think #MarriedSurvivors or something along that line (i know cheesy) could have made a deeper impression for them.

The hashtags can stay but PLEASE let it be good like #SweetScientists, #TheDentists, #TheWrestlers, #Soulsurfers and #TheCyclists. I think they got lucky that those with good hashtags did make the final 5.. although #MiamiRealtors and #TheFirefighters are equally memorable too.

Platrium:
Public Starting Line: It should stay, :cmaslol but not all the time. Maybe it should be on every season number ending with a 0 or a 5. :cmaslol

Hashtag Team Names: It should stay in my opinion. It's not really that bad. Teams can be very creative with what they should be called, but sometimes there are uncreative team names. #TheDatingCouple is boring for me, and so is #MomDaughter. Creative ones include #SweetScientists, #MiamiRealtors, and more. If ever the cyclists come back for all-stars (and if this hashtag thingy will go on), I want them to be called #FunCyclists. :cmaslol :hrt:

Phil on the race course: This should stay. :xmas146 It's interactive enough, and coll imo. :cmaslol

The Save: This... should only come back once in 25 seasons. :cmaslol The twist is really nice, but it wasn't used. This twist should only exist once in a while. I don't wanna see this every season.

10 roadblocks: It's not enough, this should only happen this season, or once in a while (but not too often). Losing a lot of roadblocks ain't that fun. I don't want to see this one returning as much as possible.

Hidden EP: I just love this. :cmas9 This should stay. :cmaslol It'd be better to see 2 teams running for it. The suspense would then be made better.

Blind detours: This is just cool. :cmas23 If I were in the race, I'd have a difficult time choosing as well. This twist adds up to difficulty.

Final 4 and Finale Elimination: It's part of my wishlist ever since I entered RFF. :xmas146 This one should come back, but not in every season as it would make this very predictable.

G.B.:
Here's my own thoughts

Keep:
Live With Phil: He's so dorky :P
Hidden Express Pass: This reminds me of a few lesser-known reality shows I've seen where bonuses such as this are hidden along the way and have risk associated with trying to find them. Just make them more difficult to find than the one in England.
Blind Detours: But only a couple per season

Indifferent:
Public Starting Line: Though it would be neat to see a starting line task that actually involved the people in the crowd.
Hashtag Names: They're stupid, but get with the times I guess.

NEVER AGAIN:
The Save: This was dumb. It's a tool that's way too powerful. If a team you don't like gets it, then you just end up disliking them even more and feeling like they got off unfairly. If a team you like gets it, then you don't feel like they earned it enough. It's the same reason I hated the Revival Pass in TAR China. Elimination is final.
10 Roadblocks: BETHANY CAN HANDLE HERSELF FINE, TYVM
Final Four & Elimination: I didn't like this at all. The biggest problem was that Amy & Maya did not get a penalty of any kind. Brooke & Robbie received a penalty literally one leg ago, but Amy & Maya got off scot-free. I think letting Amy & Maya into the final leg with a Speed Bump to overcome would be a little more interesting for viewers, because otherwise it's more like a "we like you so here's a free pass". The other issue is that if you're going to pull a twist and have four teams in the final leg, MAKE IT TWO HOURS LONG. All of the time dedicated to Amy & Maya's save and Brooke & Robbie's elimination made the episode WAY too tight. The final Roadblock was like ZIP it's gone!

Extra Thought: The Express Pass and The Save both suffer from the same fundamental flaw. If they're won by a team who never ends up needing it, then it becomes a boring time-waster. (See Misti & Jim, Jet & Cord, Natalie & Nadiya).

So how about this? If you can manage to hold on to your Express Pass (or Save) until it expires, then you can hand it over to receive a Big prize of some kind. If you like the Double Your Money twist, make it so that you have a chance to win $2 million only if you hold onto your Express Pass until it expires.

RachelLeVega:
:love2: Keepers: :love2:
Public Starting Line - I enjoyed the lively environment in the city that never sleeps, but what would have made the premiere even more enticing is adding the TAR15 Los Angeles River soundtrack ensemble to TAR25's Time Square premiere. I just dislike seeing this type of starting line every season.

Blind Detours - This season proved that the Blind Detour twist could work in Malta between a very simple-looking, extremely tough task and a task requiring patience and cleaning "abilities". I would love to see this in play again.

Hidden Express Pass - In my opinion, I can't stand the Express Passes, I'm an Express Pass hater... However, I do like this new twist to EARN the EP. Add an extra enigmatic task at the branch end of this pathway and I'm all for it. I'd love to see some team v. team competition for the card that basically promotes "giving up" or "refusal to do a task" on the race. :lol3:

:meh Indifferences: :meh
Live with Phil!- I'm still pretty unsure with this add-in.

Final 4 in Final Leg + Elimination - Decent twist for one season, I don't want it in any other seasons. The elimination literally jumped out of the blue. Editing once again is faltering.

Simply and Utterly ;no:
The Save - The team who ends up winning the first Leg doesn't really end up needing this card at all. The non-elimination Leg in Denmark showed how powerful this card was... way too much for even an ego as big as Jim.

Hashtag "Relationships" - Just put a simple Amazing Race discussion tag during the previous episode recap and that's it. Don't go # overload like a gossipy teenage girl who is obsessed with the Kardashians' lives and Orange is the New Black.

10 Roadblocks per Race - MORE Roadblocks please, and please feature it every Leg. Don't cater specifically for those who do just fine with what they have.

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