This was a great penultimate leg, even though it may not be my favorite leg, which for me is Greece by the way. We finally got a night leg! It has become a rare occurrence in recent seasons.
Stacking cups for a roadblock seems like it can be done anywhere. In fact, it's a great idea for a task that can be done on any locally hosted and organized TAR. Not the ones shown on TV, but ones that are just made for fun and for a certain community, iykwim. Still, this task proves to be difficult, albeit not to a penultimate level. Culture-wise, I think TAR is trying to show the "Asian"-ness of children in SoKor.
With 3 teams bunched up there, it was still fun watching it.
Kimchi-making was definitely part of food culture. Now anybody can make kimchi at home! There are certain steps in making kimchi, and not every team got all 6 servings approved on their 1st try. It's not penultimate-level difficult, but it's still a nice way to show culture. Also, at least we got an ARI in the penultimate leg!
Video games sounded easy at first.
They're competing against professionals though. The handicaps given to the opponent players remind me of the handicaps given to the opponent teams during the Leg 1 boat-rowing detour. It's almost impossible to get it on the 1st try. I'm guessing Burnie & Ashley would've aced this task and won the leg had they been in this season instead. Culture-wise, it shows how e-sports becomes a part of modern South Korean culture. Not every cultural task has to be something that belonged in the past.
It looks like a really fun task for a penultimate leg, but I don't really know how to rate the difficulty. Maybe I'd be like Scott, a loser for quite a while but will eventually get it.
Brooke & Scott owned this leg! Brooke is better off as a winner then a whiner, of course. Brooke is becoming more of a Scott, by reminding herself that she can do it. Less whining, more success.
I don't need her whining drama to like her. I just need that powerful determination she's been hiding all the way here. She is more victorious that way.
Meanwhile, Scott is still as funny as ever, although none of his quotes from this episode caught my attention very much. Either they or LoLo deserve the leg win, and I'm glad these 2 underdog teams are the Top 2 for the penultimate leg.
LoLo also did well this leg. What stood out from them this leg is London's way of playing video games.
"I'm a girl. I grew up with a sister. We dance and play with flowers." or something like that. The way she was playing it was so funny, but it was very effective! She almost defeated the opponent before the blindfold handicap. Also, I'm guessing her "I will win! I will win, I will win, I will win!" will be next episode's last montage for the Previously On segment.
LoLo did well this leg, so they deserved to win. 2nd was still a good place though, and I wouldn't be surprised if they win this season.
Tara & Joey did well too, that was until the video game roadblock. To be honest, I was actually offended when she was cursing too much about video games, unlike in any other task for the whole season. I'll just understand where she's coming from, and that video games are not really meant for some people, but hopefully she doesn't really have to hate it that way after almost-miserably failing a task. What had them last in Vietnam was a mistake. This one was a lack of skill, so I believe this is the worst task they've encountered all season, which proves that video games can still be penultimately difficult for them. I was actually hoping they'd lose with 4th place after their negativity towards a video game task, but I checked spoilers, so I knew that wasn't happening. Still a decent team who can win the race though, but I'm not likely to lean towards them because I'm rooting more for the underdogs and they've won more than any of the remaining teams.
Matt & Red definitely took a risk taking the subway, as the safest way was to bunch up with the pack even though there'll be traffic as expected. It's like taking an earlier flight alone, since no one will ever know if it will be delayed or not. The risk didn't pay off well, but they still remained confident and positive, from the roadblock, to the ARI, and to the 2nd roadblock, where they finally caught up. Another factor that put them behind was the miscommunication with the cab driver. It was definitely not rigged, LOL! The cab driver misheard it, and it's a good thing Matt clarified it before they even got to the destination. The discount didn't matter because they didn't have money issues anyway, but it was a away for the cab driver to apologize for the lost time. At least this cab driver is better than other cab drivers we've seen in the past. Meanwhile, I really like how Matt finished his roadblock before the blindfolding handicap. It proves that if they didn't take the subway and ran a smooth leg like Brooke & Scott or LoLo, they could've easily won the leg. On the other hand, if the cab driver didn't take some of their lost time, they might've at least survived 3rd. Might - because we don't really know the time difference between their arrival and Tara & Joey's. My mom was rooting for Matt & Red, and I find them a really strong team that was easy to root for. At least they remained positive and confident all the way until it was really over.
It was sad to see them go, but this gives underdog teams a better chance to win the race. On an unrelated note, we should have an all-star season with purely 4th-placed teams as contestants!
On another unrelated note, I actually wished I was watching Becca & Floyd playing these games for fun, whether it'd be stacking cups or playing video games.
They should return for all-stars too!
When checking spoilers, I was surprised that neither Team Fun nor Matt & Red made it to the finale, despite them being the 1st 2 at LAX. With these 2 strong teams gone, there's a better chance for underdogs to win. This now reminds me of TAR21, when all the really strong teams were taken down one by one.
Overall, this was still a great penultimate leg! When was the last time we had a penultimate night leg, TAR15?