The Amazing Race International Versions > TAR Australia

TAR Australia 6 Episode 2 LIVE SHOW UPDATES and DISCUSSION Thread

<< < (2/3) > >>

BourkieBoy:
Episode 2 Thoughts

Wow! Group B's Leg 1 was so much better then Group A's Leg 1! There's just something magical about night legs, that you just don't get in day legs. Task-wise, I quite enjoyed each task, they were each unique in their own ways! It was so funny to watch the gagging during the lemon-eating Roadblock, because it was funny to watch someone else gagging this time, instead of me!  :lol: :funny:

This cast is really likeable! There's not one team I dislike at this stage and I hope that continues for the rest of the Race! However, I was quite disappointed to see Bren & Anja quit the goat hide task. Surely you can put your lifestyle aside for $250,000 plus two new cars??? I'm not a fan of quitters, especially when you have some other superfans really wanting to be casted on the show, who really will do anything for the prize...

strawberryblonde:
This leg was much better than the season premiere.  Maybe they should've used this leg as the season opening which could've helped the ratings.  Loved the cultural relevance and tasks. 

The lemon challenge was the most entertaining.  Pots challenge was done better in season 25.  Maybe it should've been done during the day time as it would've been more chaotic causing more falls?

Stand out teams in terms of entertainment factor were: Middle Eastern Mates, Lawyer Cousins, Vegan Warriors and the Mullets.  Sam and Alex came across as "trying" to be funny and were trying a bit much to grab as much screen time as they could however can see why they were cast.  I liked the Baru Mates, thought they were a good cast.

Jai Ho:
This episode definitely had more of the personalities and seemed more Race-like, in general.

My Episode 2 Thoughts

Tasks:

The detour (Dash/Splash) was a no-brainer, which goes against the point of having an either/or, at no point did we see any team give a thought towards doing Dash, rightly so. It would have been interesting to have had, say, Splash or Crash, with the two options being to find and count the water sellers (and maybe there would have been more of them, or harder to find) as one option, and the pot carrying as the other.

The lemon roadblock was interesting and showcased some local culture, as did the goat hide task, reminiscent of TAR 25.

Overall, the night leg was fun to watch, and I enjoyed the rapid placement change throughout the leg.

Thoughts on Teams (in no particular order)

Heath and Toni - man, does this team have some bad luck moments. Next week looks like it'll be brutal for them. Heath sounded like he was dying after the lemon roadblock. I love Toni's soft accent, it almost sounds British.
Sam and Stu - I loved how they described themselves as "the dictionary definition of two Aussie blokes" and Sam killed at the roadblock.
Angel and Frankie - At first, when they got all "our third team member is Jesus" at the pit start, I was like...yeah, hard pass. But then they got really competitive and it obviously paid off for them. I think they're going to be a team we're going to love to hate.
Sam and Alex - their schtick is getting annoying and old really fast, but to tell you the truth, if I were on TAR I would probably be freaking out just as much as they are. You can tell they're super fans.
Crystal and Reem - surprisingly competent! I thought that it was BS that they made them do the pot cart task again, because unless the clue said that they needed to do it all in one trip, I don't see what they did wrong, and had they been able to do that, they might have finished higher. Still, impressed with Reem's Arabic and how unfazed they were by everything.
Stu and Glennon - I liked that we learned about their back story, and they seemed like good guys, what little we saw of them.
Morgan and Lilli - I don't know why I saw them as the second coming of Dustin/Kandice, maybe just by looks alone, but they did not seem like the quickest ones out there. We didn't see enough of them to know for sure though, just that they were consistently towards the back of the group. I was a little annoyed that the producers never showed us exactly why they had to redo the pots task (did they not have enough? it was never really specified)
Kathy and Chace - They came off as a little cocky at first "we're lawyers and we know how to do things" then cut to everyone else finishing the Splash task before them. Props to them, especially Chace, for using their French to their advantage.
Lauren and Steph - I really liked them! Lauren in particular as the "ginja ninja" (I believe) killed the lemon challenge. They seem to have a sweet connection and are very focused.
Bren and Anja - These two were probably two of the biggest casting mistakes in any version. They should have been on a show called "The Amazing Toddle Around The World Pointing At Small Animals, Making a Mess, and Criticizing Things" Show. Anja (the taller one, I believe) contributed next to nothing; at least Bren did the lemon roadblock without making too big of a deal about it and acknowledged that unlike her partner, she wasn't instantly opposed to the goat task. I mean, it wasn't like you had to slaughter the goats yourselves, you just had to touch a part of their body that was already long dead, and you were given gloves too. I feel like the only other team in any edition that refused to do a task due to ideology was Israel 2, when Anaelle/Akiva refused to participate in the Buddhist ceremony in Thailand, and had to wait until the next team completed it before they could continue (which I thought was a much fairer deal than just 30 minute penalty). I mean, even Kat (Nat/Kat) in TAR USA ate meat at the FF; true, she ended up winning a million dollars, but I'm sure she didn't regret it because that's what she signed up for. Even though I root for FF teams, their constant vegan monologue was tiresome; they never seemed to be in a rush; and were firmly in last the entire race, with the exception of being among the first teams to arrive at the market before they screwed it all up. I could tell by Reem's exasperated reaction when they asked her where the clue was ("It's back there, I really don't know how else to help you guys") that they didn't seem to be cut out for the race in more ways than one.

I do wonder, however, if/how it would've been different if Bren/Anja and Paul/Rachel had been in the opposite starting groups - would P/R have managed to brave through the sour lemons and the goat hide vats, and would B/A have stepped it up without an animal-related task and in a place that was not as confusing to navigate?

Next episode looks INSANE, and I am super excited to see what happens once we have 18 teams in the mix. I wonder how they'll do the opening credits??

Joberio:
This leg felt more like the race, and as has been said, I appreciated the shuffling in the ranks.

It seems like the Detours of both legs thus far have been between a sure thing and an obvious trap.  Of course the teams all chose the sure thing.  Splash was the obvious choice.  Dash was totally the wrong thing to do.

The Roadblock . . . wow.  Those pickled lemons looked disgusting.  I have to give props to everyone who did it.

But now for the teams:

Angel & Frankie: Very good start by them, but I'm going to be annoyed by their constant mentions of God being on their side.

Kathy & Chace: Solid teamwork and a very strong performance.  It's also nice to see a rare cousins team on this show.

Lauren & Steph: Tough girls and a potential strong team in the making.  They didn't fret about any task.  They just dug in, got them done, and finished strongly.  Great job.

Crystal & Reem: Another potentially strong team, but there's something Amy & Maya-like about them.  They seemed to get their tasks done quickly, but often got to the next stop in a much lower position than they were in when they'd left.  That said, I give them points for innovation with the pots, even though it turned out that they needed all forty.  But at least they adjusted quickly.

Heath & Toni: Very sad that Toni's cancer is apparently terminal this time.  I hope she enjoys what time she has left.  That said, they also look potentially strong.  But they also don't have luck on their side, which could really hurt them going forward.

Sam & Alex: They definitely seem to try a bit too hard, almost like a gay, Australian version of B.J. & Tyler, and . . . I'm probably of a minority of TAR fans who hated B.J. & Tyler and their try-hard mugging.  Still, they did well with the tasks with little complaints, so I guess that I can give them kudos.

Sam & Stu: I've noticed pretty much every little person who's been on the race has been great at eating challenges (at least those who faced them).  Charla, and now Sam?  Heh.  Anyway, they seem to have a good bond, and so far, Sam's smaller size hasn't hindered them.  But we'll see how long that lasts.

Stuart & Glennon: I guess the requisite black team for Australia's version.  I expected to them to be alpha-males, but they seem pretty much on the level of the other teams, which, frankly, makes them more bearable to me.  I'm interested in seeing how far they can go.

Morgan & Lilli: Conversely, I see these two not going very far at all.  Like many blonde women's teams in the past, they just have no real strengths in this race.  I'm expecting an early exit for them.

Bren & Anja: As Jai Ho said, a real casting misfire.  I'm usually a women's team pundit, but they were just so in over their heads, as well as downright useless.  Bren seemed okay, I guess, but Anja had no place on the race.  Got to the Detour too late to do either one, and then wuss out of the tannery task even though they're not actually hurting any animals.  I suppose that Bren might've done better with another partner, though, as I think that her quitting that task was because she was feeding off Anja's negativity toward it, which probably made all the difference.  Either way, they're the rare women's team whom I'm probably relieved to see out early.

Much better episode than the first.

Parasparopagraho:
A far cry from both the Aaron & Arianne boot as well as Keithney's.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page