Topic: HaMerotz LaMillion 9 (TAR Israel) Bitch, Moan & Squal Here! *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[JegoKelvin]

For a post-COVID first production route, this turned out well. Love that we’re seeing Azerbaijan again.

I'm with this - this is actually a really interesting route that would be super fun to run

Outside of the US TAR. This is one of the best routes I've seen and to accomplish at a COVID-era. Props to the production.
Iceland, Spain, Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Vietnam and a speculated, Bulgaria, which I do hope so it does get visited.

Azerbaijan is a surprise and it's refreshing since were are seeing it in the summer, US S.20's visit was during the winter months, not really ideal for a coastal city like Baku.
I've seen the F1 Races there on TV and it is stunning.

Bulgaria, TAR Israel, making 1sts for the franchise, if confirmed, 1st ever visit added to the list (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Cuba).

Iceland, Spain, South Korea, New Zealand, Austria, Morocco, Vietnam - No need to elaborate, these are already gems.

On a different note: If TAR Israel can do this. I'm hoping the US version can to. I am waiting to be surprised. Glad Travel is up and about.

I think TARAUS's Cuba visit predated Israel's, IIRC.

But OMG THIS ROUTE. Wow. Undervisited countries with beautiful and distinctive locations, and no two countries with the same native language (Icelandic, Spanish, Korean, English/Maori, German, Arabic, Vietnamese, Azeri, and possibly Bulgarian - and really only 2 countries with the same region, with SK/Vietnam as Asia, even though SK is East Asia and Vietnam is Southeast Asia; similarly, Spain/Austria/Iceland are European Union but much more culturally different than, say, Austria/Germany, and Spain/Morocco are both Mediterranean but on different continents.)

This will be a fun season.

Do you think we also traveled to Germany in this season? I mean it is a short drive from Austria. If TAR Israel did, new country. That'll further make it one of the best. I hope Bulgaria gets confirmed.

Out of all the seasons of Hamerotz, this is the best route IMO. If they did visit Germany and Bulgaria, apart from being 1sts for the Israeli version, is Zambia even confirmed? that'd be even more stunning if those 3 were also on. If I was a Racer, this is a route I'm be extremely happy to run. Iceland, Spain, Austria, South Korea, New Zealand, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Vietnam.

[dryedmangoez]

Incredible route! Hope I can watch it somehow.

[Brannockdevice]

I'm shocked this season is still on

[Xoruz]

Confirmed, we missed another country. Before they go to Morocco next leg, they made a stop in Gibraltar. This route keeps getting better and better.

[Maanca]

Confirmed, we missed another country. Before they go to Morocco next leg, they made a stop in Gibraltar. This route keeps getting better and better.

Nice! Maybe this was the "3 countries in 24 hours" they were talking about. No TAR's ever been to Gibraltar.

[Xoruz]

Nice! Maybe this was the "3 countries in 24 hours" they were talking about. No TAR's ever been to Gibraltar.

Yes, this is the “crazy leg” they’ve been talking about.

[Xoruz]

Senegal is next. 

[Jai Ho]

Just finished watching the last 2 episodes, in Morocco - it helps to watch them at 1.5 speed and just focus on speed reading the subtitles 

These legs have been some of the most brutal I think I have ever seen in any race, with so many tiny clues, logic-based tasks, and luck-based tasks...I actually like all the teams this season, because I do not think that I could do half as well as any of them on these tasks.

Highlights of this leg:

- Sahar and Yiftach are basically a blur - they finished tasks so quickly that they have very little screen time.

- The double-battle looked like absolute hell, it was basically a test of upper body strength, and it was no surprise that anytime a man went up against a woman, he won, and that the FF teams were SOL. Mody and Mickey at least threw the task so that Amit and Rotem had a chance. I've always disliked the double-battles, because if it's a physical task rather than luck/logic/skill, teams that have to redo it are already tired, even though they've had the chance to test out the task and figure out how to do better. Maybe if every team threw the task and just agreed to let the previous team go (which has happened in previous seasons, and was basically how Amit/Rotem got through the task), they'd stop doing them.

- It was funny watching Inbar fall in love with one of the safety guys at the double-battle though. She looked almost ready to ditch her uncle and have him be her partner instead 

- Guy fell backwards into a well at the laundry task, and he looked like he really got hurt, either by hitting his head or his back on the stones. He managed to persevere after some quick medical attention, but he was clearly struggling the rest of the leg. It was a slight consolation though that he looked like Papa Smurf for the rest of the leg, from spending so long in the blue water.

- Anne did not fall into the well, but since her water was green, she spent the last half of the leg looking like a bootleg Shrek.  

- Udi is shocked to learn that Matan washes his mouth out with soap when he showers, and Matan is shocked that Udi (and the rest of the world) do not do that

- After the laundry task, Sapir is genuinely confused to learn that the smelly animal skins that they were cleaning are not that different from what her purses and pocketbooks are made from.

- Also, it's hysterical how bored Lior seems to be with the race, especially during confessionals when he's practically falling asleep.

- I love learning about the teams' lives outside the race, but please, editors, choose new information each time, because even though I adore Esti and Itzik, it was overkill to see them talk about missing their kids THREE DIFFERENT TIMES during the course of the leg.

- It's nice to see teams that run their own races and that most of the arguing happens between the teammates themselves rather than inter-team drama, which has made some of the more recent episodes/seasons of US TAR less fun to watch. They basically try to have fun and stay out of each other's way, and tend to congratulate other teams when they complete a task even when they get passed up by them. So, when Yarin and Miri got into a shouting match while they were doing the orange juice task, it was interesting because it was a departure from the norm, when all teams seem to get along the majority of the time.

- It was a heartbreaker to watch Racheli/Miri get eliminated, with less than ten minutes remaining on their yield (and their second yield, at that). They managed to pass Hasi/Yarin on the soap task, then again on the orange juice task, and then pass TWO teams at the cassette tape task (Hasi/Yarin and Guy/Idan), and got eliminated by something over which they had no control - it's part of the race, but still, had they not been yielded they would have finished in 9th rather than 11th, and one of reasons why I love TAR over other reality shows is that by and large, most eliminations are based on poor performance or navigation by the teams themselves, or by poor leg design (no equalizers, too many equalizers, several physical tasks in a row without a break) rather than merely getting yielded or u-turned out of the race.

- PSYCHED for the next few episodes in Senegal.

[Jai Ho]

After the long delay due to the Majdal Shams attack, we finally got the complete Senegal leg, all four hours of it.

Highlights:

- No detour OR roadblock! Although the watermelon task/fish task could have been a solid detour and spared the teams a task, and the dance task was essentially a roadblock.

- A lot of butt shots at the watermelon task.

- The fish task was surprisingly complex, with the puzzle, the retrieval of the fish, and the "catch" to arranging the fish, but we now have a new TAR superstar in the form of Grumpy Fish Lady, who only showed emotion when the last team was done (she probably danced with them because it meant that she would be done with this silliness for the day) 

- Kind of disappointed that they went all the way to Goree Island and did a task involving...baguettes. At least 20 years ago in TAR 6, they laid roses at the Door of No Return, and we had an emotionally poignant moment with Gus/Hera breaking down and crying at the gravity of the place they were standing. Yehuda Levi, to his credit, did mention the history of slavery in a voice-over, but it was a blink-and-you-missed-it moment.

- The double battle was at least a little more equitable this time for all the teams, and actually looked kind of fun. But when Hasi yelled "I HATE THE DOUBLE BATTLE" after losing a 4th time in a row, I was like...same, girl.

- The alphabet dance task seemed like an afterthought. There was no one to verify if they got the answer correct, and basically Modi/Mickey took a risk on an extremely lucky (but logical) guess and ended up jumping past Hasi/Yarin and Amit/Rotem to an 8th place finish. Had they actually had to do the task, that might not have been the case. Also, kind of funny seeing Mickey reading a newspaper in French while stuck in downtown Dakar traffic.

- I'm still liking all the teams, pretty much. Matan yells at the locals a lot, and using a mix of Hebrew/English/French/Spanish, which is no help in Senegal, and I can't get Sapir's "LISTEN ME!" out of my head (Lior, to his credit, seemed much more active this leg). I am surprised at how many of this season's racers have poor English skills, usually that's the minority of teams but this time it's the other way around.

- Inbar/Avishai are quite the comeback kids. First, their bags got locked in a taxi and they had to get a mechanic to jimmy it open with a crowbar, and then they and their camera operators got quite the dressing-down when they accidentally trespassed at a mosque.

- Sahar/Yiftach, Esty/Itzik, Lee/Anne, and surprisingly Idan/Guy (first-place finishers) did not get as many moments during this leg, but then again, Inbar/Avishai had some really crazy stuff happen to them.

- Sad to see Amit/Rotem go out in 10th despite finishing in the top half on the first two legs and in the middle in Morocco, but hey, that's TAR, and this season's tasks are no joke.

- The best parts of the leg were the overall attitudes of the teams towards Senegal. Even with a bit of yelling, they were mostly polite and complimentary to the locals and expressed how awesome the scenery was, unlike TAR 6's visit, with the infamous quote from Kendra "they just keep breeding and breeding..." The only complaints and put-downs were about how poor the quality of the cabs were which...no argument there. A few had trunks tied shut with rope, and we got plenty of shots of cracked glass windows and taped-up tires.

- The worst part of the leg was the mat chat with Yehuda. Basically, it's just racers saying how tired they are, how the leg treated them, and how proud they are of their partner, and I'm like...just tell us the placements, man. The only team we really need to hear this from is the one that gets eliminated this leg. The teams seem to be annoyed by this as well.

- Next group of episodes are Azerbaijan, and I hope we see some tighter editing, which I know is not going to happen, but hey, a girl can dream.

[aviva23]

from where is your info that they have been in Austria? is it confirmed? mean while the show is aired 1 and a half month ago and so far they visited 6 coutnries. Iceland - Spain - Gibraltar - Morocco - Senegal - Azarbaihjan.
is it possible they will back to Europe? it sounds weird...

[Xoruz]

from where is your info that they have been in Austria? is it confirmed? mean while the show is aired 1 and a half month ago and so far they visited 6 coutnries. Iceland - Spain - Gibraltar - Morocco - Senegal - Azarbaihjan.
is it possible they will back to Europe? it sounds weird...

From the sightings thread.

They're in Austria.

[Jai Ho]

Holy cannoli, this leg in Azerbaijan has been TOUGH, and there's still one more episode to go, airing today. From the looks of it (sun rising over teams in taxis) this is one of the first, if not THE first, all-nighter legs in TAR history. However, if you watch the most recent episode, all but one team is shown checking in to the pit stop, which makes me think a) that team didn't complete the leg for some reason, or b) that team got eliminated, and the producers made an "oops" by not showing them at the mat or running to the mat.

[Xoruz]

The second leg went through the night, but that was down to travel time with some teams even getting to sleep. The back to back to back punches of the carpet, nightclub, and by the looks of it jam tasks really took all night. Insane.

[Jai Ho]

Azerbaijan leg is done and dusted. These teams are hardcore, literally going all night.

Highlights:

- The gas task was so dumb and arbitrary. I would have just brute forced it if I could. The rest of the tasks seemed pretty legit though.

- I was surprised at the different strategies for the carpet task. Had there been an even number of teams in this leg, it would have made for a great intersection; teaming up is how Hasi/Yarin/Mody/Mickey and Sahar/Yiftach/Udi/Matan got through the task at all.

- Also, Sapir initially asking people for 30 minutes of their time rather than 30 seconds was really funny. And of course, once Lior got his lazy ass in gear and acted like he wanted to be there, they finished the carpet task super fast.

- I was also surprised that no one got injured during the bar task, what with GLASS FLYING EVERYWHERE (mostly Hasi, but still some others). Sapir did accidentally hit Lior in the head with the small metal cup, that was funny.

- The female contestants seemed to really rock this leg. Esty did so well at the baking that she was basically tutoring the other teams, and got the bartending task done in what seemed to be seconds. Even though Hasi needed a pep talk from Itzik/Esty during the bartending, she eventually got it, and with class. Sapir was similarly impressive.

- What I didn't like about the roadblock was that it was basically a route info task, with all the teammates helping their partners by coaching them through it, which is kind of weird.

- The best parts of the leg for me were the random snack breaks. Mody/Mickey taking a chocolate break outside the bar; Udi/Matan going for muffins during the carpet task; Lior/Sapir at a random food cart after the stairs task, with Lior showing more emotion ordering food than doing actual race tasks.
 

- The producers got me on this one. I was sure that Hasi/Yarin were eliminated because they were the only team not shown in the preview last week; turns out, it was the opposite, as they checked in first place when it was still dark outside, so they couldn't use the footage in the preview as it would have been blatantly obvious that they won the leg, because there would be no reason why night would fall again.

- I loved the shakeup of the teams this leg. Hasi/Yarin, who barely avoided elimination in Senegal, zoomed to first place, and Inbar/Avishai got 4th, their best placement yet. Watching Lee/Anne and Sahar/Yiftach struggle and continuously end up at the back of the pack probably sucked for them, but showed that the race is unpredictable and not something anyone can just sail through.

- The poorly placed yield almost knocked Udi/Matan out of the game a la Racheli/Miri, but they seemed to beat out Guy/Idan by minutes or seconds. If I were Udi/Matan, and I had gotten eliminated after 24 hours of racing because of a stupid yield, I would have been LIVID. So, even though they are not my favorite team, I am glad that this particular obstacle turned out in their favor.

- The mat chats are still too long, boring, and repetitive. Guy/Idan should be proud of themselves though, they really worked hard and worked well together, sad to see them eliminated, especially going from first to worst in one leg.

- Next up is Austria!

[Xoruz]

Itzik & Esti remain a consistently strong team, yet they drop the ball on more than one occasion with leg wins. Within a week, we had another example of a team going from first to worst as well.

Moving on to Austria. The show has its first ever episode in Austria, and the first thing they do is a Sound of Music task. Never change HaMerotz, never change.

[Xoruz]

As we await a possible elimination, I want to express some pity for Lior & Sapir. They struggled with the Detour, switched multiple times, and finally finished only to discover that they were U-Turned. To add insult to injury, they’re still in Austria while everyone else has gone to Germany.

[Xoruz]

Show content

Ouch. Worst to first and first to worst in the same episode.

Mongolia is next!

[georgiapeach]

MONGOLIA??? WHOOEEEEEE!!

[Jai Ho]

And we've done Austria and Germany, four episodes later.

Before I start - I was overall disappointed with a lot of elements of this leg, especially putting two mental tasks at the very end when the teams are already wiped out. The two latter episodes were particularly frustrating to watch, as teams literally had no straws to grasp.

Highlights:

- ...and of course we start with the least culturally authentic task. Also, this is Hanny Nachmias's second appearance on the race (she was part of a clue in season 1 or 2). For the record, The Sound of Music is 100% American - Rodgers and Hammerstein - not that that's a bad thing, but it is actually not that popular in Austria or Germany. In fact, I've heard that Austrians get irritated when people think that "Edelweiss" is their national anthem or a traditional song, because it is neither.

- Also, another Sound of Music fact: when the movie was translated into Korean, the film board of South Korea thought that it was too long and audiences would get bored...so they cut out all the songs, making it effectively...the sound of nothing?

- The Loacker task seemed fun, culturally relevant, and let's face it, delicious.

- Yay for a detour! We've seen the log sawing task before in multiple seasons of TAR, so that's no big deal, but the tiny bikes seemed to have a really steep learning curve for most teams. The male racers did much better than the women because it probably relies on a) core strength and b) a more distributed center of gravity. It was heartbreaking to see Hasi/Yarin struggle with it for a WHOLE ENTIRE EPISODE where the other teams moved onto Germany and completed those tasks.

- The beer garden task seemed fun, with several ways to execute it and teams generally having fun and laughing while getting drenched with beer. The little sips method seemed to work better than raising a full cup of beer, as it was a) less likely to tip over and b) more likely to get into the racer's mouth, since there is no way you could hold a full cup of beer in your mouth long enough to spit it without swallowing some.

- The movie theatre and take-away box tasks...brutal. It was funny when Sapir took the vacuum and started to clean, and then went through the vacuum sack before getting the clue from the custodian. Also, after watching the episode, I get the whole "take-away" reference, but if I were a racer, I would have totally been in the dark. Once again, Mody/Mickey making an educated guess and taking a risk helped them finish in the top half, and had they not gotten lost on the grounds of the arena, they could have possibly finished first.

- Udi/Matan had a fantastic leg, all things considered. Worst to first, well done.

- Hasi/Yarin had a heartbreaker of a leg, going from first to worst. They managed to catch up to Inbar/Avishai and Lior/Sapir at the movie theater task and the take-away box task, but it was too little too late.

- Biggest lowlight of the leg: the editing for the finish. I understand the "drama" of it, but showing Hasi/Yarin physically step on the mat before Inbar/Avishai was not a great editing choice. Even if the racers do not know their positions right away, by this point, the viewers should know, at least. I had a feeling it was Hasi/Yarin but with all the quick cuts, the mat chat, and alternating between teams, it wasn't clear until the very last seconds. Even though Hasi/Yarin did get their say at the end, there was too much footage of Inbar/Avishai...not being eliminated...which has no impact on the race.

Next set of episodes are in glorious Mongolia. It seems like Lee/Anne are stuck in some mud, and Sahar/Yiftach are in the SECOND car accident of the season, so they are probably both safe. But still...we're less than halfway in and already, two car accidents? Yeesh.

[Xoruz]

Oh how the mighty have already fallen with Udi & Matan getting U-Turned and falling to last place at the ger task. This leg has also already reused a lot of tasks from drinking yak milk, assembling a ger, shooting flaming arrows, as well as the warrior code task from Asia, Australia, Philippines, and the first Israeli season.

[Xoruz]

Show content

So we end with a quit. Bummer, but I understand.

[Xoruz]

So that might be one of the more crazier ends of a leg even by HaMerotz standards.

Show content

A partner swap done by playing Masked Singer.