Topic: TAR Australia 9 (Celebrity Edition 3) Ongoing SHOW Discussion

[Xoruz]

saved

[BourkieBoy]

Episode 1 Thoughts

Well, our first English speaking visit to Nepal certainly didn't disappoint! I felt that this was a very traditional leg in many ways and some of the cinematography was beautiful!

However, I did feel that it was a very poor leg design. In a 90 minute premiere, we had 2 ARIs, a Detour and then a Pit Stop. The tasks themselves were quite good and enjoyable - I did like the first task of rowing a boat out to a floating platform and making an offering before receiving the next clue (also really liked how there were 3 different paths to the lake where the task took place and teams had no idea which path was the quickest)

The second ARI of learning a traditional Buddhist chant was excellent - easily the hardest challenge of the leg by far and it's no wonder multiple teams struggled with this task. Was also really good to see a few of teams playing soccer with some of the child monks and also taking the time to listen to some of the adult monks chanting

In terms of the Detour, found the challenges extremely uneven. The Haystack challenge was so much easier and quicker compared to the Maize Rack challenge (unless you're like me and suffer from hay fever in the spring!). Also felt that the judging of the Haystack challenge was a bit more lenient then Maize Rack and teams who did Haystack did it so much quicker then Maze Rack

Overall, a solid leg in terms of interesting tasks, but the leg was let down (in my opinion), by the poor design and some slow editing?

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Very surprised to see Ed & Tiff being the first ones eliminated. Tiff is an extremely fit woman (she was one of the trainers on the Aussie Biggest Loser over a decade ago), so extremely surprised that they took the penalty on the Haystack challenge. Also not a fan of how the Aussie version deals with penalties for quitting a challenge. A 20 minute penalty for quitting a Detour really isn't good enough compared to the US version where it's 6 hours. Ant & Dan coming in first didn't surprise me - Ant is extremely fit and well practiced for this Race being ex-military. It will be extremely interesting to see how well they continue to dominate until they're disqualified from the Race in the next couple of episodes

[Xoruz]

Can't tell you how happy I am to see another version go to Nepal. The pagoda alone was one of the more stunning starting lines. For how few tasks there were, the deck was constantly reshuffled as they were all pretty difficult. Second season in a row where a team took a penalty on a Detour. These hay tasks are constant killers.

[NumfarPTB]

Fantastic location. Glad that Australia is keeping the tradition of multiple legs per country.
Still getting used to the teams.

[G.B.]

Why don't they just ALL take the penalty? I mean, they do know that it takes MORE than 20 minutes to build a haystack surely. The smart decision is just to skip it and take the penalty because THE PENALTY IS SHORTER THAN THE CHALLENGE

[Xoruz]

Why don't they just ALL take the penalty?

It’s a scale based on how much of the task they completed.

[BourkieBoy]

Episode 2 Thoughts

Wow! This leg was a million times better then the premiere! 

It was good to get the worst task of the leg out of the way first - I despise linear tasks where not only is the task first come, first serve, but there are no positional changes during the task. There really isn't any place for those types of tasks in modern TAR and the zipline Roadblock was exactly that (a super easy challenge to complete unless you are scared of heights!)

However, as soon as that task was over, the rest of the leg was amazing! The meditation bells Roadblock was superb (it would of been so frustrating and tiring knowing that you had to start the 13 ups and down all over again as soon as your bells touched). The Route Info challenge of sleeping in the hostel was hilarious to see some of the teams reaction (let's be real - none of those celebrities would of ever stepped foot inside a hostel previously  ) and both sides of the Detour were challenging - the intricate details required to make that dog necklace was intense (all those orange and yellow flowers would of definitely screwed up my vision for the rest of the day  ) and as for the eating challenge of buffalo spinal cord, stomach intestines and bone marrow... teams did very well to stomach that without too much vomiting!

Getting to the Pit Stop was also quite unique - there were many steps in the temple, but only the correct set would lead the teams to Beau at the Pit Stop.

Overall, a fantasic episode tonight and I'm really excited to see our Nepal finale aired tomorrow night!

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Ant & Dan's disqualification was... an extreme non-event? It was only announced that they had been removed due to a breach of the Race's code of conduct (I was expecting a COVID style gathering of teams to announce what happened and a few confessionals relaying what actually happened). Knew that this was going to be a KOR leg, as the promo last night hinted to it. I wonder if it still would of been a "per-determined" non-elimination leg for Steph & Ben, if Ant & Dan weren't disqualified

[Maanca]

An explanation of where Ant & Dan went https://www.newidea.com.au/entertainment/why-did-ant-dan-middleton-leave-the-amazing-race-australia/

We've known this was coming since filming. Didn't think it would be so soon.

[NumfarPTB]

Was aware the DQ happened while filming, didn't expect it happening this early, and after they got 1st in the first leg. Whoa.....

The zipline was awesome. Do agree that linear tasks are a bit pointless, still gorgeous.
And the balance RB was pretty cool as well.

Split flights were silly, considering the Hostel equalizer, there could've be more drama if everyone were in the same flight.
Can't complain that the detour were not local, however if you could stomach it, the eating side would probably be faster. Having Melissa in the cast, makes me wish we would get someone from Top Chef / Masterchef cast in TAR US or TAR Canada.

[Xoruz]

I think it was assumed that the DQ happened early and that the show wanted to make it as quiet as possible. Certainly made difficult considering they won the first leg, but it was probably the best call. I love riding ziplines, but I can't comprehend how one can go that fast. The placement as said was obviously the best spot. There have been meditation tasks before like with the coins of TAR Asia & Finland, but this was a step up in difficulty. More so that any other version, TAR Australia sill really likes the eating tasks though even from the description it was the faster Detour. The mid-leg flight and hostel stay work better considering this was a KOR, and you know that they wanted a reaction like Lindy's every time they cast celebrities. I also really appreciated the slower moments that allowed Steph to be vulnerable.

[BourkieBoy]

Episode 3 Thoughts

Well! Another good episode to end Nepal Week! 

Starting off right away with the water carrying task was quite unique - it was quite a long distance between the water fountain and the courtyard where the water needed to be delivered to - 6 litres is a lot of water (imagine carrying a 3 litre bottle of milk while trying to go as fast as you can!) It's no wonder a couple of teams needed to go back to the fountain for another attempt. It was also interesting to see the Speed Bump return in this task (interesting to see that they are continuing on with the idea of using the Handicap challenge instead of a whole separate challenge - not too sure about this. Not a fan also of making the team finish last on a KOR complete a Speed Bump)

We then come to the potter making Roadblock - it was an interesting enough task, but felt that the judging of the task was quite lenient? Maybe because I don't like pottery, but felt that this was the worst challenge of the leg by far. We then move onto the Detour, where again the challenges were very unbalanced (at the least the judging was a lot stricter for this challenge). Brush Off was by far the easier task (having to simply scrub tiles to remove all dirt and grime, compared to sanding and then painting a door in a whole new colour). At least the Brush Off doors looked really nice after they had been repainted (that teal color of Luke & Sassy Scott's door was memorizing)

And then off to another temple for our Pit Stop 

Very, very happy with our first English-speaking visit to Nepal. Last night's episode was by far the best, followed by tonight's and then followed by the premiere. Really looking forward to the first ever visit to Uzbekistan on Sunday night!

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Gobsmacked and utterly shocked that Bronte & Benfield were our second boots. You have to understand that Bronte is one of Australia's greatest ever Olympic swimmers, so was expecting her and Benfield to at least make it three quarters through the Race. It just shows no matter who you are, choosing the wrong Detour can be Race suicide (especially if you don't pay attention to the intricate details of the task!)

[Xoruz]

A lot of focus on grunt work this leg as well as some massive rises and falls. Was not expecting that team to finish last. Really shows how one bad Detour choice can be killer. All in all, these past three episodes have been a good showcase for why Nepal is my most sought after country for TAR US. Come on CBS (though there may be some complications at the moment).

[NumfarPTB]

Really sad by that elimination.
Felt like Fewer tasks as they were coming from a KOR, still two very physically demanding tasks, and could be frustrating RB in between. That was still an ARI, a RB and detour.
In the end mostly the luck of the detour choice, and with them designed in a way that seems to be straightforward enough to complete, and being far enough between them that did not incentivate switching (an intersting contrast to previous night's TAR Can that had a detour in the same building that allowed some leeway towards that).