Last night's episode of TAR drove me nuts, for several reasons.

First of all, how did Momily and the Guidos catch up so quickly after leaving the checkpoint? We know from the last episode that they were approximately six hours behind, because that's how far apart the trains were. Yet there they all were (except for the Festers) at the airport together. I do wish they'd do a better job of showing us what time it is and how far apart the contestants are.

Secondly, when is a fast forward not fast? The Guidos get the fast forward out of dumb luck, and then sit on their keisters for several hours waiting for a train? It was so amazing to watch them keep telling themselves that the others have tasks to do, although it doesn't occur to them that these tasks are being done while they're sipping iced tea. These two are as clueless as they are arrogant.

Finally, the strategy at the detour by both the Festers and Momily was just dumb, but at least the Festers righted themselves. Why spend that much time looking for the private car? I think I would have spent nominal time looking for the car, and then shrugged my shoulders and moved on. For them to spend that much time was ridiculous. And then, even though they couldn't have known that the Guidos were wasting time, why oh why couldn't Momily have just taken the bus? I think they still would have beaten the Guidos. Emily must have had a sleepless night last night.

Then there's the competition at the Fast Forward. In no previous instance did the fast forward have a "contest." It was simply get there and take it. Did the producers anticipate that their would be competition for one this late in the game, and adjust accordingly? What if two had gone for it in Paris, in the tea shop? Would they have instituted some sort of game then, or simply let two teams fight their way into the tea shop? The lack of rule specification in this game is maddening, and does seem like it's made up as it goes along.

• The Hare and the Tortoises,asperella, 08:56 AM, 11-15-01
  • Times,Cole, 11:27 AM, 11-15-01
    • RE: Times,Serendipity, 12:45 PM, 11-15-01
• RE: Frustrating episode,Blueville, 12:37 PM, 11-15-01
  • RE: Frustrating episode,stepol, 01:26 PM, 11-15-01
• RE: Frustrating episode,heymikey, 01:12 PM, 11-15-01
  • RE: Frustrating episode,Loree, 02:12 PM, 11-15-01
• RE: Frustrating episode,sctes, 06:34 PM, 11-15-01
  • RE: Frustrating episode,katem, 07:13 PM, 11-15-01

I feel that this opportunity given to the teams to catch up makes the whole race more Amazing. That there is still that element of excitement there. Festers said it: that they could have been 12 hours ahead had they gotten to the Temple of Dawn a mere half hour earlier. But that means that the teams in front will always be in front, and the gap could even be wider, even to the extent of being 2 countries behind.

Cheers to the Hares, for they were the dumbest teams to have won the FF, and yet, not taking advantage of it. What an upset to the Guidos if Momily hadn't messed up with their detours. I thought the Guidos could go down in history as being the first team to win the FF who arrived at their pitstop last. Why on Earth do they wanna stinge on the $$$ when all the other teams spend on cabs and private taxis? And to think they walked all the way from the bus depot to the top of the pitstop. Or didn't they?

Well, the tortoise beat the hares for the first time, but lost out because of the violation of rules. Hey, didn't you notice that the Guidos were the LAST team to arrive, but they were the happiest this time round?

Sometimes rules are rules, and we have to accept them.

I wrote down the times each team left the checkpoint:

Festers: 4:50 pm
Frangarita: 5:08 pm
Lawyers: 5:10 pm
Guidos: 8:35 pm
Momily: 8:37 pm

I also am flabbergasted as how they were 6 hours behind because of the earlier train but arrived at the pit stop only 3 and a half hours behind. Maybe the rat temple was more crowded when the first three teams got there, who knows.

I almost felt like someone has been reading these boards, because we actually got some times midway into the show. I was amazed at how quickly the Guidos made up 3.5 hours! Festers showed up at 4:45 am at the airport. Lawyers and Frangarita at 5:20 am. Guidos and Momily at 5:45 am!!!! How is this possible!?!?!?!

Then the flights out, I suppose all on chance of how to get a ticket. I cannot stand the good luck of the Guidos! Festers left first at 8:30 am. Guidos SECOND at 9 am. Frangarita at 10:35. Lawyers and Momily at 2 pm.

Festers arrived in Bangkok at 6:37 pm. Guidos at 8:15 pm. Frangarita at 11:55 pm. Lawyers and Momily at 1:54 am. Of course, everyone caught up because the temples didn't open until the morning. But oh, if Momily had only arrived earlier and gotten more sleep, perhaps they wouldn't have made such a poor decision out of tiredness and frustration to skip the bus!

The Guidos and Momily took the bus which was much faster than the train, and the final four teams all arrived at the airport together.

One scene showed Margarita surprised to see Nancy and Nancy is saying we just got here - maybe about 5 minutes ago.

Frustrating to me was the "twist". I'm not sure what they were referring to. Phil Koeghen, while describing the tiger pit road block said something to the effect of, "The twist is, they have to walk through these tigers to get the next clue.....". So it wasn't a twist to walk through the rats but it is if it's tigers?

Otherwise, it would be the Guidos winning the fast forward and coming in last. That's a twist, but they didn't get eliminated. I don't think Emily and Nancy giving up was a twist. My best guess is for a team to come in last and not be eliminated.

I disagree. I don't think the tiger pit twist comment was the twist they were talking about in the preview. I think the twist referred to in the preview was the Momily/Guido scenario which was really two twists:

1) Guidos get FF but end up arriving last (by a lot!)
2) Momily blows chance to stay in the game by giving up

Certainly twisted me!

>>> These two are as clueless as they are arrogant

Well, I don't think they were arrogant. I guess, they just learned their lesson on how they handle their finances. The only reason why they ended up in 4th place in India was because of money problems. They probably would catch the train if only they went for a cab to the train station. Well, they honestly thought that riding the bus would save them money for the competition.

Besides, come to think of it, the only mistakes the Guidos made on the shows so far has something to do with money. Now since they've probably saved a lot of money riding the bus to the pit stop, then I don't think we'll be seeing them making a lot of mistakes in future shows, which is great.

Yes but while other teams are using their money on transportation the Guidos are using their's on hotel rooms. They got a room to relax. So they had money. They were just arrogant. They thought there was no way anyone else was smart enough to catch them.

I feel really let down by Momily. Due to the typical evening out of the teams that happens after the checkpoints, they were bascially tied with everyone else. If they were so convinced they wouldn't win the FF, they could have just gone on with the race and not been at any disadvantage. Plus they would have saved their FF which certainly could have helped them through the next elimination if they made it through this one.

And of course it looks like they would have stayed in the race anyway as Sickfiend and Roy were busy ice tea bagging in Bangkok basking in the glory of it all. On the Early Show Momily said that they didn't realize the penalty would be so severe. I think though that knowing how things tend to even out, and that if they made it they would have the only FF, they really should have just followed the rules. If they felt like they just wanted to get out, the busses left every 20 minutes or something so big deal.

I wanted to see Team Emily go all the way, so to speak, but after that display last night I'm really not sympathetic. Didn't she say "screw you" or something like that to one of the locals? I'm sure it gets really frustrating, but some of her comments are just horrifying (though she didn't kick any monuments, I guess). Jacoby and Brennan have been thwarted many times, and for the most part they have kept their cool and have managed to treat people with respect. The one time they were shown really losing it was in the confines of the check point where the only locals were hired hands, and they weren't the recipients of the hissy-fit anyway.

Scratch ass.

LAST EDITED ON 11-15-01 AT 07:16 PM (EST)

LAST EDITED ON 11-15-01 AT 07:15 PM (EST)

I completely agree with you, if you just throw in the towel like the ladies did last night, then they do not deserve the simpathy. If you remember Nancy was always trying to convince Emily to give up, she did it in several episodes. What a great example to give your kid.

But on the Early Show, they seem very close and together, which was nice to see, even though they were very frustrating last night.

The "Twist" was very lame, by the way.

I edited this message to congratulate myself on being a new "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge".

Edited again for those damn typos. Lame !!!!!