'The Amazing Race' on CBS HD - Page 29

The issue, at least in my mind, is that Trey and Lexi knew the Chippendales were ahead of them based on their pic being up on the U-turn. That's completely different than using it on a team that you don't know is ahead of you.

Can a team currently U-turn a team that hs already checked in? Like this week, the Twinnies checked in about 5 minutes after the episode started. Could another team then U-turn them retroactively?

They're supposed to say a script when hitting the mat, much like the yield:

"We do not choose to yield anyone, and we have not been yielded". My guess is it just gets edited out because it's rather repetitive.

A team has been u-turned who already passed the u-turn section - I believe it was just last season that it happened. There was no retroactive penalty applied to them. I kind of like it the way it is. It forces a team to really think about where their position is. If they choose well, it'll work out in their favor. If they choose poorly, it does nothing.

I still think that the non-elimination legs should be on legs with U-Turns. There have been a few times now where a U-Turned team has been eliminated directly as a result of being U-Turned, which is something inflicted upon them by another team, and not an error of their own doing. Frankly, the U-Turns have always felt out of place on The Amazing Race to me - not really in keeping with all of the other aspects of the show.

U turns can be used or not .. the idea I believe is to cut out a threat, a team you don't like, a team that has screwed you over or an attempt to advance your position in the game .. once you are past the U Turn point, you are safe .. if it could be retroactive, the Chips would have been in trouble .. what point would they have if only used on non-elimination legs other than maybe slowing a team down on the start of the next leg .. ??

It seems to me that in many cases, the U-Turn is not used ..

The U-Turn is the exact opposite of the Fast Forward ..

I like the U-turn and how it adds another layer to the race. I also liked the yield and intersections. I wish there were more of them, as it would make each leg truly unique with a lot of uncertainty about what's coming up.

Fast forwards are kinda dumb, but I guess they're OK. One season a team that took the fast forward actually got eliminated.

Express pass? Make that a reward for each of the first 5 legs or get rid of it. Reward those who succeed early. Or get rid of it and keep monetary/prize awards.

I doubt we'll have to worry about this situation happening regularly. There was an unusually high amount of cooperation among the top three teams for this late in the race. And an unusually big threat in a vulnerable position. In fact, i wonder if the cooperation would have failed if Abi & Ryan didn't have the huge extra million dollar prize target on their backs.

I'd guess that had something to do with it ..

Yeah there have been cases where the team invoking the u-turn have screwed up and picked a team that was ahead of them, but I'd have to read through all the TAR Wiki pages to remember who they were. But I'm pretty certain this is the only time that it was done intentionally.

I should have put intentionally in that post .. I do remember un-intentional ones ..

Then again, I'm the guy that's always thought that it's sleazy to "take a knee" three or four times to end a football game.

I agree -- knowing where the other teams are is a part of the U-Turn calculation, and I don't mind the way it was used here, in a deliberate, tactical way.

Boo- hoo for Abi & Ryan . Ryan felt entitled because he came first in the first leg and was eligible to get a bonus million if they won. He didn't loose two million. He just got eliminated. Deal with it. Bad breaks are part of the game.

Ryan was pretty ridiculous whining that the Chippendales cost him 2 million dollars, considering that he and Abi could have been eliminated in the last leg if not for the Rockers losing one of their passports. They weren't the strongest team by any measure.

Martha Stewart's Apprentice, The Amazing Race

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Ryan seems to be trying to make a career out of reality shows so I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere else.

damn non-elimination legs....

ha I knew it was going to happen.

It's starting to get like Survivor. Every season, we keep seeing the same stupid mistakes. Seriously, why would you try out for The Amazing Race and NOT learn how to drive stick?!

I have to say this is a strange season so far. Everything seems to be loaded on the backend of this season.

This is now 3 non-elimination legs all within a couple of episodes of each other, then they had the only two U-Turns a couple of episodes apart, and now with two shows to go this is the first time they are actually letting the contestants drive on their own.

Very strange they way they set things up this season.

The twins are in big trouble now, the next speed bump might be brutal. They might make them watch an episode of the Kardashians or something.

the twins bug me.. even liked abi and ryan more than them

Apparently, drive a stickshift car is enough of a speedbump. Make them earn a driver's license!

The stick shift cars on Race always seem to catch a few teams off guard ..

I think they way the Twins were talking, they had planned on the problem and one was supposed to have learned ..

These days, it's pretty common to be unable to drive a stick ..

I like the Twins .. they are cheery, they continually put each other down, they are obviously happy to be on the Race, and I don't hold the $50 bucks against them ..

^^^Some countries won't issue a full driver's license unless the applicant can drive stick. They get a sorta "handicapped license" if all they can drive is an automatic that restricts them to auto-only vehicles. I once encountered a lady who could drive stick, but not automatic. She'd get up to 20 mph or so and grab the shifter and pull it back into reverse.

In June 2009 I bought a new Tacoma pickup with a standard transmission and told my 16yr old son that he needed to learn to drive it if he wanted to use it for school his Junior and Senior years. He struggled a bit at first.. but now he doesn't want to drive anything with an automatic . . .

It sounded like the one twin took one "lesson" and thought that would be enough.

Frankly most people don't know how to properly teach a newbie how to drive a stick, so unless she went to one of the professional racing schools like Bondurant or Skip Barber, she just learned a bunch of bad habits that'll take years to break.

And was it just me, or did it look like every time that she kept claiming that she was putting it in first gear that she was actually pulling the stick down into 2nd (or do Spanish Focus's {Fociii?} have rare first gear down and to the left gearboxes)?

I am a bit amused that only one team, apparently, could properly pronounce "Mallorca." It's not really all that obscure.

I'm even more amused that entire populations mispronounce "Caesar," "Llama," "Mexico," ... etc, etc

Say-zar

Yama

Me-hee-co

Trick post ... I was looking for the original Latin "Caesar" ... which is best preserved in the Germanic "Kaiser" as in "Kaiser Willhelm"

Very nice come back.

Yeah i was pretty impressed, though all members of a certain gender basically eliminated themselves and fell apart.

Really enjoyed the ending, though. Not sure about the location - seemed too closed off, like they were worried about the weather.

Also, I'm curious as to why there was no mention of the disaster. In '04 when Season 06 aired an episode in Sri Lanka that was filmed before the tsunami hit (and aired after of course), there was a somber statement of sympathy. None tonight. Doesn't feel right.