Culturally Preconditioned

First up, can I just say that the challenges in this leg sucks ass? But still not as sucky as our very own Woody Allen host here (okay, I’m sorry, that would be an insult to the real Woody Allen, I take that back). The challenge, digging up that trench was both boring and evil. They come all the way to Kuta Beach in Bali (which I identified where they were going from last week. Yay me!), and their challenge was to dig up a trench? For more than four fucking hours? Are you kidding me?

That challenge was super lame, although it did manage to bring up some drama and suspense. Maybe that’s what the producers were aiming for with this challenge? But I wouldn’t give them the benefit of the doubt. Super kudos to all the teams who went through that gruelling challenge for hours! The perseverence was above all. Personally, I would’ve quit at the first hint of someone else from the show quitting.

I know people will nag about being in the race, you shouldn’t quit, bla bla yada yada yada.. but you have to factor in the strategic aspects of the game too. Or maybe I’m just saying that cause I’m a lazy bastard. But yeah, we’ve seen this happen before in another series (I think it was the episode with Romber where they all agreed to skip the task and take the penalty at the end). I mean, as long as there’s another team bailing out, you are still in the game.. so all is good. You just have to hope for the best.

On the other hand, I really do not like to quit. I mean, I had a lot of admiration for Lena & Olin who got eliminated at the challenge site because they spent fucking hours rolling the haystack (I think it was TAR7). *sigh* I didn’t think they would be the decisions in this game would be this hard, but it seemed like it really was.

The rest of the episode was quite good, which is of course, due to the 4 hour penalty incurred to five teams (our of nine). It did give quite a rush at the end. I hope the upcoming episodes will be filled with as much suspense as this was. I think the editors are getting better at keeping in the suspense. The host, on the other hand, does not.

In order of their arrivals at the….. *long pause* …… pitstop :

*fuck you Allen Woo for making the end a lot less enjoyable*

1. Joe Jer & Zabrina (JZ)

OMFG these two girls had me at the edge of my seat. I kept telling myself, no they’re not gonna quit they’re not gonna quit. But they did Joe Jer really reminds me a lot of what-supposed-to-have-been my Amazing Race partner (who I described as being the Asian Lucy Lawless in the application form). She doesn’t say much, but she’s determined, more calm and collective, and doesn’t mind the verbal abuse that I throw at her every microsecond (oh wait, that doesn’t apply to Joe Jer). Anyway, sure they fucked up the lame digging challenge, but I don’t really blame them. They did amazing on the rest of the leg. I had no fucking idea they would come in first at the pitstop cause it seemed they were lagging behind a couple of teams during the challenges (they even managed to outrun the Sri Lankans). One thing I have noticed though, this team have always chosen the best detour option. Let’s hope they will keep this up all throughout the race. You go, girls! <3 <3

2. Sri Lankans

Yeah yeah yeah, I’ve decided to call them Team Sri Lanka instead of Team Gay cause some people might find it offensive (touchy pricks). Anyway, they seem to do rather well so far. Without all the excessive drama queen nonsense, I’m actually starting to think that this team would go quite far indeed.

3. Muscles

Man, does this guy smile the frickin time?? It must’ve been very disappointing for the guy to watch all the other teams finish the digging challenge before them, cause he really was the Ox. They did really well this leg of the race, so much better than the last leg. The other teams may need to watch out for this team. Once they gain their momentum, I don’t think they will ever stop.

4. M&Ms

Okay, so they were kinda the ‘underdogs’ at first. Endearing folks that beats the odds despite being non-athletic but man, stop it already. The whole world knows that you’re both big and fat and that ‘your body is not designed for this challenge’ bla bla bla. Being humble is one thing, but their constant whining about their own physical self has simply gone down as self-deprecating, and personally I do not care for these kind of people. There’s a big difference between making humourous reference & being able to laugh at yourself, and just whining about your shortcomings. Sorry but I cannot root for teams with this kind of attitude. They bring me down. If you don’t think you deserve to be in the race, you simply don’t.

5. One Night Standers

Cheeky bastards. I knew there was a reason that I like this team. Though I’m not really gonna call them smart, I will however say that they are at least thinking strategy in this game. And that I like. I really like. They came up with the suggestion to take the 4 hour penalty and 4 other teams caved in and took that idea. And the previews next week looks good too. They are proving to be the conniving and manipulative team that I keep looking forward to in a race like this. Love ‘em.

6. Malanoys

It was hard to see Andrew pushing Syeon to dig and dig and dig through this challenge, but what else can he do? Okay, he can actually sit by the sidelines and shut the fuck up, but I don’t think he was aggravating his partner that much. He was just frustrated that he didn’t do the challenge instead, which was understandable. If anything, they are being way too nice. The whole scene about them ’stealing’ the cab from the models? Well, if it was me, I’d probably go “Screw you guys. It’s not our fault you didn’t give a name when you booked the taxi.” But that just the rude, obnoxious asshole in me talking. Seriously though, I would’ve made some phone calls and called the other teams taxis on their behalf. I would sooo make a good villain. Anyway, I’m kinda surprised this team hasn’t lived up to my expectations. Here’s hoping they’ll kick some ass soon.

7. Singaporeans

Meow! What was the whole drama at the airport all about? Who was the guy pushing them at the counter. I wish the cameras were actually there to capture the whole scene. It would’ve made a much more interesting scene than watching teams dig senselessly for hours on end at the beach. Anyway, major kudos to the Singaporean team for not giving up. Their perseverence was amazing and I’m actually glad their hard work paid off. One thing I wish they didn’t do was to take their own sweet time at the monkey place. I know you have a 4 hour lead on the other 5 teams, but you should never ever take things for granted in this race. If you already have the advantage, go for more. You don’t want to end up like the Guidos.

8. Models

Is it just me, or did one of them say this in one of their confessionals : “We’ve come into the game with a lot of girth.” Girth? Ooookay. Interesting choice of words. I’m still not really loving this team. They seem smarmy, and very dumb jock-ish to me. Meh. Boring. They lost a lot of ground this round, and they can’t use the Fast Forward anymore. We’ll see how it goes.

9. Perky Bitches

Yay. Well, you can tell that they’re not really in this show to either win the money, or get new experiences or some other shit, other than the fact that they are out there for the media whoredom. I will slice off my left nut and serve it on a bed of caviar if they went on to the show for reasons other than that. I am so glad they are gone.

Here are the moderated placings after the 4 hour penalty has been incurred :

1. Sri Lankans
2. Muscles
3. Singaporeans
4. Models
5. JZ (Joe Jer & Zabrina)
6. M & Ms
7. ONSers
8. Malanoys
9. Perky Bitches
Now, the question that I have in mind is whether the 4 hour penalty will be carried over into the next leg of the race (ie. if they will leave 4 hours later).. but even if they do, they might have a chance to catch up since we KNOW all the teams will head out on the same Air Asia flights. Can’t wait for next week (for the penultimate episode of TAR10!)