Ep 2 (June 5)- "It Doesn't Say Anything About First Come, First Served. And We're Bigger."
TV ClubHouse: ARCHIVES: The Amazing Race IV (ARCHIVE):
General Discussions:
Ep 2 (June 5)- "It Doesn't Say Anything About First Come, First Served. And We're Bigger."
Beachcomber88 | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 12:00 pm     Loved this episode, and loved even more how it was set in Venice. So beautiful. Felt bad for the NFLwives that it took them so long to do the masks. I would have been like the one girl (Millie?) who just stopped them and held the mask still. It seemed like it would be much harder to do if they kept moving around. I thought it was another waste of the Fast Forward. IMO, the FF should only be used if you're way behind and about to get eliminated. The Airport guys used it seemingly to gain a time advantage over the others. We all know that they'll get bunched up again several times over during the race, so eventually there advantage will be gone. |
Neetka | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 12:52 pm     I agree with Beachcomber about the masks, although I thought it should have been done with a lot more class than Millie showed - I cringed when she just grabbed that one guy by the chin and held him while she looked at the picture, then pushed the mask away with a muttered 'not you' and left. Talk about objectifying the person behind the mask! At first I agreed about a wasted FF, but when I thought about it a bit I don't think it was that much of a mistake. Steve and Dave are both hurting, they probably realize they don't have a good chance to win this race, so why not take the FF and get off their feet? It gives them more time to heal up (they got to the boat in what looked like early afternoon), it gives them at least one more day to enjoy the experience, and you never know, they might feel so much better by the next day that they can 'keep up with the kids'. |
Hereiam | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 04:59 pm     I thought it was an ok use of the FF. Given physical shape the guys were in and that all the other teams spent at least a few hours waiting for the mask place to open and then to do the task. I figure it gave the guys maybe a three hour time advantage or perhaps more. Not, that I think it will matter too much since they will probably all get bunched up again somewhere. I am not a huge fan of the bunching up. I would like to see wise play rewarded with a break away move. Might not make good tv though. |
Kitt | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:28 pm     That bunching up annoyed me so much!! The first was ok, especially as they could use one of two stations, but the second one at the party was just wrong, imho! It is especially annoying as the task they had to do was just before the pit stop, they could have led the race all day, then had trouble with that one thing and been eliminated. You'd have thought the producers would have tried to reduce the catch-up points after all our complaints last year, not make it worse. Perhaps this was filmed before the last season was shown. Sorry, just needed a moan about it!! |
Not1worry | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:34 pm     I agree Kitt, that last bunch up at the party was a bit annoying. If the pit stop had been further away, it wouldn't have been so bad. Basically all the tasks were rather short. Finding the route marker, whether they walked or took the gondola, didn't take more than probably 30-45 minutes. I don't mind when 4-5 teams get bunched up, but for all 11? That was also the easiest and dumbest Fast Forward task ever. The Fast Forward ought to be something a little more challenging. Remember the searching through all the carpets? Eating all the cheese was one, wasn't it? |
Wendo | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:50 pm     It seems to me that the challenges get more and more difficult as time goes on, based on earlier AR's. I think we'll see challenges increase in difficulty as the race progresses. |
Ladytex | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 06:14 pm     I was one of the biggest complainers last year of the bunching and I sense that I will be singing the same song, different verse this version. That was totally ridiculous that the very last team to make it to the party point was the first one to make it to the ship, not counting FF. I do understand the guys use of the FF, their legs were bothering them and they sensed that there would be alot of walking or running around. |
Seamonkey | Friday, June 06, 2003 - 07:49 pm     I think the FF made sense for them. I have bad knees, so I empathize. I don't mind the bunching, or, at least, I have come to accept that as part of TAR and not worth fretting about. The first people probably should have just stuck by that door and then they'd have been first into that challenge. Oh well.. I do wonder if anyone will be bungee-jumping in a way that they aren't strapped to the ankles? I know in my case that would be devastating to the knees, especially the one missing the ACL and having the torn meniscus. |
Azlen | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 03:03 am     I am sure bunching is done for production and logistical purposes. Without it, the teams could just get to spread out and would make things much, much more difficult to arrange and schedule. I remember hearing during one season that everyone had to stay at a pitstop for 48 hours rather than 24 because the last place team still hadn't arrived. It could also remove much of the drama of the show if one team raced days ahead of everyone else. At this point I just accept it as part of AR and am dumbfounded at times when teams don't seem to realize its going to happen. The whole strategy early on should be to just not be in last place, knowing full well that you are going to catch up with everyone at a bunching spot at some point. |
Hermione69 | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 09:14 am     Bunching up doesn't bother me. I think it is good to level the playing field again. A few people have commented that it is not fair because a team could be leading by far all the way to the bunch-up point and then have one bad showing and get eliminated, but the reverse is true as well. What if one team did really poorly on the very first leg and lost all kinds of time, and kicked butt the rest of the way but could never catch up because of that one first leg? Bunching up keeps the tension going and keeps people on their toes. MHO, FWIW. |
Lurknomore | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 10:40 am     I agree that some bunching up helps balance it out and is especially effective if a team you like is oh, say, in last place. But for it to happen multiple times each episode makes me wonder why anyone is still running? LOL Seriously. Why race and beat all the other teams if you know that at least once or twice before the elmination the field will be equalized and all that strategizing and running meant NOTHING. I totally agree from a production point of view it makes it a lot easier to film, produce etc. However they should then use the time apart as more crucial. Otherwise what is beginning to happen will only get worse...we'll all be laughing at what teams go through to gain a lead realizing it was all futile in the end. |
Whoami | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 11:33 am     Lurknomore said, "Why race and beat all the other teams if you know that at least once or twice before the elmination the field will be equalized and all that strategizing and running meant NOTHING." Good point, but what if the evil producers are hoping someone will get lax just for this reason, and then NOT have a bunching happen? That would be fun to watch some over-confident schmo say, "Awww, save your energy. We don't need to run to this Roadblock. We're all going to just get bunched up there anyway." Only to arrive and find all the teams already done with the Roadblock and gone. |
Pottedplant | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 12:59 pm     Flo from last season proves the points above, that it doesn't matter wher you are, as long as you ar e not eliminated. She definetly was not hustling, the last few legs of the race. Some bunching is needed...but ther was too much of it for me in the last episode. |
Lurknomore | Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 06:01 pm     yeah but Whoami, as a producer I would think long and hard about applying a strategy that makes a game significantly more boring for the hopes it might work ONCE. Because if this happened one single time then that would be the end of it...no one would let their guard down again. Now how interesting would that one time be compared to the overall impact on the game? Not very IMHO. And I agree with pottedplant...some bunching is needed...but not each and every point in the game (aka several times per espisode) or it just plain makes the racing aspect futile. And that is the premise of this game. |
Crazydog | Monday, June 09, 2003 - 09:04 am     I've been to Venice and I loved seeing St. Mark's Square and some of the other sights I've been to. It's always a kick to see somewhere you've been show up on TAR! Bunching may be annoying, but it is an integral part of the show. The producers had their pants scared off them during the first season of TAR when Frank and Margarita took the fast forward by paddling a boat around an Italian castle and winded up with a 13 hour lead when they arrived in India. Only the fact that they arrived just a few hours too late to visit the Taj Mahal prevented them from getting a full day ahead of all of the other teams. Ever since, the producers have made it very difficult for a team to gain such a large advantage. It would be really boring if some team used a FF and got lucky and ran out the rest of the race way out in front. I liked the Venice Fast Forward because it involved aspects of culture native to the area they were in. I disagree that it was the dumbest and easiest FF - there have been some Fast Forwards that were truly stupid, like Rob and Brennan walking down by the river in Africa, Chris and Alex eating a meat pie, etc. Not sorry to see Chris and Amanda go. They reminded me too much of Paul and Amie from the first season. Can't stand Josh. I want them to leave next! |
Calamity | Monday, June 09, 2003 - 10:33 am     I couldn't help thinking about the break period at the pit stop and wondering how much rest my overactive imagination would allow me after that masquerade challenge. That was a nightmarish scene right out of an Edgar Allen Poe story, lol! It was a very clever roadblock though. About the bunching: never underestimate the power of stupidity or bad luck. Every season has seen its share of teams screw up or suffer some sort of mishap that throws them off the pace even if there was a chance for equalization. Oh, and I hope everyone watching TAR for the first time gives it another chance or three before giving up. It is confusing when there so many teams and you don't yet recognize everyone, but as teams are eliminated it gets much easier to follow. |
|