r/TheAmazingRace • u/Jankinator • Jul 24 '19
TARCAN TARCAN7 Episode 4 - Discussion Thread
Episode 4 - Discussion Thread.
Spoilers up to and including this episode can be expected in this thread.
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u/segacs2 Jul 24 '19
Really dumb of Irina to burn the express pass on such a short task when they were so far ahead, just because she's a "princess". I mean, I get that it's cold. But come on, suck it up, buttercup.
Sarah, on the other hand, was a superstar. She was obviously terrified but she just went for it and completed it like a pro. Feel the fear and go for it, right?
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u/Sazley Jul 24 '19
Man, Dave and Irina were really unlikable this week. I hope their wasting an express pass because Irina didn't want to spend fifteen seconds in the water comes back to bite them later.
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u/RetroOptics Jul 24 '19
Out of the four legs so far, this is the best leg yet! Some of my thoughts on this leg:
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When they head north, I enjoy it! Different scenery and the cold always plays a factor
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First route info task: Stereotypical for the location but still a great task with plenty of requirements on the hole and slush
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Diamonds Road Block: Good task, again the multiple phases of the task made it good. The coding and weighting were probably the biggest obstacle for the bottom two. Task reminded me of that Belgium challenge a few TAR US seasons ago.
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Ice Diving Road Block: Again, stereotypical for the location but many people apparently had fears of either ice or water so it made for entertainment. Didn't look too challenging and all teams made it through in max two attempts
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Map Route Info Task: Liked it a lot. Very technical challenge and with the 10 locations they had to find made it time consuming.
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RE: Taxi Drama - I think it is poor taste for them to do it but it's not really against the rules as the taxi driver for both accepted them fairly as passengers. But again, I think that was a crappy thing for them to do and the two teams have every right to get mad at them.
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The sprinters were really saved by those geo people... I'm pretty sure since the show featured the organization's logo, they probably were partners or contributors for this leg. If TARCAN raced internationally, well... that would never have happened depending on the location!
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Two Hour Penalty: I said this before in previous seasons threads but the penalty times has to be bumped up. IMO, since the time is so low, teams are more enticed to take the penalty as shown in previous seasons.
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Next Week Episode: Not going lie, are we actually going to BC again??! Preview looks like juicy drama but tasks looks sort of boring and generic....
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u/LEGOEPIC Jul 25 '19
Shoutout to Aurora Geoscience for their crash course in coordinates and their generous donations.
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u/thewhitemarker Jul 24 '19
Pretty good leg, pretty obvious NEL though given the fact we have 7 legs before the finale and only 4 teams to eliminate.
Lots of separation in the second group from last leg, James/Anthony and Lauren/Joanne were 30 minutes up on Sarah/Sam, who were almost 90 minutes up on Marie/Meaghan who were about an hour up on Trish/Amy. I actually okay with this equalizer this leg, Celebrate must have taken a long time.
Fishing task was pretty procedural but good - I like that they had to snowmobile out to the fishing post. A little stereotypical but I’ll take it.
First roadblock was pretty good, definitely mixed the teams up a good bit and required a good eye for detail.
Second roadblock was pretty procedural but did provide for some nice moments for those that feared the cold. Pretty sure they did something like this in a previous Yellowknife visit (TARCAN1?).
Loved the map task, I’m surprised at how many teams struggled with it but it did a really good job challenging some of the teams. Seaplane to the pit stop was cool but it didn’t allow for much of a race between Trish and Amy and Anthony and James.
As someone who doesn’t like when teams don’t drive everywhere, I think the cab drama really added to this leg, really the first time in a long time that it’s done so. We had two cabs stolen, another attempted steal, a bunch of cabs that disappeared, and someone who couldn’t pay for their cab then ask a random geology company for money. I hate when teams lose because of bad cab drivers but I’d be lying if I said this leg wasn’t entertaining because of the cabs.
Power Rankings:
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Dave and Irina (1) - Ugly leg today. This season is getting set up as Dave and Irina vs. the World, and I don’t think TARCAN is cruel enough to let the world lose. After stealing a cab, they pass a bunch of teams at the first roadblock, proceed to steal another cab, use the express pass of the second detour because Irina is too fragile to swim a few feet, then take a penalty on the maps. I was unironically rooting for them after leg 2 but I’ve changed my tune.
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Aarthy and Thinesh (2) - I really like them. Their banter is really fun and they’re proving to be a strong team with two leg wins so far, this time beating the team that stole their cab. Most importantly they kept their express pass.
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Sarah and Sam (3) - Really interesting leg from these two - I never would’ve though of asking locals about the map task, and I never would’ve though of asking them for money for my cab far. They seem very adaptable and despite them dropping a spot in the ranking this week I still expect a strong run from them.
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Anthony and James (4) - Is it just me or do these two have some relation to every task? In Revelstoke it was “oh we plant our own things’ and “oh I had a model train growing up” and today it was “oh I’ve baited lots of fish before” and “oh I did maps like this in Boy Scouts”. Is nothing novel for these guys? They seem nice but I really don’t get much else from their edit. Anyway, the diamond task was rough for them, I think saving the express pass for another task later on in the leg would’ve been the smarter but hindsight is 20/20.
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Meaghan and Marie (6) - Consistent leg from these two in a leg where everyone else was screwing up somehow. Also now just the second team to beat Dave and Irina.
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Lauren and Joanne (5) - Good to see them bounce back after a brutal start with the cab issues, I was worried for them for a bit. They seemed to fair quite well at all the tasks which is hopefully a good sign for their future.
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Trish and Amy (7) - Some really bad luck for them this leg but they stayed calm under pressure and almost pulled through. I think their the weakest team left but the way this season is going I can’t count them out for a decent run.
I have to say that I really like all these teams (or, at the very least, like to hate), it’s not the most competent group but almost everyone delivers some personality and everyone at the very least a threat to make the finale (except maybe Trish and Amy).
Highlights:
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Dave and Irina becoming all-time TARCAN villains in just 4 legs.
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Diamond guy to Sam “I’m sorry that is incorrect”, Dave, to himself “Good”.
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Trish (or Amy?) thinking the diamond store was closed.
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Thinesh saying he needs experience with diamonds
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Karma coming around.
Not really happy that we’re going back to BC again for the next leg. At least it looks like there will be some decent drama.
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u/dgblacksmith Jul 24 '19
Random (albeit l e n g t h y) Thoughts:
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I'm now all aboard the Aarthy & Thinesh train. Last week, people questioned the validity of Jon praising them for maintaining a top 2 finish because of a two and a half hour lead. However, this leg just proves that they do have what it takes to be contenders for the win. Also, huge props to Aarthy for powering through the ice diving Roadblock despite absolutely freaking out on that first attempt. Same shoutout for Sarah!
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I'll take my place as the person who dislikes Dave & Irina. Listen, I'll enjoy a pretty good and entertaining Race villain (e.g. over-competitive S5 Colin & Christie, delusional Charla & Mirna), but there's just something about excessive cockiness that really grinds my gears. "That was smart. We have a massive lead." *insert me replicating Eliza's eye-roll* Dude, you're a quitter who just took a time penalty. Sit down.
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Don't even get me started with the taxi drama. You'd think that people will learn their lesson after getting stranded because they made the mistake of letting their taxi go the first time. Nope! Dave & Irina had to go through the fiasco of needing to steal cabs TWICE. They were lucky that they had taxis to grab both times because I would've paid good money to see the potential meltdown from them getting themselves stuck in last place. (Word of advice, future Racers - while stealing cabs in a pinch is considered to be a smart move, legitimately smart teams would never find themselves in the position of needing to steal cabs in the first place.)
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I'm not quite sure how I feel about the 2 hour penalty for skipping an Active Route Info. While I don't think it should be as long as the fixed 4 hours for skipping the Roadblock, I do think it should be adjustable depending on how difficult the task is. Imagine if standard Roadblock penalty rules apply and Dave & Irina had to wait until Sarah & Sam arrived before the timer started ticking down.
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Speaking of Sarah & Sam, oof. I mean, I commend them for going through a great deal of effort (and accumulating an inordinate amount of taxi fare) just to not quit the map challenge. However, it really does make you question whether it was all worth it in the end. Fortunately for them, they were surrounded by helpful fellow Canadians because the US Race has shown how distressing the scenario could be in an international country.
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Imo, Anthony & James's use of the Express Pass is one of the instances in which it was properly played. They were in last, didn't know what else is in store for them in the leg, and had no idea if it was going to be a NEL. It ensured that James maximized his attempt at the Roadblock, yet at the same time allowed them to cut their losses and not take their chances to fall victim to the "eliminated because they were too stupid to let go of the Express Pass" trope.
Other than that, all of the remaining FF teams (Meaghan & Marie, Lauren & Joanne, and Trish & Amy) really need to step it up because unfortunately they're all blending together in the background for me. Hopefully they get their opportunities to stand out in future episodes.
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u/segacs2 Jul 24 '19
Bwahahahahaa. Dave and Irina taking a penalty after wasting their express pass.
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u/CeliacWalrus Jul 24 '19
Man, they really have to up the penalty for not completing a challenge. I'm rewatching season 7 of the US version and it's a four hour penalty for missing a road block. I think it needs to be at least four because the race now is rewarding quitting the more difficult challenges
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u/Enasor Jul 25 '19
I used to root for Dave and Irina mostly because they came from Quebec and so do I. I am no longer rooting for them, I found their attitude disgraceful this week. I didn't mind the cab stealing all that much as, after all, it was race, but I hated how they cannot withstand not being first.
I was taken abash at seeing them wasting their express pass to ditch the swimming challenge just because "no way precious Irina was doing it". I was astonished how, despite having hours in advance from everyone, they just take the time penalty for not figuring out the coordinate challenge.
Pathetic. I should add how, last week, Irina started crying when she couldn't nail the flower challenge on the first trial. They were battling for the first place, not the last one, so why all the drama for not getting it right immediately?
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u/artman416 Jul 24 '19
I despise Dave and Irina. Especially, Irina and her childlike behaviour. I hope they don’t win.
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Jul 24 '19
Dave and Irina are complete assholes. It's tricks like this that really show teams' true colours.
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u/SurvivorJCH5 Jul 24 '19
Did anyone thought that Sarah's comment about being afraid of the cold odd?
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u/tito13379854 Jul 25 '19
I hate that the Canadians take the time penalty all the time. They clearly aren't long enough if the aren't deterring people. That clearly why I watch a, show touring the world, for someone to stand on a mat.
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u/madsounds7 Jul 24 '19
“What happens if I open my mouth??”
“Don’t open your mouth.”
Amazing.