TAR15, legs 5 to 7
Nov. 8th, 2009 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsIn which we head to the UAE and the Netherlands.
Leg 5:
1. Next stop, the Persian Gulf and the tallest tower in the world. Turns out to be the (still under construction) Burj Dubai in (of course) Dubai, where according to father/son Gary/Matt, there isn't a recession going on :-) Anyways, everyone gets the same flight (again), and we see teams sign up to be split into two groups heading to the top at 5:30 and 5:45a. Country singers Mika/Canaan (Mika in particular) seems to be worried about the height.
2. Anyways, next morning, and each group gets to ride an elevator to the 124th floor with construction crew. It's not the top yet, but the view from up there is pretty impressive. The next clue does not entail doing something really scary there, though. It calls for them to ride back down the lifts, hit the Dubai Mall and find a car and head out to some desert conservation place. Or, take the lone Fast Forward of the race and head to the Dubai Autodrome and race a car around a track. We see the first group try to trick the 2nd group into thinking a scary task's waiting for them up at the balcony.
3. And Mika does seem genuinely worried about the height (that'll be important much later), and feels relieved that they don't have to do some jumping off. Dubai Mall, and we see lawyer/fiancee Lance/Keri split off from the rest of the group trying to find their cars, and getting lost. Serves them right. Meanwhile, we get to see Mika note that she's looking at the world's tallest building through her sunroof.
4. Desert conservation, and the teams get to take a ride in a 4x4 to the Roadblock: Who thinks they can beat the desert heat? Task involves finding clay urns with water buried in the vast desert and ladling the water to fill a bag to give to a Bedouin. And mind you, many of the urns don't have any water, either. We see former Miss America Ericka giving husband Brian the task because "chocolate melts" and next thing you know, she's wondering if he's wandering all the way to Egypt searching for water.
5. Autodrome, and the Fast Forward entails one contestant (rather than both) completing a lap in a racecar, with a lead car in front, in under 45 seconds. This is apparently very easy, since Cheyne finishes in a shade under 41s (prompting him to mention Ricky Bobby), while Meghan doesn't have to do anything, except ride in a Maserati with her partner to the pitstop, which we'll get to later, before getting a trip to Jamaica.
6. Back to the desert, where we see poker player Tiffany help Dan ladle some water for his bag because he's broken his ladle. Cute. We also see Tiffany's partner Maria accidentally drive their car over a stake, springing a leak in the radiator. Whoops! While they're waiting for their replacement car with Dan and his brother Sam, we see Globetrotter Big Easy (from New Orleans, so expect a lot of Katrina stories from him) quip about running towards water when he's used to running away from it :-)
7. While Lance/Keri, having gotten lost not only while trying to find the car, but also while driving to the desert conservation place, are only now just reaching the Roadblock, we head to Ski Dubai for a Detour: Build a snowman in the blistering heat, or sled down and find a tiny snowman figure in a snowpile. We're reminded about the radical temperature difference (28 vs. 120F)...
8. as we head back to the desert conservation place, where we see Lance take out his frustration on an empty urn. SMASH!! We see him upending another urn and spilling its water after he's filled his bag, before bitterly giving it to the nomads. Bitter much?
9. Ski Dubai, where we see Miss America and spouse find a snowman and show it to the other teams. Many of them eventually end up switching to the building task, and with good reason. Hilariously, we see the brothers decide to abandon the search, and almost immediately afterwards, we see the Globetrotters get one. I should note that outside, the snow doesn't melt as quickly as one might expect, making the task of building a full-sized snowman easier than it sounds.
10. Pitstop at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, and we see the Globetrotters checking in to The Nutcracker, and the poker players playing "Pick a Number" with Phil (they correctly guess they're in 6th). We see Lance building his snowman and threatening to kick it, before checking in and getting eliminated. You won't exactly be missed much.
Leg 6:
1. Local leg this week, beginning with a Roadblock, in which a contestant paddles a boat across a bit of water (yes, someone sings "Row, Row, Row Your Boat") before getting a suitcase and a watch. The time on the watch (8:35) is the combination for the suitcase and the next clue. Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well, the Globetrotters end up overthinking it and try 872 (short hand at the 8, long hand at the 7, 2 in the date window) for a LONG time before wisening up (at one point, they joke about Lance/Keri showing up). Ouch. This prompts them to say something about embarassing the 'hood.
2. Next stop, the Detour: Unpack and assemble hookahs, or weigh gold... with a changing exchange rate. We see Brian/Ericka do long division on paper, which is beyond inadequate when you're dealing with a constantly changing rate, before eventually switching to the hookahs. The hookahs aren't exactly easy either: The judges are VERY strict about the checking, and reject things like having the wrong-colored hose and not using the disk thingies included with the hookahs. We see Gary/Matt make fun of the hay used to pack the hookahs, and Matt make a reference to smoking weed.
3. Sam/Dan have brought a calculator to the gold task. And somehow they end up having to rely on Maria/Tiffany to finish the task. The Globetrotters started with hookahs, but decide to switch on the logic that it must have taken so long if B/E were two hours ahead. They don't have a calculator, but unlike Miss America, they borrow one and get it done, prompting them to say something about how people think that old athletes can't do math. Well, you did need a calculator to get it done, so...
4. Next task is to ride an almost-vertical water slide called the Leap of Faith through a tank of sharks (actually, more like a plexiglas tube running through a tank of sharks, but anyway) before checking in at the pitstop. Megan/Cheyne take the plunge, the leg, some personal watercrafts... and a nice dip in the ocean.
5. You want irony? Mika/Canaan, besides being country singers, are also devout Christians. But heading into the Leap of Faith, we're shown flashbacks to Vietnam and the Burj showing Mika being afraid of water and heights. Sure enough, we see Mika, floaties and all, throw a big time temper tantrum with Canaan trying to make her go, by yelling at her. This incident has been compared to no less than Jonathan Baker shoving his wife. It takes so long, the Globetrotters catch up and heckle Mika, eventually resulting in Mika/Canaan getting out of the way, before getting eliminated. Talk about humiliating.
Leg 7:
1. Next stop, the Netherlands. But first, Sam/Dan coming out as the token gay team at the airport... prompting Gary to considering telling everyone that Matt is adopted ;-) Anyways, everyone drives (with B/E needing a little help to get into gear) to a statue on a polder, with a clue sending them to the Martinitoren in Groningen. We see Sam/Dan joke about the "Martini" part of the name :-) And in another amusing editing moment, we see the Globetrotters mocking Ericka yelling at Brian... before we see Ericka yelling at Brian :-)
2. Roadblock at the Martinitoren: Who has strong legs and keen eyesight? It involves climbing the tower counting the bells inside the tower, with said bells occasionally playing rather distracting music. Count me as one of the many viewers who thought Meghan and Cheyne were doing it together. In fact one of the brothers is doing it with Meghan. (Double entendre not intended.) Anyways, while everyone else gets the number right on the first try (and we see a brother giving Tiffany the number), Ericka ends up getting the number wrong again and again and again. Ouch.
3. While Miss America's busy counting and re-counting bells, everyone else's in another town dressing up as farmers and biking to either one of two detours: Dancing or golfing. Golfing involves swimming across a canal before finishing three holes of golf, well, a Dutch-farmer-themed facsimile thereof, anyway, in 8 strokes or less per hole. Dancing involves ringing a high striker, learning a dance, and eating herring.
4. Gary/Matt decide to switch tasks after they find out they'll have to eat herring, and they won't be the only team stymied by the non-dancing portions of this detour. Miss America has finally finished the Roadblock and made it to the other town, and someone she and Brian miss the bikes they're supposed to use altogether. Ouch again.
5. Ericka was worried that she'd get eliminated over bells... but Maria/Tiffany are having problems with a different bell, the one at the high striker, since after 30 attempts to hit it (more like 15 since Maria isn't exactly trying), they switch to the golf.
6. Globetrotters do the dancing (the score briefly mixes in some hiphop beats over the traditional music :-)), and though they do seem a bit disgusted at eating herring, they go along with it, prompting Flight Time to do a little camera mugging about the dancing :-) And it turns out Maria/Tiffany can't do golf either, not in these hard winds anyway.
7. Pitstop at a pier, Sam/Dan take the leg and get sandbuggies, while the Globetrotters' outfits prompt Phil to say "You look ridiculous" before giving them 3rd place. We see M/T trying the high striker again and getting up to at least 70 attempts in total (that's 35 per person) before breaking down in tears (with a nice spin shot of them hugging) and heading back to the golf.
8. Brian/Ericka end up having to borrow a pair of bikes to get to the pitstop after completing the dance, and they end up getting hit with a 30-minute penalty for not biking to the detour... which ends up being a minor snag, considering M/T's hopelessness at golfing in these hard winds. Sure enough, B/E check in, and we see Phil come to the field, to eliminate M/T like when he did the same to Lena and Kristy in a Swedish haybale field. I only bring this up because of where they're heading next: that very same field for that very same task. And yes, it's deliberate: Pre-race PR hyped up a return to one of the most infamous Roadblocks in TAR history, and the haybales are certainly infamous, if only because of how long Lena spent rolling them.
Leg 5:
1. Next stop, the Persian Gulf and the tallest tower in the world. Turns out to be the (still under construction) Burj Dubai in (of course) Dubai, where according to father/son Gary/Matt, there isn't a recession going on :-) Anyways, everyone gets the same flight (again), and we see teams sign up to be split into two groups heading to the top at 5:30 and 5:45a. Country singers Mika/Canaan (Mika in particular) seems to be worried about the height.
2. Anyways, next morning, and each group gets to ride an elevator to the 124th floor with construction crew. It's not the top yet, but the view from up there is pretty impressive. The next clue does not entail doing something really scary there, though. It calls for them to ride back down the lifts, hit the Dubai Mall and find a car and head out to some desert conservation place. Or, take the lone Fast Forward of the race and head to the Dubai Autodrome and race a car around a track. We see the first group try to trick the 2nd group into thinking a scary task's waiting for them up at the balcony.
3. And Mika does seem genuinely worried about the height (that'll be important much later), and feels relieved that they don't have to do some jumping off. Dubai Mall, and we see lawyer/fiancee Lance/Keri split off from the rest of the group trying to find their cars, and getting lost. Serves them right. Meanwhile, we get to see Mika note that she's looking at the world's tallest building through her sunroof.
4. Desert conservation, and the teams get to take a ride in a 4x4 to the Roadblock: Who thinks they can beat the desert heat? Task involves finding clay urns with water buried in the vast desert and ladling the water to fill a bag to give to a Bedouin. And mind you, many of the urns don't have any water, either. We see former Miss America Ericka giving husband Brian the task because "chocolate melts" and next thing you know, she's wondering if he's wandering all the way to Egypt searching for water.
5. Autodrome, and the Fast Forward entails one contestant (rather than both) completing a lap in a racecar, with a lead car in front, in under 45 seconds. This is apparently very easy, since Cheyne finishes in a shade under 41s (prompting him to mention Ricky Bobby), while Meghan doesn't have to do anything, except ride in a Maserati with her partner to the pitstop, which we'll get to later, before getting a trip to Jamaica.
6. Back to the desert, where we see poker player Tiffany help Dan ladle some water for his bag because he's broken his ladle. Cute. We also see Tiffany's partner Maria accidentally drive their car over a stake, springing a leak in the radiator. Whoops! While they're waiting for their replacement car with Dan and his brother Sam, we see Globetrotter Big Easy (from New Orleans, so expect a lot of Katrina stories from him) quip about running towards water when he's used to running away from it :-)
7. While Lance/Keri, having gotten lost not only while trying to find the car, but also while driving to the desert conservation place, are only now just reaching the Roadblock, we head to Ski Dubai for a Detour: Build a snowman in the blistering heat, or sled down and find a tiny snowman figure in a snowpile. We're reminded about the radical temperature difference (28 vs. 120F)...
8. as we head back to the desert conservation place, where we see Lance take out his frustration on an empty urn. SMASH!! We see him upending another urn and spilling its water after he's filled his bag, before bitterly giving it to the nomads. Bitter much?
9. Ski Dubai, where we see Miss America and spouse find a snowman and show it to the other teams. Many of them eventually end up switching to the building task, and with good reason. Hilariously, we see the brothers decide to abandon the search, and almost immediately afterwards, we see the Globetrotters get one. I should note that outside, the snow doesn't melt as quickly as one might expect, making the task of building a full-sized snowman easier than it sounds.
10. Pitstop at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, and we see the Globetrotters checking in to The Nutcracker, and the poker players playing "Pick a Number" with Phil (they correctly guess they're in 6th). We see Lance building his snowman and threatening to kick it, before checking in and getting eliminated. You won't exactly be missed much.
Leg 6:
1. Local leg this week, beginning with a Roadblock, in which a contestant paddles a boat across a bit of water (yes, someone sings "Row, Row, Row Your Boat") before getting a suitcase and a watch. The time on the watch (8:35) is the combination for the suitcase and the next clue. Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well, the Globetrotters end up overthinking it and try 872 (short hand at the 8, long hand at the 7, 2 in the date window) for a LONG time before wisening up (at one point, they joke about Lance/Keri showing up). Ouch. This prompts them to say something about embarassing the 'hood.
2. Next stop, the Detour: Unpack and assemble hookahs, or weigh gold... with a changing exchange rate. We see Brian/Ericka do long division on paper, which is beyond inadequate when you're dealing with a constantly changing rate, before eventually switching to the hookahs. The hookahs aren't exactly easy either: The judges are VERY strict about the checking, and reject things like having the wrong-colored hose and not using the disk thingies included with the hookahs. We see Gary/Matt make fun of the hay used to pack the hookahs, and Matt make a reference to smoking weed.
3. Sam/Dan have brought a calculator to the gold task. And somehow they end up having to rely on Maria/Tiffany to finish the task. The Globetrotters started with hookahs, but decide to switch on the logic that it must have taken so long if B/E were two hours ahead. They don't have a calculator, but unlike Miss America, they borrow one and get it done, prompting them to say something about how people think that old athletes can't do math. Well, you did need a calculator to get it done, so...
4. Next task is to ride an almost-vertical water slide called the Leap of Faith through a tank of sharks (actually, more like a plexiglas tube running through a tank of sharks, but anyway) before checking in at the pitstop. Megan/Cheyne take the plunge, the leg, some personal watercrafts... and a nice dip in the ocean.
5. You want irony? Mika/Canaan, besides being country singers, are also devout Christians. But heading into the Leap of Faith, we're shown flashbacks to Vietnam and the Burj showing Mika being afraid of water and heights. Sure enough, we see Mika, floaties and all, throw a big time temper tantrum with Canaan trying to make her go, by yelling at her. This incident has been compared to no less than Jonathan Baker shoving his wife. It takes so long, the Globetrotters catch up and heckle Mika, eventually resulting in Mika/Canaan getting out of the way, before getting eliminated. Talk about humiliating.
Leg 7:
1. Next stop, the Netherlands. But first, Sam/Dan coming out as the token gay team at the airport... prompting Gary to considering telling everyone that Matt is adopted ;-) Anyways, everyone drives (with B/E needing a little help to get into gear) to a statue on a polder, with a clue sending them to the Martinitoren in Groningen. We see Sam/Dan joke about the "Martini" part of the name :-) And in another amusing editing moment, we see the Globetrotters mocking Ericka yelling at Brian... before we see Ericka yelling at Brian :-)
2. Roadblock at the Martinitoren: Who has strong legs and keen eyesight? It involves climbing the tower counting the bells inside the tower, with said bells occasionally playing rather distracting music. Count me as one of the many viewers who thought Meghan and Cheyne were doing it together. In fact one of the brothers is doing it with Meghan. (Double entendre not intended.) Anyways, while everyone else gets the number right on the first try (and we see a brother giving Tiffany the number), Ericka ends up getting the number wrong again and again and again. Ouch.
3. While Miss America's busy counting and re-counting bells, everyone else's in another town dressing up as farmers and biking to either one of two detours: Dancing or golfing. Golfing involves swimming across a canal before finishing three holes of golf, well, a Dutch-farmer-themed facsimile thereof, anyway, in 8 strokes or less per hole. Dancing involves ringing a high striker, learning a dance, and eating herring.
4. Gary/Matt decide to switch tasks after they find out they'll have to eat herring, and they won't be the only team stymied by the non-dancing portions of this detour. Miss America has finally finished the Roadblock and made it to the other town, and someone she and Brian miss the bikes they're supposed to use altogether. Ouch again.
5. Ericka was worried that she'd get eliminated over bells... but Maria/Tiffany are having problems with a different bell, the one at the high striker, since after 30 attempts to hit it (more like 15 since Maria isn't exactly trying), they switch to the golf.
6. Globetrotters do the dancing (the score briefly mixes in some hiphop beats over the traditional music :-)), and though they do seem a bit disgusted at eating herring, they go along with it, prompting Flight Time to do a little camera mugging about the dancing :-) And it turns out Maria/Tiffany can't do golf either, not in these hard winds anyway.
7. Pitstop at a pier, Sam/Dan take the leg and get sandbuggies, while the Globetrotters' outfits prompt Phil to say "You look ridiculous" before giving them 3rd place. We see M/T trying the high striker again and getting up to at least 70 attempts in total (that's 35 per person) before breaking down in tears (with a nice spin shot of them hugging) and heading back to the golf.
8. Brian/Ericka end up having to borrow a pair of bikes to get to the pitstop after completing the dance, and they end up getting hit with a 30-minute penalty for not biking to the detour... which ends up being a minor snag, considering M/T's hopelessness at golfing in these hard winds. Sure enough, B/E check in, and we see Phil come to the field, to eliminate M/T like when he did the same to Lena and Kristy in a Swedish haybale field. I only bring this up because of where they're heading next: that very same field for that very same task. And yes, it's deliberate: Pre-race PR hyped up a return to one of the most infamous Roadblocks in TAR history, and the haybales are certainly infamous, if only because of how long Lena spent rolling them.
