Amazing Race Australia in Tasmania

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1. So it’s a trip through the Tasmanian countryside, and a visit to a gorgeous valley outside of Launceston, that finally sees the Footy Girls eliminated.

   They had a rough leg, too. They started the episode in first place, but got caught in a traffic jam (that the rest of the teams were able to avoid) and ended up at the Tassie Devil challenge in third place.

   That allowed the Sikhs to U-turn the girls, and between that and some terrible directions from a Launceston local (who seemed to take them to the wrong side of the city)? Their fate was sealed.

   I liked the Footy Girls. They were strong, competent and capable. Indeed, they were probably too strong, because the Sikhs — rightly — said that they were such a threat to everybody, there was no choice but to try and knock them out. It was a shame to see them go … but, still. They were the Stowaways, which is a terrible idea for the Amazing Race, and if they were going to be cast, they should’ve been there from the very beginning. I’m sad that they got eliminated, but I’m also not sad.

   The Wolfman and the Princess’s sabotage didn’t seem very debilitating, but they managed to survive (although the Princess was quite hysterical for most of the episode. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that everybody else is keeping their distance).

   Next episode features an egg-eating challenge, and it looks like the Wolfman is in trouble. There is a precedent for this. There have been vegan teams on the show, before, and when they encounter a meat-eating challenge, they’ve forced themselves to go through with it.

   Anyway. Five teams left. The cheerleaders. The Sikhs. The cowboys. The siblings, and the Wolfman and Princess. I’m leaning away from Wolfman and Princess, but I’d be perfectly happy with the rest of them winning.

2. While I had nothing against the girls I was glad to see them go. I’m glad neither of the ‘intruders’ are left. I do feel for them though. I read min a magazine that neither of them realised they were joining part way through. They thought they were starting with everyone else so it was kind of unfair to them too. Note to Producers. If you insist on having ‘intruders’ on this show make it scrawny weak people NOT physically fit athletes. Having all the teams gang up on Chris & Aleisha makes me root for them to win. One of the teams said they would help them if they knew they would help them. Was there an incident early on where Chris & Aleisha didn’t help another team? I can’t recall. I remember the Gold Coast girls didn’t help Sefa when she couldn’t get on that pontoon & Sky blue got the knife for her. She said at the time that the girls never help anyone.

3. Due to the dearth of anything on last night, I got to watch the episode live for a change. I am still fuming about the major fault last night, which you don’t mention, WS, being the totally inappropriate “salvage”. This was the worst one yet, allowing them to only do half of each challenge, and guaranteed the farmers would be in no danger despite their last place finish. They were only last because of Princess et al refusing at the intersection, yet they still would have been second last anyway. So unfair, unaustralian indeed, to give them such a huge advantage last night whereas the “sabotage” with the balloon was trivial.

   I was very sad to see the girls go, but I suspected throughout the show that this was it. The promos had already showed Aleisha pleasantly shocked that they weren’t last, so it had to be someone else. I’d like to think that the “helpful” P-plater was just clueless but can’t dismiss the possibility that they wanted to make mischief.

   How much more help can Skye and Jake get? Have they smooched up to the others so much that all the others are falling over themselves to save them? Approaching the traffic jam “oh look, the Sikhs are exiting, they must know what they are doing, let’s follow them even though we haven’t found an alternative route ourselves”. And then carrying the cheese, the Sikhs decide to give them the answer. Do they feel sorry for Skye, assuming she can’t keep up (not at all true!), or are they being gentlemanly in general (or stupid, if you think tactically) or acting with the loose alliance? I don’t know, but I wish it would just stop. Sometimes it is the other teams consciously helping, and sometimes it is S&J copying/following.

   Two quibbles last night with the Race format. The tassie devil challenge was poorly designed. You couldn’t fail at it, or even be delayed by an error, and it had to be done one at a time in sequence. So there was no chance for any team to get ahead or lose place depending on their skill or speed. Secondly, it s a Race no-no to have the pitstop immediately following a u-turn. Teams who are u-turned must always have another challenge to try to make up the time. And, of course, like the first u-turn, there was the rule that the first team there was required to u-turn, instead of a choice. That just doesn’t make sense.

   The final promo hinted at a four-team finale again. I really hope not. At the moment the “alliance” are assuming four teams. It would be really fun if it was a three-team, and they suddenly realised that they had to cannabalise someone.

4. For a second, I was afraid that it was an elimination leg, but no, the Sikhs are saved by a non-elimination pit-stop, and live to race another day.

   Phew.

   Although tomorrow night, Beau promises us that somebody is going home. The preview says that “a favourite” is leaving, but at this point, that pretty much applies to most of them.

   I’m most behind the cowboys and the Sikhs, but I’d be okay with Skye and her attractive brother or the Gold Coast girls (hell, it took the American series 17 seasons before an all-female team won).

   I’m still iffy on the Wolfman and his princess. Aleisha just annoys me a little bit, she’s very loud.

   • Yes, when the promos say a ‘favourite’ I always roll my eyes. Obviously they don’t read twitter as most of the time who they say is a favourite is actually hated. I really wanted Chris & Aleisha to come first last night & get their revenge in sabotaging someone. But they didn’t come first & there was no sabotage when finally they wouldn’t get one.

   • “Favourite” is obviously wishful-thinking by the people who write the ads. Out of the ones left, these were the two I most wanted to go and it was satisfying that they were eliminated purely on their own non-performance. So much better than leaving because of terrible bad luck, u-turns, or being ganged up on by the other teams. Just pure performance.

5. Thus we say goodbye to Skye and her really good-looking brother.

   They were done in by a hula-hoop challenge, and a wobbly suspension ladder, both of which Jake couldn’t master.

   Beau seemed like he was tearing up, as he was eliminating them, so he seemed quite sad to see them go.

   I’m not sure what the schedule looks like, but with only 4 teams left, there must only be one or two episodes to go. They’re currently in NSW, so I imagine the finish line will be in Sydney somewhere? Probably under the Harbour Bridge or on the steps of the Opera House or something obnoxiously Australian, heh.

   • I am sad to see this couple go. They were lovely and good natured. No manufactured drama. Refreshing.
     Did I just read that her real name is Skye-Blue? How did I miss that? What’s wrong with parents?

     • I know. That’s what I’ve been calling her Skye. It’s just, c’mon guys, really?

     • They have said Skye-blue since the start. I would think that most people would just drop the -blue, as we have in the threads.

     • I didn’t get the good-natured vibe. It was said at the start that they were relatively estranged as brother and sister, and I always felt the tension bubbling below. I think the race was good for them in trying to heal, but I also think that Skye would be quite a difficult person sometimes. I also didn’t like that they often got help from the other teams, and frequently followed and/or copied teams instead of using their own resources.

       Still, nowhere near the worst team in this season, let alone TAR as a whole. In contrast, the US 30th season finished last Saturday (rerun) and was won by one of my all-time disliked teams Jessica and Cody.

       • Any hint as to why they were estranged? I love a peek into other people’s lives.

         • Sorry, no, I don’t think they said why.

   • There’s 3 episodes next week And it doesn’t say it’s the finale. Don’t know how they still have 3 eps left with 4 teams. Assume another bloody non-elimination leg. In the US version they usually end with a double episode with 4 teams left & get rid of one team part way through then have 3 teams for the final leg.

6. I haven’t been an absolute fan of Chris and Aleisha throughout, but I found myself cheering “go for it!” when they nailed the choreography challenges, especially the Tap Dogs one. It was not just Aleisha being a dance teacher, it was Chris also stepping up to match her, and listening properly to her instructions. It was so nice to see Aleisha happy and confident. When she is like that she is delightful, but over the weeks we have only been shown the teary version.

   We did see a little more of the fearful Aleisha in the Canyoning challenge which wasn’t so good, and I wondered why they couldn’t have another team pass them while she was refusing. She did it in the end, though.

   The judging of the horse dressage challenge was very dodgy. The last team didn’t achieve many of the elements, but presumably to keep the teams tight, they were waved through. Same with the hula hoops.

   I had a little laugh at the teams navigating up and down the Blue Mountains as it was all so obvious to me. Hearing the farmers heading toward Lithgow when trying to find (and mispronounce) Leura, I wondered if they would find themselves down on the plains. Also, the pronunciation of Pokolbin had us laughing too.

7. Those people that gave wrong directions. If you don’t know say sorry I don’t know. Or did they think it was right? I always wonder how they feel watching it back, especially if it was a team they are rooting for.

8. Wikipedia has this (so it must be true)

   

   • Thanks Juz very interesting. So it looks like the finale is in our capital. Wonder if he’ll have Scumo on the mat beside him.

     • I grew up in Canberra, so I really want to see a challenge involving the earthquake machine at Questacon. Or rollerblading around the lake.

     • Promo shows the final destination is Kosciusko, so back into NSW for the finale.

9. 2 of my brothers live in Canberra so I’ve been there quite a lot.