TAR S30 E6: Who threw the first punch?
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Title : TAR S30 E6: Who threw the first punch?
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Title : TAR S30 E6: Who threw the first punch?
link : TAR S30 E6: Who threw the first punch?
news-today.world | Dobry den, ahoj! Jak se máš? I must say, this was a very disappointing episode on so many levels, but I'll get into the reasons why later - in this leg, we return to one of my favourite cities in Europe: Prague. I have visited Prague three times including once for an extended stretch for work, so it is a city that I do know very well and I even speak a little Czech. TAR US has visited Prague only once before - back in season 15 when they spent two legs (E10 and E11) in Prague. In this episode, I'm surprised they didn't send the racers to some of the more iconic tourist attractions like Charles Bridge or Prague Castle (which were both featured in TAR Asia S2 E7 and E8) which are well and truly stunning but those places would undoubtedly be so crowded and full of tourists, the logistics trying to film TAR in such locations could prove to be quite challenging especially when people will just whip out their phones, film anything they see and within minutes, it will be on the internet already. But once again, let's start with the statistics and see where the teams stand after this leg:
Team Extreme 2.4
Team BB 3.2
Team IndyCar 3.6
Team Yale 4.4
Team Well Strung 4.8
Team Ocean Rescue 6
Firefighters 6.8
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| A pic from when I was working in Prague |
The Statistics after leg 6
Team Extreme 2.17
Team Indycar 3.67
Team BB 3.67
Team Yale 4.17
Team Well Strung 5.17 (eliminated in Prague)
Team Ocean Rescue 5.83
The Firefighters 6
It is no surprise that team Extreme are clearly the front runner when it comes to the statistics: they are the only team who have won more than one leg and the only team to have always finished in the top three in every single leg. What is also surprising is that after flirting with elimination in the first few episodes, the Firefighters have come back extremely strong, finishing 3rd in the last leg and now 2nd in this leg. Team BB are still statistically strong, but they've done quite the opposite of the Firefighters: after having had a very strong performance in the first four legs, they have really struggled in the last two legs and were nearly eliminated in Prague despite having U-turned team Well Strung. Wow, imagine if team Well Strung got to the U-turn board before team BB, they would have been fine and it would be team BB eliminated in Prague - but that was clearly not the case because no one dared to throw the first punch in this season, which to me, as a hardcore fan of TAR, is deeply disappointing because it shows that apart from Cody & Jessica, none of these other teams seem to understand how TAR works. On social media, many hardcore fans have expressed the same sentiment.
How the double U-turn should have been used in Prague
Now firstly, allow me to refresh your memory please, here are the ranking statistics after TAR S30 E5:
Team Extreme 2.4
Team BB 3.2
Team IndyCar 3.6
Team Yale 4.4
Team Well Strung 4.8
Team Ocean Rescue 6
Firefighters 6.8
The following teams were on the first flight to Prague: team Extreme, team Ocean Rescue, the Firefighters and team Yale. They could have done their calculations and worked out that a very strong team: team BB were on the second flight and they could have killed two birds with one stone in that position. They really should have conspired to U-turn team BB because you want to bring a weaker team with you to the finals, rather than allow a really strong team to defeat you when you're racing fo a million dollars! Team Extreme may feel quite confident at this point about defeating any team given how strong they are, but both team Ocean Rescue and the Firefighters are significantly weaker than team BB - it would have made complete sense for them to get rid of a stronger team. So when team Ocean Rescue got to the U-turn board first, they should have U-turned team BB and then the Firefighters should have U-turned team Indycar or team Yale (you cannot U-turn a team that got to the U-turn board before you). That would have pitted two strong teams against each other, forcing them both to do both sides of the detour, ensuring that the team that gets eliminated in Prague is a strong team. Strategically, that would have made complete sense but these teams just don't understand how TAR works: you don't put a target on your back by U-turning someone, you automatically have a target on your back when you win a leg and prove you are a threat! It is not a popularity contest for crying out aloud. So instead, their refusal to throw the first punch ensured that a weak team got eliminated - that's just plain stupid of team Ocean Rescue and the Firefighters. If team BB go on and win this season, then those two teams only have themselves to blame for having missed this valuable opportunity.
The position of the U-turn was also a point of controversy: normally, teams would have to complete a detour before getting to the U-turn board. That means that the team that completes the detour the fastest earns the right to U-turn another team, this would does seem fair in the eyes of the viewers: but instead, the order which the teams got to the U-turn board was totally random and dependent on the taxi driver they got from the airport. That just doesn't seem fair at all. This was something that already happened on the last season and the fans were not happy about it at all. Indeed, the mindset of the racers after they had completed the detour may be totally different compared to before - if they struggled to complete the detour, then that sense of panic may make them far more likely to use the detour than much earlier in the leg, when they were feeling a lot more comfortable. Ultimately, it seemed that team BB were the only ones who were prepared to use the U-turn and it paid off for them - it saved them from elimination in Prague. Yes their performance in this leg of the race was somewhat poor, but at least they proved to me that they are far more determined than other racers and that could be the defining factor that may give them the competitive edge over the others, who just don't seem to understand how the race works. Sigh. It's not like I dislike them, but I get so frustrated when they come up with really stupid justifications as to why they don't want to use the U-turn. Racers make really stupid mistakes on TAR all the time.
Cody & Jessica's BB past comes back to haunt them
There is so much hate directed at Cody & Jessica on social media about the nasty things they have said whilst on BB: Cody is homophobic and transphobic whilst Jessica is downright racist. Yeah I get it, they're horrible people but TAR (or BB, Survivor etc for that matter) doesn't seem to mind or care when it comes to the casting process. Look, some of the characters from the last season were really unpleasant people whom I really disliked and if we were to go back further, the Cowboys Jet & Cord (S16, S18 and S24) were horrifically homophobic, yet TAR had no qualms about putting them in three seasons. But this is reality TV: they're not trying to cast nice people who will become America's next sweethearts. Hell no, they want to cast some fiery characters who will be controversial, pick fights, do unethical things to piss off the other teams and stir up some shit - now that would make a good episode. Can you imagine if all the contestants were super nice and polite, that they all got along and nobody was bitchy, sly or untrustworthy? How boring would that be? Look, for all the crap that Cody & Jessica said on BB, I have an instant dislike for them of course, nobody decent can possibly like them after the homophobic and racist things they said. But this is TAR, you don't win by being nice: you win by willing to do whatever it takes to throw another team under a bus such as by U-turning them or lying to them and so far, that has served them pretty well. As the saying goes, don't hate the player, hate the game.
How do I feel about Cody's transphobic comments?
Of course what he said was horrific. He is ignorant, homophobic, intolerant and most of all, what I find most distasteful and disturbing of all is that he seems to have no sense of self-censorship. He says what he thinks even if there is a camera or two in his face, recording every word he said. Once that's on camera and broadcast, you cannot undo the damage - it's like trying to get butter off a piece of toast after you have buttered it. Have I had un-PC thoughts pop into my head? Of course I have. But I always calculate what I have to gain by blurting out these uncensored thoughts - if I will simply offend a lot of people and make new enemies by saying these thoughts out aloud, then I will choose to keep my mouth shut. In voicing such transphobic comments aloud in BB, Cody may have appealed himself to others who are equally transphobic and homophobic but by the same token, he would have alienated anyone who thinks that any form of bigotry like that is totally abhorrent - in any decent Western society, the latter group is far bigger than the former group, so not only is Cody a nasty bigot, he's also woefully ignorant about how reality TV works. In short, he's stupid. Very stupid. Cody works in construction - he didn't exactly graduate from Yale or Harvard, did he? Duh. You wanna get involved in reality TV, you had better be aware of how it works or else it is going to make you a lot of enemies. Life's tough enough, who needs more enemies?
How do I feel about Cody's transphobic comments?
Of course what he said was horrific. He is ignorant, homophobic, intolerant and most of all, what I find most distasteful and disturbing of all is that he seems to have no sense of self-censorship. He says what he thinks even if there is a camera or two in his face, recording every word he said. Once that's on camera and broadcast, you cannot undo the damage - it's like trying to get butter off a piece of toast after you have buttered it. Have I had un-PC thoughts pop into my head? Of course I have. But I always calculate what I have to gain by blurting out these uncensored thoughts - if I will simply offend a lot of people and make new enemies by saying these thoughts out aloud, then I will choose to keep my mouth shut. In voicing such transphobic comments aloud in BB, Cody may have appealed himself to others who are equally transphobic and homophobic but by the same token, he would have alienated anyone who thinks that any form of bigotry like that is totally abhorrent - in any decent Western society, the latter group is far bigger than the former group, so not only is Cody a nasty bigot, he's also woefully ignorant about how reality TV works. In short, he's stupid. Very stupid. Cody works in construction - he didn't exactly graduate from Yale or Harvard, did he? Duh. You wanna get involved in reality TV, you had better be aware of how it works or else it is going to make you a lot of enemies. Life's tough enough, who needs more enemies?
Two flights to Prague, an hour apart
Many of you on social media noted that the teams were not all on the same flight to Prague - one landed at 10 am and the other at 11 am. This is somewhat unusual as teams are usually all put on the same flight to the next destination, effectively leveling the playing field from the moment they all run out of the airport at the very same time. Not this time however, as four teams were effectively given an hour's head start. This does seem fair to many of you, as the teams who had performed well on the last leg had effectively earned that advantage. The top three in Prague were on the first flight, only team Ocean Rescue fell to the back to the pack and were doing the Kafka roadblock with teams BB and Indycar - team Ocean Rescue eventually finished 5th out of 7 teams, but it is clear that without that hour head start, they would have probably been last and eliminated in Prague because they had spent over an hour looking for the Fidelio party boat. They certainly proved that they were a force to be reckoned with by winning leg 5 in France, but good grief, their performance in leg 6 was absolutely dismal given how poor their navigation skills were and they got hopelessly lost. Team Well Strung demonstrated how to navigate: simply as the friendly locals for directions and most young people in Prague speak English reasonably well! Heck, when I was in Prague, even the beggars spoke English to me.
This or that?
Oh TAR often throws you a twist just to catch you off guard, when given the choice between this or that, the lifeguards had to choose the brainy task and the Yale debaters had to choose the brawny task! This is known as the 'blind detour' and was last seen in S25 and S8. Most teams seemed to have chosen completely randomly, but here's what I would have done. You are allowed to switch tasks at any time during a detour, there is no penalty for switching. So I would have picked one task, get the address and then immediately 'switch' to the other task and get the other address. I would then track down an English speaking local (not hard to find in central Prague by the Rudolfinum) and try to work out which one of the two locations is nearer. The Staropramen Brewery is 2.9 km away whilst the Charles university is just 0.75 km away. On that basis, I would have hedged my bets: I'll go to the nearer location and see how difficult the task is, knowing that I wouldn't have wasted much time finding out. Besides, the locations may give you a clue as to what the detour may be: what do you think they'll make you do at a brewery or a university? Sure the university may have a gymnasium and it could turn out to be some kind of sports challenge, or you may have had to memorize the names of different kinds of Czech beers at the brewery but as it turned out, the tasks were pretty much what you would associate with the location.
Nesprávná přednášková místnost
The means 'incorrect lecture hall' in Czech. Good grief, it turns out that the side of the detour at the university was a lot easier and less tiring, but instead of even taking a moment to figure out what the hell was going on, why were they suddenly in the middle of a lesson about 'ekologicka sukcese' (ecological succession) - after all, the Firegighters saw team BB arrive at the university, it isn't clear if team BB saw the Firefighters, but if they did, surely they could have realized that if the other team can do it, so can we, even if it involves learning some Czech. But no, Jessica just freaked out. "That's not English" she kept saying, no shit Sherlock. When you get to a detour, you're given instructions about what you have to do in order to get your next clue - this is clearly explained to us by Phil in post-production, but contestants will be given that same information anyway - Jessica didn't even wait for it, she just freaked out and Cody made no attempt to try to calm her down or find out what they had to do. If they had spent a minute calmly finding out what was going on, they could have easily realized their mistake and gone to the right lecture hall for the challenge. So much for all the brownie points they earned for willing to do whatever it takes to win: what a stupid mistake that was.
Should you agree to work together on a roadblock?
Oh yes, the Kafka roadblock in Prague, a switchback to S15 E11 and let me say this: the Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy were well and truly stupid in being unable to spell the word 'FRANZ' - stupid, they were bloody stupid and it is quite unforgiving for the glare of the camera in the world of reality TV to expose that. I remember how they were protesting about how the task was impossible when all the other teams solved it, yeah I guess that means you're really stupid. Mind you, another NBA team struggled with the spelling challenge in leg 1 of this race in Iceland - this just doesn't inspire confidence when it comes to the intellectual ability of basketball players. Okay, I digress, nobody really struggled on this roadblock this time as they simply had to assemble the phrase 'the meaning of life is that it stops' - it isn't hard to put the words in the right order once you have all of them. This does make me wonder why the teams even bothered working together: Evan's decision to work with Daniel left them in 3rd place behind them - why did she doubt her ability to complete the task on her own? It was a bad decision on her part as she could have easily finished that task on her own. If there are three teams there and someone proposes working together, you would be compelled to say yes because you don't want to be the one person who decides to try to complete it alone whilst the other two work together. But if there's only one other racer, I wouldn't be in a hurry to work with the other person - I'd try to complete the task myself and only agree to a partnership if I was close to giving up. I suppose hindsight is 2020, but really that Kafka roadblock was relatively easy.
Wait, what about what Jessica did?
Oh boy, this sure erupted over social media. What you do on the race has immediate consequences when it comes to your ranking, but also on social media and beyond once the episode is aired. A lot of people have accused Jessica of lying or cheating and look, I don't want to get into that - she chose to work with the others and I think there's an element of blame on all parts because Brittany should have already known after what happened in Tangiers on E3 that trusting Jessica would probably be a very bad idea, yet she ignored all that and chose to work with her anyway. Why isn't anyone blaming Brittany for being naive or at least guilty of having made a bad decision under stress? Daniel worked with Evan on the same roadblock but did he wait for her once he got his clue? No, he didn't - he just ran out of the front door as quickly as he could with no intention of letting team Yale catch up. Jessica saw that coming and wanted to make sure that she was the first one out of that road block which I thought was fair enough. Look, I have a huge problem with her because of the racist crap she said on BB and all the times she didn't react when Cody said homophobic crap - I don't like her, but then again, putting that aside, I don't actually have a problem with what she did to the other two teams. Such is TAR. There's really no point in being nice and it seems that team BB are the only ones who realize that whilst the others were so clueless. Am I disappointed that they didn't get eliminated in Prague? Of course. What a shame.
Wait, what about what Jessica did?
Oh boy, this sure erupted over social media. What you do on the race has immediate consequences when it comes to your ranking, but also on social media and beyond once the episode is aired. A lot of people have accused Jessica of lying or cheating and look, I don't want to get into that - she chose to work with the others and I think there's an element of blame on all parts because Brittany should have already known after what happened in Tangiers on E3 that trusting Jessica would probably be a very bad idea, yet she ignored all that and chose to work with her anyway. Why isn't anyone blaming Brittany for being naive or at least guilty of having made a bad decision under stress? Daniel worked with Evan on the same roadblock but did he wait for her once he got his clue? No, he didn't - he just ran out of the front door as quickly as he could with no intention of letting team Yale catch up. Jessica saw that coming and wanted to make sure that she was the first one out of that road block which I thought was fair enough. Look, I have a huge problem with her because of the racist crap she said on BB and all the times she didn't react when Cody said homophobic crap - I don't like her, but then again, putting that aside, I don't actually have a problem with what she did to the other two teams. Such is TAR. There's really no point in being nice and it seems that team BB are the only ones who realize that whilst the others were so clueless. Am I disappointed that they didn't get eliminated in Prague? Of course. What a shame.
Am I sad to see team Well Strung go?
Quite frankly, no. I knew it was a matter of time - with all due respect to them, they are so successful at what they do as musicians and the Well Strung quartet are already so popular. I couldn't help but feel that when you get celebrities who are so popular and successful, they don't really need a million dollars - that prize money is just not enough to motivate them to race as hard as they ought to. I have always got the impression that they were merely using TAR as just another reality TV programme to raise the profile of their quartet and they were far less hungry to win than the others. However, the circumstances in which they left were rather unsatisfactory: firstly, none of the other teams apart from team BB had the balls to throw the first punch and use the U-turn. Secondly, they were the only team that had to do both sides of the detour, with the odds stacked against them like that, it seemed inevitable that they were the ones to be eliminated on this leg. If there were two teams who had to do both sides of the detour, then it would seem like a fairer fight: that is the whole point of a double U-turn as opposed to just a straight forward U-turn. They did perform both sides of the detour pretty efficiently and didn't make any mistakes on this leg - they were simply unlucky that their taxi was the slowest in getting them from the airport to the U-turn board at the Rudolfinum. Imagine if their taxi was just a bit faster, they would have been spared: so it came down to a taxi ride, which really wasn't their fault at all. Thus that is why I do feel a little bad for them because of the way they were eliminated. Well they're already so rich and famous, they don't really need to win this.
The haters on social media
Good grief. Where do I even begin with the people on social media? Look, don't get me wrong - I am fanatical about TAR. It is my favourite programme and I love it as much as The Mole/Who is the Mole/Wie is de Mol (Dutch and Belgian versions) - I love the fact that I have managed to find a community of really nice people who are just as fanatic about TAR as I am. But sometimes reading the comments and discussions on social media can drain your soul I swear. It is one thing to talk about TAR, the contestants, the new twists this season, some of the good and bad decisions made by the production team - that's all fine and it's great to have a space where we can talk about such things with other TAR lovers. But what I truly hate are the idiots who go on and on about "I think ..." as if their opinion actually matters, as if anyone gives a shit about what they think or how they feel personally. Look, I am a blogger, I understand how these things work - if I wrote a self-indulgent piece about how I feel and it was all about me, me, me: people would just ignore it because it would be unbearable to read. But if I wrote about a topical issue that is in the headlines and it is a subject that people are very much interested in, then people will come to my blog to read that piece and we can have an interesting conversation about that topic (rather than about me). I am humble enough to realize that difference, that people really wouldn't give a shit what I think or feel (who the hell am I to expect them to care anyway), but what is it with the idiots on social media who are so delusional to think that people actually give a shit what their feelings? As if they can influence the outcome of the race just because they like or hate a team or a particular racer? Seriously, grow up. Who do you think you are? Just because you can shout something in social media doesn't mean anyone will listen to what you have to say.
A new twist, mix the teams up
Normally in this part of the post, I make predictions about who is going to win the next leg and who is going to be eliminated, However, not this time as it is clear from the previews that the teams are going to be mixed up in Zimbabwe on the next leg. How are they going to do this? Is it going to be like on the first leg of the last season when racers who completed an individual task first had first choice as to whom they would want to pair up with? And how is this going to mess with my ranking statistics now that the teams are going to be mixed up? I have under a week to work out the best formula and the Asian maths geek in me is going to actually enjoy that. But as for how the partner swap would actually work in this next leg, I will quote Greg Oldenkamp whose insightful analysis on social media has always been spot on: "Logic would seem to indicate that the switch would be more like the intersection. For a predetermined amount of time, or for a set number of tasks, teams would be switched up. My guess then is that teams can not move forward until their partner finishes the task too, then the team is reunited and moves on. It would either be what they refer to as an "additional task" or possibly doing the detour with someone else's partner. In no way can I see this as being a permanent switch nor running for the entire leg. I suppose its possible, but would seem idiotic, that teams would not be reunited until the pitstop. So if Jessica and Brittany were teamed up and arrived first, Phil would say, your are team #1, but I cannot check you in until your other teammate arrives. I wouldn't like that, and it could create collusion between teams to rig the outcome, not unlike ganging up on a double u-turn. So I am hoping its just a twist for one task."
It does look like the racers got to pick their partners, so the results of the next leg will depend on how the teams ultimately pair up. So if I may refer you with a new set of ranking of teams as individuals below - this is the same set of ranking as above but I merely split them up into individuals. When we know what the new pairings will be, then I will average the current rankings of the new teams and see what their new ranking is. This will of course, totally turn the game on its head because if I was a racer who has had a rather weak average so far, such as Brittany (average of 5.83), then why would I choose one of the Firefighter twins as my new partner (average of 6) when I would be trading a weak partner for an equally weak partner? No, this would be seen as a chance for an upgrade, hence that would make complete sense for Brittany to put her personal feelings aside and grab someone like Jessica (average of 3.67) if Kristi and Jen of team Extreme (average of 2.17) were not available. It would be interesting to see if they are going to base their choices on mathematics and statistics, or if it would be more based on personality and gut instinct, like, "oh I am going to pick Eric because he's a really friendly guy and we get along so well together. Chemistry is important. We'll make a great team I'm sure." Despite being your Asian maths geek, I would be tempted to use my gut instinct and ignore the statistics, because it would be hell working with someone you just didn't get along with - like Jessica and Brittany!
Kristi and Jen 2.17
This is very hard to say! I am actually glad they are mixing the teams up because if the teams were kept the way they are, looking at the statistics, it is very clear which are the next two weakest teams to be eliminated and team Extreme are just so strong that it would be hard not to imagine them winning this season. Not only do they excel at the challenges and know how to navigate well, they have some language skills and work extremely well together - I am only disappointed that they failed to use the U-turn in Prague. But what if the order of who gets first pick depends on something totally random like a taxi ride from Harare airport to Harare Gardens? Surely not, I hope that it would at least depend on the racers having done a task first and the winners are rewarded with the option of getting first choice at the pick. If two of the weaker racers gets to pick Kristi and Jen, that would really shake things up - Kristi and Jen would literally drag any weaker team mate to the pit stop on their own and if they both pull that off, then yeah they would save two weaker teams from elimination. But wait, this is going to be leg 7 - are we due for another NEL already or is it too soon? There are usually two NELs in each season: the first one already occurred back in leg 3, saving team Slam Dunk from elimination in Tangiers. Would they reunite the teams at the pit stop, only to spare the lasts team from elimination? It is a possibility, but somehow I doubt it - Phil made such a big deal about this new twist in TAR, surely they need to eliminate someone in this coming leg.
Having said that, I am excited about the next leg in Zimbabwe: TAR first visited Zimbabwe back in season 27 when the racers crossed overland from Zambia to Victoria Falls which sits on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe: to put things in perspective for my American readers, that's like having TAR visit Tijuana for a leg when you're barely stepping into Mexico, knowing you could run back to San Diego easily. The unstable political situation, hyperinflation, instability and economic collapse of Zimbabwe under the ruthless dictator Mugabe had made it very hard for TAR to visit Zimbabwe for a long time. Thankfully peace and stability has returned in November 2017 with the overthrow of Mugabe and I hope future episode of TAR will feature more of this beautiful country. TAR US has visited loads of beautiful African countries before, the more exotic ones include Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Senegal and Malawi. I love it when you take the racers out of their comfort zone and throw them in the middle of a colourful, crowded, bustling African city. Let's see what awaits our racers in Harare. Please feel free to leave a comment below and share your thoughts. Many thanks for reading!
The haters on social media
Good grief. Where do I even begin with the people on social media? Look, don't get me wrong - I am fanatical about TAR. It is my favourite programme and I love it as much as The Mole/Who is the Mole/Wie is de Mol (Dutch and Belgian versions) - I love the fact that I have managed to find a community of really nice people who are just as fanatic about TAR as I am. But sometimes reading the comments and discussions on social media can drain your soul I swear. It is one thing to talk about TAR, the contestants, the new twists this season, some of the good and bad decisions made by the production team - that's all fine and it's great to have a space where we can talk about such things with other TAR lovers. But what I truly hate are the idiots who go on and on about "I think ..." as if their opinion actually matters, as if anyone gives a shit about what they think or how they feel personally. Look, I am a blogger, I understand how these things work - if I wrote a self-indulgent piece about how I feel and it was all about me, me, me: people would just ignore it because it would be unbearable to read. But if I wrote about a topical issue that is in the headlines and it is a subject that people are very much interested in, then people will come to my blog to read that piece and we can have an interesting conversation about that topic (rather than about me). I am humble enough to realize that difference, that people really wouldn't give a shit what I think or feel (who the hell am I to expect them to care anyway), but what is it with the idiots on social media who are so delusional to think that people actually give a shit what their feelings? As if they can influence the outcome of the race just because they like or hate a team or a particular racer? Seriously, grow up. Who do you think you are? Just because you can shout something in social media doesn't mean anyone will listen to what you have to say.
A new twist, mix the teams up
Normally in this part of the post, I make predictions about who is going to win the next leg and who is going to be eliminated, However, not this time as it is clear from the previews that the teams are going to be mixed up in Zimbabwe on the next leg. How are they going to do this? Is it going to be like on the first leg of the last season when racers who completed an individual task first had first choice as to whom they would want to pair up with? And how is this going to mess with my ranking statistics now that the teams are going to be mixed up? I have under a week to work out the best formula and the Asian maths geek in me is going to actually enjoy that. But as for how the partner swap would actually work in this next leg, I will quote Greg Oldenkamp whose insightful analysis on social media has always been spot on: "Logic would seem to indicate that the switch would be more like the intersection. For a predetermined amount of time, or for a set number of tasks, teams would be switched up. My guess then is that teams can not move forward until their partner finishes the task too, then the team is reunited and moves on. It would either be what they refer to as an "additional task" or possibly doing the detour with someone else's partner. In no way can I see this as being a permanent switch nor running for the entire leg. I suppose its possible, but would seem idiotic, that teams would not be reunited until the pitstop. So if Jessica and Brittany were teamed up and arrived first, Phil would say, your are team #1, but I cannot check you in until your other teammate arrives. I wouldn't like that, and it could create collusion between teams to rig the outcome, not unlike ganging up on a double u-turn. So I am hoping its just a twist for one task."
It does look like the racers got to pick their partners, so the results of the next leg will depend on how the teams ultimately pair up. So if I may refer you with a new set of ranking of teams as individuals below - this is the same set of ranking as above but I merely split them up into individuals. When we know what the new pairings will be, then I will average the current rankings of the new teams and see what their new ranking is. This will of course, totally turn the game on its head because if I was a racer who has had a rather weak average so far, such as Brittany (average of 5.83), then why would I choose one of the Firefighter twins as my new partner (average of 6) when I would be trading a weak partner for an equally weak partner? No, this would be seen as a chance for an upgrade, hence that would make complete sense for Brittany to put her personal feelings aside and grab someone like Jessica (average of 3.67) if Kristi and Jen of team Extreme (average of 2.17) were not available. It would be interesting to see if they are going to base their choices on mathematics and statistics, or if it would be more based on personality and gut instinct, like, "oh I am going to pick Eric because he's a really friendly guy and we get along so well together. Chemistry is important. We'll make a great team I'm sure." Despite being your Asian maths geek, I would be tempted to use my gut instinct and ignore the statistics, because it would be hell working with someone you just didn't get along with - like Jessica and Brittany!
Kristi and Jen 2.17
Alex, Conor, Jessica and Cody 3.67
Henry and Evan 4.17
Lucas and Brittany 5.83
Eric and Daniel 6
What will be the outcome in Zimbabwe? This is very hard to say! I am actually glad they are mixing the teams up because if the teams were kept the way they are, looking at the statistics, it is very clear which are the next two weakest teams to be eliminated and team Extreme are just so strong that it would be hard not to imagine them winning this season. Not only do they excel at the challenges and know how to navigate well, they have some language skills and work extremely well together - I am only disappointed that they failed to use the U-turn in Prague. But what if the order of who gets first pick depends on something totally random like a taxi ride from Harare airport to Harare Gardens? Surely not, I hope that it would at least depend on the racers having done a task first and the winners are rewarded with the option of getting first choice at the pick. If two of the weaker racers gets to pick Kristi and Jen, that would really shake things up - Kristi and Jen would literally drag any weaker team mate to the pit stop on their own and if they both pull that off, then yeah they would save two weaker teams from elimination. But wait, this is going to be leg 7 - are we due for another NEL already or is it too soon? There are usually two NELs in each season: the first one already occurred back in leg 3, saving team Slam Dunk from elimination in Tangiers. Would they reunite the teams at the pit stop, only to spare the lasts team from elimination? It is a possibility, but somehow I doubt it - Phil made such a big deal about this new twist in TAR, surely they need to eliminate someone in this coming leg.
Having said that, I am excited about the next leg in Zimbabwe: TAR first visited Zimbabwe back in season 27 when the racers crossed overland from Zambia to Victoria Falls which sits on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe: to put things in perspective for my American readers, that's like having TAR visit Tijuana for a leg when you're barely stepping into Mexico, knowing you could run back to San Diego easily. The unstable political situation, hyperinflation, instability and economic collapse of Zimbabwe under the ruthless dictator Mugabe had made it very hard for TAR to visit Zimbabwe for a long time. Thankfully peace and stability has returned in November 2017 with the overthrow of Mugabe and I hope future episode of TAR will feature more of this beautiful country. TAR US has visited loads of beautiful African countries before, the more exotic ones include Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Senegal and Malawi. I love it when you take the racers out of their comfort zone and throw them in the middle of a colourful, crowded, bustling African city. Let's see what awaits our racers in Harare. Please feel free to leave a comment below and share your thoughts. Many thanks for reading!
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