'The Amazing Race': Things get ugly between the Globetrotters and Sam and Dan
With just a few teams left, things are starting to get mean on "The Amazing Race." I still find myself less than impressed with the tasks, but the animosity does seem to be getting ramped up.I'm not quite sure why The Globetrotters and Sam & Dan hate each other, but they do. They fought over a cab at one point tonight, but even before that there was some serious hostility between the two teams. Competitiveness between teams isn't bad, but it wasn't competitiveness tonight, just anger . Sam & Dan don't hate everyone, just the Globetrotters, and while the Globetrotters didn't seem to hate Sam & Dan initially, they certainly did by the end of the leg. More on that later, though.
The teams went to Estonia tonight, and once the teams finally made it there - they all had to wait for hours to get on a ferry and then the ride itself took 16 hours - they encountered their "join a secret society" Roadblock. The society in question was The Brotherhood of the Blackheads. They are apparently merchants, but there was definitely some swordplay taking place in their digs. I'm assuming they were just dressed-up and playacting, but I'm hugely curious as to what those folks do today.
The Roadblock itself actually didn't seem all that tough - get a candelabrum, find a room, hold the candle up to a scroll in the room (that was supposed to be the tricky part) and have the magic words appear. Flight Time had some issues with the last step, but Matt apparently didn't know the word "candelabra." That's one of those things that he'll never quite live down.
The Detours tonight involved the teams doing either playing a game of mud volleyball or firing some pretty swell-looking slingshots. Neither was a cakewalk, but I definitely would have gone with the volleyball, the folks the teams had to play volleyball against didn't seem to be all that tough, it was the mud that made it hard. Even more difficult than that however for Sam & Dan, The Globetrotters, and Brian & Ericka was finding the marked path to get to the Detour. I assume in the heat of battle those signs are easy to miss, but doesn't it feel like people constantly miss the markers?
It was nice to see Sam & Dan and The Globetrotters both start the Detour at the same time. As I said, I don't know why that animosity has developed, but it has, so even though they weren't playing head-to-head, or for last place, it was a pretty good proxy war, plus, it turned into an actual war. The Globetrotters won the volleyball first, headed the wrong way to the Pitstop, and then realized as much once Sam & Dan headed in the right direction.
The Globetrotters, being professional athletes, were faster, but the path was narrow and Flight Time ended up taking down... let's say Sam (though it may have been Dan). I think it was accidental on both guys' parts, but, not surprisingly, both teams felt the other had made it physical intentionally. Dan & Sam beat the Globetrotters to the mat, but it was Gary & Matt who came in last and went home this week. I have to imagine things are going to get even uglier next week between the brothers and the Globetrotters.
While their Speed Bump didn't really hurt them (see the bullet points below), Gary & Matt were just off their game in general tonight, taking forever to do everything except the Detour, and getting somewhat lost. I'll miss them, but they had a good run.
Bits and pieces:
- Matt's black headband "means business." He wore it to impress the other teams with his seriousness. I hope he pointed out to them what it meant, because without his saying it I never would have understood.
- Listen I'm sorry, but how is sitting in a saunabuss (a bus that is a sauna) for five minutes possibly a Speed Bump? With Gary's singing in the sauna, the whole thing was more rough for the people Gary & Matt were joining than it was for them. It was neither hard nor took a very long time.
- Didn't it seem excessive for the Globetrotters to start at 2:23 in the morning and the ferry not leave until 5:45 in the afternoon? I know that the producers can't work everything out perfectly, but that seemed like an awfully long wait (as it was for all the teams tonight).
- Ummm... Sam & Dan's crotches getting fuzzed out. Were the guys' underoos perhaps a tad... revealing?
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I am seriously starting to dislike Sam and Dan, because of this irrational hate for the globetrotters.
I am not sure of the reason for this intense hatred for them. They haven't done anything to Sam/Dan personally as far as i can remember. Sam/Dan need to get a grip.
I am not sure about Megan/Cheyne anymore, they might just sneak in a win. They don't suck but I am not rooting for them.
I love AR. Just wish there was a reunion show for it--then we might find out why the animosity is there. The joys of editing leave us without that kind of info.
Also, I was wondering why the brothers' crotches were fuzzed out too--it's not like they were wearing thongs or wet tighty-whiteys.
I've been a fan of the Globetrotters since day one....tonight made me change my mind a little though. They are acting like jerks. There must be stuff going on behind the scenes that we aren't seeing. Sam and Dan are acting like jerks too, but the Globetrotters rubbed me the wrong way tonight. Maybe it's the pressure. The globetrotters obviously realize everyone wants them gone....so they're taking it personally?
I'm rooting for Megan/Cheyne.
Thanks for commenting on the blurry crotches....it definitely struck me as odd too.
Okay, I don't think it is an 'unnatural' hate from Sam/Dan against the Globetrotters. Certainly in this episode, it's obvious Globetrotters time and time again follows Sam/Dan between challenges.
I was a huge fan of the Globetrotters till this episode. If I was actually in the race, I would think the Globetrotters would **** me off even more. To wear your Globetrotter uniform and yell to a crowd to help you in the race and/or to ask crowds to find you a taxi is incredibly unsportsmanlike.
The GlobeCHEATERS should be eliminated.
They squeezed their way into the locked door instead of using their own key as the directions said.
They use the celebrity of the Globetrotters to get help from people.
They used a calculator in the gold challenge. They jumped ahead to go down the waterslide.
They CHEAT in every episode
Sam & Dan squeezed through the door behind Megan & Cheyne, so I don't think that was considered cheating.
the reason sam and dans crotch got pixeled is because they were "excited" to see the hot estonian guys.
and the globetrotters are not cheating, they are playing the game.
I've never understood Sam & Dan's animosity towards the GT's. At one point in a previous ep, one of the brothers even said "I hate Big Easy." Why? Big Easy hadn't done anything to deserve that remark.
Maybe I don't understand the rules, but it's not clear to me why they would be so aggressive about trying to be the second team to the mat. Both the brothers and the GT's knew that Megan & Cheyne had already finished. They knew that Brian & Ericka were still slinging radishes. So, what good does it do you to come in a few seconds ahead of the 3rd place team? I thought that on the next leg of the race, the teams leave based on when they came in on the previous leg. So if team #3 finished 10 minutes behind team #2, they leave 10 minutes behind on the next leg. If there's a few seconds difference... big deal.
Not that it's mattered. It seems like every leg of this race has started with the teams bunching up at the airport or the train station or the ferry, destroying any advantage to being the first team out of the starting block.
This ep rubbed me the wrong way. Everybody started off bunched up at the ferry totally wiping out any advantage from the previous leg. It's like it didn't matter if you came in first or second in the hay bail comp.
The brother's are getting on my nerves. I am tired of them expressing hatred. Hatred?! Really? It's just a game.
I like the Globetrotters but the stupid mistakes they are making are infuriating. They took time to put their clothes and backpacks on after the volleyball challenge instead of just running to the pit stop. Then they run the wrong way!!! Come on guys, get in the zone!
I think actually this time the Speed Bump did sort of play a role in the elimination. Gary and Matt made it to the door with another team which means Matt would have gone to the basement with another team had they not had to do the Speed Bump. Therefore he would have known right away what a candelabra was and been much closer to the teams at least to the Tower Garden.
As for why the rush when it's for second, at that point I think it just comes down to beating a team that is annoying you.