TAR S30 ep2: "You're the Best French Fry Ever" (spoilers)

[Questor]

Warning: contains spoilers

A minimalist summary.

Teams leave Iceland and head to Antwerp, Belgium. There's a lack of flights so
everyone is pre-booked on the same plane, resulting in another infamous bunching
point.

For the roadblock, one team member must do a sky climb -- climbing a rope ladder
suspended from a very tall crane. I couldn't work out if during the climb they
are lifted by the crane or the rope ladder is reeled in from the top -- or both.
A cursory web search did not reveal more information about this attraction.

Next is the detour, a choice between "Old Print" and "Diamond Glint." In the
former, teams must typeset a phrase in Dutch to be printed on a manual press.
When they do it correctly, they are told it is their next clue. In the latter,
teams must appraise and value three diamonds.

In what is claimed to be a first, racers then compete "head to head" in a short
slalom race pushing a handtruck loaded with eight bags of french fries while
wearing a "bag of fries" costume. The winners check in; the losers race against
the next team to arrive. The final loser is eliminated. A ridiculous contest
with serious consequences.

Team Big Brother beats the NBA stars in the first race. The Yalies arrive third
and lose six races before finally beating Goat Yoga to place eighth. The Twin
EMTs arrive last but beat Goat Yoga.

finish order:

1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs

10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.

Next week: Morocco

Okay, talk among yourselves.

[Brian Smith]

Post by Questor
Warning: contains spoilers
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

For finishing first Cody and Jess each got $2,500 which IIRC is a lot less than they used to give when they had cash prizes for finishing first. But I guess $5K in total is a lot better than they would have got if this had been a regular leg of the race.

I felt sorry for the Yale Debaters or whatever their team nickname is. Without the twist I think they would have finished third. With it they damn near got eliminated. The head-to-head challenge should have been something a lot less physical as this ended up being a disadvantage to any team that had to do it as often as they did. I'm glad they survived as I like this team but dropping down five spots is probably going to screw them over.

Did anyone really understand the diamond task? How were the determining the value of the imperfections to such precise amounts? Did they have list of imperfection values not shown to us or did I miss something?

As for the preview for next week, Jess tonight said not to jump to any conclusions.

--
Brian

[Questor]

Post by Brian Smith

Post by Questor
Warning: contains spoilers
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

For finishing first Cody and Jess each got $2,500 which IIRC is a lot less
than they used to give when they had cash prizes for finishing first. But I
guess $5K in total is a lot better than they would have got if this had been
a regular leg of the race.

How was this not a regular leg of the race? It had a route markers, a
roadblock, a detour, and one team was eliminated. Seems very regular to me.

Post by Brian Smith
I felt sorry for the Yale Debaters or whatever their team nickname is. With
out the twist I think they would have finished third. With it they damn near
got eliminated. The head-to-head challenge should have been something a lot
less physical as this ended up being a disadvantage to any team that had
to do it as often as they did.

Why should it have been 'less physical?' I've been re-watching the previous
season, and in Vietnam Floyd of Team Fun had to re-do the roadblock -- peddling
a bicycle loaded with dozens of fish traps -- three times. Team Fun never even
finished the leg and were eliminated because he eventually collapsed from heat
exhaustion. Should that roadblock have been 'less physical?'

There have always been physical tasks on TAR. There have also been mental
tasks, and some tasks that are neither, such as the eating challenges.

Post by Brian Smith
Did anyone really understand the diamond task? How were the determining the
value of the imperfections to such precise amounts? Did they have list of
imperfection values not shown to us or did I miss something?

While the worksheets were not clearly shown, I suspect they were given a
simplified version of a grading system with broad, clearly separated
distinctions in each category. In short, they were given a limited number of
possibilities, and could eventually guess the correct values through trial and
error if they couldn't discern the differences.

Post by Brian Smith
As for the preview for next week, Jess tonight said not to jump to any conclusions.

Such as the conclusion that something interesting happened, when nothing
really did and the preview was just edited to make it appear more dramatic?

[Loren Pechtel]

On Wed, 10 Jan 2018 23:59:08 -0800 (PST), Brian Smith

Post by Brian Smith
Did anyone really understand the diamond task? How were the determining the value of the imperfections to such precise amounts? Did they have list of imperfection values not shown to us or did I miss something?

They had a flowchart for pricing the diamonds. They had to measure
(dimension, weight, color & imperfections) correctly and the chart
would give them a value. The chart showed up in a few shots, although
not close to the camera enough to actually read it.

I don't believe the exact nature of the imperfections matter. My
understanding is that it's their quantity and size that count.

[Brian Smith]

Post by Loren Pechtel
On Wed, 10 Jan 2018 23:59:08 -0800 (PST), Brian Smith

Post by Brian Smith
Did anyone really understand the diamond task? How were the determining the value of the imperfections to such precise amounts? Did they have list of imperfection values not shown to us or did I miss something?

They had a flowchart for pricing the diamonds. They had to measure
(dimension, weight, color & imperfections) correctly and the chart
would give them a value. The chart showed up in a few shots, although
not close to the camera enough to actually read it.
I don't believe the exact nature of the imperfections matter. My
understanding is that it's their quantity and size that count.

I thought the nature of the imperfection mattered a lot. I saw the worksheet they were using but I didn't see any values on it. Obviously we didn't see a lot of the background stuff related to that task. Maybe we'll luck out and Jen and/or Jody will fill in the details for us.

--
Brian

[Loren Pechtel]

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

[Questor]

Post by Loren Pechtel

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

While the Twin EMTs may excel at their jobs, I'm not sure that alone would
translate into race success. And this pair does not impress me as being
particularly worldly. I think they will eliminated soon.

Have medical teams really fared so poorly on TAR? I have not paid any attention
to the issue, but wasn't there a pair of doctor/friends a few seasons ago that
got into the top five or four? I'd have to look all this up; I remember so
little about TAR contestants.

[Brian Smith]

Post by Questor

Post by Loren Pechtel

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

While the Twin EMTs may excel at their jobs, I'm not sure that alone would
translate into race success. And this pair does not impress me as being
particularly worldly. I think they will eliminated soon.
Have medical teams really fared so poorly on TAR? I have not paid any attention
to the issue, but wasn't there a pair of doctor/friends a few seasons ago that
got into the top five or four? I'd have to look all this up; I remember so
little about TAR contestants.

Some medical teams have done very well. Nat and Kat were the first all female team to win TAR. IIRC they were both anesthesiologists.

--
Brian

[Karen M]

Post by Brian Smith

Post by Questor

Post by Loren Pechtel

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

While the Twin EMTs may excel at their jobs, I'm not sure that alone would
translate into race success. And this pair does not impress me as being
particularly worldly. I think they will eliminated soon.
Have medical teams really fared so poorly on TAR? I have not paid any attention
to the issue, but wasn't there a pair of doctor/friends a few seasons ago that
got into the top five or four? I'd have to look all this up; I remember so
little about TAR contestants.

Some medical teams have done very well. Nat and Kat were the first all female team to win TAR. IIRC they were both anesthesiologists.
--
Brian

ER residents, I thought, or one of each.

Knowing one's job makes it easy to make a decision--if the patient is having a heart attack, do this; if he's bleeding profusely, do that. Presented with diamonds to grade or a phrase in Walloons to match when one has no training in gemology or foreign languages...that patient just might die.

Karen

[Brian Smith]

Post by Karen M

Post by Brian Smith

Post by Questor

Post by Loren Pechtel

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

While the Twin EMTs may excel at their jobs, I'm not sure that alone would
translate into race success. And this pair does not impress me as being
particularly worldly. I think they will eliminated soon.
Have medical teams really fared so poorly on TAR? I have not paid any attention
to the issue, but wasn't there a pair of doctor/friends a few seasons ago that
got into the top five or four? I'd have to look all this up; I remember so
little about TAR contestants.

Some medical teams have done very well. Nat and Kat were the first all female team to win TAR. IIRC they were both anesthesiologists.
--
Brian

ER residents, I thought, or one of each.
Knowing one's job makes it easy to make a decision--if the patient is having a heart attack, do this; if he's bleeding profusely, do that. Presented with diamonds to grade or a phrase in Walloons to match when one has no training in gemology or foreign languages...that patient just might die.
Karen

They were both anesthesiologists.

--
Brian

[Loren Pechtel]

On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 18:55:40 -0800 (PST), Karen M

Post by Karen M
ER residents, I thought, or one of each.
Knowing one's job makes it easy to make a decision--if the patient is having a heart attack, do this; if he's bleeding profusely, do that. Presented with diamonds to grade or a phrase in Walloons to match when one has no training in gemology or foreign languages...that patient just might die.
Karen

The thing is, if you're an ER doc you're sometimes going to be faced
with the strange. If you don't figure it out fast the patient might
die.

[Loren Pechtel]

Post by Questor

Post by Loren Pechtel

Post by Questor
1. Big Brother
2. NBA stars
3. Pro skiers
4. Musicians
5. Indy Racers
6. Lifeguards
7. Eaters
8. Yalies
9. Twin EMTs
10. Goat Yoga -- eliminated.
Next week: Morocco
Okay, talk among yourselves.

What is it with medical teams on TAR? How can teams made up of people
whose job it is to make life-or-death decisions under pressure do so
poorly in the race? (I could understand if it was a physical
challenge that set them back but that wasn't the case here.)

While the Twin EMTs may excel at their jobs, I'm not sure that alone would
translate into race success. And this pair does not impress me as being
particularly worldly. I think they will eliminated soon.
Have medical teams really fared so poorly on TAR? I have not paid any attention
to the issue, but wasn't there a pair of doctor/friends a few seasons ago that
got into the top five or four? I'd have to look all this up; I remember so
little about TAR contestants.

Some have done well. It's just I would think at least those in a
field where you have time pressure would **all** do reasonably well.