Matt & Red 2.71
Tara & Joey 3.29
Becca & Floyd 3.29
Liz & Michael 4.57 (NEL in Venice)
Brooke & Scott 5
London & Logan 6
But given how I don't like these rankings, I have come up with a slightly different one to be taken with a pinch of salt - again the disclaimer with my unique ranking system: I put right the mistakes of the producers and award joint rankings. So for example, in this episode, even though it was pretty clear that team Lolo and Brooke & Scott practically stepped on the mat at the same time, they were split up into 4th and 5th because some producer decided not to award them joint 4th place. I watched that scene again and literally, the teams stepped onto the map at the very same time! Now that tie break makes one team look stronger than the other in this leg when that's really not true, given they arrived at the pit stop at the same time. So with my system, here are the rankings to offer a more accurate reflection of the teams thus far (I started this last week, so I thought I'd continue anyway since I think it is actually quite useful):
Becca & Floyd 2.14
Matt & Red 2.29
Tara & Joey 3.14
Liz & Michael 4.29
Brooke & Scott 5.29
London & Logan 5.29
Getting from Cernobbio to Venice - poor planning?
The teams start off on the shoes of Lake Como and have to catch one of two buses to Venice (which was about a 4 hour bus journey) - despite the teams starting off at different times in the night, the first team set off at 3:07 am and last team set off at 4:21 am - that is a difference of 1 hour 14 minutes between the first and last team. Yet the two buses they had to take for Venice were only 15 minutes apart - that meant that the teams who had built up a substantial lead at the end of the last leg didn't get that much of an advantage in this leg: is this fair? We have already seen some bad planning on the part of the production in this season back in leg 5 in Norway. On one hand, you don't want to condemn the teams at the bottom of the pack with an impossible deficit to make up, on the other hand, you want to reward the teams that have done well in the last leg with some kind of advantage. Public transport in Italy is brilliant in any case - why did they even bother with the minibuses? Why not just allow the teams to decide which mode of transport to use (bus, train, taxi, even a short domestic flight from Milan to Venice) and see where the chips fall?
I found the whole 'grudge' thing between Michael and team Lolo ridiculous. Michael had asked team Lolo for help in Piazza San Marco and they didn't help him. So what? At the end of the day, you need to fight for your survival in TAR and team Lolo have been the weakest team so far - indeed, if they had gone out of their way to help Liz & Michael (in piazza San Marco and during the mask painting roadblock) then they would have easily slipped to last place and that's not what you want on the race. I understand that racers can get quite stressed out during the race, but let's pause for a moment and analyze the situation: the racers were looking for a 'spazzino' - a road sweeper in the square. Were team Lolo the only people able to help Michael? No, of course not - you're in the one of the most touristy areas in Italy (heck, make that the most touristy place in Europe): any local in the restaurants, hotels, cafes and gift shops would speak English quite well and would be able to help you find the 'spazzino'. In the amount of time Michael spent ranting and raving about team Lolo, he could have easily asked a local for help. Sure it is not pleasant when another team refuses to help you, but in TAR, you have to remain calm and be resourceful - losing your temper simply doesn't help.
How to get a water taxi in Venice
Oh Brooke was being ridiculous in Venice again but this time, Scott was just as irrational. The teams needed to get a water taxi once they had finished their detour to get to the next clue - you're in Venice for the first time, you don't know where or how to get a water taxi. What do you do? Do you run around in around directions, throwing a tantrum, screaming insults at your race partner like Brooke? I pity anyone who has been on holiday with her! You're in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, you are surrounded by gift shops, hotels, restaurants, museums and cafes which deal with thousands of tourists a day. It's not like you're in the middle of the countryside far away from civilization, it is so incredibly easy to find an English-speaking local to help you get a water taxi. Just pop into a shop/hotel/restaurant and ask, "excuse me, could you tell me how I could get a water taxi please?" That isn't rocket science. It is common sense and never mind going on TAR, you need enough common sense just to have a job!
In the 'sing it' detour, the teams had to get into a gondola and perform for a judge - however, each of the teams got a different judge and it seemed somewhat unfair given how the teams were subjected to slightly different standards. I'm sure the production team would have briefed all the judges before the teams arrived about what was an acceptable standard for a pass, but nonetheless, it seemed fairly random when teams passed and when teams failed. I speak Italian and I didn't think Becca & Floyd's singing was great - but they seemed to have gotten away with it and their judge was more focused on "more together, more together", Liz & Michael's judge wanted "more theatre" and then complained about their pronunciation, whereas whilst Brooke & Scott's judge gave them precious little feedback. Heck, all the teams who attempted the singing struggled with pronouncing the Italian lyrics, yet only Liz & Michael were faulted for it? Again, that's inconsistent and unfair - contrast this to the roadblock in Brazil during leg 2, when the teams that learnt the samba routine had to perform with the same group and were judged by the same person each time.
Just how confusing are the streets of Venice?
Teams getting lost in the narrow streets of old Venice seemed to be a recurring theme here - Joey & Tara wasted precious time finding their detour despite being on the first bus and there was nail biting foot race to the pit stop where three teams were battling to avoid being last, team Lolo along with Brooke & Scott nearly got so lost that they were only moments ahead of Liz & Michael despite leaving the roadblock quite far ahead. Venice is an incredibly old city - the foundations were laid in the 5th century and it is beautifully preserved: however, the heart of Venice where the tourists visit is also incredibly small. The teams were less than 1 km or 0.6 miles from any of the places they had to get to in central Venice from where they were dropped off and there is a network of bridges which joins everything up. Water taxis are actually a luxury for rich people too lazy to walk or if you wish to travel to somewhere further than the heart of Venice. Most locals are quite happy to walk around Venice, especially if the weather is nice. Teams do have money on them - so they could have easily purchased a map of the city or alternatively, they could have asked locals for directions. So whilst Venice is incredibly beautiful, it certainly isn't as confusing as this episode made it out to be.
Well, one thing I hate about the previews of the next episode are the spoilers - there is a double U-turn coming up in Greece in the next leg: we see Matt & Red, Brooke & Scott along with London & Logan (correct me if I am wrong) at the U-turn board saying 'sorry' (yeah right, I find that hard to believe after what you guys did in Lake Como to Vanck & Ashton). Then we see in the next scene someone saying, "I can't believe they U-turned us, that's so crappy." Now I think that was definitely Tara's voice and it seems like the teams have finally awoken to the fact that they should get rid of a team who has won two legs and are a legitimate threat, rather than play high school Mean Girls and U-turn the team who didn't play the social game. But what we don't know is if they conspired to get rid of Tara & Joey the same way they did in Lake Como, by burning the second U-turn, just to keep Liz & Michael in the race (don't forget they have a speed bump after being spared elimination in Venice). Now if they did that, it would make sense - keep the weaker team, get rid of a stronger team. But then again, Tara & Joy are still not the strongest team: that would be Becca & Floyd or Matt & Red. The politics of a TAR double U-turn can be complex, but it depends on teams understanding how the race works and so far, I'm not convinced this lot get it especially after the last U-turn.
Who will win in Greece?
Matt & Red triumphed in Venice because they picked the 'bring it' detour which relied mostly on muscle strength - it was something that played to their strengths and as long as a leg has a task like that, it would give Matt & Red a considerable advantage, so I am going to predict that they will win again in Greece. This will make the other teams realize, oh damn we made a terrible mistake in getting rid of Vanck & Ashton at Lake Como when we should have eliminated a much stronger team: Matt & Red. There's going to be some kind of Olympic sports theme: we see in the preview team fun racing up a flight of stairs and Matt & Red entering and falling at some kind of ancient Olympic arena. I doubt team Lolo or Brooke & Scott would be able to match the physical prowess of Matt & Red even if they are spared the cruel U-turn. But who knows? Maybe Becca & Floyd will speed past Matt & Red in Greece, we'll see.
This will be between Tara & Joey and Liz & Michael - we now know that Tara & Joey got U-turned in Greece but Liz & Michael are shown having a massive argument in the car whilst getting quite lost driving. They also have a speed bump to overcome, so that means that the odds are stacked against Liz & Michael in the next leg. However, as we have seen in Tanzania, the double U-turn did get rid of Seth & Olive, another incredibly strong team (what a shame, I really liked them) and so maybe this will be the end of the road for Tara & Joey. A lot of it will depend on how long the speed bump for Liz & Michael takes and more to the point, how lost they get in Greece. Racers getting incredibly lost, wasting a lot of time played a vital role in the results in leg 1 in Panama and I suspect this will be the case again in Greece. That is a shame you know, as I would have much rather seen Brooke & Scott get eliminated for Brooke must be one of the worst racers in TAR history, ever. Such is the cruel medium of reality TV for you.
Who would I like to win? Which team/racers do I like?
Well, I'm finding it hard to like any of the teams now after what happened in Lake Como for a multitude of reasons. As a hardcore fan of the race, I would have hoped for teams to understand how the race work and use the U-turn to eliminate your strongest threat, rather than a team whom you don't like. Anyone who has watched Survivor will know how that social aspect works - you take the weaker opponents with you into the final because that would boost your chances of victory. None of the teams seemed to have grasped that simple concept. Good grief. The new dimension to all this is the way many racers are active on social media now and you can hear from them directly - to hear them defend their poor decisions, good grief: Liz & Michael kept defending their decision to U-turn Vanck & Ashton on social media by calling them a very strong team - but it doesn't change the fact that Matt & Red were a far stronger team, yet Liz & Michael chose to ignore that fact. If they felt threatened by Vanck & Ashton, they should be utterly terrified of Matt & Red who are by far a much stronger team than Vanck & Ashton. But I've said enough about this already, I'd like to see teams who have a much better understanding of how TAR works in the next season as this lot just don't get it. Like how many seasons of TAR or Survivor have they seen? The two teams which I really liked have all been eliminated already (Seth & Olive and Vanck & Ashton) so quite frankly, at this stage, well, I really don't care who wins anymore.
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