Guten tag and hello everyone, I was wondering if I was going to be able to blog about TAR this season because I will be traveling a lot in the coming months for my new job and I thought I'd compromise by making my posts a lot shorter this time round. I look back at my previous blog posts and I saw a running theme, ie. "yes I've been to all of these places before, I speak all of these languages, I'm so much more well traveled than all of these contestants on TAR." On the other hand, I did truly enjoy watching TAR Canada S8 this year (TAR is oh so good when your favourite team wins) and I am currently enjoying TAR Australia S6 (three episodes a week). So whilst I decided that I couldn't possibly cover TAR Australia on my blog, I will so TAR US S34 because the first episode was interesting enough and of course, it was in Munich, a city that I know very well! Let's dive right into this first episode and evaluate how this season got off to a start.
Munich again? TAR returns to Munich.Starting the race in another country, outside the USA.
Phil made a big deal about the race starting in Germany instead of the USA for the first time, whilst that was a first for TAR US, it has been done before in the TAR franchise, notably in TAR Australia S4 when they started in Seoul, South Korea and the current season of TAR Australia S6 when they started in Ouazazarte, Morocco. I miss the traditional starts from the early days of TAR, but because of Covid restrictions, it was inevitable that all teams would be put on the same flight and arriving at the first city. So it would make sense to start the race in a picturesque setting by Nymphenburg Palace rather than have them running out of the airport. As long as Covid remains an issue, this will be the new norm.
How has Covid affected the race logistics?
I roll my eyes and think, how is Covid still a thing anymore, but it is! I live in London where life has totally returned to normal - nobody tests for Covid anymore, mask wearing is completely optional and tourists can arrive in the UK without any Covid-related restrictions. No more lengthy forms, no need to prove that you're vaccinated, none of that. But some countries are indeed still enforcing some Covid related restrictions, from proof of vaccination to lengthy forms to strict quarantine - China is still completely shut off to the outside world as they pursue their ridiculous zero-Covid policy (don't get me started, that's a whole other discussion). In this context, the race has got to be routed through countries that are open for tourists and interestingly enough, we have the full list of destinations as well (it is on the Wikipedia page), I know some of you don't like the idea of spoilers so feel free to take a look at the Wikipedia page if you want to know but I will not be discussing future destinations in my blog posts. There is one new country that TAR US has never visited before in this season but otherwise, I was very disappointed that the list was fairly boring actually apart from that one new country.
Covid has wrecked havoc on TAR Canada and Australia this year!
Okay I know that I'm not really here to talk about TAR Canada and Australia but on TAR Canada S8, three teams had to go into quarantine mid-race and then fight for two places to rejoin the race - one of those teams then goes on to win the season. Then in TAR Australia S6, good grief, so many teams had to quarantine because of getting Covid mid-race and then the host himself Beau Ryan tested positive and was stuck in a hotel room in Greece whilst they had to fly out a replacement host from Australia - it was crazy and it led to one of the strongest teams getting eliminated because they had to do a road block after getting out of quarantine. I think it goes to show that Covid is still circulating in our communities, it's just that we have stopped testing for it already so we have no idea who has Covid but once you start testing, then you'll realize it is still circulating. Oh boy, if you're a true TAR fan, then please you must watch TAR Canada S8 and TAR Australia S6, both are available on Dailymotion - both seasons were very well made and you'll love them!
I have to say, I don't like this. Teams arriving last and being spared is a classic TAR moment and as I was watching TAR Canada and TAR Australia this year, there were so many moments when I was screaming at my computer, "please let this be a non-elimination leg!" What is the justification of removing that? I don't see how it will add to the race, I like the way teams are still motivated to finish and carry on struggling even if they are nearly last or last in the hope that it will be a non-elimination leg and that they will live to fight another leg on the race. But with this announcement, teams that are last can pretty much just give up if they know they have little or no chance of catching up and avoiding that dreaded elimination. Nah, I don't like this at all - it feels like an utterly pointless change to the format of TAR that adds no value.
How do we feel about the scramble?
Again, I don't like it - what's the point?. The scramble meant that teams could complete the three tasks on this leg in any order they like - some teams rushed into it, others tried to plan meticulously. Yes I know they're trying hard to add new twists to make the latest season fresh but the main problem with the scramble is that we don't get a clear idea of which teams are ahead and which ones are behind, that forms a crucial part of the race. So for much of the episode, we're just watching different teams doing different tasks in different part of the city without a clear indication of how they stand relative to other teams. I hope that this is only for one episode and that it'll be business as usual in the other episodes.
I was disappointed. Firstly, it was the locations - the teams rolled the barrel through the obstacle course a field in the middle of nowhere, yes I know they were in Luitpold Park and I have been there before, but I do wonder what's the point of going to Germany to film when you pick such a bland location? Likewise, how is sawing through that log inspired by the Oktoberfest beer festival? Sawing through a log is done by people around the world, I grant you that the kind of saws used would differ country to country of course but that task left me scratching my head. And as for breaking that block of ice to find a clue in the middle of it, good grief - really? Are you serious? How does that have anything to do with Oktoberfest in the first place and surely you could have come up with something more imaginative and German? All three tasks were physical: rolling the barrel, sawing the log and breaking the ice - this gave younger, stronger teams an advantage whilst I would have liked to have seen something that required a lot more brain power like a task involving learning some aspect of German culture involving the language (like memorizing a German song or poem). It seems like the only part of this episode which required some brain power was reading a map and navigating their way through Munich without relying on GPS. Thus overall, I thought production really let the hardcore fans of TAR down on this leg.
Did it really matter which order the teams did the tasks in?
It would be advantageous to do the sawing task last as that was closest to the pit stop and it wouldn't matter which order you did the other two tasks in as long as you finished closest to the pit stop, thus sparing yourself the ordeal of having to navigate your way across Munich through heavy traffic. Having said that, Derek & Claire didn't do that - they started with the barrel rolling, then did the sawing before finishing with the ice, taking a more indirect route but they still won because they finished all the tasks with ease and had no difficulty in navigating their way around Munich. Quite frankly, I would have not guessed that the pit stop would be in the east of Munich given that there is a stunningly beautiful old town in Munich, centered around Marienplatz - that's where all the tourists go to take pictures and videos of the stunningly well preserved old buildings. That would have been right in the middle of Munich but it may have been a Covid thing, to choose a pit stop in a more remote location, far away from the crowds of people to minimize the chances of infection.
The teams seemed to have little difficulty in communicating with the locals in English and indeed, the locals hired to run the challenges all spoke English really well. From my experience working in Germany, you will find that anyone under the age of 30 would speak English quite well and even those between the ages of 30 to 60 would speak English reasonably well. It is only the older people over the age of 60 who wouldn't speak much English, however, there are exceptions of course. English is a prestige language in Germany, that means that you would need English for international business, for international travel, to do your research at university and thus the richer and better educated you are, the more likely you are to speak English. Thus there is a class dimension to this: working class Germans are far less likely to go to university, travel abroad or deal with international clients and thus don't have as much of a need to master English to a high standard whilst practically all German graduates would speak English flawlessly at native or near-native standard. On this leg, the teams drove themselves around Munich and it would have been interesting to try to see them navigate the public transport system where they would have needed to communicate more with the locals in terms of buying tickets, talking to their taxi drivers and asking the locals for directions just like in the earlier seasons of TAR before Covid.
Let's talk about the team that got eliminated.
Aaah, what a shame: Aastha & Nina were the first to go - it was mostly because they really struggled with the barrel rolling challenge. It took them five attempts to get through it whilst other teams took either one or two attempts; it is a very tiring challenge so we don't even know how long they took to rest and catch their breaths between each attempt. That was enough to sink them to the bottom, though by the time they finished that challenge, they were still in 11th whilst Aubrey & David were still getting through the ice roadblock - it was then a race to the pit stop and sadly, for Aastha & Nina, they were beaten by just a few minutes. It was painfully close for them and I am sad to see them go - they were a fun team to watch and despite the fact that they were struggling in this leg, they were always there for each other and that's nice to see. Currently in TAR Australia 6, there is a team Chelsea & Jamus who are a pain to watch - like I have no idea how they have not self-destructed yet. Every time something goes wrong, she loses her temper and throws a massive tantrum and I'm like, how does your race partner put up with you? They are engaged on top of that, good grief. Yes this is reality TV, we want to see racers lose their tempers, cry, throw tantrums, be driven to breaking point for our entertainment but as a fan of TAR, I also want to see good racers thrive in this process and what a shame for Aastha & Nina, I did think they could have done quite well in TAR S34. What a shame ladies, I was so sorry to see you eliminated.
Well guys, it's still very early days so I am only able to go by their results so far: clearly Derek & Claire have won the first leg but I also think any of the teams in the top five have the potential to go all the way and make it to the finale. Hold that thought please and I'll come back to you on that one after the second leg once I get to know the teams a bit better okay?
Which team would be next to get eliminated?
Two teams stood out for me in this first leg as potentially very weak: the first would be Tim & Rex, sorry guys nothing personal but they are older and quite out of shape (Rex is plain obese, sorry for having to point out the obvious but it is a factor in TAR). The TAR is a very physical process and thus the older racers are at a massive disadvantage. The other team that left me shaking my head was Marcus & Michael who seemed to be quite strong at the tasks but really struggled to read a map and navigate their way around the city. I suspect that teams would have to drive themselves around a lot in this season and avoid public transport due to Covid, so that could be their downfall. But I would not have predicted that Aastha & Nina would have been the first team to be eliminated, so there would always an element of luck in this process. After all, even the very strong teams can have a bad day in the office and perform badly once in a while.
I always roll my eyes when I see minor celebrities on TAR - it feels like TAR is so desperate to boost their ratings that they will cast a team like Derek & Claire who have been in Big Brother so that fans of Big Brother would want to see these two run the race. Otherwise I like teams with an interesting story such as the long lost twins Emily & Molly who are trying to reconnect after being separated for 36 years. The casting has also ticked practically every box in terms of social class, age, sexuality, culture, ethnic minorities and different kinds of relationship. My one pet hate is for them to cast teams who know little or nothing about TAR and thus it was nice to see at least one team Abby & Will who are huge fans of the show. There are many of us out there who are massive TAR fans who would give a kidney to have that chance to be on the race and thus it really sucks to see them cast a team who don't really know or care that much about the show.
That's it from me on this episode of TAR S34, what do you think? Leave a comment below and many thanks for reading.
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