Namaste and hello, we're back at Jaipur for this leg of TAR, a city that the producers are very fond of as they were here in TAR S1 E8 and S14 E6 - on both occasions, they visited Amber Fort as well and in S14 E6, the pit stop was located in Jaigarh Fort, the location for the detours in this leg of the race. That's why some of you hardcore fans of TAR with good memories will think, wait a minute, I have seen this before in a previous season. Whilst these locations are undoubtedly nice, I wonder if they ought to go back to somewhere they have already visited before? By all means go back to a city like Jaipur, but pick different locations rather than simply say, "oh I remember when we were last in Jaipur, let's go back to that same fort, it was nice." There are so many famous tourist destinations in Jaipur for you to choose from. TAR has visited India a total of 13 times, making it their second most visited country in Asia after China. If you want an exotic country to really take all the racers out of their comfort zones, then India is the perfect location for an exciting leg of TAR.
Average rankings after leg 5 in Japiur, India
- Steve & Anna Leigh = 3.2
- Rob & Corey = 3.6
- Todd & Ashlie = 4.4
- Greg & John = 4.8
- Joel & Garrett = 6
- Morgan & Lena = 6.6
- Robbin & Chelsea = 7
- Joe & Ian = 7.4 (eliminated in Jaipur, India)
- Andrea & Malaina = 8
- Liam & Yeremi = 8.2
Oh dear, Joe & Ian are eliminated but are you surprised?
As a fan, It is always nice to see a season where it is not obvious who is going to win, we now have a new leader on the average ranking statistics board with Steve & Anna Leigh bumping their average up to the top spot and Rob & Corey slipping down to second place after Corey really struggling at the roadblock. It is once again surprising that it wasn't the weakest team that got eliminated but it was a team that really underestimated just how difficult that detour was. I do feel that this is the right outcome - after all, Morgan & Lena did emerge from their side of the detour before Joe & Ian, they were already in their rickshaw first. For a brief moment, there was a lot of drama when Joe & Ian momentarily overtook Morgan & Lena. I felt uncomfortable with that for two reasons: I don't think an elimination should come down to luck like that or things beyond the control of the racers such as which team got the better driver. Secondly, I did think it was somewhat dangerous to scream at your driver to go faster in one of those auto rickshaws with no seatbelts and unfortunately traffic safety in India is certainly not what Americans are used to. Whilst this is a commonly used form of transport in India, I don't think the teams should have been racing to the pit stop like that. Whilst I am somewhat disappointed to see Joe & Ian eliminated after just 5 legs, they really didn't perform that well in the first few legs and often survived simply because of another much weaker team having a tough time. We have now come to the stage where teams can no longer afford to make any more silly mistakes with fewer and fewer teams left, the chances of getting eliminated as a result of one bad mistake could be very costly. Right now, even though the statistics do tell us who the stronger teams are (so anyone with an average of under 5 is doing really well here), there are still a number of surprises.
Why are they leaving the airport all at the same time?
The first and last teams were 36 minutes apart when they departed from Can Tho, but were all put on the same flight given how few flights would connect the teams from Ho Chi Minh City to Jaipur - thus unlike in leg 3 when the teams had to race to get an earlier flight at a local travel agent, the producers decided that the logistics of getting everyone from Vietnam to India was just way too complicated and they didn't want to risk having teams getting stuck somewhere and falling way behind the pack. The situation they want to avoid is if say two teams end up on a flight that arrives 12 hours after everyone else, then how are they going to keep all the roadblocks and detours there for that long when the local actors and crew would want to go home after a long shoot? This leg was visually stunning with loads of locals and even some elephants hired for the scenes, thus the producers probably decided that they did not want to chance it with the flights and made sure that all the teams made it to Jaipur together. Still, they could have released the teams from Jaipur airport in the order they finished the last leg in, thus that would give the winners of the last leg Robbin & Chelsea a lead.
Why are the bundles of sugar cane so small?
I actually thought that this would be a physical task that would allow the stronger teams to get ahead, but as it turned out, the bundles were not that big and none of the teams struggled with it. Well, it did give some stronger teams a bit of an advantage if they had more stamina, but ultimately, it wasn't a task that changed the order of the teams much. Sugar cane is grown in many tropical countries in Asia, Africa, South America and Central America and it is used primary for sugar production, since the juicy canes yield a very sweet juice which is a very popular drink in many parts of the tropics.
Brains vs Brawn?
As I crunched the numbers, I was very surprised to see Liam & Yeremi right at the bottom, even behind Andrea & Malaina. What is going on here? These guys seem intelligent and articulate in the interviews, they are physically stronger than most of the other teams and yet they seem to fall to the back of the pack. Seriously, I like them as a team but they are not doing well. Bad luck can explain one or two bad legs in the race but you can't run away from the average ranking which gives a much better indication. After all, the playing field was levelled in this leg as all teams left Jaipur airport at the same time but they still only struggled to 8th place here. But look at what is happening with Andrea & Malaina - they have made consistent improvement moving from the back of the pack to the front of the pack - I was ready to write them off after their poor showing in the first two episodes but now I think they are going to hang around for a lot longer given how they have made a lot of wise decisions in the last two legs. They may not be the strongest team physically but it seems like this season really doesn't contain that many challenges which are very challenging physically - if that is your cup of tea, I recommend the Korean reality TV series Physical: 100 which is purely, entirely about extreme physical challenges and now that is a whole other genre of its own along with more familiar ones such as American Ninja Warrior.
Rob & Corey making a comeback from last to 6th was impressive.
It was really nice to see how Rob & Corey never gave up despite the fact that Corey really struggled so much more than anyone else at the Bhavai dance roadblock where he had to balance the three pots on his head. To then bounce back from last (10th) to a respectable 6th under such tough circumstances is actually pretty awesome. Some other racers would have already given up at that point and checked out mentally if they were that far behind in a challenge, so even though they did not run a good leg this time, they are still my favourites to win this season. To be honest, I was surprised that Corey found that balance challenge that hard as all of the other racers who did that road block did manage to get through it: some much faster than others of course, but Corey was the only one who really struggled with it. So I guess it is just one ability that was missing from his skill set: everyone has their weaknesses and this just happens to be Corey's.
Is age going to be a factor in this season?
Steve and Rob are the two oldest racers still racing in this season - Steve is 53 and Rob is 48. I note that Elizabeth is 52 but she was eliminated in leg 2; then both Jocelyn and Victor are 49, but they were eliminated in leg 4. Both men still seem reasonably fit, they are certainly more fit than most men their age and age doesn't seem a factor for them, but I can't help but notice that it tends to be the older racers who get eliminated first in this season, which is why Joe & Ian's elimination in this leg was a shock as they are relatively young as a team with an average age of 37.5 and physically very fit. Given that I am 47, I have to admit that I am very biased indeed, I want to see the older racers do well in this season!
Which side of the detour was easier?
It is hard to say - I would say that The Big Picture was definitely harder given that some teams really got stuck there for a very long time as they couldn't figure out where they had gone wrong. The judge would simply tell them "no" without any explanation relating to how many mistakes there were or what those mistakes were. Whereas for All Dolled Up, it was rather time consuming but straight forward, none of the teams really struggled that much and more to the point, whilst their dolls didn't look perfect, the judge accepted them all as he really wasn't expecting perfection as long as they had followed all the steps. So that's why I think All Dolled Up was the safer side of the detour to attempt, though there were teams like Greg & John and Andrea & Malaina who completed The Big Picture with ease, proving that for the right teams, this side of the detour can be done quickly as long as they had an eye for detail. I would have definitely played it safe and gone for The Big Picture even if it means not winning the leg. Hopefully Morgan & Lena will learn from this silly mistake.
At what point do you give in and switch detours?
Oh Morgan & Lena were so close to elimination when they wasted two hours at the All Dolled Up detour but couldn't figure out where they were going wrong. I think this has to be done to gut instinct and it would be in the team's interest to have done plenty of research by watching all the previous seasons of TAR - so the moment they look at a task, they should have a good idea whether or not they have made the right choice. I suppose Morgan & Lena did arrive there at the same time as Greg & John who just breezed through it and were out in no time at all, that probably convinced Morgan & Lena that the task was quite doable. But yes, setting a time limit in stone like 25 or 30 minutes is probably a great strategy but it is also very important to consider what the other side of the detour is as you don't want to be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. It would be highly unlikely for one side of the detour to be a lot easier than the other - it might be very different in nature but it is hardly going to be 'easier', it is probably going to require a different set of skills to complete and so you really have to base your decision on which task is more suitable to your team's strengths and skills.
Do people in India speak English?
Yes and no. It depends on what you define as 'speak English' - India is a former British colony, hence English is one of the official languages and it remains the language of higher education and business. All Indian students would have had some lessons of English as part of their education but some go on to become totally fluent whilst others feel they have no need for it and hardly remember what they have learnt in school. India is also a very linguistically diverse country, so English also functions as a lingua franca for Indians from different parts of the country to understand each other and communication. It tends to be the younger, richer and more well educated Indians who speak English very well, but given that India is still a very poor country, the percentage of the population who can be considered 'richer and well educated' is relatively small. However, it is estimated that only 10% to 12% of people in India speak English and even I think that is based on the person being totally fluent. Walk down the streets in Jaipur and you will see English everywhere as it is the 'prestige language' - that means that a restaurant might have an English sounding name or at least write their name in both Hindi and English despite the fact that the staff there barely speak any English. So if you want to have a conversation about the Indian politics in English with your average person in the street in Jaipur, that's probably not going to be possible. But if you just want to ask them for directions, they would have no problems helping you out. Most tourists in India do get away with simply speaking English, but I would recommend learning at least one of the local languages of the region you are visiting; so for example, if you are going to Jaipur, then do learn some basic Hindi phrases for that trip.
Steve & Anna Leigh finally win a prize for winning a leg.
Steve & Anna Leigh have sort of won a leg before, that was leg 3 back in Vietnam but were simply handed a clue instead of a prize when they got to the pit stop and told to keep on racing. Anna Leigh was the first to complete the dancing roadblock and they kept that lead all the way to the end, so she can claim credit for this victory - I'm not that fond of this team though, I did call her a hypocrite in my last blog post because she expected others to help her in the tough roadblock end the end of leg 4 but she was not prepared to help Todd when she found his tile. Still, TAR is not a popularity contest, they ran this leg very well and they won because they aced the tasks in this leg; though there is an element of the "popularity contest" that is coming up in the next leg which is always a very interesting aspect of the race.
We have a U-turn coming up in the next leg!
So this is how it works, before the teams even begin the next leg, they have to vote for which team to U-turn and the team that receives the most votes will have to do both sides of the detour. The way this is conducted is different because normally, teams have to complete their detour and the first team that gets to the U-turn board gets to U-turn another team - that means that once the U-turn is used up, the other teams behind can only hope that they didn't get U-turned. This time, everyone will have a say and this will be a democratic vote. Steve & Anna Leigh are an obvious target because they just won a leg and they are statistically the strongest team, so it would make sense to try to get rid of a strong team at this stage. Greg & John did come in second in leg 5 and we did see Andrea suggesting that her team will U-turn Greg & John. I wonder if the other teams will still see Rob & Corey as a big threat, given that they only finished in 6th on leg 5 - overall, they are still the second strongest team. In this kind of situation, I imagine that most teams would play it safe: the strategy is simple, "as long as we don't get U-turned, we'll go for the obvious as everyone would be voting for the strongest team," Since Steve & Anna Leigh will not vote for themselves, they need to get only 4 votes to be U-turned and if the other 4 votes are split between other teams, then it wouldn't take much for them to be U-turned. A question I would ask at this stage would be, well what if two teams each get 4 votes each, what then? In that case, then both teams would be U-turned, making it a double U-turn. That would be the most fair way to do it, rather than any kind of tie breaker. And in the highly unlikely scenario of the 9 votes being split three ways 3-3-3, then three teams would be U-turned. At this stage, it doesn't matter how nice Steve & Anna Leigh have been to the others (or not), they will have a huge target on their backs regardless. In the promo clips, we see Steve & Anna Leigh really struggling and I think we can safely assume that they will definitely be U-turned but would that be enough to eliminate them? I don't think so, I think they will survive.
Who will win the next leg? Who will be eliminated?
I got the last prediction wrong - again! The team that I picked to win finished 6th whilst it was Joe & Ian who got eliminated instead of Morgan & Lena (that one was so close though). For this next leg, they are still in Jaipur, so I am guessing that the teams who are at the front of the pack will get to keep that lead; if we are assuming that Steve & Anna Leigh are getting U-turned, then it will be Greg & John or Joel & Garrett who are in a very good position to snatch the next victory. However, in the previews, we saw Joel & Garrett really struggle in the heat whilst doing a physically demanding task thus we can rule them out. The team in 4th is Andrea & Malaina, sorry but they are hardly going to excel at a physical task that Joel & Garrett struggled with (unless it is part of a detour and there is a less physical option to avoid whatever Joel & Garrett were doing). Still, my head is telling me that Greg & John are going to win this leg (despite the fact that I've made it clear I'm not fond of them as a team), but I shall simply cast my personal feelings aside and stick with my instincts. As for whom will get eliminated, it is hard to say, it would make complete sense that the team that gets U-turned would be eliminated but that would mean Steve & Anna Leigh dropping from first to last - that's highly unlikely as they will go into this next leg with a bit of a lead, that should be enough to cover them should they need to go do the other side of the detour. But never say never, we saw Jocelyn & Victor get eliminated in leg 4 after having won two legs, so it is possible. The two teams featured struggling are Joel & Garrett and Robbin & Chelsea, so simply looking at the statistics, I can see that Robbin & Chelsea are the weaker of the two teams despite having won a leg - so logically, I ought to guess that Robbin & Chelsea are next to go, but I checked that this was filmed back in June and it can get ridiculously hot in Jaipur in June with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 F). That kind of heat exhaustion can be devastating when you're trying to complete a task and based on that, I'm going to predict that whilst Greg & John will win this next leg, it will be Joel & Garrett who are eliminated next so let's see if my predictions are right.
Okay so that's it from me for now. I'm about to book myself a holiday in November, nothing confirmed yet but it will probably mean that I will be late blogging for one of the episodes as I will be away for 6 days. It started with me planning for a long weekend and when I looked at the places I wanted to visit, I thought I can't do that in 4 days, I need 6 days at least so I'm going to be away from a Friday to a Wednesday. I will share the details with you once I've booked the flights but I've already started revising one of the two languages I will need for this trip. I've not travelled since early September when I was in Denmark and so yeah - this is long overdue. Please leave a comment below and many thanks for reading.
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