Average ranking after leg 4 in Budapest
- Jas & Jag 2.25
- Tucker & Eric 2.5
- Natalie & Stephanie 2.75
- Izzy & Paige 4.5
- Joseph & Adam 5.25
- Hannah & Simone 5.75
- Kristine & Rubina 6.75
- Jack & Chelsie 7.5
- Kyland & Taylor 7.75
- Kat & Alex 10.25 (eliminated in Budapest)
Despite having a difficult time in Budapest, Jas & Jag are still the strongest team at this point and they are definitely still the favourites to win in this season. Some teams would be delighted with a fifth place finish but for Jas & Jag, it was their worst ever performance and that mostly came down to the fact that they really struggled to get a taxi after departing the fast forward. They decided to use public transport instead of taxis for the rest of the leg which really slowed them down and they still managed to come in fifth, ahead of many teams who had no problems using taxis in Budapest. The order of the teams really didn't change that much in the average ranking statistics above, it is clear that the top three teams are pretty close to each other and ahead of the teams which are in the middle of the pack whilst the weaker teams are dropping off one by one - the statistics never lie. But let's address the elephant in the room: is Hungary a racist country?
Are Hungarians really racist towards Sikhs?
Yes and no, it is a complex issue. At the risk of offending Hungarian people, I'm going to be blunt here. I'm British-Chinese and I have worked in Hungary before, I had no problems whatsoever in Hungary and had a lovely time working there alongside Hungarian people. So is there racism? Yes, but that racism isn't directed at people who look like me (I'm of Chinese ethnicity). The racism is directed at two groups of people: firstly, the racism is directed at Muslims - anyone who may look Muslim or in the case of Jas & Jag, be mistaken for being Muslims (because of their beards and turbans) will bear the brunt of racism in Hungary. The irony is that Jas & Jag are Sikh, they're not Muslim at all - yet somehow, because they are often mistaken as Muslims by people who can't tell the difference, they will suffer discrimination in Hungary. The second group of people who suffer racism in Hungary are black people. Why are these two groups subjected to so much racism in Hungary? This is because of the large number of asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East who have passed through Hungary on their way to places like Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden over the years. Hungary is a lot less liberal than a lot of their European counterparts when it comes to offering asylum to anyone who is Muslim or black. Hungarians have consistently elected right wing governments who clearly state that they really do not want Muslims migrants in Hungary even if they are refugees fleeing war zones - they have made their feelings about Muslims very clear, they really don't like Muslims at all. Now that's not to say that all Hungarians hate Muslims - in a big city like Budapest, you will get people with a whole range of attitudes when it comes to this issue, but overall, the fact that successive Hungarian right wing governments get to dictate their stance on asylum seekers means there's no smoke without fire - yes, for sure, there is racism there, especially against Muslims. They happily opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine because they are Christian and white, but it is a flat no to anyone who is black and especially anyone who is Muslim. So this is a form of racism and it is not like Jas & Jag were ever in any physical danger of being attacked in central Budapest, but taxi drivers may decline to pick up people who look like Jas & Jag for the sole reason that they were mistaken for Muslims. I am sorry to be blunt, but such is the reality for you.
How bad is this racism then?
I had an Indian colleague who suffered racism in Hungary before, but then he was told to simply announce that he was not a Muslim, that often resolved a lot of the problems once the locals realized that he wasn't a Muslim. This racism is quite targeted, it isn't just a generic "we hate anyone who looks different." Perhaps it is because of the nature of my work, when I was in Hungary I was surrounded by highly educated Hungarians who were not only multilingual but were quite used to working with people from all over the world - that would explain why I had a wonderful time working in Hungary. Then again, there are racist people all over the world and you have to take into account of the fact that Hungary is very homogenous - it is overwhelmingly white. Even minorities like Russians and Slovaks are as white as they come. Non-white people are extremely rare, so unlike London or New York where nobody would bat an eyelid if they saw a black or Asian person walking down the street, in Hungary I did get some stares as a non-white ethnic minority but this was mainly down to harmless curiosity rather than any kind of malice or hatred. But then again, the worst of the racism isn't directed at people who look like me. I got a bit frustrated at times when I tried to explain that despite the fact that I look Chinese, I'm a British citizen who lives in London (and I've never ever lived in China, I wasn't born there and have nothing to do with China). But that's just ignorance, not malice. Look, I don't want to make Hungary sound like a bad place, I do love Hungary and had a great time working there and I also need to point out that racism exists everywhere.
Again, nobody spoke a word of Hungarian on this leg.
I don't claim to be able to speak Hungarian well - I know the basics to communicate with people to get to the point where they can hear that I'm struggling in Hungarian and they'll switch to English for me. That is the case with Czech as well when I worked in Prague. I contrast this to TAR Australia S9 where teams were given the words for hello and thank you in the local language of each country they visited and most of the teams made some effort to use those words. It is little things like that which reminds me why the Australian TAR is so much better than the American one. Then again, I experienced a lot of hate online ironically from an English speaking audience from my own experience on Road to a Million in the episode in Bangkok, when I struggled to communicate in Thai and stumbled over my words in Thai, a language that I don't speak but know just a little to ask for help. Oh the haters criticized me for not being fluent in Thai and struggling in that language but I was like, I never claimed to be fluent in Thai. I don't speak Thai but that's not going to stop me from trying to show respect to the locals by using a few words of Thai when trying to get help. What did the other teams do? They merely shouted at the locals in English and how is that a more culturally appropriate response to the situation? I think going into such a situation and shouting at the locals in English is just downright rude. I did wonder if the haters just assumed that somehow I must be able to speak Thai just because I am of Chinese ethnicity and they can't tell the difference between different Asian people. That'll be like expecting white British people to somehow be able to all speak Dutch fluently as that's just across the sea and you guys are practically neighbours? Or is it just a case of people hating me for other reasons no matter what I do and so it didn't matter whether I spoke Thai or English in that scene?
Slower train with three changes or faster direct train?
The teams went back to Prague at the start of the leg instead of continuing from Kutna Hora, I suppose that made sense as there wasn't a direct train from Kutna Hora anyway. The teams at the front of the pack had a choice between an earlier train with three connections or a direct sleeper train that gets in one hour later. Kristine & Rubina could have taken the earlier train but opted for the sleeper train to get more sleep - I think that was a very sensible move on their part as one does get awfully sleep deprived on the race and okay, so they finished near the back of the pack in Budapest but imagine just how tired the teams on the first train would have been. Would I have taken the more comfortable second train? I think I would have been tempted, but I would have still taken the earlier option to have that vital one hour buffer.
Why didn't other teams try to fast forward?
I'm quite surprised only one team tried the fast forward and thus Tucker & Eric could take their time slowly, mastering the Rubik's cube in order to win the fast forward. Firstly, I think even I would be daunted by the fact that both team members had to complete the Rubik's cube within 7.5 seconds. There is a steep learning curve of course and it is a question of how fast you can climb that learning curve. Secondly, if more than one team attempts the fast forward, the losing team(s) will have to rejoin the race and find themselves at the very back of the pack. So if you lose the fast forward, there's a good chance that you may be going home and that's a huge risk to take if you're the second team that attempts the fast forward when Tucker & Eric were already there. Realistically, I think only the first few teams like Jas & Jag, Natalie & Stephanie, Hannah & Simone, Joseph & Adam and perhaps Izzy & Paige had a realistic chance of even considering it because once Tucker & Eric started practising they were already ahead on that learning curve. Joining the fast forward even a few minutes behind them would leave you at a disadvantage and that would be risky - hence it would've been a calculated risk with a huge reward but no other team wanted to try it. Actually, I'm surprised Jas & Jag just said no to it without even considering it at all. Tucker & Eric were given instructions on what to do, the only challenge for them thus was to perform it under 7.5 seconds and thus it really wasn't actually that hard. It was interesting to see another team genuinely win a leg for a change, I didn't want to think that Jas & Jag's victory in S38 was a foregone conclusion already.
An interesting roadblock: who thinks they can coach?
I liked this roadblock because it involved a high level of skill and it really did change the order of the teams there given that some teams struggled more than others to through this roadblock. But also, I was shocked at how many teams got lost trying to find the venue: Ludovika Huszár Lovarda. They have an address, why didn't they try to ask the locals for help? Yes there may be a bit of a language barrier but you simply keep trying until you find someone who speaks English - that would make more sense than running around in circles in blind panic. However, the next task at the house of Houdini was just totally pointless - the teams had to unchain and unlock a few boxes to find a clue but the process was so simple that the teams mostly left in the order they had arrived in. It was only Joseph & Adam breaking one of the keys that allowed Kyland & Taylor to jump ahead of them, otherwise it was such a boring task that it might have just hit the cutting room floor. If you want to include something like that to remind the audience that Harry Houdini was from Budapest, then it really needs to be a lot more difficult. At least make them search for the keys or solve a puzzle before allowing them to get the clue. As always, I must refer you to the current season of TAR Australia S9 which has far more difficult tasks than TAR USA S38. The Australian season this year is much better than the American one, hands down.
Detour: juggling or dancing?
I am amazed that so few racers chose juggling as it was obvious that it was the easier detour! Both tasks involved a lot of muscle memory, but for juggling, there is a certain pattern that you had to follow to juggle the five rings, once you have learnt that pattern, you simply had to repeat it like a machine for a duration of ten seconds. Whereas the dance routine was so complicated, it was obvious that there was a lot more to memorize for the dancers. Kyland & Taylor only took three attempts to get through that juggling challenge whilst Joseph & Adam took an astonishing 134 attempts. Wow. Yet if you look at the final placements in this leg of the race, Kyland & Taylor were 4th and Joseph & Adam were 7th - thus despite taking what seemed like an incredibly long time on the juggling challenge Joseph & Adam were still ahead of three teams that attempted the dancing challenge. Juggling is not easy, I know as I have tried it - I took a course on juggling once and almost everyone could master the easier versions like juggling with three handkerchiefs but once I progressed to three balls, I struggled as there was far less thinking time and your hands had to simply be in the right place at once. You had to memorize the sequence and practically go into auto-pilot mode to deliver the more complex sequences and five rings between two people isn't easy; yet Joseph & Adam proved to us all that with any physical task on TAR, you just need to stay calm and climb that learning curve. Of course, some people will climb it faster than others if they happen to have the right experience or talent, whilst others will simply crumble under pressure and self-destruct if they get really frustrated which was exactly what Kat did. Oh dear, Kat's demise was rather painful to watch I'm afraid.
Are we surprised that Kat & Alex were eliminated?
I'm surprised they even made it this far! Kat made the excuse that the counting for the Hungarian folk dance was different from the way she was used to back in America - so what? She wasn't acting in a reasonable manner, after all, the whole point of TAR is to travel around the world and experience a lot of different things that you would have never encountered back at home, rather than to fly halfway around the world only to do something you were very familiar with. What was she expecting? Like did she even know what she had signed up for? This is why people objected to the casting of this season! Kat was on BB S21 - she didn't have to go through an extensive audition process to determine if she would excel at this process or simply crumble under pressure and self-destruct doing a dance challenge despite having been a professional dancer in the past. Once again, this makes a mockery of the casting process - as fans, we want to see people who really want to do well in the process and be prepared to work really hard like Joseph & Adam to complete a difficult task. Having been through the casting process myself when I did Road to a Million, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, at the starting line, I felt very relieved to see teams I knew I could easily beat in the process, teams I knew would not go very far in the process. On the other hand, I did wonder how that would spoil the experience for the viewers as I know exactly what I want to see as a big fan of this format of reality TV. Do we really want to wait for the very weak teams to fall away in the first few episodes before the real race can get started? Why cast people like Kat who are so hopeless we know she will never survive long in this process? This was a really bad casting decision: more on this later.
Who will be eliminated next? Who will win the next leg in Dubrovnik?
Statistically, the two next weakest teams are Kyland & Taylor and Jack & Chelsie. However, Kyland & Taylor finished 4th in this leg, their best finish so far and Jack & Chelsie never finished above 6th. Furthermore, Kyland & Taylor still have their express pass that they won in the first leg, so they can easily use it should they find themselves at the back of the pack in the next leg. Jack is the oldest racer left so far, he was 58 at the time of filming so with all those factors considered, I am going to predict that Jack & Chelsie would be eliminated next. As for the winners, it can only be Jas & Jag all the way and no other team will come close. However, there will be a double U-turn in the next leg but I am wondering if it would affect who would get eliminated. Obviously, you'd want to get rid of a stronger team but you need to get to the U-turn board first in order to U-turn another team. But then I'm not going to let that change my prediction as there are just too many unknowns and the previews for next week's episode in Dubrovnik were somewhat ambiguous.
What's with the hate for the racers? Why not blame the producers?
Look, I don't want to pour even more hate on Kat for her poor performance in this leg. I think it was a huge mistake to cast her in this season, but that's not her fault - it is the fault of the casting director. We don't even get the name of the casting director(s) in the end credits of the episode. I had to look it up and I found the name Jesse Tannebaum who seems to be a big name in America when it comes to casting for reality TV shows like Survivor, Big Brother and TAR. Until today, I had never heard of his name before and surely, he should be the one we hold responsible for poor casting decisions (such as in the case of Kat) rather than blaming Kat herself for performing so poorly. Jesse put her in that position in the first place knowing very well she would crack under pressure and make a fool of herself, Jesse had set Kat up to fail in this format. It wouldn't have been Jesse's sole decision, the shortlist for the cast would have been agreed upon by the senior production team as well, so they had deliberately put characters in there like Kat whom they know will crack under pressure and cry. Now I don't believe in setting people up to fail in the name of entertainment, even if it is reality TV, that's just downright cruel and I don't approve of it. There were so many other people they could have cast for this season even if it was from the pool of former BB contestants, why Kat of all people/ Was she set up to fail? At this point, I feel sorry for Kat. She really doesn't deserve all the hate she has been receiving on social media and a lot of that hate should be directed at the production team - but hey, we never see the production team in the episode and so much of this was down to the edit. We mostly saw Kat cracking under pressure, being extremely emotional and crying a lot, they chose to portray her like that rather than the moments which would have depicted her in a far more positive light. Like I said, so much is down to the edit and I don't know if most viewers actually realize that. In my own experience, even I cried twice on two different legs when the pressure got to me but to my relief, neither made it into the final edit. It's not pretty seeing a grown man like me cry like that and so it makes me realize how we are portrayed in reality TV is completely manipulated by the people who edit the final product. Thus I realized they chose to show a lot of Kat crying whilst incredibly, all of my crying did hit the cutting room floor - creating a completely different impression for the viewer.
Why did I cry - did I crack under pressure?
I'm showing empathy to Kat by sharing my own experiences. There were two reasons for two different scenarios: the first one had to do with a vote and I felt really bad about having to try to get rid of a team whom I knew were very nice people. I felt such guilt having tried to get rid of them that I started crying spontaneously, like I had no idea I would be overwhelmed by what I had just done. The second time was when I made a mistake in a task that had really slowed us down and wasted a lot of time but because we actually won that leg, the edit was designed to show us at our best, being a real threat and winning that task, so my reaction to that mistake hit the cutting room floor. I suppose I cried because I did crack under pressure, I was so worried that my mistake was so big it would send us packing as a result, but as it turned out, it didn't matter at all as we still won that leg. In this case, yes I did allow my emotions to get the better of me, I cried for a few moments then I said to myself, snap out of it you need to focus and it was back to work with no tears because there was still a lot more to do. Just because I gave into the pressure for a moment didn't mean that I completely self-destructed at that point, I did pull myself out of that funk pretty quickly. As it turns out, the other teams also made some mistakes too, so in comparison, my mistake wasn't such a big deal but I didn't know at that time. I wonder if they did show that moment when I cried, would the audience realize that I only cried for a few moments or would they assume that I was crying and teary throughout the task? This is why I feel bad for Kat, given that this was the impression that the viewers were presented. It is okay to crack under pressure as long as you pull yourself together quickly enough. We're human but also have to choice to take control of the situation before letting it spiral out of control.
And finally, there are a lot of idiots on social media.
Good grief. Where do I even begin? There are people who can't even remember the names of the racers yet they wanna have their say on social media. But the worst one has got to be the one who wanted to talk about the racism that Jas & Jag faced in this episode, this person couldn't even remember what country this episode was in and claimed it was in Turkey. Look, I really don't expect anyone to remember the details the way I do (as I am a total superfan) but if you are going to make the effort to post something on social media to voice an opinion, surely it would make sense to spend a moment just to check your facts before embarrassing yourself by writing something wildly inaccurate? How do these people even function in the real world? When a client asks me a question that I don't know the answer to, I take a moment to check the facts rather than hazard a guess or say the first thing that comes to my mind and hope that it is right. I don't think it takes a genius to do that - it is applying a little bit of common sense to make sure we don't mess up.
Okay guys, so that's it from me on this episode, I hope you have all enjoyed it and thank you very much for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment