Posted on 02/24/2005 8:35:27 AM PST by Veto!
He is amazing and I think that if romber and amber are eliminated the race will not be as much fun to watch.
Other than that jerk Ray, I doubt anybody else would have just driven by without even checking to see if everybody was relatively OK, even if the wreck was Rob and Amber's.
I think the petty back stabbing and psychological warfare games tend to drop away for most people when the situation goes from pride and cash to life and death. It was a punk move by Rob.
Well, they did have a chopper taking video...if it was really serious, they would have airlifted him out of there.
You have to remember that CBS has to put 3-4 days of action into a 2 hour show (not including commercials) so it's not a real view of what is going on. Rob may have asked about the guy on the way by, but maybe they editted that out to make the tension level betweem Romber and ExLax seem more palpable.
Notice at the end when Phil was talking to Ex-lax at the pitstop, Alex was continuing to talk as he turned toward Rob and they cut that off and went to a shot of Rob shrugging his shoulders.
Wonder what was really said.
I also noticed the pointed (comment-question) that Phil gave the Romber regarding the wreck in the bush.
One aside: Did you think that the Greth's comment that this is "not President Bush country" gives an indication of her political bias?
Make that Gretch.
Yeah, that caught me as strange. That was the second reference to President Bush on the show.
I sometimes wonder if CBS feeds these people lines. It just seemed so out of place.
"We're in the Bush Country...and not President Bush either." (paraphrased) I mean, who even thinks of that stuff when you're getting your bones pounded on a backcountry "road"?
LOL, I don't know, however I doubt that Cbs gave her the line to say. They are too busy these days still trying to cover their network's arse over memo-gate.
As per team ex-lax, I will scream if they don't stop calling each other, "honey".
That was about the most Amazing leg in a long time! I will admit to literally urging the brothers onward - for themselves, and also to beat Jonathan/Victoria redux. I am so glad they won. And them praying - for their cameraman before themselves - seemed really sincere. Hope they make it further.
Rob pulled a number of stunts that make me think that deep down, he's just not a nice person. I don't care how much I hate someone, if there's a massive rollover and people lying in the dust, I'll at least find out if I can help. Not that I could but it's the offer that makes us human. Remember the story about the good Samaritan?
They fell in hubby and mines book also.
Actually, it was the way they acted when Phil asked about it. They were kind of giggling. They could have said something like "We noticed that they were getting help, so we just kept on going. We hope everyone is okay."
Can you imagine how ticked the other 10 teams would be if Rob and Amber won again? They'd probably stone them at the finish line.
Did you think the way Phil phrased that was a little like the way he sounded in the episode where Jonathan went really, truly nuts on Victoria during the footrace to the pitstop? Like he couldn't believe any mildly human could act that way? That's what it reminded me of.
I noticed that too.
They looked to be about 15 feet away. Others looked to be about 30 or more.
Here are a couple of pieces from the media about TAR7 that might interest you.
While the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an ultra-liberal fishwrap, declared Romber to be a "disgrace," and some other media agreed, Reality Reel Media has another viewpoint that you may find worthy. The writer, David Taylor, decries "PC schmaltz" and reminds us, among other things, that the much lauded (by Amazing Race) Mandela is a communist!!!! David Taylor sounds like a freeper. Here's his article:
"The Amazing Race: The Dehumanization Of Rob And Amber"
By David W. Taylor Reality Reel Media 04.02.05
"What we should learn from the two hour “special edition” of The Amazing Race 7 (maybe a better phrase would be: what was “drummed” into our thick skulls) was that ex-Survivor-gods Rob and Amber were as apt as anyone to make judgmental errors, yet this note, hanging in the air, was further embellished, expanded... that this pair were especially prone -- more so than, well, anyone else on the planet -- to be narcissistic, obnoxiously Darwinian, and beastly in their blood lust to abscond with another one million dollar booty. This time fleeced, perhaps, from the pockets of Amazing Race Productions.
Annoyingly, what much of Reality TV is attempting to do is become another NGO entitlement for politically correct individuals to openly pickpocket the largess of bloated television coffers. One juicy example: many of the past Survivor finalists have been peppered during jury questioning about what they were planning to do with their prize money -- as if winning a brutal survival trek has anything to do with individual spending whims or personal financial status. What wafted out from in between the lines (and sprouted some winners) was if you chose to give a chunk of your winnings to some charity or to your blind grandmother, or you were a mac-n-cheese single mom, you were a deserving saint. If one opted to buy a hot new truck or purchase a house for oneself (and you weren’t a mac-n-cheese single mom), you were a cad. I guess CBS could solve this baffling problem by casting the homeless exclusively. The subplot was no longer a competition per se but metaphorically a 500K walk-a-thon to Feed The Hungry.
The same PC schmaltz appears on The Amazing Race 7. We’ve had previous run-ins with the Nelson Mandela mystique in South Africa (notably AR2) -- a man who, whatever else one may say about him, is an ardent communist and belittles America, and Western “values,” with zeal and relish. And we have another African-American team, Uchenna & Joyce (whom I like), who mist-up and wax longingly about finding themselves in Africa: “This is the motherland. For us, for our people.” Similar scenes of African homecoming melancholy were crafted through teams on AR5 and AR6. This is all well and good, and African historical realities notwithstanding... heroic fluff.
I just wonder if Brian & Greg (or, yikes, Rob & Amber!) had arrived in, say, Norway and spoke of the “Fatherland” and its place of honor for “our people”... would they be hanged on the spot, or simply be accorded a good tongue-lashing on multiculturalism by Phil? Hey, I just workin’ on the motive here!
That said, the big events wrapped within this latest episode supposedly amped to show Rob & Amber’s inhuman and soulless ruling-class motif are The Brian & Greg Car Mishap along the 35-mile desert race to the remote cattle post at Xau Xarra, not to mention their shunning of Meredith & Gretchen in their hour of material need. This is, I guess, the planned annihilation of whatever scintilla of human worth (and warmth) these two were left hanging on to after the hideous drubbing they received from Lynn & Alex over the last three episodes.
And these guys should know... they’re gay and want to get married in Amsterdam. That’s like a Ph.D. in quantum physics in TV land. You’re suddenly a tiki god. I mean after hearing these lads repeatedly blare, to the world, that they “hate” and “detest” this horrible couple, it’s about time we get to actually see what all the fuss is about.
When Meredith & Gretchen arrived last at the Pit Stop during the first hour, they were stripped of their money and, in a first, their entire trove of possessions beyond their passports and the clothes on their backs. During the Pit Stop Break, Uchenna and Joyce stopped by their door and dropped off a bag of clothes. The next day Meredith & Gretchen mingled among “the kids” and went begging for cash -- Gretchen: “We’re starting this the Save The Rhino fund. And that’s no lion!” (lyin’). Some of the teams gave, Ray and Rob did not. Both made loaded comments and wry attempts at humor about their decision. Ray said, “I want to see them eliminated and I don’t wanna help prolong this agony any longer... I’m only thinking of them.” (It was interesting that Ray was standing next to Rob, who was sitting in his vehicle, when he dismissively rebuffed Meredith. Yes, more Mind Control evidence.) Rob made the more cynical assessment: “They’re the biggest con artists going... I’m not even sure she fell down. He might have pushed her just for effect so people would feel bad for her.” Vintage Machiavellian thought process. Bottom Line: some teams gave, others didn’t.
To make moral decisions about people in the context of this Race against this subtext is ridiculous. And if every team gives freely of themselves like a skid row soup kitchen... why have the penalty in the first place? What is the negative impact of this hefty non-elimination punitive charge when you can walk into the Pit Stop tent and basically find open arms, a bag of clothes, and an open ATM machine? The penalty becomes nothing if not a feeble bluff.
In the desert car accident one could intelligently argue that Brian & Greg should not have even received a replacement vehicle. (And I honestly like these guys.) The rule as stated is that a team will receive a replacement vehicle when the team’s vehicle becomes disabled through no fault of their own. As far as I can tell -- and we were shown another short clip of Brian & Greg running over a paved curb earlier in the leg -- this vehicle flipped and became disabled (destroyed), and a camera man injured, because Greg drove off the marked road and hit a sand abutment. The accident was caused by Greg’s mediocre driving skills or lack of attention.
But giving that a rest... The next team to pass by the carnage was Lynn & Alex who stopped and expressed their concern, but did relatively nothing practical to help. I didn’t see any CPR. Then came Rob & Amber. By this time the gathering of people who were hanging around the crash site was at least ten strong.
The Pit Stop observation made by Phil towards Rob & Amber, that they somehow “left them on the side of the road,” as if Brian & Greg and their crew were strewn out over dunes, mangled and bleeding, is utter hogwash. And the fact that Rob saw Lynn & Alex at the scene -- a team that mere hours ago wouldn’t share an empty shuttle -- was a nudging factor, one could gather, in Rob rolling onward. With this small crowd assisting Brian & Greg, I’m not sure what Rob & Amber could have done anyway. But I guess standing around, gawking and wringing one’s hands and yelping “Oh my God!” is some small token of redemption to struggle toward. As Rob said, “There’s no way we’re stopping. It’s still a competition, let’s not get crazy.”And, are we supposed to forget that this is a Race (an Amazing one); a stiff competition?
In the Olympics if a runner stumbles and falls during a 100K heat, do other sprinters stop and assist? Are we to suspend reality and recast our Amazing Racers as magnanimous stewards of mercy and good-will, despite the show’s stated objective? We have to suppose so, as Phil Keoghan himself belittled Rob & Amber, disingenuously, for not stopping at the aforementioned accident site. “Did you guys see a wreck at all today?... did you guys stop at all?” Rob responds, “It’s a race Phil.” “I see... so you left them on the side of the road?"
When a car spins like a pinwheel and crashes into the wall at a NASCAR race or the Indianapolis 500, is Phil going to pull over and scold all those drivers who, incredibly!, just kept racing? Is not their motivation as base and seemingly remorseless as someone racing around the world for one million dollars? The pompous self-righteous indignation is quite hilarious.In light of Phil Keoghan’s almost embarrassingly awkward reaming of Rob & Amber at the Pit Stop, is this dude suddenly The Amazing Race’s grand inquisitor, peering judgmentally at each team’s moral barometer -- as well as their pole position -- after each leg?
If so, pray tell where were his stern lectures to Lynn & Alex when they spilled out their venom for Rob & Amber? Is it OK to continually “hate” or “detest” someone openly? Or to call them “pigs?” It would certainly be an issue open for debate in an objective review of morally driven criticism.
So... Rob & Amber: grotesque, unscrupulous winners of Survivor: All Stars; undeserving, rich stinking capitalists; liars!; hated; detested; pigs! Robbing senior citizens! Leaving people for dead! Killers! If only they’d go back to Ngakane Street in Soweto and flog themselves at the Nelson Mandela shrine. Then, they’d be super cool.Oh. Another groovy race to the Pit Stop. That jeep and foot race between Brian & Greg and Ray & Deana rocked. It was so pulse-pounding I have to keep watching. It’s my favorite show. Phil, chill dude.
- - - - - - -END- - - - - -
You can read Taylor's ongoing pieces on TAR7 at http://realityreel.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1133
MEANWHILE, in other TAR7 news, TV Guide did a piece on Ray and Deana, who are now ENGAGED. Whodda thunk? Here are excerpts from that article:
TVG: Looking back, do you regret quitting the meat challenge?
Ray: No, we knew the rules. We decided ahead of time that I'd do everything with running, jumping and lifting and Deana would do everything else. Then we found out she had to eat four lbs. of meat and we knew we had made a huge mistake. So, at that point, we knew we might be going home because she's not going to eat it. And even if she did eat it, I wouldn't have made her do it because she would have been worthless the rest of the race. All Rob did was let us know how difficult a time everyone was having. We knew the penalty and that we were going to take that; we just thought we'd be eliminated with it. When he told us, "We're not finishing and you guys shouldn't either," we realized that the teams behind us were going to have a difficult time, too. It's not like he discovered the magic solution. He did a favor for us.
TVG: It sounds like you and Rob thought a lot alike.
Ray: Rob is a guy I know I could hang out with in real life. But there's a big difference between us: He doesn't care that people know that he's done this or that, and I did because I didn't want to put a target on our backs. Locking the bus doors in Chile was my idea. Rob spoke Spanish and he talked to the driver and he took the credit — or the blame — for it. I came up with the idea and he's getting all the flak because he basks in that bad-boy image. That's Boston Rob. And that's fine with me, because it worked to my benefit.
TVG: Finally, on the flight to South Africa, it looked like you somehow scored seats in first class. How did you manage that?
Ray: That's a great story. It was a long flight, and we always worked the planes. So we started working the flight attendants, flirting a little bit and talking to them. And we managed to work our way into first class! We got massage chairs, food, movies, everything. We traveled in style. The pilot even came out to talk with us, and we talked for quite a while. And when we landed, he let us get off the plane first and escorted us through customs. He even gave us his phone number and the next day we called him and he came out and led us to the lion reserve. We tracked each other down again after the show — and he's coming to the wedding!
READ THE REST AT http://www.tvguide.com/news/insider/050401b.asp
Ack, they're engaged? Great. So now they really will become Jonathan and Victoria.
Rob and Amber should have at least slowed down and asked if the guys were all right, instead of almost exultantly leaving them in the dust. That's all they had to do to prove they were human beings, and they didn't. With Meredith and Gretchen - don't give them anything. Fine. But don't make some comment about "she didn't even fall, it's for effect". Because that makes you look like a jerk.
They should have yelled "You guys need us?" because the answer would have been no.
Yep. Talk about an ambler, Kelly doesn't MOVE! Remember her in the market just a-strolling.... The woman has no sense of urgency.
Wow, good read.
I want more background stuff from the show...without having to load RealPlayer...blech!
Thank you soooo much for this article.....my sentiments exactly. Sure don't want the bleeding hearts here to be on my team.
Go Romber!
"That jeep and foot race between Brian & Greg and Ray & Deana rocked. It was so pulse-pounding I have to keep watching. It’s my favorite show."
That was by far the best 10 minutes of TAR of any episode of any season. And to have it come down to good team vs. bad team in a foot race was just icing on the cake because, well, the good guys won!!! It would have ruined my evening had Deana and Ray won. GO BRO's!!!!!!!!!!!!
Agree, it was a wonderful moment in TAR history. The bros (Bregg) keep pulling out minor miracles...I like them better all the time.
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