The Amazing Race: Family Edition--Live Thread

[pbear8]

Jumbo shrimp!

[silent_jonny]

(((TAR Recap Ping)))

The recap is posted separately below for everyone’s convenience.

[silent_jonny]

Bransens Rocket Into First; Aiellos Spin Out
The Bransen family surged ahead, nabbing their first win, as Teams headed through Charleston, South Carolina en route to the space capital of Huntsville, Alabama. The Weaver family drew attention from several Teams with their bizarre behavior brought on by the pressures of the race. In the end, the Weavers regained their composure as the Aiello family, making a critical error at the Roadblock, became the third Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE.

FLY AWAY
Departing the Pit Stop at 2:26 am, the Weaver family discovered they needed to fly 500 miles to Charleston, South Carolina and drive into an area known as the Battery to find their next clue located under a gazebo.

Faced with the first opportunity to test their skills of airport maneuvering, the Gaghan and Bransen families struck first by using their taxi driver’s cell phone to learn that a US Air flight would land in Charleston at 10:06 am. However, after passing the Weaver family on the road, the Linz family arrived at Washington Dulles Airport and secured tickets on an Independence Air flight that would land two minutes earlier than the US Air flight. Joining the Linz siblings on the first flight were the Weaver family, the Godlewski sisters, the Aiellos and the Schroeders. After being turned away from the now sold out Independence Air flight, the Bransens settled for the US Air flight they discovered earlier, along with the Gaghan family. After narrowly escaping elimination in the last leg, the Paolo family still found themselves squarely in last place, being forced to take a United flight landing at 10:38 am.

THE ENEMY
During the hours before the flight to Charleston boarded, Linda Weaver and her family, not overly familiar with airline transportation, decided to ask the ticket agents some general questions about what to expect. Their inquisition drew the attention of the Schroeder and Aiello families who assumed the Weavers were trying to sneak onto a better flight. As the Weavers walked away from the counter, Kevin, from the Aiello family, asked them if they found another flight, but the Weavers didn’t answer. An annoyed David sniped, “I hate them,” before promptly telling the Schroeder family of their perceived snub. Char Schroeder believed the Weavers were “just playing mind games,” while Stassi added, “They’re pissing me off.” Now, not trusting the Weavers, Char became concerned when stepson Hunter chatted up Rolly Weaver. Fearing Hunter may give away information to Rolly, Char told him to “get away from the kid.” In response, Hunter told Rolly, “She’s a bitch.”

DIRTY DECISION
Landing in Charleston, South Carolina, the Teams on the Independence Air flight raced to their cars, jockeying for position as they drove to the Battery. Spotting the gazebo first, the Schroeders opened their clue to find a Detour. Teams had to choose between Forrest Gump and Muddy Waters. In Forrest Gump, Teams needed to drive seven miles to a fresh seafood company, hop on a traditional shrimp boat and, using their hands, dehead 200 pounds of shrimp. While the location was nearby, working through 200 pounds of shrimp could take awhile. In Muddy Waters, Teams had to drive 37 miles to the Ridgeville Mud Run and jump in a 4x4 to drive round trip through a 400-foot gulley known as a mud bog to earn their clue. While the location was in another town and their 4x4 could get stuck in the mud, Teams with monster driving skills could finish fast.

As the Weaver clan drove to the mud bog in Ridgeville, the Schroeder family headed out to sea to dehead shrimp with the Linz family close behind. With the first crate of the fresh shrimp poured over a bed of ice, Char complained, “Shrimp juice in my socks. What’s with that?”

EAT OUR MUD
With the Godlewski sisters joining the Linz and Schroeder families on shrimp boats, the Weavers arrived at the mud bog. Linda Weaver navigated the 4x4 through the treacherous course, but soon became mired in mud. When the Aiellos arrived, Kevin made it through the first turn of the course, and powered back toward the finish line only to be stopped short. As the Bransens hopped on a shrimp boat, the Weavers and Aiellos each failed on their sixth attempt at the mud bog. Eventually, the Weavers gave up and left for the shrimp boats. At the same time, the Gaghans showed up at the mud bog. Bill Gaghan plowed through the course on his first attempt, causing the Aiellos to note, “They passed us again.”

After removing the last shrimp head, the Schroeders opened their clue and learned they must go to the Charleston Visitor Center and sign up for one of two charter buses, the first leaving at 3 pm, the second at 5 pm, heading to a mystery location. Joining the Schroeders on the first bus were the Linz, Godlewski and Bransen families. Settling for the second bus were the Gaghans, Paolos, Weavers, and Aiellos, who finally completed the mud run on their 14th try when David got behind the wheel.

LIFT OFF
Arriving in Huntsville, Alabama, the Teams on the first charter bus ripped open their next clue instructing them to drive five miles to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and find the Edward O. Buckbee Hangar. Getting a quick jump on the other Teams out of the bus station, the Bransens arrived at the hangar in first place to encounter a special Family Edition Roadblock performed by two Team members. In this Roadblock, the Team members had to enter a centrifuge and ride the machine until gravity pressed on them at 3.2G.

With Beth and Lindsay Bransen volunteering to take the big spin for their Team, the line behind them began to form, as Nick and Tommy Linz, Stassi and Mark Schroeder, and Chris and Michelle Godlewski all waited for their turn. As the centrifuge began turning, Beth asked her sister if she was feeling okay, to which Lindsay replied, “I’m not used to all this pressure.” However, the Bransen daughters withstood the pressure to earn their next clue instructing them to travel on foot one mile to Rocket Park and search for Saturn 5, the same kind of rocket that took man to the moon. Once there, they needed to enter the Space Museum, find a computer station, and log onto aol.com for their next clue.

SPACE RACE
With the Linz family close behind, the Bransens found the museum along with their next clue courtesy of aol.com. After they logged in, the Bransens watched a video clue from Phil instructing them to proceed on foot to the next Pit Stop, the Space Shuttle Pathfinder.

In a footrace to the space shuttle, Wally pulled through for his daughters as the Bransen family stepped onto the mat in first place. Phil informed the excited Team that each licensed driver had won free gasoline for life from BP and Arco. On their win, the Bransens commented, “We had a huge jump this leg on the race. There’s nothing like being at the top.” The Linz siblings settled for another second place finish, with the Schroeders and Godlewskis checking in third and fourth respectively.

LOSING CONTROL
Meanwhile, the pressure of little sleep after an exhausting day took its toll on the Weaver family. On the second bus, Rachel and Rebecca Weaver looked drained, as Linda Weaver complained, “What concerns me is my children. I don’t know where we’re going. I am a prisoner on a bus.” Their behavior took a bizarre turn at a quick restaurant stop when Linda instructed her children to “lie and be completely fake” so the other Teams wouldn’t see them cracking from the pressure. This lead to Rebecca and Linda dancing around in the parking lot while the other Teams looked on in bewilderment.

With elimination looming for one of these Teams, the second bus arrived in Huntsville, Alabama. The Weavers regained their composure to reach the Edward O. Buckbee Hangar in fifth place. As Rolly and Rebecca began their spin in the centrifuge, the Aiello family made a crucial mistake when they arrived at the cluebox in sixth place, but didn’t take a number to ensure their position allowing the quick thinking Paolos to grab number six and the Gaghans number seven. The dejected Aiellos noted, “We got smoked.”

BAND OF BROTHERS
With the now happy Weaver family nabbing fifth place, a three-way race for last place developed as the Gaghans and Paolos both had difficulties in finding Rocket Park, giving the last place Aiello family an opportunity to sneak ahead. A tired Marion slowed down the Paolos, but relieved, they manage to lock down sixth place with the Gaghan family arriving in seventh.

After a valiant effort, the Aiello family stepped onto the mat in last place becoming the third Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. On his sons-in-law, Tony remarked, “These guys are good guys, tried hard. We took no easy road.” Son-in-law Matt added, “Through these grueling tasks, we learned to love each other like brothers and I love Tony like my father. The respect we have for each other is insurmountable.” Tony finished by saying, “They’re good guys. This just reconfirmed it. We’re family. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

[Fierce Allegiance]

Grueling tasks for the 20 something Aiello Son in Laws? What a bunch of whimps. 8 year olds are doing them too.

I woiuld not mind seeing the Paolo family go. The mom, especially. How anyone would put up with that is beyond me.,

[ItsOurTimeNow]

>>Their behavior took a bizarre turn at a quick restaurant stop when Linda instructed her children to “lie and be completely fake”<<

The same Mrs. Weaver who led them in family prayer in previous episodes?

Yes, Mrs. Weaver, I'm sure God wants you to lie to your fellow man, and purposely tell your children to violate His commandments, all so you can win a million bucks. *rolls eyes*

[Maximus of Texas]

I would be curious to know how long the Aiellos' were at the mud pit. I know it took them 14 attempts but were they there for one hour? Three hours?

I am really surprised that more of the people didn't attempt to get in shape prior to the show. I'm assuming they had 30 or 60 days notice that they were going to be on the show and you would think they would bust their butts to get into shape.

[luckystarmom]

This is my problem with family edition. I would really like it to be a family show. However, with language like you mentioned and all the bickering we are not letting our kids watch it.

It's like either make it a total family show, or go back to the 2 player format.

[Veto!]

Thanks for the quick recap, silent jonny.

Rebecca and Linda dancing around in the parking lot while the other Teams looked on in bewilderment.

I really don't know why everyone's bewildered at a couple of teenagers letting off steam. I didn't like their grousing on the bus, but dancing around a parking lot was cute and probably did them a lot of good.

I continue to root for the Gaghans, as I find their kids to be real little troopers. And I still rather like the Schroeders. Char is doing a good job with her new husband's bratty teenagers and, as a team, they seem pretty efficient in spite of the tensions. I like the Paolos because they're colorful (a few minutes a week is enough though). All the rest of the teams seem dull, with near-interchangeable kids/young people. Nice average people, but hardly entertaining.

I miss good old conniving Rob and Amber!

[silent_jonny]

It's like either make it a total family show, or go back to the 2 player format.

I'm with you on that.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

The recap is posted separately below for everyone’s convenience.

Very considerate. Thank you.

[silent_jonny]

Can you see the photos in the recap? I could see them this morning, but all I see now are red Xs.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

No, just those damn red X's.

[silent_jonny]

The pics are back up now. Must've been a glitch at Imageshack.

[hattend]

Other than the mud bog this was another weak week.

It kind of sucked that: first, there were only 4 teams per bus transported to space camp. Automatically that puts 4 teams 2 hours behind the other 4 teams. Then, the task (centrifuge) could only handle one team at a time so even if you somehow caught up at the centrifuge, you had to wait 5-10 for each team to go through the ride. THEN, having the pitstop just outside the wait on the centrifuge didn't allow anybody to catch up.

The Aiellos kind of got screwed on their elimination. The pitstop should have at least been in another location so some driving/map reading skills could have helped teams catch up.

Yeah, I hate bunching at airports, especially if a smart team gets a big lead, but rigging it so 4 teams get a huge advantage near the end kind of sucks, too.

[hattend]

Reading my response I guess I should retract my complaint about the Aiellos getting screwed. I forgot they took 14 tries to make it at the mud bog... They should have lost and they did.

[silent_jonny]

another weak week.

I agree. And CBS did a poor job of promoting this week's show too, making it seem even weaker than it really was.

[Dane]

GSN has finally gone through all the seasons and now back to the first show of the first season.

Some differences, there wasn't a harried rush to the airport. Most teams took their time. The editing isn't as quick and there isn't much music and the music is for lack of a better term more ominous.

It seems like a whole different show.

[silent_jonny]

I keep meaning to watch GSN, but I always forget. I need Tivo :)

[Dane]

Also lot's more narration by Phil and "last team to the pit stop will be out of the race", not "eliminated".

Small differences, but the first show of the first season isn't as "polished"(editing, music, etc.) as they are now.

[Dianna]

Yes, Mrs. Weaver, I'm sure God wants you to lie to your fellow man, and purposely tell your children to violate His commandments, all so you can win a million bucks. *rolls eyes*

Did you watch the show, or were you just looking for an opportunity to bash people?

The Weavers were tired, cranky and demoralized. Mom simply suggested that they put on their best face and not let the rest of the teams know that they were weak.