The Amazing Race 29 - Perfect Strangers - Mar 30/17 Premiere Recap

Premiere Episode

This long awaited season began in Los Angeles with 22 perfect strangers that meet each other at the starting line for the first time.  Phil tells them this is all about first impressions so to have a look around and start trying to figure out who you might want to be partnered with.

First we hear from Olive, she's a firefighter from Rhode Island - "this is a race for a million dollars I definitely don't want to be dragged down by somebody."

Shy looking Brooke is a lawyer and based on first impressions there are some people you'd rather be partnered with than others (I think she was referencing the tattooed and hugely bearded Michael.)

Michael is a butcher and he says ideally he'd like to be paired with somebody that has more charm than him because he can be a pain in the a$$ (oh, that's just wonderful.)

Phil - The only question is who are you going to be paired up with?

Sharmar muscled banking firm associate, "It doesn't matter who you pair me with, I'm just going to throw them over my shoulder and make sure that we win."

Jenn Lee - professional model - plans to use her looks to her advantage to win the race and the million dollars.

Jessie - amazon K-9 cop - says she does not want to be partners with Asian Barbie (that would be Jenn), she's only here because she thinks she looks good.

Before they even get to talk to anybody, they are going to see how each other performs because the game starts now.  Phil tells them they are starting with a challenge - they have to go pick up a piece of luggage with the Panamanian flag on it.  To get to the luggage store, they have to leave the park through a gate behind them, go two blocks south west, then seven blocks south east. The quicker they are to come back with the luggage, the more likely they are to be able to pick their ideal partner...
What are you waiting for?  Go get your luggage!  AND THEY ARE OFF!

We hear from Seth, a police officer from Bellevue, WA - as a police officer he has to be able to get along, and work well, with a partner right off the bat, so this should be easy for him. (This is also my guy in the pool - come on Seth!)

Brooke again looks like a timid little thing but she is a criminal attorney and likes to be in control of most situations but she hopes if someone knows better she can step aside and let them lead (uh oh, if she's already telling us she has control issues, that could be a problem.)

Scott, the first thing he tells us is he's a big achiever and graduated from Harvard at the top of his class (I have a feeling we'll be hearing he went to Harvard A LOT) he also says he may not get along with another type A personality right away, he may snap, "I am a gay, red-head." (Wow, learning lots about Scott right off the hop.)

Redmond was a navy corpsman with the Marines for five years until he stepped on an IED and lost his right leg - he immediately started competing in every sport imaginable because he wanted to show the world that no matter what happens to you, your goal should be to continue to succeed.  Redmond and Scott are working together to find the luggage store.

Vanck is a wall street analyst and what you would call a bit of a geek - he is very intellectual and thinks he should choose a pretty girl to be his partner which never hurts in terms of sales - because people look at him like he has two heads sometimes. (Oh man, I hope the big brain can carry him.)

Jenn - the swimwear model thinks the ideal partner for her is the surfer kid from Hawaii - that would be Kevin Ng, Asian guy with long hair.  She doesn't know if he's very smart "no offense" but he looks like he'd be fun.  They say they are just going to follow the white people to find the shop.

Jessie is 6ft3 and the first female K-9 officer in Ohio - she was running with a pack going in the wrong direction and when Francesca tries to point out the direction to go, Jessie snaps, "you went the wrong way to begin with so I'm not going to listen to you now. 
Francesca is an army drill sergeant and doesn't intimidate, but she does say about Jessie, "ooh, she's feisty."

Olive is the first one in the shop but she's quickly followed by a bunch more arriving at the luggage shop and then they have to figure out what the Panama flag looks like - and there are people that know (they must have had some pre-race materials to look over I bet) - Shamar is the first person with a bag heading back to Phil.

We meet Matt - he's a professional snowboarder who won a gold at the x-games - winning the Amazing Race would make him feel pretty unstoppable.

Floyd - is my favourite - always a huge smile on his face - he is a college drum major, has been watching the amazing Race since he was in the fifth grade and luckily memorized the world flags before coming on the race.  This has been his dream for a long time - his friends all say he's the most positive person they know and his ideal partner would have to be positive and able to enjoy this wonderful journey that they are on.

Becca has a strangely deep voice but she is also super fun, enthusiastic, goofy - she is a rockclimber and wears a button pointing to the fun-zone.  If her partner's not into the whole fun thing, "what are they doing here?"

Liz - Auctioneer and cowgirl.  She can be in the city but she'd rather be out on the farm with her horse... and she is realizing she should not have worn cowboy boots, they were made for walking, not running. (Seriously, what were you thinking?)

Michael - the butcher with the huge red beard says the appearance is kind of his secret weapon, he started growing the beard right after he quit his last job, about three years ago.  Now he owns his own butcher shop and has an IQ of around 140, so he's no dummy.

People start getting back to Phil:
Seth - the WA policeman,
Matt - snowboarder,
Olive - Firefighter,
Shamir - Banker,
Sara - Luxury real estate agent (really? you specified luxury real estate?),
Scott - ginger from Harvard,
Becca - Rockclimber,
Vanck - super nerd,
Joey - Police Sergeant is the only person with the wrong flag on his bag - he's got to go all the way back to the store and look for a bag with the right flag (wah, wah.)
We learn that Joey grew up in the projects of Boston, the third of four kids to a single mother - he's had to work hahd for everything he's got (including the wicked Bahston accent) drinking beer is one of his weaknesses.  And he ends up the last person back to the park.

Now we move on to the picking of the partners:
-Seth goes first and he chooses Olive. First woman to arrive and she's probably a better dancer than him - she's excited to have a strong partner too # TeamAmerica
-Matt chooses Redmond, figuring a guy with one leg has a lot of fight and won't give up. #TheBoys
-Shamir picks Sara - because he wants to go with the super hot chick, and she was the next person to come in after him.#TheSandsExpress
-Harvard Scott chooses Brooke, the criminal attorney - both have already told us they are Type A personalities, I see some clashes coming. #TeamBrookeandScott
-Becca chooses Erkle (Floyd) and they are totally my favourite team! #TeamFun
-They show us Ashton, the perfect blond real estate agent who says her ideal partner is a guy with visible strength, taller and stronger than her... and then it's uber-nerd Vanck's turn to pick his partner and who did he pick?  You guessed it, Ashton did not get her ideal partner. #TeamVanckandAshton
-Tara is an army officer and she is going to pick the underdog - last place Joey policeman - #TeamMomandDad
-London, a street artist says she needs some muscle and she picks Logan, who is not too hard on the eyes I must say - he is an orthopedic device specialist and she is so excited he wasn't picked yet - #TeamLoLo (They show Ashton being bitter, Logan was her ideal partner I would say.)
-Model Jenn chooses Hawaii - Kevin the athletic trainer - #LongHairDontCare
-Big beard Michael chooses the cowgirl, Liz #TeamLizandMike
-Which leaves Jessie, the amazon K-9 police officer and Francesca, the Army Drill Sergeant, as the last two and a partnership by default.  On the plus side, they've already had their first fight so it can only go up from here. #SwoleSisters -  As a bonus for being the only two that did not get to pick their partners, they will be chauffeured to LAX by Phil himself, everyone else has to find a taxi.

That also means, they are off to the airport and heading to Panama City, Panama! There are two flights and limited seats on the first flight.  The first clue was in the luggage they picked up and hidden in one of the bags is the Express Pass.  Once in their cabs everyone checks out the bags and it's Smiley Floyd that got the Express Pass - And he loses his mind, so excited.

We learn that Shamir speaks Spanish and Brooke is psyched about that, not a bad skill to have when heading to Panama.
Becca lives in Boulder, Co and Floyd can't believe it he goes to CU (University of Colorado) he does cop to being an Erkle - double major in economics and applied math - but these two are going to be so much fun.
Jessie does apologize to Francesca for their earlier "words" but they are all good - SwoleSisters is right, these two have amazing arms.
Jenn and Kevin are getting to know each other and when she asks how old he is he tells her 30 - she says well you're Asian and all Asians look like they're twelve (except their taxi driver who shoots her a look - he is Asian and... does not look twelve.

The one thing we learn at the airport as they are all waiting for their flights is that Seth is gay and has a boyfriend so their is no chance of any romance between him and Olive... but she has gay friends so he thinks they'll get along well.

Panama City
Once they land they will have to find a marked car and make their way to the Panama Canal.  Which is much easier said than done.  First flight got in at 7am and we get a montage of all the teams looking at maps, fighting traffic, stopping to ask directions... but no one speaks much English, there are no street signs, and apparently no one in Panama city knows where the Panama Canal is.  Everyone is lost and it's an Amazing Race nightmare.

Seth & Olive are the first team to get to the locks and the cluebox - it is  Route Info, they have to drive to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Centre and search for their clue at the top of the canopy tower (so more driving, great.)  Teams came in: Floyd & Becca, Scott & Brooke, London & Logan, Matt & Redmond (that's all the first flight teams.)

2nd flight lands at 9:36am after being delayed an hour and they have the same issue as the first flight, except now there is even more traffic, still no street signs, still no English... Shamir at least speaks Spanish but that doesn't get him through traffic.  Vanck tells Ashton to take a 135deg right turn in the round about, and as a normal person would she just says, "I don't know what that is." (Oh boy, these two are so mismatched - what was he thinking?)

Rainforest Discovery Centre
-They have to run up the longest spiral staircase to get to the top of the tower and get their clue - Seth & Olive are the first there and getting dizzy on the way up - the clue is to the DETOUR: Shoot or Scoot.
In Shoot they must use a traditional canoe, paddle down the river and use a traditional bow & arrow to shoot/knock over two silver fish targets to get their next clue.
In Scoot they must use a modern racing canoe and go head to head against a professional crew to try and win their next clue.

Seth & Olive choose Scoot - they have to choose a team to race against and we find out it's three heats - first they start out at the same buoy, if our team loses then the next time, they get a head start, if they lose again, the third try is an even bigger head start.

Becca & Floyd choose Shoot- they get a quick lesson on how to shoot the traditional bow & arrow and then it's out on the water with you - I think trying to balance in the boat is almost as hard as trying to shoot an arrow at a target...while standing in a boat.

Scoot - Seth & Olive lose very badly to the professional rowers, they are not professional rowers.

Shoot - Becca is finding it's harder to hit the fishes than she thought.
-Scott & Brooke get there and he cannot shoot the arrow at all (did you watch the demo?)
-Becca finally hits a fish and Brooke pulls the plug for them, Scott & Brooke are changing Detours.

Scoot - Seth & Olive lose the next heat as well, head start did them no good... but finally on the third heat, the way longer head start did it for them and they finally win their next clue - To make their way to the Pit Stop: The Cinta Costera Tres - where they will find Phil under a huge Panama flag.

Shoot - Becca finally hits their second silver fish target and they are the next team to get the clue to the Pit Stop.

Scoot - Brooke & Scott make their first attempt and he is mister poopy diaper when they lose badly on their first attempt.  Brooke is trying to stay positive but he does not make it easy.

RedBeard and Cowgirl (Mike & Liz) are super lost. Jenn & Kevin (longhairdon'tcare) are just as super lost... and it's become a race to not be last at this point.  I'm not going to go through everyone's attempts at the Detour, just some of the high points:

Matt & Redmond were superstars in the canoe and beat the professional rowers on their first attempt.  And that just made Scott that much more of a grumpy gus.

Joey (Boston cop) & Tara tipped their canoe trying to do the racing.
Vanck & Ashton also tipped their canoe - and decided to switch right away.  He is super annoying, in the bow challenge, saying he wanted to shoot eventhough she has more experience and then when he couldn't do it, he kept trying to coach her on how to do it. (I do feel kinda sorry for her, he is a very challenging partner.) Oh, and they ended up switching back to the Scoot when they couldn't shoot.

Redbeard & cowgirl could not do the shooting - well, he couldn't hit anything with the arrows so they switched... and then they flipped the canoe. 

Kevin & Jenn are so far behind, they can't find the tower at the rainforest - haven't even found the Detour clue yet.
Once they finally do find the clue - they choose to do scoot and head for the canoes...

Liz & Mike are on their third attempt at the rowing, they have flipped a couple times and they are pretty tired and demoralized when Kevin & Jenn show up and it's just the spark they needed to finally finish the Detour.

Unfortunately, it's gotten too dark for Jenn & Kevin to do more than one attempt and they are given the clue to the Pit Stop because they can't safely continue.

Here's How They finished:
1) Seth & Olive  - Wahoo! Seth's my boy! Now if only he had some personality.
2) Becca & Floyd - but then these two have enough personality for everybody.
3) Matt & Redmond - they would have done well on their own, but together, watch out.
4) Brooke & Scott - he swore he didn't think he chose the wrong partner... but there was some hesitation.
5) Shamir & Sara - and he gave Phil one of his own eyebrow looks, very nice.
6) Tara & Joey - he knows the flag of Panama now.
7) Vanck & Ashton - very rough day, not the partner she envisioned and they are so different.
8) London & Logan - she is super positive which is going to be great for them, and Phil is doing a little matchmaking, pointing out London has lovely eyes too.
9) Jessie & Francesca - they are a match made in heaven now, couldn't imagine doing the race with anyone else.
10) Jenn & Kevin get to the mat before Mike & Liz because of course they got lost again... but because they could not complete the Detour, they have a two hour penalty and have to sit there and wait it out.
10) Mike & Liz - They thought for sure they were out being the last team to arrive but they made it before the two hour penalty was up which means...
11) Jenn & Kevin - **ELIMINATED** She thinks they got along too well and he was too laid back, she should have fought and pushed them harder.  And with #LongHairDontCare being the first team out, Pat T., Trish W., Jeff T., and Patty F., are out of the pool and get their $ back.

So it will be interesting to see how these partnerships work out with no one knowing each other.  It looks like they are going to be racing through some beautiful places and there will be excitement and fighting - I'm just so happy the race is back! (But I've heard rumours this may be the last season.)

Have a great weekend everyone,

Coleen













 

The Amazing Race - Pool Picks - Partners

The Amazing Race 29
Contestant	Pool Participant		Contestant	Pool Participant
Seth Tyler			Olive Beauregard
37 - Seattle, WA	1. Coleen Thomson	+	24 - Providence, RI	1. Carol-Anne Doucet
Police Officer	2. Sheila Gaspar		Firefighter	2. Lois Lowe
Matt Ladley			Redmond Ramos
25 - Steamboat Springs, CO	1. Bob Lowe	+	28 - Fremont, CA	1. Heather George
Professional Snowboarder	2. Yvette Sequeira		Motivational Speaker	2. Fraser Gronlund
Shamir Arzeno			Sara Fowler
28 - Bronx, NY	1. Sharon Roberts	+	27 - Baltimore, MD	1. Robert Leung
Banking Firm Associate	2. Katie Lowe		Luxury Real Estate Agent	2. Kevin Reiffer
Logan Bauer			London Kaye
27 - Navarre, FL	1. Bernice Wong	+	27 - New York, NY	1. Brandon Lee
Orthopedic Device Specialist	2. Cara & Alex Lowe		Street Artist	2. Stacey Lovey
Jenn Lee	FIRST OUT		Kevin Ng	FIRST OUT
25 - Palos Verdes, CA	1. Pat Thomson	+	31 - San Diego, CA	1. Jeff Thomson
Professional Model	2. Trish Wells		Athletic Trainer	2. Patty Fyfe
Tara Carr			Joey Covino
38 - Alexandria, VR	1. Shane Boutillier	+	46 - Boston, MA	1. Emily Harper
U.S. Army Officer	2. Susan Nagai		Police Sergeant	2. Shelley Aven
Liz Espey			Michael Rado
24 - Maryville, MO	1. Roxanne Spear	+	37 - Pittsburgh, PA	1. Denise Rodrigues
Auctioneer	2. Laura Wadsworth		Butcher	2. Lindsay Jeffs
Becca Droz			Floyd Pierce
26 - Pittsburgh, PN	1. Sandy Greig	+	21 - Highlands Ranch, CO	1. Ozzy Rodrigues
Rock Climbing Instructor/Barista	2. Bryon Low		College Student	2. Lee Barnbrook
Ashton Theiss			Vanck Zhu
25 - Fort Worth, TX	1. Hardeep Gill	+	28 - Saint Paul, MN	1. Lynne Brodie
Real Estate Agent	2. Alexis Gronlund		Investment Researcher	2. Trish Jardine
Scott Flanary			Brooke Camhi
34 - Charlotte, NC	1. Philip Khong	+	36 - Lynbrook, NY	1. Andria Sutton
University Recruiting Manager  WINNER	2. Elaine Reiffer		Lawyer   WINNER	2. Cindi Caldwell
Jessica "Jessie" Lynn Shields			Francesca Piccoli
28 - Howland, OH	1. Nenad Morovic	+	33 - Banning, CA	1. Rachel Rodrigues
K9 Police Officer	2. Ethan Gronlund		U.S. Army	2. Miranne Dick

Survivor Game Changers - March 29, 2017 Episode Recap

Dirty Deed

Last week we had a crazy Tribal Council where two tribes went together to vote out one person and JT handed too much information over to the other tribe who capitalized on it to vote out Malcolm.

Nuku - Night 11
-JT is on the hot seat.  Sandra is asking JT what he told Culpepper and JT is going with the only strategy he has; deny, deny, deny.  They can't know what he actually told the other tribe so he's going to say they screwed him over too (which is what happened, but because JT told Brad they were voting for Sierra not just that Brad was safe - which is what he is telling his tribe now.)
-In the end it doesn't matter how hard JT is tap dancing, Sandra is pissed, she knows this is his dirty deed and she's going to send his a$$ packing.  He crossed her, it's payback time.

Nuku - Day 12
JT knows he needs a Hidden Immunity idol if he's hoping to stay so he heads out and finds a clue to the hidden idol.  Conveniently everyone is out of camp and he grabs the shovel and digs up the idol - no one the wiser.  (Hmm, that seemed pretty darn easy - seems the producers want to keep JT around.)

**New Amazing Race starts tomorrow - March 30th**

REWARD CHALLENGE - Day 12
Tavua is standing on their mat waiting for the other two tribes that went to tribal council to get there - first Mana shows up, with everyone... then Nuku gets there and it's complete shock to see Malcolm was voted out (and I'm sure relief for some of them, that's one less threat for their game.)

Okay, so the challenge - lots of moving pieces here - everyone has one job to do... One person from each tribe will be the person with the rope and grappling hook, they will have to snag first a bow.  The digger will then get to digging for a bag containing a ball, the first balancer will take the bow, balance the ball on it and cross two balance beams (one teeter-totter and one stationary up and down) to deposit the ball in the first hole.  Then the grappler will snag the next item, a handle, which the next balancer will have to balance the ball on through the balance beams again.  Once the second ball is in the second hole, the final tribe member can get started on the slide puzzle to complete the logo and win the Reward - which is a plate of PBJ sandwiches, loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter and jelly, plate of cookies and milk.  Second tribe to finish will only get a plate of sandwiches and the last tribe gets nothing.

Tavua has one extra member and sits Troyzan.

They strategize to figure out who will do what through the challenge and Debbie-does-everything says, and I quote, "I have a really good sense of balance." so Brad says, "okay, so you'll balance." This is very important because she cannot get across the second balance beam, and loses the lead her tribe had and then loses the challenge for them - then she also loses her mind! 

But first Tavua was behind through the initial hooking of the bow but Michaela dug the ball out in 2 seconds and Ozzy ran across the balance beams like they were nothing, giving Tavua the lead that they held onto, and with Zeke banging out the slide puzzle, they won the big Reward for the new little tribe that could, Tavua.

That means that Mana won the second reward, the plate of sandwiches with Debbie just finishing the balance beam (Nuku never even started the slide puzzle.) Debbie does not react well to her own failure (which is a bit of an understatement) and she blames everyone else.

Tavua - Day 12
Who cares, they won and are eating sandwiches.
-They do show us that Sarah has decided she needs options and is going to play this time like a criminal instead of a cop (ie; lying to people).  She starts talking up Troyzan, says she's going to look for an idol and wants to play with him so he better not tell anyone.  He says of course he won't, they shake.  And he reminds us that he has the idol already and he's not telling anyone.  If he can get in with Sarah and save his idol, mores the better for him.

Mana - Day 12
Oh, here we go - Debbie is fuming, she grabs all her crap and starts to storm off with everyone asking her what's wrong.  She goes on a tirade about them just making all the decisions and telling her what to do then giving her stuff to Hali to sell (?) Yeah, it was batsh!t.
Once she storms off like the drama queen she is - Brad wonders if she is acting, "what was that?" (Or you're going to wish she was just joking.)  Sierra goes after her (like she wanted, let's face it) and Debbie has now twisted everything in her mind so that Brad was the dictator that told everyone what they were going to do in the challenge and she had no say and Hali gets everything she wants and Debbie gets absolutely no respect from Brad.  She terrifies poor Tai with her delusional ranting, she screams at Brad about him crushing her heart... Yeah, Debbie better really hope they don't go to Tribal Council, she held them all hostage trying to placate her, it was crazy sauce.  Good thing she channels her rage into working out, she tells us as she starts spontaneously doing push ups - that's why she looks like she does (she must be a very angry woman.)

Nuku - Day 13
JT is making himself some coffee and Michaela asks if she can have seven drips of coffee and a spoonful of sugar.  This does not sit well with JT, when Aubry comes to get the sugar for Michaela, JT is muttering about how ignorant that is (oh ho, what's this now?)  JT apparently cannot stand Michaela, he feels like she is unstable, does nothing, and he doesn't want to babysit her.
-Sandra, ever the opportunist, is going to add fuel to that fire.  She goes over and right in front of Varner eats all the rest of the sugar, knowing full well that JT is going to think Michaela did it.
Varner's eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of his head as he watched her eat the sugar, but later, he is laughing to the camera, because it totally worked.  JT noticed the sugar was gone and is blaming Michaela who is trying to hold on to her temper but she is just seething against JT.  Varner, "JT thinks Michaela ate the sugar when it was full on Sandra." (You should be afraid, very afraid.)

Mana - Day 13
-After the Debbie Drama, this tribe is very very tense.  Tai decides he's going to go look for another idol since he played it, there might be another one - and he finds another clue.  It tells him he has to soak a wooden board and when the logo magically appears, that is where to dig (where is there a board? It must make more sense to them, seems very confusing to me.)  Tai has no time to continue in his search, but he's closer than anyone else to finding immunity again.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
They have to all climb up and over a high wall, then three tribe members have to 'roll' a large cube to a suspended ring of keys.  One person has to climb the cube and get the keys off the spring then give the keys to another tribe member who will open a chest filled with sandbags.  Two more tribe members have to carry the sandbags across a balance beam (there are 100 sandbags so they have to make multiple trips) and then they have to use a sling shot to knock down five targets.  First two tribes to finish win immunity, only one tribe going to tribal council tonight.  (Tavua sits Cirie.)

Oh Jebus, there are more balance beams and Debbie is convinced that she is a gymnast and was fantastic on the beam last time so she's going to do the beam again - they try to ask her to have a better attitude and she then decrees she's NOT doing it, "There, I decided." (oh my godupus!)

Off they go and Mana is the first team over the wall and it's Brad, Debbie and Sierra rolling the cube.  Sierra is the first up to get the ring of keys and Debbie says to Brad, "Did you see I was the first one over?" He just says to her, "I love you Debbie, I don't know why you're mad at me." (Exactly! He became the focus of her not being able to admit she is not great at everything, sad.)

We move on to the next section and Tai has the misfortune to fall off the balance beam a couple times which sends Debbie off on a tirade again, "I'm glad we didn't send the gymnast, seriously..."(it was at this point that I yelled at the TV for her to shut the &%^$ up! It was enough already).

Tavua was the first tribe to start launching sandbags but I think we found something that Ozzy wasn't that great at - Mana was able to catch up and Tuku caught up so they were all knocking down the targets. Mana is the first tribe to win immunity (Debbie is lucky that Brad is a good shot.)
It comes down to Ozzy and JT shooting for their last target and Ozzy hit the target while JT missed.  Tavua wins the second immunity and it's Nuku heading to tribal council.
JT is lucky he won a hidden immunity idol, I think.
But they tease us, Michaela says when she played the last time, the challenge before she was sent home ended in slingshots, so it couldn't happen again... Oh really?

Nuku - Day 13
Aubry feels like Michaela needs to be the next to go - JT is talking to Varner, Sandra and Aubry and he's pleading his case that they will be stronger without Michaela but he's also kind of a d!ck about it, "there will be a lot less bitterness, a lot less babysitting, a lot less crybaby, a lot less sugar stealing." Which makes Sandra laugh, of course, cause she's the devil.
-They all say they are 100% with him about voting Michaela off, and he says as long as he's not going home he'll tell the truth about her at tribal council, but if it's him, he's going to shut up (you should already be shutting up, come on!) Sandra encourages him to speak his truth... and even inspects the empty sugar jar with him, oh yeah, she licked it clean (wow, she's got some big brass ones doesn't she?)

Sandra talks to Michaela and tells her that she doesn't trust JT and she wants to talk to Varner to see where he stands so that they can vote out JT tonight.  You know Michaela was all over that.  When Sandra talks to Varner he feels like he's in the perfect spot, he can choose who he wants to vote out tonight - the attitude problem or the big threat.

TRIBAL COUNCIL
Sandra tells Jeff that they blamed JT for Malcolm going home last time and JT says he did tell Brad that he was safe but still gave away too much information and got himself burned too.
-Michaela calls out JT, saying he thinks he's running things all the time.
-JT laughs, he says camp life has been tough, he thinks they are all sick of babysitting and he's never been so excited to be at tribal council.
-Sandra tells Jeff about their feud over the sugar.  "JT thinks she licked the jar clean."
-Michaela, "That's how stupid he is.  What would I lick the sugar jar for?"
Jeff asks Sandra how they decide who to vote when there are only going to be four of them left.
-Sandra says, "We're going to keep our strongest player in the game and with him we're going to move forward." (Oh yeah, she's good.)
-Michaela says she's not surprised, it's an insult to her intelligence that they've been acting like she's stupid all day. (JT is rolling his eyes - Dude, you're being played!)
-Then JT uses the rope they gave him to hang himself - he starts listing her faults... she tells him to shut up by polling them if she's washed dishes, cooked food, delivered food... he's never seen it.
-Jeff polls them all if they agree with JT about Michaela and they say that JT does speak for them regarding Michaela, Sandra says he doesn't speak for her, but he does make some valid points about moving forward in the game.
-There is some more blah blah blah... Aubry likes Michaela, she's a strong female but camp life is uncomfortable, Varner agrees something needs to be done... and then it's...

Time to Vote:
JT votes for Michaela - you got a lot to learn kid.
Michaela votes for JT - you do not speak for me, good-bye Felicia.
Aubry votes Michaela
Sandra votes for JT - The queen stays queen, Adios.

Tallying the votes:

No one plays a hidden immunity idol (oh, JT, JT, JT...) and Michaela takes this opportunity to pour herself a cup of water, just chillin'

Votes:
Michaela - 1
JT - 1
Michaela - 2
JT - 2
Final vote is JT - and Michaela flips her hair at him, "Tell Malcolm you sent him home too." He is a bit like a whipped puppy, "I will."  (I don't like her showboating, at least be the bigger person - but  no, got to rub it in.)  Oh, and Sandra admits she finished the sugar to the rest of them - Aubry's got to pretend she's impressed but I bet she's sweating now.

So, with JT leaving that takes Kevin R., Jeff T., and Melissa G. out of the pool - (plus he is the first of the original Nuku tribe to be voted out, just a little trivia there.)

Next week - they are told to drop their buffs again, someone is sent to Exile Island (What??? NNOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo!) and a former Survivor makes a surprise return (Holy carp, what's going on?)

JT's final thoughts: I got a little over confident in myself and didn't bring my idol to tribal council, I didn't think I needed it.  I made a very, very foolish mistake and I let myself down.  I blew it, it's as simple as that. (Yup, pretty much.)

Have a great rest of your week everyone,

Coleen











 

Survivor Game Changers - March 22/17 Episode Recap

The Tables Have Turned

Last week they re-shuffled the tribes into three, leaving JT the sole original Nuku on his tribe, Caleb & Hali in the minority on Mana and Troyzan the sole Mana on the newly created Tavua tribe.  With Mana going to tribal council, Brad was able to rally the team and get Caleb voted out, making him leave the game again on the ninth day.

Mana - Night 9
-They all acknowledge that Tai had the hardest time voting out Caleb and he just hopes they realize that he is totally with them.  Playing with his head instead of his heart this time.

Mana - Day 10
-Debbie is playing up to Hali, telling her whatever she wants to hear but still planning to keep the old Nuku strong.  Hali would be the next to go.

REWARD CHALLENGE
Only two members from each tribe will take part in the challenge.  The first person will have to travel through some obstacles balancing a ball on the end of a pole.  At the end of each leg they will add more pole to make it more difficult.  When they get to the end, the next person will take the ball to release a key and open a box filled with sandbags.  That person will then have to knock down nine targets with the sandbags.  First person to knock down all the targets wins coffee, sugar, mugs, iced coffee and cookies (everyone was excited with the chocolate cookies), second tribe just gets a thermos of iced coffee, but better than last who get nada.

Starting out we have: Tai for Mana, Ozzy for Tavua, and JT for Nuku.
Second leg will be: Brad for Mana, Troyzan for Tavua, and Malcolm for Nuku.

Ozzy was a rockstar like he always is and gave Troyzan a huge lead heading into the beanbag throw, and Troy starts out strong knocking the targets down.  JT gets Malcolm started next and he quickly catches up to Troy so those two are duking it out and we still have Tai struggling across the balance beam... but he just has to get the ball to the former pro-football player. 
Malcolm pulls out the win for Nuku, but it's the come from behind second place finish for Mana that was the story here - leaving Troyzan out in the cold again with his tribe. No Coffee for You!

Tavua - Day 10
Everyone is bummed returning to camp having lost the reward... except for Ozzy.  He knows without winning rewards they rely on him for food in this game. He does all the fishing, which he finds therapeutic and he's bringing in protein for the whole tribe, making himself indispensable (until he's not... yes, this keeps him there in the beginning when there are lots of mouths to feed and they're not used to the hunger, but later on, the hunger to win usually takes him out.)

Nuku - Day 10
It's coffee time! Sandra is crowing they are the best tribe ever and she tells the camera that she's the queen there, running the show and nobody really knows it.
-Au contraire, JT knows full well what's going on.  He talks to Malcolm and they agree that they need to take Sandra out.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
One person is the caller and the rest of the tribe will be blindfolded and tethered together in pairs.  The caller will send the pairs out directing them to three towers where they will have to pull a rope which will dump coloured water on them and a bag that they have to untie and return to the caller/mat.  Once they have all the bags, they can remove their blindfolds and then they have to use the balls inside the bags on a table maze.  First team to get all three balls seated on the table maze win immunity. 
Nuku sat Sandra. Tavua sat Troyzan.

Oh, and by the way, both losing tribes will go to Tribal Council. Malcolm, "That's a huge 'by the way' Jeff."

Callers: Jeff Varner, just kept telling them to haul ass the whole time - hilarious - but it also worked as Nuku was the first back with all their bags and quickly runs over to start the puzzle maze.
Cirie doesn't have the loudest voice for this, but she was being heard better than Culpepper - Tavua starts on the puzzle with Mana bringing up the rear.

The table maze has to go slower and Nuku is taking their time thinking they have a huge lead, but then Tavua sneaks up on them and it's down to Varner and Andrea trying to seat the final ball... Jeff says Varner is either the hero or the goat and boom, he drops the ball off the table - leaving it open to Andrea and TAVUA, wins immunity! (Varner started bawling like a baby, I did feel a little bad for him.)

Oh, and another by the way - both tribes going to tribal council tonight will collectively vote only one person out. (WHAT!?? Holy crikey that is crazy!) 
 
Nuku - Day 11
Back at camp they start strategizing, Nuku has six members to the Mana five so they can conceivably decide who is going home tonight.  If they stay strong and vote the six together, it could work.
-Malcolm and JT had wanted to take Sandra out but with this twist that may have to wait.
-They speculate that they'll try and get JT to vote with them, but JT says he's solid with this new tribe.
-Sandra wants to vote out Sierra, JT is thinking Tai.
-JT thinks that Brad Culpepper will target Sandra and if he wanted to he could be the swing vote for them to change the course of this game.

Mana - Day 11
Brad knows that the four of them will vote together but Hali was on death row and who knows what she'll do.  Instead of trying to convince her she should stay with them, Brad is aggressive and vaguely threatening calling her Blue Eyes to get her attention and then telling her that voting five strong will speak volumes to her loyalty to them. (Really? I thought Culpepper was playing smarter but he still doesn't know how to get women on his side obviously.)

Brad speculates that JT will target Sandra and Sierra agrees but she thinks they should target Malcolm, in the long run she thinks he's more of a threat.  Everyone agrees that whatever they do they have to vote five strong and they feel it will come down to what JT is going to do.

Tai doesn't want to leave his fate in JT's hands and he goes looking for an idol.  He finds a clue which shows him where to dig and he ends up finding a Hidden Immunity Idol!  And then he goes and tells the whole tribe (except Hali) that he has an idol - right away Culpepper tells him if one of the four is going to go, it has to be played. (Tai has refused to be bullied into playing his hidden idol for someone in the past... just saying.)

TRIBAL COUNCIL
The tribal started off normal, Jeff asking them questions - Malcolm says they had to run every scenario as this has never been done before. 
-Culpepper says they potentially have a Mexican stand-off with all their guns pointed at each other but what if one of their guns is pointed at themselves (hinting JT) and is one of our guns pointed at ourselves (Hali) - and Sandra cuts him off, "All our guns are pointed at them." (Oh, ho, Culpepper has a wicked side-eye, hahaha.)
-Debbie says JT used to be really close with this tribe but Sandra again, "she said the magic words, 'used to'." (Ugh, Sandra you are not endearing yourself to anyone.)
-JT says he feels like they are expecting him to do something to put himself completely at risk when it would be a shot in the dark for him to land in the right place and Culpepper almost rolled is eyes.
-Brad says he thinks there are more threats on the other tribe, Malcolm and the two time winner, that's the biggest threat.
-Sandra, "I'm not worried.  I know I'm not going home tonight, how bout that?" (Oh, that makes me want her to go home so bad... come on Survivor Karma!)
-Malcolm says that sounds like the kind of thing you say when you're scared (Brad did not like that), but if they sent me home I'd be cussing my way down the ramp.
-Getting down to it, Debbie says her only worry is if JT flips or if Hali flips.
-Brad full on threatens Hali, she knows if she doesn't vote with us she is public enemy number one.
-Hali says, "Well that's not a good speech to groom me in." (Exactly! What a doofus.) Hali puts it out there that they are in a potential rock drawing situation and she is willing to help them if they have any concerns.
-Sandra of course says, no, we don't have any concerns. To which Sierra mean girls her, "sounds like they don't need you Hali." Debbie tries to salvage it, saying that they do need her but Michaela piles on from the other side, "Yeah, right on the outside where they put you."
-JT puts his head in his hands and while Jeff is asking him a question - Sierra is talking to Hali, Malcolm is eavesdropping.  Hali puts up her hand and says they should be trying to take out physical threats so then Sandra starts whispering to everyone around her that Hali wants to take Culpepper out.
-Then JT is whispering to Malcolm that he thinks they're voting for Sandra.
-Aubry thinks she showed up to the wrong wedding.
-Debbie gets up and whispers to Brad wondering if they just switched their votes to him, he says no, it's the original plan and Sandra has settled down to saying it's the original plan. And then...
JT jumps up and goes over to whisper to Brad that they are voting Sierra.
-Hali, "well if that's the way its going to be..." and she jumps up and goes to talk to Sandra saying that she will vote Brad with them - so now Nuku is having a powwow and Mana is having a powwow with Brad telling them that the vote is for Sierra.

Probst is just sitting back speechless and smiling like the cat that ate the canary - he's loving it.

-They kind of settle down, looks like everyone is back where they were before - but then JT is over whispering to Culpepper to vote Sandra and Sierra is telling Hali that JT told Brad the vote is for her, Hali said she was trying to change it...

Jeff asks if they are all done, is it time to vote?  And Sandra says they're ready so Jeff tries to send Hali to vote and I think she said, "I ain't consent." (not sure, I did rewind it a couple times) anyway, Sandra tells her they are ready to vote (because she is the Queen and has final say after all.)
So Hali says, "Okay, you may regret it though."

Finally Time to Vote:

While Hali is voting Michaela asks Sandra why Hali didn't just tell them who has the idol and Sandra says, "no one has an idol, girl please." (oh boy, she's going to be mad.)

They don't show us how anyone voted.

Tallying the votes:

Jeff asks if anyone has a hidden immunity idol and wants to play it, now is the time.  Brad tells Tai to play it and he stands up and gives the idol to Sierra. (I kind of wanted him to keep it for himself and tell Brad, nope, not playing it - but I know it wasn't the time for him to do that.)

Votes:
Sierra - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 - none of them counted

Malcolm - 1 (Holy Hell), 2, (and Sierra had the gall to kiss him on the cheek, I would have wanted to smack her for that) 3, 4, 5 - and it's Malcolm going home.  He just sits there stunned, as was I. He says, "I think I'm going to vomit."  JT looks just as wrecked because Brad just destroyed JT's game as well. Looks like Culpepper is turning into a villain. And as they head back to camp, Michaela whispers to Varner that she thinks JT just set them up.

 

Sigh, I was sad to see Malcolm leaving, even though he's not my favourite, it did seem too soon, and it also takes: Julie T., Lynne B., and Robert L. out of the pool.

Next week: JT is on the hot seat with Nuku and Debbie is on a tear screaming at Culpepper and scaring Tai, "She's like a crazy lady." (Oh man, what did he do?)

Malcolm's final thoughts were of utter devastation; at least he can say he went out in the most ridiculous tribal council in the history of tribal councils.  He was fighting back tears saying that JT isn't getting a Christmas card, "stupid kid couldn't keep his mouth shut" and the greatest experience of his life just came to an extremely premature end and it's a bitter pill to swallow.
 
It was a bit of heartbreaker this one.

Have a good rest of the week everyone,

Coleen

Survivor Game Changers - Mar 15/17 Episode Recap

Survivor Jackpot!

Last week we saw Ciera voted out first due to her mouth and in the second hour, the clash of the Survivor Titans played out at the Mana tribe with Tony and Sandra vying for control - Sandra came out on top and Tony went home with her (ill-advised) trash talk ringing in his ears.

The next day, the tribes assemble for what looks like a challenge but ends up being a Game Changing swap!  Everyone's told to drop their buffs and they will do a blind pick to be redistributed into three tribes:
Nuku: Aubry, Jeff, J.T., Malcolm, Michaela and Sandra
Mana: Brad, Caleb, Debbie, Hali, Sierra and Tai
Tavua: Andrea, Cirie, Ozzy, Sarah, Troyzan and Zeke

So how did this shake out?  JT is the only original member of Nuku remaining, everyone else was Mana before.  Caleb and Hali are the two new members mixed in with the four remaining Mana tribemates.  And, everyone on Tavua is former Nuku with only Troyzan being a former Mana member. Also, these poor saps on Tavua have to start over at a new camp with only the most basic supplies - nothing like have to build another shelter on day 7.

Nuku - Day 7
JT is showing the newcomers around camp and the former Manaians felt like they had won the lottery getting to use that camp - they have trained chickens, the shelter is great, they even decorated with glass floats... Malcolm and Jeff giggle like little girls, "How did this happen?"
-J.T. on the other hand, feels like the Survivor gods have let him down.  He was excited about the swap until he found out he was stuck 5 to 1.  His only hope of survival is to find a hidden immunity idol and his only hope of doing that is to get everyone out of camp so he can search. So, he proposes to take everyone out snorkelling and when they get out there, he finds an excuse to go back to shore (to get a tool to fix the spear) and leaves his tribemates stranded 1/2 mile out on the ocean. (HA!) Back at camp he starts frantically searching. Out on the water, they start to figure out that JT isn't coming back... is he looking for a hidden idol? (Oh, you better believe he is.)  Instead of being upset, they all get it, but they also know that JT will likely be their first vote.

Mana - Day 7
We find out that it's Brad Culpepper who was the decorator of the camp - he gets to putting up some decorations at the Mana camp as well, to make it a home (who woulda thunk it?)  He's feeling good being in the majority on this tribe - the former Nuku are going to stick together and it's going to come down to either Hali or Caleb.
-Tai was very happy to have Caleb back on his tribe, they played together before and Tai seems to still harbour a little crush. Tai talks to Brad about keeping Caleb because he adds strength to the tribe but Brad sees the Tai/Caleb bond as a threat and while telling Tai he's on board to keep Caleb around, he tells the camera he'd like to see Caleb go first.

Tavua - Day 7
They are all just trying to be positive, they are starting out fresh, yay!  But nobody's really happy about having to build a new shelter. Ozzy takes the lead in that as he has played the game four times now he's got the skills and he wants to show that the tribe still needs him around.
-Cirie finds herself with new life through this swap, she was on the wrong side of the numbers before, now she's one of the majority, she just has to work on her relationship with Ozzy - he recognizes that they need each other now so he's content to work with her for now.
-The former Nuku five also have to try and make Troyzan feel welcome, as he's in a similar situation to J.T. being the only Mana member.  The difference, Troyzan actually found a clue to a hidden immunity idol when he went searching, but he'll have to be sneaky because it is planted at the next Immunity challenge.

Nuku - Day 8
Goatagedon! JT asks if they had goats at their old camp and when Sandra hears goats, her mouth is watering - the queen wants to eat a goat.  JT, still trying to ingratiate himself, says he can catch one but secretly hopes he doesn't.  The tribe is united in the quest for the goat and start chasing them over the rocks.  JT catches a baby and then Malcolm corners the mother so they end up with two goats... but when they realize that they caught the mother only because she wouldn't leave her baby, no one has the heart to kill them.  Sandra is the only one still thirsting for some goat's blood (that should tell them something right there) but she needs someone else to kill it and no one has the heart.  They all voted to let the goats go, agreeing instead to kill one of the chickens for dinner. (Oh, Tai's going to be upset.)

Day 9 - Reward/Immunity Challenge
Three tribemates are tied together and must navigate through a rope obstacle course where they will fill a bucket with water and climb over a teeter-totter in order to fill it up enough to lower a gate. Another set of tribemates will untie puzzle pieces to solve a puzzle. The first two tribes to finish win immunity but the first tribe gets a tarp and has a choice of comfort (pillows/blankets) or spices for their food, with the item not chosen going to the second place tribe.

The teams set their order from the beginning, Nuku came in first, Tavua was second, which sends Mana to tribal council again (though it's mostly new players, it's that tribe going back to Tribal again.

Troyzan was able to successfully retrieve the Hidden Immunity Idol while acting as if he was overjoyed by the victory. Honestly, no one seemed suspicious of his over-acting because they weren't paying any attention to him.

Nuku chose the body comfort reward, which gave Tavua the spices. 

Mana - Day 9
Everybody's talking.  Tai is telling Debbie and Sierra he'd rather vote out Hali because he and Caleb are friends.  Sierra hears that and agrees Caleb is stronger for challenges but is worried about their possible underlying alliance due to that past relationship.  Brad is okay with voting Hali out first but he'd prefer to have Caleb go and he doesn't want to be seen as the chief so he's got to make Tai make the decision to vote Caleb out. 
-Brad sits Tai down and tells him that Caleb remaining in the game would only hurt his chances at the merge and that he needed to do what he felt was right for his game in this season (well, well, looks like Brad Culpepper learned to play Survivor, and he's come to win.) "Are you in it for him or are you in it for you?" Tai of course says he's in it for himself and thanks him for his valuable advise (oh, he got so manipulated there, wow.) Tai wants to play with his head instead of his heart this time around but he's very torn about betraying a friendship.

Tribal Council
Jeff jumps right in trying to figure out how this tribe has split themselves up.  Pointing out that Tai, Caleb and Debbie played together before.  They agree that there was a perceived bond initially but it became apparent that Tai & Caleb had a friendship existing from before which Sierra, for one, found concerning.
-Sierra pointed out that she and Hali played together before, but they have no relationship whatsoever (I don't think they ended up on a tribe together but I don't really remember Sierra other than her eyebrows anyway.) 
-Hali agreed that she has no pre-existing relationships with anyone and maybe Caleb is the bigger threat with more angles to work than she could ever have.
-Caleb says they have to decide if they want to keep someone who will kick butt in challenges and be loyal to keeping the tribe strong or go with Hali who is possibly easier to manipulate and take along (ugh, so sexist. Has he even spoken to Hali I wonder?)
-She turns it on him handily - Caleb just said he's stronger headed and a better player than her - in a game of Game Changers is that who you want around?
-Brad knows that Hali is a budding attorney and agrees she did very well, both Caleb and Hali have strengths, physical and mental that make them valuable to the tribe so it's a difficult decision (Okay, I remember Brad Culpepper as being kind of stupid when he played before, who is this guy? He has definitely upped his game.)
-Tai says he's got to look at the big picture not just the next challenge for this vote.

Time to Vote:
Hali votes Caleb
Caleb votes Hali

No one has a hidden immunity idol to play.

Votes:
Caleb - 1
Hali - 1
Caleb - 2, 3, 4... and it CALEB voted out.  Brad has an evil little grin on his face - oh yeah, he totally made that happen.
And with Caleb leaving, that takes Trish W., Gillian H., and Ian G. out of the pool.

Next week: JT starts an uprising against Sandra and the twists never stop coming - at the immunity challenge Jeff tells them that both losing teams will head to Tribal Council.

Caleb's final thoughts: The last time he played he went out day 9, this time, dagummit, he's going out day 9 again.  He's happy he's able to walk out on his own two feet this time and his friendship with Tai is still intact, he wishes him well going forward.

Oh ho, so I wonder how they'll do two tribes at Tribal council, will they be all together and voting one person or will they still be separate and voting two people... it will be interesting.

Have a great week,

Coleen

The Amazing Race (TAR) 29 - Announced new start date March 30, 2017

TAR 29 - now set to begin Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 10pm

I'll have to make some adjustments to the pool considering this season is not like any other - there are no pairs until after the first episode... huh.

Per Wikipedia:

As announced by CBS, the following contestants participated in the race. Unlike the traditional format of the Race, these contestants will arrive at the starting line unpaired, an idea that Race producers claim fans have repeatedly suggested to the them in the past. A set of challenges prior to the start of the Race will be used to determine which half of the contestants will pick their partner, and the order they will pick; this selection is then made only by first impressions.^[3]

Contestant	Age	Hometown	Occupation
Shamir Arzeno	28	Bronx, New York	Banking Firm Associate
Logan Bauer	27	Navarre, Florida	Orthopedic Device Specialist
Olive Beauregard	24	Providence, Rhode Island	Firefighter
Brooke Camhi	36	Lynbrook, New York	Business Development Director
Tara Carr	38	Alexandria, Virginia	U.S. Army Officer
Joey Covino	46	Boston, Massachusetts	Police Sergeant
Becca Droz	26	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Rock Climbing Instructor/Barista
Liz Espey	24	Maryville, Missouri	Auctioneer
Scott Flanary	34	Charlotte, North Carolina	University Recruiting Manager
Sara Fowler	27	Baltimore, Maryland	Luxury Real Estate Agent
London Kaye	27	New York, New York	Street Artist
Matt Ladley	25	Steamboat Springs, Colorado	Professional Snowboarder
Jenn Lee	25	Palos Verdes, California	Professional Model
Kevin Ng	31	San Diego, California	Athletic Trainer
Francesca Piccoli	33	Banning, California	U.S. Army
Floyd Pierce	21	Highlands Ranch, Colorado	College Student
Michael Rado	37	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Butcher
Redmond Ramos	28	Fremont, California	Motivational Speaker
Jessica "Jessie" Lynn Shields	28	Howland, Ohio	K9 Police Officer
Ashton Theiss	25	Fort Worth, Texas	Real Estate Agent
Seth Tyler	37	Seattle, Washington	Police Officer
Vanck Zhu	28	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Investment Researcher