The Amazing Race Philippines, Leg 3 Wrap-up
This was a strange Leg. And the three episode format definitely didn’t help.
I absolutely hated the first episode of this Leg. How horrible it was to have Marc & Kat and LJ & CJ heading to the Pit Stop before the other teams had even arrived in town. And most of the teams left within an hour or two of each other. The way the leg began was not good, and Wednesday’s episode featuring only Marc & Kat and LJ & CJ doing tasks was incredibly slow and sometimes boring.
The boringness made me feel like the tasks themselves were bad too, but after Thursday’s episode, I realized it was just because Wednesday had two bland teams doing them.
Thursday’s episode was much better. But it also highlighted one of the more puzzling editing choices TARPh has had so far. On Wednesday’s episode, it ended with the two teams apparently heading to the Pit Stop, complete with Derek’s Mat spiel and even announcing the Express Pass prize. But it is evident now that the clue teams got after the Road Block merely pointed them to Maligcong without any mention of the Pit Stop.
So why insert that little bit in the Wednesday episode that resulted in giving the impression that this might be an incredibly short leg. That’s what most fans thought after the first episode. Were legs actually getting shorter and shorter?
Turns out that wasn’t the case and it was just a poor editing choice. That extra rice task was a good, physical pre-Mat task that highlighted both the culture as well as the views.
Now, about the tasks, The Detours were good choices, but I hate the fact that they wasted the carabao task as a Detour no one was going to take. It should’ve been a mandatory task instead of a Detour choice. The chicken side of the Detour was fine. But were cheated out of a good “Sira tong carabao!” scene.
The Road Block was also great… on paper. Having teams dancing a traditional dance complete with costume is an excellent idea. But they definitely didn’t execute and pretty much lost the point of the task itself by not having teams actually dance with the locals. Standing still with a pot on your heard? Not as culturally significant. Just take a look at TAR20 to see a great local dance task.
The leg overall was relatively easy and maybe too linear, allowing Marc & Kat to add to their earned jackpot (seriously, two more wins and they get a million pesos… HALF of the grand prize). I like the physical tasks, but I think they dropped the ball with them on this one.
My Subjective Team Rankings for Leg 3
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Dani & Mish – Dani was still awesome and fiery this Leg. What’s funny though is while she’s been making Mish out to be unhelpful and uncompetitive, it’s been Mish who has done all Road Blocks so far. I think that makes the whole situation even funnier really. |
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Pamela & Vanessa – Maybe not as fun in this leg as they were in the last. They’re pulling a Lucy & Emilia (TARAu2) just escaping elimination each week. That’s hilarious to watch, for sure. I don’t know how long they’re going to stay in the Race, but I hope they make the most of it and deliver more Englishing one-liners. |
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Saida & Jervi – They are running a very consistent Race. Even with Saida’s struggles this Leg, they still managed to keep their lead and push forward. I think they’re still one of the stronger teams in the Race. |
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Ed & Angel – An okay leg for them. They both got a little frustrated this Leg, maybe Angel more than Ed. But it also showed that they are not the nice father and daughter team one might expect. They’re tough and fiesty and definitely have gotten more comfortable in the Race since the first Leg. |
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Sheena & Gee – They’re definitely here to Race and are tough competitors, but have not done enough to really get themselves out of the bottom of the pack. Part of that has to do with leg design, but hopefully in the next legs they can step up their Race and finally move up. |
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LJ & CJ – A good leg for them definitely helped by the linear leg design. But they are a bland team to watch. Wednesday’s episode was so boring with them and Marc & Kat as the focus. |
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Marc & Kat – Eek. The Davechel rout is on? I certainly hope not. |
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Boom & Cheng – They’re doing well Racing, but their personalities are starting to grate. They are definitely not as funny as they think they are. I don’t know if they want to be the next Jose and Wally or something, but they are becoming more obnoxious and annoying than funny and charming. Plus, the mocking of the locals costumes is something you’d expect on TARUS. |
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Fausto & Dayal – Not as delusional about their abilities this Leg, but still not the best performance from them. That little misreading of the clue could’ve been the end for them. |
