Post by Dale on Jun 29, 2007 21:49:50 GMT -8
Hey, all! I thought I'd offer a reader's perspective on the race and everyone's finishing positions! This is for episode ten!
The penultimate episode of The Amazing Final Fantasy Race was another interesting one. It saw the final three teams leaving the Mushroom Kingdom behind and traveling back to the Final Fantasy worlds — specifically, the world of Gaia, where Final Fantasy 9 is set. With no more eliminations, the leg was all about the teams jockeying for position to simply put themselves in the best possible position going into the final leg of the race.
The Roadblock saw the teams playing a game of Chocobo Hot and Cold. To complete the task, they had to ride chocobos around a marked area and use their utterances of “kweh” to determine how close they were to a buried item before digging it up. If the item was a valuable Chocograph, the task would be complete. Simply put, this was a luck-based task that required patience and the most methodical approach possible.
After the Roadblock was complete, teams had to use their Chocographs to locate the pictured spot and go right to it. Once at the pictured location, the teams had to have their chocobos dig up a treasure chest with their next clue. Since two of the three teams weren’t exactly native to Gaia, finding local help seemed like the obvious way to get there. One of the two teams did just that and thrived from it. At least for a little while. Until that local committed a terrible theft against them.
The teams then faced a task that required much stealth: slipping into a home containing a sleeping boy to get a clue box without waking him up. Getting in and out without waking him up didn’t seem to matter, just getting the clue before he woke up did. Still, any source of noise created problems for the teams, such as the wind blowing the door closed, so they had to do anything possible to avoid making noise. One team did wake up the boy, but because they’d already gotten their clue, it probably didn’t matter. They still finished the task.
The Detour had teams choosing between Frogs, which had teams catching fifteen frogs in a marsh, and Duck, which had them collecting two of Gaia’s thirteen Stellazzio coins in different parts of the world for a ducklike lady. Teams who had quick reflexes (and wanted to go for the sure thing) would’ve done well to pick Frogs, while teams who hoped to get lucky and had bad reflexes were better off choosing Duck.
The clincher of the episode was the introduction of a twist never before seen on either the American or Asian version of the show. The eight eliminated teams were brought back to help the final three teams run the final leg. Each team would receive help from two eliminated contestants that didn’t have to be on the same original team. The first team to reach the Pit Stop would get to choose both people to help them, the second team would only choose one, but then have the other chosen by the first-place team, and the third and last team would have both people chosen by the second-place team.
Now, personally, I don’t like the twist. It completely goes against everything the show is about. When a team is eliminated at a Pit Stop, then that should be the end of it. Both members of the team absolutely should not be seen again until the final three teams cross the finish line. They ran the race and lost it, so they should not get the chance to return to the game. Yes, some reality shows have brought back eliminated contestants to help at the end, like The Apprentice, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, The Law Firm, Hell’s Kitchen, and Top Chef. But The Amazing Race is not one of them. And yes, this technically isn’t the real show, by any means. Still, this appalling break from tradition just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I’m not the author of this series (Bob Bergman is), so I should just deal with it for now, I guess.
So I’ll talk about the strategic implications of this new twist. The first team to arrive would have the big advantage. They could choose two eliminated contestants they felt were the strongest racers and were most likely to help them win, and try and stick the second-place team with a weaker eliminated contestant. The second-place team could similarly chose one strong eliminated racer to help them and stick the third-place team with two weaker ones to hinder them. Whether it was coincidental or deliberate, the teams somewhat seemed to do this as far as choosing who’d race with their opponents, and only one team chose the right person based on strength.
It’s all come down to this. The next leg is the final one, and the final three teams should now be changing their mindsets from “don’t come in last” to “come in first!” going into that leg. They should also be focusing on working with their new teammates to achieve that final victory. All that said, with a shocking theft and a super-surprising twist at the end of the leg, which teams were thinking smart in episode ten?
Yuna and Rikku: First place, for the third time in the race. Other than the one snag they hit, the cousins ran a superb leg. After Yuna quickly uncovered her Chocograph, they were off to find the Ice Cavern pictured on it. They enlisted help from a ratlike local who helped them find this location. Similar to Steiner and Beatrix’s situation three legs ago, that local later stiffed them when they weren’t looking, stealing their Gold Chocobo while they were getting their clue out of the mayor’s house. They originally chose to do the Frogs Detour, but after prompting from Rufus, they switched to Duck and quickly found a Stellazzio in Dali, as well as one left behind by their deceitful guide. After finishing this task in Treno, they received help from a local in getting to the Pit Stop by taking a ride on a gargant to Pinnacle Rocks before proceeding on foot to the Lindblum Harbor, hitting the mat first as a result. Great job.
Their choices for whom to team up with on the final leg were a bit troubling, but made sense. They chose long-time friend Paine, which I was fine with because they worked very well with her in Final Fantasy 10-2. But they also chose Squall, who helped them get through the third leg of the race at the cost of his own survival in the race with Rinoa — another one that made sense, as they at least knew him, but he was undoubtedly a weaker contestant, so his being on their team worries me. I would’ve chosen Tifa, since she at least worked with Paine, and Paine would have an idea how of she operates. Still, I’ll be interested in seeing how well this newly-formed team works on the next leg. Also, they made a great choice sticking Amarant and Lani with Rinoa, as they likely don’t really know her and thus may not work all that well with her.
Yuna and Rikku are the team I’d like to see win the most now that my favorite team, Steiner and Beatrix, is gone. They’ve undergone the ultimate underdog transformation by starting out weak and gradually growing stronger as a team with each passing leg. They have more wins than anyone left in the race and have the best dynamic of the final three teams. I want them to win.
Amarant and Lani: The coworkers ran a very hard leg that began with Lani struggling at the Roadblock, having bad luck in finding a Chocograph. They made up some time with Amarant’s knowledge of Gaia’s geography and got to the digging task, as well as the mayor’s house in Dali. They chose the Frogs Detour, which was another point they struggled at. They had a lot of trouble catching the frogs they needed and instead had to rely on Lani’s very creative method of catching most of them. This allowed them to make their way to Lindblum and finish second at the Pit Stop.
The team chose Jecht to assist them on the final leg, which was only slightly puzzling, as I don’t think they’ve really gotten the chance to know him. (The only time they ever talked to him and Auron was at the Rats Detour on the third leg.) However, they made two excellent choices by shoving Relm and Edgar on Shinra and Rufus. While Relm would definitely love to help Rufus win due to her little-girl crush on him, she was a very weak racer during her time in the race with Strago, and her young age may certainly be a liability to them. Selecting Edgar was also smart, as he and Sabin were not exactly on the best of terms with the father and son at the time of their elimination.
As much as I like Amarant and Lani, they’re the team I’d least like to see win the race. They have the worst dynamic possible and have only worked well together on two legs of the race — the third leg and the ninth leg (although with the former, it was due to Amarant’s drunken stupor). They are a strong team, but considering how nasty Lani’s been to locals, other teams, and even her own teammate, to see her win would just not be a feel-good ending.
Shinra and Rufus: The father and son, without a doubt, ran the worst leg of the group. While they completed the Roadblock in fairly good time, found the Ice Cavern easily due to Shinra buying a map ahead of time, and found their clue in the house quickly and quietly enough, things started to go downhill for them largely because of Rufus. He advised Yuna and Rikku to change from the Frogs Detour to the Duck Detour to keep them out of last place, all due to his attraction to Yuna. As a result, they fell behind when the cousins got insanely lucky looking for Stellazzio in Dali and they got terribly unlucky looking for Stellazzio in Treno. Their bad luck had them leaving the Detour so far back in last place, not even taking the gargant, like Yuna and Rikku did, could help them catch up. They weren’t eliminated, but due to their last-place finish on this leg, they’re stuck with two possible liabilities to their team going into the final leg — Relm and Edgar.
Yuna and Rikku are my main pick to win the race, but for the most part, I’d be okay with Shinra and Rufus winning if they don’t. I didn’t think too much of them at the beginning of the race, but they started growing on me in the third episode and have entertained me enormously. They are also a surprisingly strong team, in spite of Shinra’s old age and out-of-shape build. If they can remember that the time to help their allies has long since passed (especially Rufus), and if they can get their new teammates’ cooperation on the final leg, they’ll have a pretty good shot at winning.
The penultimate episode of The Amazing Final Fantasy Race was another interesting one. It saw the final three teams leaving the Mushroom Kingdom behind and traveling back to the Final Fantasy worlds — specifically, the world of Gaia, where Final Fantasy 9 is set. With no more eliminations, the leg was all about the teams jockeying for position to simply put themselves in the best possible position going into the final leg of the race.
The Roadblock saw the teams playing a game of Chocobo Hot and Cold. To complete the task, they had to ride chocobos around a marked area and use their utterances of “kweh” to determine how close they were to a buried item before digging it up. If the item was a valuable Chocograph, the task would be complete. Simply put, this was a luck-based task that required patience and the most methodical approach possible.
After the Roadblock was complete, teams had to use their Chocographs to locate the pictured spot and go right to it. Once at the pictured location, the teams had to have their chocobos dig up a treasure chest with their next clue. Since two of the three teams weren’t exactly native to Gaia, finding local help seemed like the obvious way to get there. One of the two teams did just that and thrived from it. At least for a little while. Until that local committed a terrible theft against them.
The teams then faced a task that required much stealth: slipping into a home containing a sleeping boy to get a clue box without waking him up. Getting in and out without waking him up didn’t seem to matter, just getting the clue before he woke up did. Still, any source of noise created problems for the teams, such as the wind blowing the door closed, so they had to do anything possible to avoid making noise. One team did wake up the boy, but because they’d already gotten their clue, it probably didn’t matter. They still finished the task.
The Detour had teams choosing between Frogs, which had teams catching fifteen frogs in a marsh, and Duck, which had them collecting two of Gaia’s thirteen Stellazzio coins in different parts of the world for a ducklike lady. Teams who had quick reflexes (and wanted to go for the sure thing) would’ve done well to pick Frogs, while teams who hoped to get lucky and had bad reflexes were better off choosing Duck.
The clincher of the episode was the introduction of a twist never before seen on either the American or Asian version of the show. The eight eliminated teams were brought back to help the final three teams run the final leg. Each team would receive help from two eliminated contestants that didn’t have to be on the same original team. The first team to reach the Pit Stop would get to choose both people to help them, the second team would only choose one, but then have the other chosen by the first-place team, and the third and last team would have both people chosen by the second-place team.
Now, personally, I don’t like the twist. It completely goes against everything the show is about. When a team is eliminated at a Pit Stop, then that should be the end of it. Both members of the team absolutely should not be seen again until the final three teams cross the finish line. They ran the race and lost it, so they should not get the chance to return to the game. Yes, some reality shows have brought back eliminated contestants to help at the end, like The Apprentice, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, The Law Firm, Hell’s Kitchen, and Top Chef. But The Amazing Race is not one of them. And yes, this technically isn’t the real show, by any means. Still, this appalling break from tradition just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I’m not the author of this series (Bob Bergman is), so I should just deal with it for now, I guess.
So I’ll talk about the strategic implications of this new twist. The first team to arrive would have the big advantage. They could choose two eliminated contestants they felt were the strongest racers and were most likely to help them win, and try and stick the second-place team with a weaker eliminated contestant. The second-place team could similarly chose one strong eliminated racer to help them and stick the third-place team with two weaker ones to hinder them. Whether it was coincidental or deliberate, the teams somewhat seemed to do this as far as choosing who’d race with their opponents, and only one team chose the right person based on strength.
It’s all come down to this. The next leg is the final one, and the final three teams should now be changing their mindsets from “don’t come in last” to “come in first!” going into that leg. They should also be focusing on working with their new teammates to achieve that final victory. All that said, with a shocking theft and a super-surprising twist at the end of the leg, which teams were thinking smart in episode ten?
Yuna and Rikku: First place, for the third time in the race. Other than the one snag they hit, the cousins ran a superb leg. After Yuna quickly uncovered her Chocograph, they were off to find the Ice Cavern pictured on it. They enlisted help from a ratlike local who helped them find this location. Similar to Steiner and Beatrix’s situation three legs ago, that local later stiffed them when they weren’t looking, stealing their Gold Chocobo while they were getting their clue out of the mayor’s house. They originally chose to do the Frogs Detour, but after prompting from Rufus, they switched to Duck and quickly found a Stellazzio in Dali, as well as one left behind by their deceitful guide. After finishing this task in Treno, they received help from a local in getting to the Pit Stop by taking a ride on a gargant to Pinnacle Rocks before proceeding on foot to the Lindblum Harbor, hitting the mat first as a result. Great job.
Their choices for whom to team up with on the final leg were a bit troubling, but made sense. They chose long-time friend Paine, which I was fine with because they worked very well with her in Final Fantasy 10-2. But they also chose Squall, who helped them get through the third leg of the race at the cost of his own survival in the race with Rinoa — another one that made sense, as they at least knew him, but he was undoubtedly a weaker contestant, so his being on their team worries me. I would’ve chosen Tifa, since she at least worked with Paine, and Paine would have an idea how of she operates. Still, I’ll be interested in seeing how well this newly-formed team works on the next leg. Also, they made a great choice sticking Amarant and Lani with Rinoa, as they likely don’t really know her and thus may not work all that well with her.
Yuna and Rikku are the team I’d like to see win the most now that my favorite team, Steiner and Beatrix, is gone. They’ve undergone the ultimate underdog transformation by starting out weak and gradually growing stronger as a team with each passing leg. They have more wins than anyone left in the race and have the best dynamic of the final three teams. I want them to win.
Amarant and Lani: The coworkers ran a very hard leg that began with Lani struggling at the Roadblock, having bad luck in finding a Chocograph. They made up some time with Amarant’s knowledge of Gaia’s geography and got to the digging task, as well as the mayor’s house in Dali. They chose the Frogs Detour, which was another point they struggled at. They had a lot of trouble catching the frogs they needed and instead had to rely on Lani’s very creative method of catching most of them. This allowed them to make their way to Lindblum and finish second at the Pit Stop.
The team chose Jecht to assist them on the final leg, which was only slightly puzzling, as I don’t think they’ve really gotten the chance to know him. (The only time they ever talked to him and Auron was at the Rats Detour on the third leg.) However, they made two excellent choices by shoving Relm and Edgar on Shinra and Rufus. While Relm would definitely love to help Rufus win due to her little-girl crush on him, she was a very weak racer during her time in the race with Strago, and her young age may certainly be a liability to them. Selecting Edgar was also smart, as he and Sabin were not exactly on the best of terms with the father and son at the time of their elimination.
As much as I like Amarant and Lani, they’re the team I’d least like to see win the race. They have the worst dynamic possible and have only worked well together on two legs of the race — the third leg and the ninth leg (although with the former, it was due to Amarant’s drunken stupor). They are a strong team, but considering how nasty Lani’s been to locals, other teams, and even her own teammate, to see her win would just not be a feel-good ending.
Shinra and Rufus: The father and son, without a doubt, ran the worst leg of the group. While they completed the Roadblock in fairly good time, found the Ice Cavern easily due to Shinra buying a map ahead of time, and found their clue in the house quickly and quietly enough, things started to go downhill for them largely because of Rufus. He advised Yuna and Rikku to change from the Frogs Detour to the Duck Detour to keep them out of last place, all due to his attraction to Yuna. As a result, they fell behind when the cousins got insanely lucky looking for Stellazzio in Dali and they got terribly unlucky looking for Stellazzio in Treno. Their bad luck had them leaving the Detour so far back in last place, not even taking the gargant, like Yuna and Rikku did, could help them catch up. They weren’t eliminated, but due to their last-place finish on this leg, they’re stuck with two possible liabilities to their team going into the final leg — Relm and Edgar.
Yuna and Rikku are my main pick to win the race, but for the most part, I’d be okay with Shinra and Rufus winning if they don’t. I didn’t think too much of them at the beginning of the race, but they started growing on me in the third episode and have entertained me enormously. They are also a surprisingly strong team, in spite of Shinra’s old age and out-of-shape build. If they can remember that the time to help their allies has long since passed (especially Rufus), and if they can get their new teammates’ cooperation on the final leg, they’ll have a pretty good shot at winning.
