I guess I can agree with Travis that Nicole was really failing to live up to what she could do - but that's what exhaustion and sleep deprivation and jet lag can do to a mind that's otherwise sharp.

But he was unexpectedly harsh to her through it, which so Doesn't Help.

I ended up really liking Tim, who you can't argue knew exactly what he was getting himself into with teaming up with Marie. She really is one of the most competent competitors this race has seen, even if she's abrasive. He was well-matched to let her criticism roll off his (own very competent) back and not knock him of course even as it disturbed the other teams (I'm thinking of the olive-platter competition in particular).

Also, I'd like to laugh separately at asking the Alaskan taxi driver if they spoke English. Either it was a joke, or they'd just got so used to dealing with taxi drivers that didn't it's stamped into the brain checklist and they're going to do it every time they get in a taxi from now until the end of eternity.

After I spent a week in Mexico (one week!), I steeled myself the next time I went into the deli at home, to make sure I knew what I wanted to say. I forgot they would speak English there!

Marie really grew on me a lot -- not only was she great at the game, but she wasn't a dick to the cabbies, etc., just to Tim. Unless I'm forgetting something.

I'm pretty sympathetic to Nicole wrt to Killer Fatigue and Travis being terrible, but I was not impressed with her rounding up the other teams "to work as a team of six" and then immediately trying to get their one cab to take off first. If you're going to be the nice/"ethical" team, sometimes you're going to lose an advantage.

I hope that situation was compressed by the editors, so it wasn't actually that abrupt.

If you're going to be the nice/"ethical" team, sometimes you're going to lose an advantage.

They are such giant hypocrites.

And I'm not sure it was Killer Fatigue so much as belittlement fatigue. Every time Nicole started to have trouble she seemed to just shut down and be focused mostly on how nasty Travis was going to be. Ugly. (Does not surprise me that she was his student before they got married.)

And he kept being nastier than I would have thought, right up until the very end. Ugh, that guy.

I hope that situation was compressed by the editors, so it wasn't actually that abrupt.

Well, IIRC, she said it before they got on the plane for the first flight, and that was after they landed in Toyko, so time had passed, but no gameplay.

The Voice: Oh, that's not the way you sing "Angel."

Oh, and what did people think about the ad for next TAR in February being "All Stars"? I've only watched the last three or so seasons, so only have a few favorites, but anyone you're hoping will come back? Hoping WON"T?

Okay, I missed Ben Folds. I love him, he cracks me up.

Sean also makes me laugh.

Jewel is going to be a good judge. Funny, smart, solid commentary.

Vocal Rush -- Those chillun SANG! Great, soulful. Lead singer swallowed the lyrics a little in a few places, but awesome.

Home Free -- Scarf boy needs to rein it in. He reminds me of every sensitive actor/singer I knew in college who slept his way through his little fans. @@. Song was great, loved the bass.

Princeton Footnotes -- Loved the whimsy of doing Taylor Swift. The lead is trying to be this season's Dartmouth guy. It was kinda eh.

Calle Sol -- nice change. Need not to let the movement detract from the singing. A few places, they were busy dancing and were away from the mic or not as strong.

Street Corner Renaissance -- Loved this arrangement! Old school!!!!!!

Ten -- Too much glory noting.

Element -- Nice. Nothing particularly great about it, but nice.

VoicePlay -- Male lead didn't have enough power, felt uneven next to the female lead. Liked the "remix" .

Filharmonic - Love their energy/spirit. And you know I love the 90s. And you know I love big guy who dances.

AcoUstiKats -- Started behind the 8 ball for me, I hate this song. The falsetto sounds like a guy trying to sing like a woman. They were fun, though.

I agree with the eliminated group. The other group did more with the song, did some different styles.

Vocal Rush--they are adorable AND good. I agree with vortex that the lead needed to enunciate a bit on a few of the beats, just to give it a bit more kick. But that was still awesome.

Home Free--WTF is with the cornfields thing? Minneapolis is not a cornfield. I like country music, but...yes, scarf dude is totally that guy from college who slept with all the a capella groupies. Dang. I feel like they just seem...thin? I mean, they're five guys, and maybe it's just in comparison to Vocal Rush before them, but ...meh. I feel like they don't all go together, somehow? Maybe it's their song choice (I like that song, but I don't feel like the arrangement was the best, cute as some of the bits were). I just...not love. I really like parts of them, but....not the whole them.

Princeton Footnotes--Just based on the intro--they are such a stereotype. Of nerdy old-school a capella group that has been singing the same songs since 1959? I can't tell in this intro--are NONE of them cute, or do the jackets and orange ties just magically fuglify people? OK, their performance was better than their intro.

Calle Sol-I feel like they needed to move around a little bit less and focus a bit more. But generally fun.

Street Corner Renaissance--very cool choice of song. I think I'd like one of their guys to sing a little lower, give it a little less tenor (or less falsetto?). But yeah.

....and on that note, I'm hitting record, adding a season pass, and telling myself I need to go to bed.