The U-turn is new this cycle? Instead of the Yield?

Yep, it is. I like it better, because the teams can determine how long they are delayed--if they do the second task quickly, the U-turn can backfire on the team that made them do it. The only enjoyable Yield to watch was the first one, where Colin went into slow burn and started the road to "My ox is broken!!"

I'm assuming.

It's nice to see that teams have thought about it - a few of them at least, e.g., "we're not using it because we're not at the back of the pack" etc.

If it had been Jason and Lorena coming up on the blondes like they thought, then they did exactly the right thing, and for the right reasons. As it panned out, it didn't matter, since it was just way too short a leg for J & L to make up their time deficit out of the gate. Which is too bad, since I liked them a lot more this leg than I have before.

WTF was with that "it's our turn to come in first! Phiiiiiil, make them stop" shit at the finish? That team can start losing any time.

WTF was with that "it's our turn to come in first! Phiiiiiil, make them stop" shit at the finish? That team can start losing any time.

Oh, I wanted to smack her for that whining.

My concern with the U-turn, actually, is that the detours will have to be pretty short in order to keep a U-turned team remotely competitive.

Because these were some seriously quick tasks, don't you think? They could have stretched out the leg in other ways if they'd chosen, so it's not like it's a huge deal. Still better than the yield.

For all her silly name, I felt for Vixen, tearing up when the reality of the place she was in set in.

I agree that Lorena was much better this round. I try to keep in mind that we see a lot of these people on the worse day of their lives, sometimes!

Ron appears to have dialled it back a bit. Christine just rocks.

And Grandpa is not just adorable, he's really good, too. He knew exactly what to do with the gold panning, and they seem to have gone through really quickly.

Don't blame the blondes for taking the U-Turn option. The time to use it is if you're one or two teams out from the end. I think it's harsher than the Yield, because tasks can be unexpectedly long if you pick the wrong donkey or sandpit or whatever, so an insurmountable time penalty can happen instead of ten minutes or whatever it was.

I try to keep in mind that we see a lot of these people on the worse day of their lives, sometimes!

Even though she irritated the shit out of me last week with the camel milking meltdown, I can easily see myself doing something similar under the same circumstances (although I really hope I'd have it together enough to remember to remain calm around the animal) and I tried to cut her some slack. And they were definitely more bearable this last ep. Although I still loathe the "Baby? Baby, baby baby. Baby!" thing.

Loving Kynt (which, I have to say, i pronounce as 'cunt' in my head) and Vixen despite their stupid names.

I can't believe I started to like Lorena and then she and Jason got eliminated. It's almost Minearesque. Did the blondes really not know that they were an hour ahead of them?

I was very worried about TK and Rachel because I like them.

Project Runway: OMG, Carmen and Christian totally brought out the worst in each other. They each should have been working with somebody NOT totally fixated on the 80s. And that cave woman outfit was just tragic. Meanwhile, SJP was an excellent guest judge: knowledgable, kind and articulate. They should have her back.

I love Kynt and Vixen tool (Does Vixen's name have more other vowels in it?)

Oh, does the Ethiopian sister who's name I can't remember have some kind of real issue with the physical tasks and running? Or was that her brother being a dick about her being a girl?