My friends hadn't really been TAR fans so we've been doing a rundown of seasons lately. Just finished up TARASS and I was amazed at how much my opinion
of certain things changed. I always thought it was a highly amusing season with a lot of greatness but shit winners, pretty much, but on rewatch it's
interesting what stood out to me.
WINNERS -
I will be the first to admit when I saw Eric and Danielle listed as a team, I wanted anybody but them to win. Anybody. I thought Eric ran a good race his season but was also too arrogant for somebody who ended up blowing it for them. Danielle was the less involved of the Pink girls, distinguished only by her fear of heights. Knowing they weren't a real couple at the time of filming, it's now apparent how much Eric was stressed and how correct he was in everything he said. STFU, move faster, get it done. It took her till final 5 to finally seem to figure it out and start running the race. In that sense I still feel Eric won the race in spite of Danielle but also, fact is he blew it in his season, she won it for them by solving that puzzle. For that alone, she deserved it but again, Eric was amazing. I love seeing how different he is. Still sarcastic Eric but also very stressed out, like please get this early shit over and get me to F4 again. He was great when yielded, funny with the girls, STEAMED with Danny/Oswald, used it to fuel a win none of us was rooting for. In retrospect, Eric is truly the best drop out loser in the history of Sunshine State drop out losers and perhaps the best racer of all time, with nods to Zach and S5 Chip.
CAST -
Best cast of any ASS I've seen, and I liked BBASS a whole lot. My friends hated Charla/Mirna in S5 and again this season. I had rooted for them when I originally watched TARASS, so it was amusing watching their reactions. C/M are just as great in terms of viewing as the first time. The nearly psychotic need to find "friends", get "betrayed" and fuel them on to another leg, the insane luck in airports, Charla "deciding" (nods to production) to do a lot of physical challenges, Mirna's megalomania, they are awesome. I'd never seen Danny and Oswald (missed season 2) and I thought Oswald was one of the best quotes on reality television. What they said was true, they were better racers than people might assume because of how they act. Beauty Queens were fantastic, cut throat, bribing D/O, I thought they had it in the bag. So did my friends watching. Right on down the line, Uchena and Joyce as the feel good couple, blunders by Romber, Kevin and Drew as the funniest/best early exit team ever. I'd forgotten all about John Vito and Jill
Well rounded, funny, editing had no qualms about showing everybody's shitty side. Nobody got a glowing edit save for perhaps Danny/Oswald (IMO of course).
Locations -
Not their best in terms of location. A lot of it was recycled or just plain boring, such as the Guam leg. We saw nothing of the finishing city really. Cab/Detour/Finish Mat. Much as I hated season 6 because of the unrootable winners, they had some killer locations.
Phil -
Philminator at his best. I still love that they allowed him being chased around by D/O and showed his little wave to production to stop rolling and cut the shit
Where does it rank?
Nothing can top season 5 for me in terms of location, cast, winners, Phil, etc. It's right around 2 or 3 though and I have a new found appreciation for Eric Sanchez, the worlds most successful loser or dubious sexual predilection :P
-SJ™
WINNERS -
I will be the first to admit when I saw Eric and Danielle listed as a team, I wanted anybody but them to win. Anybody. I thought Eric ran a good race his season but was also too arrogant for somebody who ended up blowing it for them. Danielle was the less involved of the Pink girls, distinguished only by her fear of heights. Knowing they weren't a real couple at the time of filming, it's now apparent how much Eric was stressed and how correct he was in everything he said. STFU, move faster, get it done. It took her till final 5 to finally seem to figure it out and start running the race. In that sense I still feel Eric won the race in spite of Danielle but also, fact is he blew it in his season, she won it for them by solving that puzzle. For that alone, she deserved it but again, Eric was amazing. I love seeing how different he is. Still sarcastic Eric but also very stressed out, like please get this early shit over and get me to F4 again. He was great when yielded, funny with the girls, STEAMED with Danny/Oswald, used it to fuel a win none of us was rooting for. In retrospect, Eric is truly the best drop out loser in the history of Sunshine State drop out losers and perhaps the best racer of all time, with nods to Zach and S5 Chip.
CAST -
Best cast of any ASS I've seen, and I liked BBASS a whole lot. My friends hated Charla/Mirna in S5 and again this season. I had rooted for them when I originally watched TARASS, so it was amusing watching their reactions. C/M are just as great in terms of viewing as the first time. The nearly psychotic need to find "friends", get "betrayed" and fuel them on to another leg, the insane luck in airports, Charla "deciding" (nods to production) to do a lot of physical challenges, Mirna's megalomania, they are awesome. I'd never seen Danny and Oswald (missed season 2) and I thought Oswald was one of the best quotes on reality television. What they said was true, they were better racers than people might assume because of how they act. Beauty Queens were fantastic, cut throat, bribing D/O, I thought they had it in the bag. So did my friends watching. Right on down the line, Uchena and Joyce as the feel good couple, blunders by Romber, Kevin and Drew as the funniest/best early exit team ever. I'd forgotten all about John Vito and Jill
Well rounded, funny, editing had no qualms about showing everybody's shitty side. Nobody got a glowing edit save for perhaps Danny/Oswald (IMO of course).
Locations -
Not their best in terms of location. A lot of it was recycled or just plain boring, such as the Guam leg. We saw nothing of the finishing city really. Cab/Detour/Finish Mat. Much as I hated season 6 because of the unrootable winners, they had some killer locations.
Phil -
Philminator at his best. I still love that they allowed him being chased around by D/O and showed his little wave to production to stop rolling and cut the shit
Where does it rank?
Nothing can top season 5 for me in terms of location, cast, winners, Phil, etc. It's right around 2 or 3 though and I have a new found appreciation for Eric Sanchez, the worlds most successful loser or dubious sexual predilection :P
-SJ™
. A real team could've replaced them. JVJ and even Uchenna and Joyce's
non complete relationships surprised me too
