Overrated Contestants?

[The Ancient Warrior]

I admit, she could've been faster since it took her two minutes to clear the six rooms to get to the artifact.  She was good otherwise in the Temple, though.  She knew what she was doing and even got back to the platform in the Pit of the Pendulum.

I admit her performance in the earlier rounds wasn't quite up to par with that, though... The "silver helmet" answer at the Steps wasn't the best and her loss of the first Temple Game, I mean.  Still, I think she was pretty solid in the Temple, and she did manage to pull off a great win in the end.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Let's see if Missy can do Season 3 with harder rooms, with the same layout.

Then lets see if Bobby from "Mask of Shaka Zulu" and Becca and Taylor from "Helmet of Genghis Khan" can pull off their respective wins in a Season 3 temple. Both those teams got a lot of "hit the actuator" rooms as well and there was NO WAY they would pull those off in a Season 3 temple.

[The Bamboo Forest]

Oh, yeah, Bobby was definitely the worst.

Personally, if Missy is overrated, then Lacey and Asher should be as well. But since I don't think they are, then Missy isn't overrated, at least to me. I think she's not bad at all, considering the feat she made (which everyone seems to forget about).

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Oh yeah, Lacey and Asher had it REALLY easy, and I'm surprised nobody mentioned them yet. Also, no one has mentioned Annie and Kevin from "The Ruby Earring of Benzibab" yet, who had it even easier. I agree with TBF, if Missy is supposed to be considered "overrated," then Benzibab and Sforza's team should be as well. But, those were exciting temple runs, so I can't complain too much.

[The Bamboo Forest]

Kevin was actually pretty good, that's why they got out in 1:01. I hate to say this, but if he's overrated then Yakerra should be too (is this a sort of pattern? xD) because her layout was even easier. But Bobby is definitely the king of overrated contestants.

[Notundercovercop327]

We're kind of overdoing it with  this whose overratted. We're almost to a point where everyones overratted. Lets just say every player has their strong points. Mabye we should focus on overatted players who didn't win at temple for a while.

[The Bamboo Forest]

Heh, my post sounded worse than it did then.

The problem with this is that people think certain contestants are waaaaaay overrated, then others say that other contestants are more overrated than the first, and the pattern goes on and on and on...lol

[The Red Jaguars]

Its funny reading through this topic again to see how contestants like Mitchell and Paula were considered overrated two years ago. I agree with this sentiment still and I think most people agree now that neither one of them is that great. So I don't really consider either one of them overrated now that they have been exposed.

I have noticed both in this thread and in the past that people considered Tarrah from "The Milk Bucket of Freydis" overrated. I disagree though about Tarrah being overrated. We all know that she was slow in the temple, but she did a good job taking account on all what she went through in the run. She was smart enough to take the Shrine shortcut and didn't take the direct path once. And after she slammed her face in the Rope Swing, she STILL managed to bring the Milk Bucket out of the temple. And that face smash wasn't some little scratch either.

And one team I never understood all the love for was "The Ruby Earring of Benzibab" kids. I mean while having over a minute left on the clock is impressive for a team run, the layout was just way too simple for a season three layout. The only hard objectives they had to complete was the Tomb and the Jester's Court. They didn't have to bother with the Dark Forest and only had to climb the slide in the Quicksand Bog. I guess the producers felt cherishable during the last production day of the shpw. But still, neither contestant really impressed me.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, I always thought the Silver Snakes from "Benzibab" got a little too much credit. I mean, I get that it's almost like the "Bandit Queen" and "Metal Beard" path, but all they had to do for objectives were the Tomb and the Jesters' Court. Sure they were fast, but it was only a win because the producers felt charitable on the final filming day.

Also, I always considered Shane from "Tall Turban" overrated. Good effort by Shane, but his layout was way too easy. The temple guard placement was basically giving the team a win. He was average skilled, average paced, and he hesitated quite a bit in some rooms. Imagine if there was a temple guard in the King's Storeroom. And ended the same way the "Leopard Skin Cloak" temple run ended. You could say the same thing about "Freydis" and "Annie Taylor," but at least they took shortcuts. But Shane, (and Chandra for that matter) did not. It's not to say Shane was a terrible player. But I never got how this was "an amazing, ground breaking temple run."

Still find Paula and Mitchell overrated. Since there are actually people who like both (or one of) the victories.

EDIT: And great find bumping this topic up, TRJ. I knew we posted in this before the database crash. Might as well get it started back up again, since this is interesting discussion. We can all participate in this discussion, since I doubt it's gonna get as heated as people say it might.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I remember we were discussing whether Jennifer from "Map to the Lost Gold Mine" was overrated or not before the database crashed. I don't think she was overrated one bit though. She pulled her weight nicely during the run and I don't remember her being clueless one bit either. I guess she sort of struggled in the Shrine, but many good contestants struggled in the Shrine.

I still don't see how people back then considered Missy overrated just because she tried beelining for the direct path. She only wasted what, nine seconds trying to push the actuator? She also tried the Observatory actuator also and it was possible that this team would've been forced to enter Medusa's Lair from the bottom floor. Luckily that didn't happen. But the whole direct path thing alone is a silly argument used to call her overrated.

And of course, Mitchell and Paula are still considered the king and queen of overrated players respectively. I can't believe I thought "The Moccasins of Geronimo" to be a good win at one time. I guess that was because the Treasure Chest actually worked for Mitchell. But looking back now, Mitchell got lucky that the Treasure Chest worked in his run. How many teams got screwed over in other runs when the Treasure Chest didn't work? I don't see him as a strategist at all, rather he just opened the Treasure Chest because that is the first thing most contestants do when they get into that room.

And I never liked Paula's win at all. She didn't do anything hard at all in her run. The biggest objective that she had to do was ride a Mine Shaft elevator, and that was not really an objective. Other than that, all her rooms were simple objectives and didn't have to face any of the challenging rooms in that layout.  And people try to compare Paula to Missy.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Exactly, just because Jennifer "wasn't as fast" or "had an easy layout" doesn't make her a bad player. This was one of the earliest runs of the show, where everything was still being tested out. And obviously things needed to be smoothed over. Go back and watch the other three runs on that filming day, and then watch John Sutter. You're gonna be grateful we even HAD a contestant who even remotely knew what they were doing.

Definitely agree about Missy. It's stupid to look down at a contestant just because "she took a direct path." Plenty of people have done that same thing, yet they don't get any complaints. Missy was a great player, and her emotional personality added on to what a great win this was. I love Lucky Pillow, one of my favorite episodes ever.

And I also never understood why people could chastise Missy for one small mistake, yet Paula gets nothing but praise just because "she looked like she was fast." Just because a player moves fast, doesn't make them amazing contestants. This is a pattern I've noticed. Most people seem to think "you're only a good player if you move fast." Or, "you have to move like Jarrid and Gator or it's a bad, undeserving win." You have to look at the quality of the win. It's more than just being fast, even the slower runners like Tarrah and Tiffani did just fine with the layout they were given.

And no comment about Mitchell either. I used to think highly of the win too way back when. But definitely not anymore, he was definitely lucky with the treasure chest. Not much else to say there other than I agree with you on that.

[The Red Jaguars]

You pretty much said what I was about to say. People always say "Well, let's see if Missy can win in a season three layout" or "David was just an average player when you compare him to players like Jarrid and Gator". First off, I don't see how anyone can compare a season one run to a season three run. Sure, David followed Candace's footsteps in the temple, but did he really know any better? Many season one contestants didn't know that they could avoid useless detours because they were not familiar on how the temple worked. I am sure if David was in Gator's or Jarrid's shoes, he wouldn't have made that mistake.

Same thing with Leah from "The Star of Sultan Saladin". Yes, she tried a little too hard when trying to beeline for the direct path. But that shouldn't take away on how fast she was in the temple and she even tried all the available shortcuts also. And on top of that, she avoided a temple guard in the Cave of Sighs that would've made a difference between a solo victory and a possible loss.

And I am glad you mentioned Tiffani, because I was just about to bring her up. We all know that she was slow in the temple, but she made up for it by pulling herself back onto the platform and using shortcuts. She was lucky to not encounter any temple guards? Maybe because she actually used a shortcut and avoided two potential guards. Plus, that was one big ass helmet and she still brought it out of the temple. So I don't really complain about her speed and exit plan. "Sir Gawain" is not my favorite win at all, but Tiffani did a solid job and she earned that win.

I mean Zac, Jarrid, Jessica, and Gator were some of the best contestants on the show. But other contestants have their own redeeming values also and just because they weren't as fast as these contestants, didn't mean that they were overrated. Once again, I am glad that you brought up this point PPF, since people tend to act some contestants like David, Jennifer, and Missy were not great because they didn't have to face a temple as hard as these contestants did.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Plus, how is it a contradiction to like "John Sutter," but say next to nothing about "The Trojan Horseshoe" victory? Just because it was the same layout doesn't mean we have to have the same opinions on it. Some victories were noteworthy and legendary in their own ways. Some victories were amazing, where a team really worked for it. But some victories were just plain average and basically lucked into their layout. We're gonna feel a certain way about whatever runs we like. One run will get praised, but one won't. Whether it be fast players or just an overall exciting feel to the temple run. Just about every run is different, so thus some deserve more credit for others.

For example, what's wrong with liking "Lucky Pillow" and "Freydis," but dislike "Tall Turban?" Sure, it would have been a shame if Missy and Tarrah ran into a temple guard one room away. But unlike Shane, those aforementioned contestants TOOK shortcuts. If their layouts were THAT easy, then they made it easier for themselves. Not to mention, those runs had a very exciting feel to it. Where, the contestant is so young and nervous, yet does the whole thing themselves. With "Tall Turban" however, I honestly forget it's even a victory half the time. Job well done by Shane sure, but it was just plain average. Nothing really stuck out other than the fact he entered almost every room. Again, runs are gonna be praised for different reasons. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not gonna feel the same way about two runs just because it has every detail in common.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I will take "Map to the Lost Gold Mine" anyday over "The Trojan Horseshoe". Just because a win shares a layout similar to another win doesn't mean they are identical. If the best win was dictated by how hard of a layout a team faced alone, then we might as well call every season three win the best win on the show. But I look beyond temple layouts when trying to judge a win. I like "Map to the Lost Gold Mine" because the Blue Barracudas were a fun team to watch in the temple. Both moved fast and Jennifer covering all those rooms was a great effort on her part. I also like all the Kirk Fogg-ups during the run and her slip in the end just adds to the memorableness of this in. Meanwhile, "The Trojan Horseshoe" wasn't that exciting. Lucretia moved kind of sluggish and was walking through her rooms, and her partner Shawn was good, but didn't really stick out. Its a nice win, but there is really nothing exciting happening once during the run.

I honestly don't think "The Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain" is that exciting of a run. However, the team was one of the best on the show, so I can acknowledge at least that it was one of the best wins on the show when it comes to an effort by the players. But I don't really get too excited watching the run again like I do for other wins like "Map to the Lost Gold Mine", "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress", "Annie Taylor", "Catherine the Great", and "Apanuugpak".

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Well, I like "The Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain" and find it very exciting. I can never dislike that run even if I tried. Jessica and Jarrid owned everything on such a hard layout. Scaling the whole central shaft is never an easy feature, especially in Season 3. The rest of the episode may not stand out, but it was still a solid run. Too bad those kind of players were rare.

Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Joel as of the most recent posts. Sure, he moved fast, but his layout was pretty easy too.