Analysis and Comparison of Temple Run Contestants

[The Red Jaguars]

We always talked about contestant like Lauren from "William Tell", Dana, and Brian from "Jedediah Smith" doing a poor job when it comes to following up on their partner's paths. But which second runner did you think actually did a good job in following their partner's footsteps?

For this question, I am looking for second runner's whose partner got taken out more than five rooms away from the temple. Yes, Zac and Nate did an awesome job following up on their partner's steps. But who are some players who were taken out far away but followed up on their partner's steps well?

The first one that comes to mind is Elisa from "Ivan the Terrible". She was very fast and followed up on her partner's footsteps quite well. This included running through 8 rooms to even reach where Travis was taken out.

Matthew from "Belle Boyd" also did an awesome job following up on his partner's steps. Too bad he didn't take the Shrine, he might've actually reached the Handbag if he did. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Definitely Elisa from "Ivan the Terrible." Neither her nor Travis made even a single mistake and still didn't reach the artifact on time. I also agree about Matthew from "Belle Boyd" as well. It's too bad neither him or Leah took any shortcuts. They probably would have won at the speed they were going.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

That is a really good question to bring up, TRJ. I also think the Elisa and Matthew did a very impressive job of following their partners' respective paths. Another contestant who I believe "cleaned up well" Katie from "The Mystical Spellbook of the Imperial Wizard." She followed Jared's 7-room path in 44 seconds, which included climbing out of the Pit from the lower crawl tube to the King's Storeroom.

I also would like to give Jennifer ("Melted Head of Madame Tussaud") credit for her portion of the run. Her partner only left her with 42 seconds, but she still made progress in the temple. Jennifer was smart to go straight up to the King's Storeroom from the Pit, and in the final 17 seconds, she was able to assemble the Silver Monkey.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yes, THANK YOU for mentioning Jennifer from "Melted Head," who always gets a lot of undeserved criticism just because she yelled at her partner. People don't want to look passed Jennifer's shouting, and look at her real performance in the temple. She was right to be hard in Nicholas. He was way too slow and hesitant in the temple. Obviously, Jennifer is not gonna reach the artifact and win in 40 seconds. At least she made progress, unlike Dana and Lauren, who couldn't even get out of the Pit in what little time they had remaining. I think if Jennifer had gone in first instead of Nicholas, it probably would have been a solo win. Assuming the third guard was in the Ledges.

I also agree about Katie from "Mystical Spellbook." She did great in what little time she had remaining, especially with the path they had. She really should have gone first, even if they still wouldn't have won.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Yes, THANK YOU for mentioning Jennifer from "Melted Head," who always gets a lot of undeserved criticism just because she yelled at her partner. People don't want to look passed Jennifer's shouting, and look at her real performance in the temple. She was right to be hard in Nicholas. He was way too slow and hesitant in the temple. Obviously, Jennifer is not gonna reach the artifact and win in 40 seconds. At least she made progress, unlike Dana and Lauren, who couldn't even get out of the Pit in what little time they had remaining. I think if Jennifer had gone in first instead of Nicholas, it probably would have been a solo win. Assuming the third guard was in the Ledges.

Nicholas spent 1:10 clearing the Tomb of the Headless Kings and the Chamber of the Sacred Markers. Had he bypassed them and gone straight to the King's Storeroom from the Pit, this run would have been much better off in general. I don't know if having Jennifer go in first would have resulted in this run being a win.

Also, I'm not sure if the last guard was in the Ledges or the Room of the Secret Password. After the time ran out, notice how Jennifer finished putting the head onto the Silver Monkey and then ran into the Room of the Secret Password, neglecting the clock. Usually teams stopped running when time ended (i.e. Elisa did not continue to pull the arms down in the final headdress in the Room of the Ancient Warriors in "Discarded Seal"). This makes me think that the run for "Melted Head" was somehow altered to not show the final guard coming out in the Secret Password and taking Jennifer out of the temple with only a half pendant.

[The Red Jaguars]

I third the mention of Jennifer from "Madame Tussaud". I never knew why people compare her to Dana and Lauren. Sure she was kind of loud, but so was Jay and people don't give him a hard time. 40 seconds was not enough time for any contestant to do anything, but Jennifer at least made progress with it. Plus, she was smart enough to cut straight to the King's Storeroom - something Nicholas didn't do. She almost even assembled the monkey before time was up! She used her time fine enough in my eyes.

Also, I can't believe I forgot about Katie from "Imperial Wizard" too. That was awesome to see her race all the way to where Judge was taken out and she almost entered the Room of the Secret Password. She even entered the Quicksand Bog from the Shrine, which her partner missed. I think they would've reached the artifact at least if Katie went in first.

I am surprised there is no mention of Jennifer from "The Dragon Lady and the Blue Pearl" either. Albert was taken out very far in the temple, and with little over a minute left, Jennifer made a great last minute effort to reach the Blue Pearl. This included running through 8 rooms and riding that slow Well bucket. She also had to complete one more objective and traverse through the Holes of Python. If she didn't go for the dramatic dive, they would've got the artifact at least.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Jennifer ("Dragon Lady and the Blue Pearl") definitely followed her partner's path well. She got from the starting gate to the Room of Three Torches in about 25 seconds... so quickly that the Well hadn't even been brought all the way back up yet! That 3-second delay also played a part in this team's not reaching the Blue Pearl.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

It's Jared TRJ, not Judge.

And yeah, I agree about Dragon Lady's Jennifer. I mean, she only had a minute to pick up from where Albert left off. If she hadn't done that dramatic dive, she could have reached the artifact, like stated above.

[The Red Jaguars]

I kind of blame Kirk for her missing the Blue Pearl, he was the one that kept shouting at Jennifer to dive for it. But really, Albert is the real reason why they lost. If he didn't screw up in the Treasure Room, then they might've actually won. Although the one guard away was kind of unfair too.

I think another contestant that followed up on their partner's path well that no one mentions is Tracy from "The Golden Jaguar of Atahualpa". Chris got taken out six rooms into the temple, and she followed up on his path pretty well and this included a trip through the Holes of Python too. And she still had to assemble the Silver Monkey, in which she did, and managed to grab the Golden Jaguar at least.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

There were a lot of factors that influenced the outcome for the "Dragon Lady and the Blue Pearl" episode. First off, Albert dawdled around in the Treasure Room for a while. Then, the Well was not ready to be taken by the time that Jennifer got to the Room of Three Torches. There was about a 3-second delay. And finally, Kirk told her to "dive for it," when she could have slithered another foot forward in the Holes of Python in the remaining few seconds of the run.

Any of these factors could have resulted in this run being salvaged. I'm surprised that they didn't give the team the second prize due to the Well delay, like they did for the door malfunction in the "War Fan of the 47 Ronin" (even though by then it was the third season and it was under a different director).

[The Red Jaguars]

It didn't help that both Albert and Jennifer had to ride the Well bucket in "Blue Pearl". That took out a chunk of time in their run. But as disappointing as it was not to see them reach the Blue Pearl, it still made the ending pretty exciting and memorable. I am not sure if I would change the outcome just because it was so awesome.

And speaking of "War Fan", I think Elise deserves a mention of some sorts too. Even when she was screwed out of 30 seconds due to the door malfunction, she still made it to the Room of the Secret Password. If she didn't lose that 30 seconds from the door issue, she would've reached the War Fan at least and might've been a very close win.

And I know this run was not very exciting or memorable, but I think Joshua from "Empress Theodora" deserves a mention too for following up on his partner's path pretty good. Ashley was pretty slow and got taken out pretty far in her run while wasting a lot of time. I thought Joshua followed up pretty nicely and had another close grab like Jennifer did. If he moved faster though, they would've reached it.

[The Red Jaguars]

Who do you think were the worst five Purple Parrot players in the temple? I want to ask that question for each team, so we will start with the Parrots first:

Top 5 worst Purple Parrot players:

1. Jackie ("Oracle Bowl") - She was painfully slow and made really pathetic progress for having two minutes for herself. She should've made it at least to the Treasure Room if she wasn't so slow or clueless.

2. Brian ("Sultan Suleiman") - He was slow and when he entered the Crypt, he only pulled one book and went all the way down to the Ledges. If he pulled all three books, then this run would've not ended in triple capture. Plus, he never pointed out the half-pendant to Gracelyn.

3. Gracelyn ("Sultan Suleiman") - She missed the half-pendant herself that was obvious to begin with. Plus, she was really slow and clueless. She tried pushing actuators in the King's Storeroom before smashing the pots.

4. Claude ("Lost Lion Tail") - He had no chance of winning because he was extremely slow. He walked all the way along the bottom floor of the temple and got lost in the MINE SHAFT. He even stuck his finger in the temple guards peep hole at the end of the run.

5. Eusinia ("King Tut's Cobra Staff) - She was just too clueless and got lost in rooms with actual objectives. He scaled the entire central shaft when she didn't have to AND tried backtracking to the Wheel Room. At least she was fast...

Does this list look accurate? 

[PurpleParrot319]

Claude at #1 and Aqila replaces Eusinia.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Claude at #1 and Aqila replaces Eusinia.

This, and you called Eusinia a "he" in one of your sentences talking about her.

[The Red Jaguars]

Is Claude really worser than Jackie? I am not sure why I placed him lower than Brian and Gracelyn, he definitely deserves to be the top 2 at least. But Jackie was so pathetic though and she pissed away more time and made the same amount of progress that Claude made almost. But really, they were are both pathetic.

And word on Aqila, I am not sure why I missed her.