Surprisingly Successful Runs

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Which runs were you completely surprised to see the contestants reach the artifact and/or bring it out?

For me, the first episode that comes to mind for "surprisingly successful" is "Enormous Feather of the Me Linh." Karisa spent quite a long time in the Quicksand Bog- among other rooms- yet she was able to get all the way to the King's Storeroom. The team completed 8 room objectives en route to the Feather. Overall, this is one run where I did not expect the team to be as successful as they actually were in the temple.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I always thought the victory for "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress" was pretty surprising. I mean, David reached the headdress with about 28 seconds left on the clock, where victory looked pretty slim. But then, David REALLY gets his butt into gear and races out of the temple with merely 2 seconds to spare. Same deal with "The Applewood Amulet of Emiliano Zapata." Olivia Emma grabs the amulet in the very top corner of the temple, and escapes with a victory with literally a second left on the clock. Coincidentally, both runs were Green Monkeys victories with close finishes.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

PPF chose 2 Green Monkey runs so I'll do 2 Purple Parrot runs 

Anyway The Milk Bucket of Freydis goes in this catagory because Tarrah did real well then that jump in the pit and I saw that the bucket couldn't go through the door because it was so big when it did I though victory was slim and the Bucket did get stuck in the Ledges but Tarrah got out with one Second left for an amazing victory.

Also The Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid  had something similar near the end, when Tony fell as well and had to go through the Ledges with very little time left. He goes deeper in the Ledges which when I first saw the run thought "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON't SCREW UP". But then knowing Tony, he got out of the Ledges and won with 6 Seconds left.

[PurpleParrot319]

Adding onto this. Some surprising wins:

The Belly Button of Buddha. Jennifer was SO slow. She just got lucky with her layout.

The Mask of Shaka Zulu. The door opening. Need I say more?

The Lucky Medallion of Atocha. I'm including this one because this was a solo win with one pendant. That one pendant was given up in the Ledges of all places. That was surprising. However, it was the good kind of surprise.

The Secret Map of the Bandit Queen. Miriam wasn't that impressive. Victory looked improbable once she was taken out. Then came Zac. He made the impossible, possible. Like Atocha, this was a good surprise.

The Jeweled Scabbard of Sforza. The fact that the team basically only had to go through the central column en route to the Scabbard was surprising.


Also, some surprising runs where the item was grabbed, but not brought out:

The Treasure of Anne Bonny. I'm not surprised that Ron got to the Treasure. However, I was surprised and shocked that he wasn't able to bring it out in time. He literally had over 50 seconds to bring that thing out and he somehow fails to do so.

The Broken Wing of Icarus. Same as Anne Bonny. How do you fail with that much time remaining and with a fairly easy layout too?

The Bonnet of Dolley Madison. This should've been a win and I was surprised it wasn't. Ashley's struggles with the Dark Forest was baffling.

The Priceless Portrait of the Polynesian Girl. Kristen really didn't do so good on the upper level, but once she got to the lower level, she was really impressive. That transition from bad to good really surprised me.

The Enormous Feather of the Me Linh. What PP4L said. Karissa was just a lost cause.

Last but certainly not least, The Broken Trident of Poseidon. Kimberly had the thing won! She was doing pretty good and didn't even encounter a single temple guard. Then she shocked the entire world by NOT knowing what to do once she grabbed the Trident. How do you NOT win in a situation like that??

[GreenMonkeys#1]

Adding onto this. Some surprising wins:

The Belly Button of Buddha. Jennifer was SO slow. She just got lucky with her layout.

The Mask of Shaka Zulu. The door opening. Need I say more?

The Lucky Medallion of Atocha. I'm including this one because this was a solo win with one pendant. That one pendant was given up in the Ledges of all places. That was surprising. However, it was the good kind of surprise.

The Secret Map of the Bandit Queen. Miriam wasn't that impressive. Victory looked improbable once she was taken out. Then came Zac. He made the impossible, possible. Like Atocha, this was a good surprise.

The Jeweled Scabbard of Sforza. The fact that the team basically only had to go through the central column en route to the Scabbard was surprising.


Also, some surprising runs where the item was grabbed, but not brought out:

The Treasure of Anne Bonny. I'm not surprised that Ron got to the Treasure. However, I was surprised and shocked that he wasn't able to bring it out in time. He literally had over 50 seconds to bring that thing out and he somehow fails to do so.

The Broken Wing of Icarus. Same as Anne Bonny. How do you fail with that much time remaining and with a fairly easy layout too?

The Bonnet of Dolley Madison. This should've been a win and I was surprised it wasn't. Ashley's struggles with the Dark Forest was baffling.

The Priceless Portrait of the Polynesian Girl. Kristen really didn't do so good on the upper level, but once she got to the lower level, she was really impressive. That transition from bad to good really surprised me.

The Enormous Feather of the Me Linh. What PP4L said. Karissa was just a lost cause.

Last but certainly not least, The Broken Trident of Poseidon. Kimberly had the thing won! She was doing pretty good and didn't even encounter a single temple guard. Then she shocked the entire world by NOT knowing what to do once she grabbed the Trident. How do you NOT win in a situation like that??

Thoughts

Buddha: Jennifer was just average, I wouldn't say slow but a little dumb

Shaka Zulu: The door opening even shocked Kirk

Sforza: I'm a little puzzled on why they used the central shaft to the scabbard, but let me bring up a cool fact, the last 4 episodes of every season had the artifact grabbed. So the produces must've gave them a sort of easy layout for Lacey and Asher.

Anne Bonny: Ron getting to the Temple surprises me because of him cheating in the Moat and getting away with it, it also surprises me on how dumb he was at the end

Icarus: Just eliminate his trip to the Observatory and this would be a win, I'm still shocked on Jason losing by a few inches and him blowing it

Me Linh: Karissa was so lucky to even touch the Feather

Poseidon: Olmec said "Return through the Gate with the Trident" and still Kimberly can't get that right. It shocks me two ways

1. How there wasn't a Temple Guard
2. How bad it was at the end

[The Bandit King]

Add "The Much-Heralded Helmet of Sir Gawain" to the list.  This team got lucky, IMO--Tiffani was pretty slow in some areas.  Plus if she'd have met any Temple Guards, she could have still reached the Helmet, but probably wouldn't have been able to bring it out in time.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Add "The Much-Heralded Helmet of Sir Gawain" to the list.  This team got lucky, IMO--Tiffani was pretty slow in some areas.  Plus if she'd have met any Temple Guards, she could have still reached the Helmet, but probably wouldn't have been able to bring it out in time.

Quite frankly, if any aspect of Tiffani's run had changed, she would not have had enough time to get out of the temple with the "big ol' helmet." It was crucial that she got back to the platform in the Pit of the Pendulum and utilized the shortcut from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey to the Dark Forest. All in all, I would agree that Tiffani's performance resulted in a surprising, but a very respectable, well-earned, and well-deserved, win.

[The Bandit King]

Add "The Much-Heralded Helmet of Sir Gawain" to the list.  This team got lucky, IMO--Tiffani was pretty slow in some areas.  Plus if she'd have met any Temple Guards, she could have still reached the Helmet, but probably wouldn't have been able to bring it out in time.

Quite frankly, if any aspect of Tiffani's run had changed, she would not have had enough time to get out of the temple with the "big ol' helmet." It was crucial that she got back to the platform in the Pit of the Pendulum and utilized the shortcut from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey to the Dark Forest. All in all, I would agree that Tiffani's performance resulted in a surprising, but a very respectable, well-earned, and well-deserved, win.

Definitely. There was no way Tiffani could have pulled it off had it not been for several little factors that all added up to victory--and yes, the Helmet's size didn't help at all, either.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Adding onto this. Some surprising wins:

The Belly Button of Buddha. Jennifer was SO slow. She just got lucky with her layout.

I'm surprised that you've included the "Belly Button of Buddha" run here without any mention of or comparison to the "Star of Sultan Saladin" run. Both girls scored solo victories from the Observatory. Jennifer and Leah took very similar paths, other than their choices of entrance rooms and how to get out of the Tomb of Ancient Kings. Leah was forced into the Dungeon, while Jennifer was allowed direct entry into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Also, Jennifer backtracked into the Pirate's Cove momentarily and briefly got stuck in the Treasure Room, while Leah did not get delayed at all. Even so, Leah only got out 10 seconds more quickly than Jennifer, even though she seemed to move much more quickly through each room.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Were there any runs where you thought that the team wouldn't even make it to the artifact, but were surprised they even made it that far?

I would have to include Comet-Embroidered Battle Flag of William the Conqueror and Golden Earring of Henry Morgan for this category, since the "Center of the Rooms" paths were so grueling. That being said, I think both of these teams gave great efforts to reach their artifacts, and I'm glad that they were as successful as they were. Both of the teams really deserved it.

[The Red Jaguars]

I kind of disagree with the comparison with "Buddha" and "Sultan Saladin". Leah's temple performance was more impressive than Jennifer's was IMO. Leah moved fast for the most part in the temple. Jennifer was painfully slow until she grabbed the Belly Button. Jennifer also wasted time by making a useless detour in the Torch Room (which could've been deadly) and also wasted time in the Treasure Room. Leah only wasted time in the Wall Climb trying for the Observatory door (she was from S1, so I can give her a break). Overall, I liked Leah's performance muched better than Jennifer's.

[The Red Jaguars]

Here is how I feel about some of the temple runs already mentioned:

Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress: I agree, this is the most surprising temple run left. With only 27 seconds left and half-way across the temple, I didn't think that David could pull it off. But he really hauled ass once he got the Headdress and his temple exit was badass. Best temple exit on the show IMO. You gotta love how he uses the Wall Climb to climb out of the Wheel Room.

Emiliano Zapata: Agreed, for the same reasons for the run above. Olivia-Emma was clear across the temple with a little over 30 seconds left. She then scores one of the closest wins on the show. One reason why I can never get tired of this run.

Buddha: Not really surprising that Jennifer won. In season one, you could get away with being slow if you have a generous layout. Its not like she was totally dumb, which helped her out.

Shaka Zulu: Agree, even Kirk seemed surprised.

Enormous Feather: Yeah, to this day I am always baffled on how she even reached the Feather. It was all because David set out a good path for her. And of course, Karisa screwed it up.

Icarus: With more time than Olivia-Emma had, I really expected Jason to win. But he fails miserably by screwing around with his way out of the temple.

Anne Bonny: Ron was a moron, but I thought they were going to win too. But he took the worst way out of the temple. Poor Fred, she should've shoved the Treasure Chest down his throat.

Polynesian Girl: Yeah, I am surprised Kristen grabbed it too. Especially since she was so slow on the top floor. She got a lucky break though in the Jester's Court though. But still, the ending was very exciting.\

Sforza: In their defense, the other layouts that day (minus "Empress Eugenie") were all simple. But both Asher and Lacey were decent throughout their whole episode, so they kind of deserved their win IMO. It is much better than " ".

[The Red Jaguars]

Here's a few more I want to add:

Lost Lariat: This layout was too easy and Chris had 2:20 to assemble a monkey and ride an elevator. Even when he grabs the Lost Lariat with 53 seconds left, he still can't get out of the temple. 

Charles Lindbergh: I am surprised no one mentioned this one yet. Nick made it all the way to the King's Storeroom with around 1:50 on the clock. All Kim had to do was complete the King's Storeroom and Shrine, and then we would've had a Dark Forest win. But no, she tries very hard to make sure that this run is not a win. Between her and Claude, I wonder who could be considered the worst S2 contestant.

Golden Pepperoni: How do you run past the artifact?

Belle Boyd: These two were fast and I am surprised how far they made it with a very tough layout. I was especially surprised on how Matthew was able to make it where Leah was taken out and still make some additional progress. Too bad they didn't take more direct paths - it could've had a "Henry Morgan" type ending.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

It's Nick, not Nate.

[PurpleParrot319]

He can't even get the names of the players from his own team right! XD