Analysis and Comparison of Temple Run Contestants

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I don't think that Gracelyn and Brian were necessarily a bad team; they just didn't have much luck in the temple. There were plenty of times when a contestant tried fewer than the three skeletons before they went down to the Ledges, or tried to go up into the Crypt before trying both doors in the Ledges. It just so happened that Brian got caught in a dead end in the Ledges in that particular run. That very easily could have happened to another contestant in a different run, but they were lucky enough to have a way out of the Ledges.

While Brian did not signal the half pendant to Gracelyn, there were plenty of instances where the frontrunner failed to point out the half pendant's location. And although it was in a rather obvious spot, Gracelyn would have had to have been looking ahead and down while running across the Troubled Bridge in order to have seen it. In all of the episodes featuring the team crossing a rickety bridge, it was more common for the players to look straight down at one's feet or directly ahead in order to maintain balance and speed. In addition, this was the only run to feature the half pendant in that location besides "Babe the Ox" (and in that episode, the team was not forced to traverse the Troubled Bridge and be forced to find the half pendant), so it is hard to say whether another team would have also had trouble locating the half pendant there.

And in regards to Gracelyn backtracking to Medusa's Lair, I believe that the door to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey did not open, and the team was supposed to go down the central shaft, then to the Swamp, and then finally to the Dark Forest.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I feel that Aqila has a worse reputation than she deserves. Yes, she passed up the Golden Pepperoni, but that aside, she had a decent run. She found the other half pendant, which is more than can be said about several other runs. Aqila had to clear the Laser Light Room, the Jester's Court, the King's Storeroom, and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey herself just to get to the room with the artifact. None of those are straight-up "gimme" rooms, and she didn't have that much trouble clearing any of them besides the King's Storeroom, but I think she got very disoriented from encountering the temple guard in that room. Even so, once she composed herself, she cleared the King's Storeroom pretty quickly and then assembled the Silver Monkey in a speedy manner. All in all, I believe Aqila wasn't the most atrocious player and that the rap that precedes her is somewhat undeserved. She may have passed up grabbing the artifact, but besides that, she did well in the temple.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I gotta agree about Aqila here. Her only problems were running too slow and passing up the pepperoni. She still wasn't a very good player, but she wasn't absolutely terrible like some people make her out to be. And I just laugh at comments on YouTube, where people consider the Golden Pepperoni run "the worst temple run ever." And Aqila is "the worst player in the history of the show." People who make those comments obviously haven't seen Cricket Cage before.

[The Red Jaguars]

I don't think that Gracelyn and Brian were necessarily a bad team; they just didn't have much luck in the temple. There were plenty of times when a contestant tried fewer than the three skeletons before they went down to the Ledges, or tried to go up into the Crypt before trying both doors in the Ledges. It just so happened that Brian got caught in a dead end in the Ledges in that particular run. That very easily could have happened to another contestant in a different run, but they were lucky enough to have a way out of the Ledges.

While Brian did not signal the half pendant to Gracelyn, there were plenty of instances where the frontrunner failed to point out the half pendant's location. And although it was in a rather obvious spot, Gracelyn would have had to have been looking ahead and down while running across the Troubled Bridge in order to have seen it. In all of the episodes featuring the team crossing a rickety bridge, it was more common for the players to look straight down at one's feet or directly ahead in order to maintain balance and speed. In addition, this was the only run to feature the half pendant in that location besides "Babe the Ox" (and in that episode, the team was not forced to traverse the Troubled Bridge and be forced to find the half pendant), so it is hard to say whether another team would have also had trouble locating the half pendant there.

And in regards to Gracelyn backtracking to Medusa's Lair, I believe that the door to the Shrine of the Silver Monkey did not open, and the team was supposed to go down the central shaft, then to the Swamp, and then finally to the Dark Forest.

They did catch a few unlucky breaks in the temple, but the final outcome of their run was their own fault. Brian should've tried all of the books in the Crypt first before entering the Ledges. He would've avoided that temple guard altogether and this run wouldn't have ended in triple capture. Imagine if TJ from "Egyptian Queen" entered the Ledges after just trying one book in the Crypt? That run wouldnt have never been a win. I do agree that its not really his fault for not waving the half-pendant back to Gracelyn, since other contestants did it too. But still, it was obvious and in plain site. Plus, he hit the actuator to the Observatory which held the half-pendant. I mean why not just signal it back? I mean Andrea from "The Lion-Headed Bracelet of Chandragupta" had her half-pendant in a pretty obscure place but she still signaled it back.

And Gracelyn was just too slow and clueless. She didn't even seem like she knew what she was doing as evident in the King's Storeroom. And she should've noticed that half-pendant too. But I agree that the team should've gone down into the Laser Light Room from Medusa's Lair - that was probably the path intended for them. The King's Storeroom was probably a deadend.

They did get unlucky with an unusual layout, but they were still lost causes. They wouldn't have even come close even if it didn't end in triple capture.

But I agree with both of you in regards of Aqila. Yeah, she did mess up by passing the Golden Pepperoni. But other than that, she moved at a fair pace in the temple and found the half-pendant. Its not like she was incompetent like other season two girls like Kim from "Charles Lindbergh" or Kerry from the "Spanish King" run. Even fast players like Ashlie from "Dolley Madison" had brain farts too. And i bet the people that said that "Golden Pepperoni" was the worst temple run probably think that "Shaka Zulu" is the best temple win.

That reminds me of a list on another site where someone said that "Golden Pepperoni" and "Kamehameha" were the top 10 worst temple runs on the show. I will post it if I can find it.

[The Red Jaguars]

Now time for the Red Jaguars!

Top 5 worst Red Jaguars players:

1. Sabrina ("Blackbeard's Treasure Map") - This girl had three minutes to herself and only made it through FIVE rooms. She was slow and looked confused from the start to finish. She may have caught an unlucky break in the Wheel Room, but Katherine from "Belshazzar" caught an even unluckier break and still made it far with time left in her run. Sabrina also got lost in the Heart Room and just gave up from there.

2. Lisa ("The Keys to the Alhambra") - It was between her and Sabrina for the number one spot, but I gave it to Sabrina. Lisa was still really crappy and incompetent. She was slow and when she couldn't make progress from the Tomb of the Ancient Kings, she backtracks all the way to the Cave of Sighs. She made no progress in her 2:30+ minutes in the temple. The only thing keeping her from the first spot was that she DID try the door to the Tomb-Shrine, but it already opened when she entered the room, probably confusing her. Pitiful.

3. Dana ("Smashed Printing Plate") - She was annoying and when she entered the temple, she did crap. Now, I wouldn't have included her if she at least attempted to try and get to where Jason left off. But she took the wrong door in the Ledges and moved slow. What the hell? Look what Elisa and Katie did in their little time. No excuses for her.

4. Jason ("Smashed Printing Plate") - You wonder why Dana was yelling at him. He was incompetent himself. He backtracked twice between the Room of the Ancient Warriors and Chamber. Plus, he was slow and missed a vital shortcut that would've cut his pathetic attempt even shorter. (Which we really wished happened).

5. Renee ("Queen Nzinga") - She had two options: Either find the obvious half-pendant or plow through the wall, in which she neither does. Pathetic and to think this team had an easy layout.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

So if Gracelyn was a poor contestant for passing up the half pendant and Aqila was a poor contestant for passing up the Golden Pepperoni, then would Olivia Emma have been considered a poor contestant if she had run into a temple guard during her run?

Olivia Emma missed her half pendant as well. Luckily, and unlike Gracelyn, she did not encounter a third temple guard. Granted, she did make quick work of the King's Storeroom and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Then, when she got into the Viper's Nest, she went straight for the elevator. (I personally think that the elevator was down in the Mineshaft because she paused and then looked around the room sort of confused.) Either way, she, like Aqila, did not go straight for the artifact in the upper-left room. Luckily, Olivia Emma could not descend via the elevator, and instead found the Applewood Amulet without time running out.

[The Red Jaguars]

So if Gracelyn was a poor contestant for passing up the half pendant and Aqila was a poor contestant for passing up the Golden Pepperoni, then would Olivia Emma have been considered a poor contestant if she had run into a temple guard during her run?

Olivia Emma missed her half pendant as well. Luckily, and unlike Gracelyn, she did not encounter a third temple guard. Granted, she did make quick work of the King's Storeroom and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Then, when she got into the Viper's Nest, she went straight for the elevator. (I personally think that the elevator was down in the Mineshaft because she paused and then looked around the room sort of confused.) Either way, she, like Aqila, did not go straight for the artifact in the upper-left room. Luckily, Olivia Emma could not descend via the elevator, and instead found the Applewood Amulet without time running out.

But I wasn't just slamming Gracelyn for just passing the half-pendant, I was also slamming her for being slow and clueless in general. Olivia-Emma completed her rooms enroute to the artifact just fine. Gracelyn got lost in the King's Storeroom and even tried the actuators in the room before she started smashing the pots. Olivia-Emma had a sense of what she was doing to. And she also did a great job getting the artifact out from the other side of the temple with little time on the clock. Look at what Jason from "Icarus" and Kimberly did when they had much more time than Olivia-Emma. If you read some of the older topics, I have slammed Olivia-Emma for missing the half-pendant that could've been detrimental. But I don't think she belongs in the same league with Gracelyn who has more problems than redeeming values.

And I don't think Aqila was a poor contestant for passing up the artifact. I never said that she was. To me, she was just an average contestant that made a poor mistake at the end. That doesn't mean she is flat out bad like some of the other girls on the show. I don't even think she is a bottom 20 girl on the show.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I enjoy the "Applewood Amulet" run too, but I'm not really sure how this team had a one-second finish when they only cleared five rooms between the two of them. Where exactly did the time go? Neither Robert nor Olivia Emma were slow and incompetent, but they weren't the quickest contestants either. If they had to clear even one more room, even if that meant Robert entered through the Crypt and was forced down into the Ledges, this would not have been a win.

The "Silk Ladder", "Collar of Davy Crockett", and "Jeweled Scabbard" teams also had to only clear five rooms to win, but all of those teams finished with much more time on the clock. I understand that the first two episodes listed were in Season One, where the rooms were much more simplistic in their design. But the "Jeweled Scabbard" run featured the team traversing the entire central shaft, which featured three of the hardest, most time consuming rooms of the series. Still, Lacey and Asher finished with nearly 30 seconds left on the clock.

I've seen people comment that the "Silk Ladder" and "Davy Crockett" kids were undeserving. And I've seen people say that the "Jeweled Scabbard" kids didn't really pull out a quality win. So what characteristics about the "Applewood Amulet" make it a fan favorite episode? A one-second finish may be a nail-biter of an ending, but clearing five rooms should not have taken 2:30, even if the team had to complete Medusa's Lair, the King's Storeroom, and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey; the "Lost Hornpipe" and the "Mush Pot Hat" teams cleared those rooms and more in the same amount of time (even though the "Mush Pot Hat" didn't win their episode, they made it back to the Ledges, and that was including the elevator ride up from the Mineshaft).

[The Red Jaguars]

Its true that the "Emiliano Zapata" win does get some more praise than it probably deserves. But I am fine with it though because it was an exciting run with a nail biter ending. I think "excitement factor" is a fine choice when praising a run. There is a reason why "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress" and "The Lucky Pillow of Annie Taylor" are highly praised runs and its because there is more to them than just temple layouts.

What people don't realize was that Robert and Olivia-Emma's path wasn't that simple. Medusa's Lair, King's Storeroom, and Shrine of the Silver Monkey were the most time consuming rooms for the S2L2 layout. And Robert was taken out in the King's Storeroom, so Olivia-Emma had to retrace his steps halfway through the temple. Plus, she dragged the artifact out from the other side of the temple with little time. True, they should've had more time than they ended with, but they still did a fine job taking into account what I said above.

As for the "Silk Ladder" and "Davy Crockett" wins, people call them undeserving because one of the players in each of those runs were mediocre. Adam was such a slow poke and he makes no attempt to speed up at any point in the run, even after he grabs the Raccoon Collar. Jeremy was slow and looked lost in the rooms of the temple also. And comparing this with other season one paths that were lengthier, taking 2:30 is pathetic. Shannon and Erika were good, but Adam and Jeremy were really not that great. There is a reason these two runs place at the bottom of people's list because they weren't that impressive.

As for "Sforza", not everyone considers this an undeserving win. In fact, there is a lot of people that place this run in their top tier of wins. I personally don't mind the win in general, but I don't think Lacey and Asher were that impressive. But still, I can go back and watch this run from time to time. Its no where near the level of disgrace like "Silk Ladder" and "Shaka Zulu". But there are plenty of people that like this win and the Green Monkeys performance.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I guess what I'm trying to get at is, why is "Applewood Amulet" considered a great run, "Sforza" a pretty good run, and other runs where better-than-average teams faced a more intense or longer layout (such as "Belle Boyd") considered an average, mediocre, or good run?

Does it come down to the success of the team, the emotional impact or suspense (thrill) of the run/contestants, and the difficulty of the path/rooms? Are the three considered equally? Is one weighted more heavily than the others? Does it have to do with how the contestants were portrayed or how the episode was editing? Is one of the three sometimes neglected or dismissed entirely, and if so, under what circumstances?

[The Red Jaguars]

I guess what I'm trying to get at is, why is "Applewood Amulet" considered a great run, "Sforza" a pretty good run, and other runs where better-than-average teams faced a more intense or longer layout (such as "Belle Boyd") considered an average, mediocre, or good run?

Does it come down to the success of the team, the emotional impact or suspense (thrill) of the run/contestants, and the difficulty of the path/rooms? Are the three considered equally? Is one weighted more heavily than the others? Does it have to do with how the contestants were portrayed or how the episode was editing? Is one of the three sometimes neglected or dismissed entirely, and if so, under what circumstances?

Well, I think the most important thing for the level of praise between "Emiliano Zapata" and "Belle Boyd" is the outcome of those runs. "Emiliano Zapata" ended in a win while "Belle Boyd" was a loss. That alone has people leaning towards Emiliano Zapata being the better run just because it ends in a win.

Here is some criteria I see when people critique a temple run:
- Quality of the temple run (Did the team put up a decent effort given their layout and circumstances they had to face?)
- Player performance (Were the players performance in the flawed in comparison with another run?)
- Memorableness (Did something eventful happen in this run or something that stands out over the rest?)
- Excitement factor (Would you want to go back and watch this run again? Or would you watch it one time and not watch it again?)
- Other criteria (Sometimes people take into account for other things. Like for example, the temple win for "Sir Gawain" has wore off a little bit for me because back when Nick GaS was our only source for Legends, they played this temple run like 2-3 times a week it seemed like. Would you want to watch a win that many times?)

Here is how I would compare "Emiliano Zapata" with "Belle Boyd":

- Quality of the temple run
I will admit that Leah and Matthew were the better team when it comes to these two runs. They faced an extremely difficult layout and came up close to the Room of the Ancient Warriors. I thought it was amazing how Matthew raced all the way to where Leah was taken out and still made some progress. But Robert and Olivia-Emma also put up a good effort and you have to give Olivia-Emma credit for bringing the artifact out from the other side of the temple with little time on the clock. I will say though that the Belle Boyd team was better.

- Player performance
I will give this to Leah and Matthew also. Olivia-Emma did make the mistake of passing the obvious half-pendant, which could've changed the outcome of the temple run if there was not an extra temple guard along her path. But Leah and Matthew's performance wasn't exactly flawless either. Both of them missed vital shortcuts that could've at least gave them the second prize. The temple ending could've been similar to "Henry Morgan" if they didn't take the longest route possible. Plus, as I mentioned above, Olivia-Emma did a great job with getting the artifact out of the temple with such little time.

- Memorableness
I am giving this one to Emiliano Zapata easily. There is really nothing that memorable about "Belle Boyd" except that the team had to face a tough layout. I don't even remember "Belle Boyd" half the time even when we are talking about good losses on the show. Meanwhile, Emiliano Zapata is memorable for the nail biter temple ending and quite possibly the closest win on the show.

- Excitement factor
This one goes to Emiliano Zapata also. I mean the "Belle Boyd" team put up a good performance and everything, but the Emiliano Zapata win was very exciting because it came down to literally the last second. Runs that come down to the wire are usually more exciting than ones that are won with eased. That is why I don't think runs like "Benzibab" and "Babe the Ox" is that exciting.

- Other criteria
Just for the fact that "Emiliano Zapata" ends in a win is a good enough reason to prefer this run over "Belle Boyd". I am not saying that all wins are better than all losses, but this one is great even though the team was not as good as "Belle Boyd". Just like I will pick "Annie Taylor" over "Belle Boyd" because its not always about temple layouts and player speeds.

In the end, both temple runs are great and I like both of them. But I prefer "Emiliano Zapata" most of the time over "Belle Boyd". Not to say Belle Boyd was a bad temple run. And it does receive its fair share of attention and praise too. I mean when we are talking about some of the best losses on the show, we usually talk about Belle Boyd. When it comes down to it though, we prefer Emiliano Zapata mostly due to the outcome. Besides, I think its more easier and fair to compare "Belle Boyd" to other temple losses than to a temple win. 

[PurpleParrot4Life]

So then how would you compare "Belle Boyd" with "Discarded Seal"? Both were losses that featured two strong, quick, and smart contestants. Both runs also featured long, grueling layouts with the teams making it very close to the artifact.

[The Red Jaguars]

Both temple runs were great efforts by both Green Monkeys teams. They both were strong teams given a near impossible layout and both put up a great effort. For this one though, I have to give the "Ivan the Terrible" team the slight edge here. Their temple performance was slightly better than the "Belle Boyd"  team where Travis made it back to the platform from the rope swing and both players tried all available shortcuts. Whereas the Belle Boyd team took the longest route when they could've entered the Chamber and Shrine respectively. But when we get down to it, both were great efforts but I think "Ivan the Terrible" should get the nod just because it was more heartbreaking and memorable.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

What exactly makes one win more emotionally exciting than another? Is it the contestants' energy? Does Kirk's commentary and/or enthusiasm have any effect?

[The Red Jaguars]

Well, a win that is exciting is one that is memorable where something stands out. I suppose part of the charm of some wins have to deal with the contestants "energy" or "emotional state" while in the temple. One obvious example is Missy being really nervous and crying at the end of her temple run which was coupled with her hugging her partner and Kirk. Nobody wants to watch a contestant like Mitchell or Tracy from "Cleopatra" who looks like they don't even want to be on the show. This is why a lot of season one wins are not very memorable or exiting because none of the contestants really stand out.

The "emotionally exciting" wins are ones that come down to the wire too. That is why people like "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress", "Emiliano Zapata", and "Freydis" because they keep you at the edge of your seat until the very end of the run. It doesn't have to be down to a last second either, runs like "Pirate Captain" and "Map to the Lost Gold Mine" have a "down to the wire" finish to them also. This is why wins like "Enormous Iron Nose Ring", "Butch Cassidy", "Benzibab", "Geronimo", and "Roland" are not at the top of my list because there is nothing really exciting about finishing with over a minute left (or close to a minute). Its a nice feat and everything to finish with that much time in Olmec's temple, but they are pretty anticlimactic finishes.

And I also want to add in player performance too. An exciting run should have a player that is at least fast and acts competent. As cool as it was for Mitchell to reach the opposite side of the temple and bring the artifact out, I still find it to be boring because he just walks through the whole temple.

When it comes down to it though, I guess its personal preference. I mean there are a lot of people out there that like wins like Enormous Iron Nose Ring and Moccasins even though I personally can't stand them.