Survivor 32 Episode 11 “It’s a Me Game, Not a We Game”

I don’t know about everyone else but I was actually really sorry to see Julia get voted out at the end of last night’s episode of Survivor.  I liked Julia, even though I think she did make some mistakes along the way.  She allied herself with the wrong people and she was a bit too trusting, taking people at their word when they said they were going to vote a certain way at Tribal.  Julia tried to make big moves but Survivor is a game where you sometimes have to know when to lay low.

But really, the main reason that Julia got voted out is because Aubry is currently in charge of the game and Aubry looked at Julia and saw someone who would probably be more popular than her in high school.  So, Aubry got everyone to vote Julia out and then, after Tribal Council, she probably went back to the camp and whined about how she didn’t have any friends when she was a teenager.

Especially when compared to the past few weeks, last night really wasn’t that surprising of an episode of Survivor.  Jason and Julia tried to convince Cydney and Michele to join them in voting out Tai.  Personally, I think it would have made more sense, strategically, to blindside Tai and take a huge threat out of the game.  But, at the same time, I can understand why neither Cydney nor Michele felt that this was the right time to betray their alliance.  After all, if Tai played his idol, that would leave him in the game and Cydney and Michele on the outs with the majority of the remaining players.

And I can also understand why they voted for Julia instead of Jason.  Jason may be obnoxious but, if he does get to the final two, he’ll probably only get two votes from the jury — Scot and Julia.  Julia, on the other hand, could have actually made a case for herself.

That said, I don’t think that there’s anyone left in the game who can beat Aubry at this point.  And if the remaining players don’t hurry up and figure that out, they’re basically going to be handing Aubry a million dollar check.  Instead of going after Tai, Jason and Julia should have asked everyone at camp if they honestly thought that any of them had a chance of beating Aubry.  But Jason and Julia were so angry over Tai’s betrayal that they let it blind them to the fact that Aubry is a far bigger threat.

And soon, Julia was voted out and the game continues.

Here’s a few other random thoughts about last night’s episode:

• Jason is upset that he lost his idol but it was stupid of him to give it to Scot to begin with.
• Speaking of idols, Aubry should have told Tai to go ahead and play his idol.  At the very least, it would have gotten the last idol out of the game.  As well, Tai asking her what to do should show everyone that Aubry is pretty much in charge of the game right now.  If the remaining players don’t blindside Aubry soon, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when she wins the game.
• I know Aubry has a lot of fans but I’m not one of them.  I think she’s playing a good game but personally, she reminds me of one of those ultra-judgmental girls who get offended if you wear a short skirt.
• It was sweet of Tai to try to apologize to Jason but also unnecessary.  Tai did what was best for his game and that’s what Survivor is all about.  Add to that, I’m sure Jason just saw the apologize as a sign of weakness because Jason is a jackass.
• Was anyone else worried that Joe was going to drop dead during last night’s episode?  He was not looking well.
• Scot’s death glare was creepy, scary, and actually rather pathetic.  It’s Survivor.  Blindsides happen.  Get over it and enjoy the Ponderosa.
• I’m glad that Mark survived!  I just worry that Jason’s going to do something to him while everyone else is asleep.

Until next time,

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 28 Episode 9 “Salt That Sand”

Hi everyone!

I’m sorry for the late update.  I’ve been under the weather for the past few days and, on top of that, last Friday’s episode of The Amazing Race left me feeling really depressed.  I was so sad to see Zach and Rachel eliminated!

Now, I know that Zach and Rachel didn’t have the huge personalities of some of the other racers and they didn’t have a tragic backstory or anything of that other stuff that is usually required to make an impression on The Amazing Race.  But I really liked Zach and Rachel.  They were a sweet couple, they maintained a good attitude through the entire race, and they came so close to beating Brodie and Kurt to the pit stop.

Add to that, I actually knew who Zach and Rachel were before this season of the Race began.  I love the videos that Zach’s posted on YouTube!  Check a few of them out:

Here’s how the rest of the teams did during the last leg of the race:

Coming in first, Tyler and Korey.  After struggling for the past few legs, Tyler and Korey came back strong during this leg.  Will Tyler ever stop laughing?

Coming in second, Burnie and Ashley.  Burnie and Ashley are probably the most consistently strong team in the race but they seem to be forever stuck in 2nd place.  Of course last season, Kelsey and Joey spent almost the entire race in 2nd and, in the final leg, managed to come in first.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same thing happen with Burnie and Ashley.

Coming in third, Sheri and Cole!  I’m so glad that, despite having to deal with a speed bump, everyone’s favorite underdogs managed to make it into the top three!

Coming in fourth, Dana and Matt!  They managed to get through almost the entire leg without having a meltdown.  I was surprised.

Coming in fifth, Brodie and Kurt!  I have to admit that, up until this latest leg, I had absolutely no idea how much Kurt was basically carrying Brodie.  Brodie is now going to have to do every remaining roadblock and that could be trouble for the former front runners.

Coming in sixth, Zach and Rachel.  And sadly, they were eliminated.  (If only Zach had done the detour instead of Rachel.  Zach was able to make up for a lot of time by making that kite but I’m sure Rachel could have handled the kite as well.  Still, they remained positive and they finished things up with a good attitude and they should be proud of the race that they ran.)

I’m sad too, Kitty! But don’t worry…Zach and Rachel will be okay!

Since there’s only five teams left, I guess I might as well try to make my predictions about how the race will end:

Brodie and Kurt will be eliminated at the end of the next leg.

In a major surprise, Tyler and Korey will be eliminated at the end of the 11th leg.

At the end of the race:

Coming in 1st, Burnie and Ashley.

Coming in 2nd, Matt and Dana.

Coming in 3rd, Sheri and Cole.

Will my predictions come true?  We’ll find out!

Lisa Marie

 

 

Survivor 32 Episode 10 “I’m Not Here To Make Good Friends”

I make no apologies for having been critical of Aubry in the past.  While I know that she has a legion of fans (especially on twitter, where they tend to be so worshipful of her that I worry that they’re going to form a cult), I’ve always found her to be a little bit annoying, with all of her  bragging about how she’s using “logic” to win the game and the constant whining.  “Why didn’t Neal give me his idol!?”  “Why didn’t I win the challenge!?”  “Why are all the boys talking to Julia?”  “Why didn’t I have any friends in high school!?” Blah blah blah…

But you know what?

Aubry totally owned last night’s episode of Survivor.  Not only did she emerge as a competition beast (she came very close to winning immunity) but she finally used some of that intelligence that she’s always bragging about and managed to do something that, last week, would have seemed impossible.  She convinced Tai to abandon his safe alliance and to work with her.  When she talked to him, she made the perfect pitch.  Instead of making a bunch of empty promises about how she would take him to the final three or trying to convince him that Scot, Jason, and Julia were plotting to stab him in the back (though, of course, they were), Aubry directed her pitch to who Tai is as a human being.  Aubry realized that the gentle and soft-spoken Tai would never be truly comfortable with two cavemen like Jason and Scot.

(Now, of course, I still think Aubry made a few mistakes last night.  She’s still obsessing on Julia who, whether you like her or not, is relatively harmless.  And, as inspiring as it was to watch her nearly beat Jason, she’s running the risk of emerging as such an obvious threat to win the game that nobody’s going to want to run the risk of having her anywhere near the final three.)

Watching last night’s episode, it was impossible not to cheer Aubry on.  Of course, it helped that she was competing against Jason and Scot, two of the most loathsome castaways in Survivor history.  As usual, Scot and Jason spent this episode talking down to everyone and boasting about how they were untouchable.  After an hour of listening to their BS, it was especially glorious to see the look on Scot’s face when he was voted out.

For the record, here’s how the votes went at Tribal:

Scot and Jason voted for Aubry.

Julia and Michele voted for Tai, in an attempt to force Tai to play his idol.  (Before Jeff read the votes, Julia turned around to Tai and said, “Play your idol.”  That was a dumb move on her part.)

After telling Julia that they would vote for Tai, Aubry and Cydney voted for Scot.  Joe also voted for Scot.  And finally, after telling Scot and Jason that he would vote for Aubry, Tai also voted for Scot.

The final vote: Scot — 4.  Tai — 2.  Aubry — 2.

Scot, who was holding Jason’s idol, smirked and asked Tai for his idol so that Scot could form a super idol.  Tai shook his head and Scot looked shocked!  It was wonderful!  What made it even better was that Scot left tribal council with Jason’s idol in his pocket.

(If Tai had allowed Scot to have his idol, Scot’s votes would have been tossed out and Aubry and Tai would be tied.  There would have been a second vote and Tai could very well have been voted out.  Even if Aubry hadn’t convinced him to switch alliances, it wouldn’t have made any strategic sense for Tai to sacrifice his idol to save Scot.)

So now, there’s only one idol left in the game and Tai has it.  Also, as a result of the reward challenge, Tai has an extra vote that he can cast at a future tribal council.  For now, Tai may very well be the most powerful person in the game but he has to be careful.  Next week, both Jason and Julia will be looking for revenge.  And, much like Aubry, he’s emerging as a real threat to win the game.  If I was trying to win this season of Survivor, I wouldn’t want either Aubry or Tai anywhere near the final three.

But for now, I’m happy that we got to watch one of the greatest tribal councils ever.  This is really shaping up to be a great season of Survivor!

Here’s hoping everyone had a great 4/20,

Lisa Marie

 

Bye Bye, Idiot Manchild.

The Amazing Race 28 Episode 8 “I Have A Wedgie And A Half”

Hi, everyone!

I am so happy that it turned out that last night’s leg of The Amazing Race was a non-elimination leg.  It took me a while and there’s still a few times when I want to tell both of them to calm down but, over the past few episodes, I’ve grown to really like Sheri and Cole.  Of the 6 teams left in the race, they’re definitely not the strongest.  They were a team that I expected to see eliminated several weeks ago.  But through a combination of luck and a really good attitude, Sheri and Cole have survived and they’re still racing.

In a season in which the same three teams always seem to be among the first to the pit stop, Sheri and Cole have emerged as the underdogs and how can you not root for an underdog?

As I watched last night’s episode of The Amazing Race, I was convinced that Sheri and Cole would be eliminated.  After flying from Georgia to Dubai, Sheri and Cole had the worst luck.  It wasn’t so much the challenges that held them back.  (Sheri and Cole even managed to win that race against the two camels.)  Instead, their difficulty came from getting to the challenges.  They had the worst luck driving but even though they knew they were in last place, they still remained positive and kept fighting.  Though they arrived last, it turned out to be a non-elimination leg.

Just compare the way they behaved to Dana and Matt.  From the start of the race, I have been predicting that Dana and Matt were heading towards a meltdown and it finally happened last night, when Dana refused to get in the car and head to the pit stop.

It’s easy to criticize Dana and, to be honest, it’s perhaps a little bit too easy for some.  Meltdowns happen and they’re never pretty but it’s rare that they happen without a reason.  To be honest, if I was in Dubai and had just spent hours wandering through the hot desert and then, even though being exhausted, had to solve a potentially frustrating puzzle while struggling not to spill out of my bikini (all the while being filmed), I might be a little frazzled myself.  Dana and Matt are not my favorite team but, after seeing some of the truly misogynistic comments that have been made about her on twitter, I don’t really feel the need to add to the hate.

The episode was edited to make it appear as if Dana spent hours refusing to get in the car while Sheri and Cole were heading for the pit stop but, judging by how much darker it was when Sheri and Cole arrived as opposed to when Dana and Matt arrived, it’s clear that Sheri and Cole were running even further behind than the episode initially indicated.

(That said, if Dana pulls that crap a second time, then she totally deserves to be eliminated.)

Anyway, it was interesting to see the Race return to Dubai.  They even went back to the water park where, many seasons ago, another team of racers had a memorable meltdown.  (That was the season that a racer refused to go down a giant water slide and ended up getting eliminated as a result.  I have never forgiven Flight Time and Big Easy for the way they took advantage of her fear.  I’ve even talked to Flight Time on twitter about it.  He’s a nice guy but it was still a classless move.)  We got see all the racers in skin-tight, gold bathing suits, which is always fun.

Here’s how the six teams (and the Travelocity roaming gnome) finished things last night:

Coming in first, Brodie and Kurt!  I think they made a mistake when they wasted their express pass.  Brodie and Kurt seem to be the front-runners right now.  During the 1st leg of the race, they came in fifth.  Since then, they’ve had 4 1st place finishes, two 2nd place finishes, and 1 third place finish.  They’re not exactly the most exciting team in the history of the Amazing Race but you can’t deny that, up to this point, they’ve been running a very strong race.

Coming in second, Burnie and Ashley!  And, once again, I am impressed with their team work while feeling as if they I have absolutely no idea who they are as people.

Coming in third, Tyler and Korey!  At this point, I’m over Tyler and Korey.  Korey whining because the other teams wouldn’t help him solve the roadblock puzzle was kind of the last straw.  Tyler has used his internet fame to do a lot of good work and he deserves a lot of credit for it.  But, as far as the Race is concerned, I’m just like, “Stop laughing!”

Coming in fourth, Zach and Rachel!  They struggled a little last night.  If they hadn’t switched detours, they probably would have come in third.  But they work well together and, up to this point, they’ve probably done the best job as far as handling the stress of the race is concerned.

Coming in fifth, Dana and Matt!  Stop fighting.

Coming in sixth, Sheri and Cole!  Stay strong, Sheri and Cole!  Here’s hoping that next week’s roadblock doesn’t slow them down!

We’ll see what happens,

Lisa Marie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survivor 32 Episode 9 “It’s Psychological Warfare”

Hi everyone!

Up until the tribal council, last night’s episode of Survivor was dominated by bad strategy.  After Nick was blind-sided by the new all girls (and Joe) alliance, Jason and Scot reacted to suddenly finding themselves out of power by attempting to sabotage the camp.  They hid the machete.  They doused the fire.  They bragged about it.  They practically dared the remaining castaways to vote them out of the game.  Jason called it psychological warfare but really, it just came across as two grown men acting like petulant babies.

Tai, who should have been trying to distance himself from Jason and Scot, instead decided to stick with them.  He even woke up at night and doused the fire for a second time while everyone else was sleeping.  I hate to see Tai slipping over to the evil side.  It’s not where he belongs.

Julia, I think, made a mistake by being too quick to volunteer to work with Scott, Jason, and Tai at the reward challenge.  She revealed that she’s willing to work with both alliances.  However, Aubry made an even bigger mistake by getting so upset over Julia’s actions that she allowed herself to be distracted from what should have been her number one goal — taking out Scot and Jason.

From what I’ve seen on twitter, Aubry appears to have a lot of fans.  But, honestly, I think she is one of the most overrated players in the history of Survivor.  For someone who won’t stop bragging about how everything she does is “logical,” Aubry’s entire game has been dictated by her emotions and insecurities.

For instance, emotion (and jealousy, I imagine) led Aubry to decide that Julia should be the next target.  When Julia managed to win individual immunity, the smart move would have been to vote for Scot and Jason.  At the very least, voting for them would either flush out or (if it was a true blindside and the idol was not played) eliminate at least one of the immunity idols.  Instead, Aubry decided that the all-girls alliance needed to blindside Debbie, because Debbie didn’t share Aubry’s obsession with voting out Julia.  I don’t like Debbie but, strategically, it makes no sense to take out an ally when you’ve still got strong enemies in the game.

And when Aubry decided to go after Debbie, who did she decide to approach for her vote?  Julia!  If Aubry was truly the logical strategist that she claims to be, she would have known better than to confide in Julia.  But, since she was annoyed with Debbie, Aubry gave in to her emotions.  Julia, of course, ran off and told Scot, Jason, and Tai about Aubry’s plan.

If Joe had been smart, he would have taken this opportunity to separate himself from Debbie.  Instead, he stubbornly refused to vote for her, which is the sort of thing that his alliance will remember in the future.  (Then again, Joe has pretty much been Debbie’s puppet since this season began.)

And then, we had Tribal Council and, oh my God, it was a good one:

As I’ve made clear since this season of Survivor began, I cannot stand Jason or Scot.  Both of them are misogynistic bullies.  Jason looks like he has terrible hygiene and spends way too much time bragging about himself.  Scot, meanwhile, is an idiot man child.  If this season was a community theater production of Of Mice and Men, Scot would be asking everyone to tell him about the rabbits.

(Interestingly enough, when he was separated from Jason, Scot was tolerable.  But, after the merge reunited the two of them, Scot went back to his old tricks.)

But, let’s give credit where credit is due.  They may be hateful.  They may have dragged the otherwise adorable Tai into their evil orbit.  But, during last night’s tribal council, Jason and Scot put on a hell of a show.  Personally, I think that they made a strategic mistake by acting way too cocky about having both of the immunity idols (and, as a result, the super idol).  Neither one seems to understand that the people they are taunting are the same people who, if Jason and Scot make it to the final three, will be sitting on the jury and selecting the winner.  But, with all that in mind, Jason and Scot made last night’s tribal council a memorable one.  Last night’s tribal council was a classic and will be remembered long after this current season has ended.

After Scot, Jason, and Tai revealed that they had the immunity idols, Debbie was blind-sided and sent off to the jury.  On the one hand, Aubry and Cydney got what they wanted.  Debbie is gone,  But they also failed to get either Jason or Tai to use their idol and now, as a result of the super idol, it appears that the all-girls alliance will have to lose one more member before they can even think about going after either Jason or Scot.  If Julia continues to work with Jason and Scot, that means the the once all-powerful all-girls (and Joe) alliance will soon be outnumbered.

Now that the end is in sight, let’s take a look at who is still left in contention for the title of final survivor:

Stinky Jason — My biggest fear is that Jason will get taken to the finale because nobody thinks the jury will ever vote for him.  I desperately want to see the look on smug Jason’s face when he gets voted out.

Idiot Man Child Scot — My second biggest fear is that Scot will get taken to the finale because nobody thinks the jury will ever vote for him.  As of right now, Jason and Scot seem to competing for third place.

Adorable Tai — Let’s hope that Tai remains adorable and does not get permanently dragged over to the dark side,

Overrated Aubry — Aubry mostly seems to be using Survivor to deal with issues left over from not being popular in high school.  If she wins, she will be one of the more forgettable winners.

Crimebuster Joe — I really thought I’d like Joe but, for the most part, he’s just been a self-righteous bore.  It’ll be interesting to see if he can still function without Debbie around to tell him what to do.

Awesome Cydney — I like Cydney and I think she’s actually playing a pretty good game.  She’s been smart to distance herself from the former Brawn Tribe but I worry that she may be such a strong player that she’ll end up becoming everyone’s target.

Underrated Michele — Michele made a big move when she decided to vote to send Nick to jury.  That said, I get the feeling that Michele is flying under the radar and that can actually be a very good strategy.

Underestimated Julia — I actually want Julia to win.  I feel that, because she’s young and not ugly, she’s been underestimated by the other players.  (Just check out the way that Aubry was hating on her during last night’s episode.)  I know what it’s like to be underestimated.  Because I share Julia’s struggle, I hope she wins.

My ideal final three?  As of right now: Cydney, Michele, and Julia.

One thing that we do know for sure: Debbie will not win Survivor!

Agck! Debbie’s going to kill someone!

Next week, it looks like Aubry is going to try to pull Tai away from the dark side.  If she can succeed, I may change my opinion of her as a player.  Seriously, it was heart-breaking watching Tai fall under the bad influence of Scot and Jason.

We’ll see what happens next week!

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 28 Episode 7 “Welcome To Bloody Fingers 101”

Oh my God y’all, I was so jealous tonight as I watched the latest episode of The Amazing Race.  Like a lot of Race fans, I always imagine what it would be like if I was the one having to do the roadblocks and the detours.  I can say that I definitely would not have wanted to do the candy or the wine challenge.

But the Georgian dancing — oh my God, I would have loved that!  And, if I do say so myself, I think I would have been the champion of that roadblock!  I love to dance and I always love it when the Racers have to dance.  As just about everyone pointed out tonight, the Georgian dance was not easy and all of the racers deserve a lot of credit for managing to do it.

(Well, almost all of the racer.  Korey got so whiny about it that I have to admit that I got a little disgusted with him.  Tyler and Korey have gone from being the early favorites to being the middling whiners.)

I’ve been pretty critical of Dana and Matt so far and I still think that waste too much time yelling at each other but I was proud of Dana tonight and I was happy that she finally got her chance to dance.  As soon as she started to talk about how weird it felt having not danced in over a month, I was like, “I know exactly what she means.”  For a few minutes, it wasn’t about the Amazing Race.  I was just about a dancer doing what she loves.

I was also happy that, after spending much of the race in the back of the pack, Zach and Rachel finally got their first place finish.  Neither one of them have gotten a chance to show much personality on the show but I love Zach’s YouTube videos.  They’re cute, witty, and genuinely inventive.  Plus, a lot of them feature cats!

Scot and Blair were the last team to arrive at the pit stop and they were eliminated from the race.  If Scot hadn’t run back to the roadblock to give Tyler his bag, they probably would have come in sixth and would not have been eliminated.  But Scot’s a good guy and as soon as I realized that he had Tyler’s bag, I knew that he was return it and that he and his daughter would probably be eliminated as a result.

It’s unfortunate that Scot trying to do the right thing led to him being eliminated but, at the same time, I’m happy that we won’t have to hear anything else about the Blair/Brodie showmance.

Here’s how everyone did:

Coming in first, Zach and Rachel!  After laying low for most of the race, Zach and Rachel are coming on strong.  They’re working well together, they’re handling the stress well, and I think that they might make it to the end.

Coming in second, Burnie and Ashley!  Burnie and Ashley have been consistently strong through the entire race.  Oddly enough, I still don’t feel like I know a thing about either one of them.

Coming in third, Brodie and Kurt!  The jocks are still running strong and the fact that they will no longer be distracted by Blair will probably help them in the end.

Coming in fourth, Dana and Matt!  Great work by Dana tonight!  I have a feeling that tonight’s top four will also be the Race’s top four.

Coming in fifth, Sheri and Cole.  Out of nowhere, Sheri and Cole have become the underdog team that you can’t help but love.  They’re not the strongest team but they have a good attitude and, if Dana and Matt start fighting again, I think Sheri and Cole could move past them into the top four.

Coming in sixth, Tyler and Korey!  Tyler and Korey whined way too much tonight.  Watching them, I got the feeling that they never mentally prepared themselves for the stress of being in last place.  When they’re in first or second place, Tyler and Korey are extremely strong.  But whenever they find themselves in a danger of being eliminated, they seem to mentally fall apart.  That said, it would be foolish to dismiss Tyler and Korey’s chances.  You never know what might happen next week.

Coming in 7th and getting eliminated, Scot and Blair!  At least Blair got a boyfriend out of it.

As for me, I am officially rooting for Zach and Rachel!  Go Final Cut King!

Lisa Marie

 

Survivor 32 Episode 8 “The Jocks vs. The Pretty People”

Hi, everyone!

Remember how, last week, I said that I finally understood the appeal of Nick and that I thought he actually was kind of hot and how I was hoping he would go far?  Well, forget I said that because, during last night’s episode, Nick pretty much destroyed whatever good will I had built up towards him.

Seriously, I love confident men but there’s a difference between being confident and being an arrogant, cocky, preening jackass.  Last night, Nick revealed himself to be a jackass.  He strutted around camp.  He spent all of his time hanging out with fellow wannabe Alpha Males, Jason and Scot.  He mansplained all of his plans.  Stupidly, he interrogated Cydney after he saw her talking to a few members of the Brain Tribe and it never occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, he might end up alienating one of his key allies.

Would I have preferred to have seen someone like Jason or Scot voted out last night?  You bet I would.  It worries me a little that both Jason and Scot were given opportunities to talk about their lives back in the real world.  Jason talked about his autistic daughter and, as much as I dislike him, he did come across as being a genuinely loving father.  Scot talked about growing up poor.  As I listened to them talk, it occurred to me that this was the type of stuff that probably would have been edited out of the show if they had been said by anyone who wasn’t going to make it to the end.  Is someone planning on carrying Scot and Jason to the end?  It might be good strategy since most of the jury will probably hate Jason and feel that, as a former pro athlete, Scot already has enough money.  But it won’t be emotionally satisfying because I’ve been waiting this entire season to see Stinky Jason and his Idiot Man Child sidekick blindsided.

But , last night, it was Nick who was blind-sided and it was satisfying to watch.  Since the entire episode was basically just Nick acting like a jackass, it was fun to watch his attitude come back and bite him.

Nick was voted out as a result of the remaining girls forming an alliance.  That’s right, it’s another all-girls alliance!  All-girl alliances always start with a lot of fanfare but — with some very notable exceptions — they never seem to last more than an episode or two before they fall apart.  As a girl, I always cringe whenever an all-girl alliance forms because they always seem to collapse in ways that conform to every negative stereotype that you’ve ever heard about women trying to work together.  As for this season’s all-girl alliance, Cydney, Julie, and Michele are all strong players.  But Debbie is way too unstable and Aubry is too whiny.

(“Neal didn’t give me the idol, I didn’t have any friends in high school, boo hoo…”)

Along with Nick’s jackassery and the all-girls alliance, the other big development of last night’s episode was Tai emerging as a force to be reckoned with.  His immunity win was the stuff of legends.  Of course, at Tribal, he let slip that he knew about the super idol.  He tried to cover up by saying that he was only repeating rumors that he had heard.  We’ll have to wait and see if there’s any fallout from what Tai said.

My prediction for next week: All-girls alliance falls apart.  Either Debbie or Joe goes home.

Til then,

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 28 Ep. 6 “Let the Good Times Roll”

After taking the previous two weeks ago, The Amazing Race returned last night.  The amazing racers flew from Switzerland to Armenia.  Among other things, they had to choose between making bread or a quilt and then they had to change the oil on a car.  It was pretty much a typical episode of The Amazing Race, one that featured the usual tears, frustration, and joyful shouting whenever a team saw Phil waiting for them.

And, as I watched, it occurred to me that I still don’t feel as if I know most of these racers.  That’s interesting, considering that this is the Internet All-Star edition and all of the racers were selected based on their social media popularity.  But, despite that, very few of them have really made much of an impression as individuals.

Instead, as often happens with the Amazing Race, I find myself categorizing them by their one defining characteristic.  Tyler and Korey are the gay team.  Brodie and Kurt are the jock team.  Scot and Blair are the old guy and perky girl team.  Dana and Matt are the arguing team.  Every season of The Amazing Race features at least one jock team, one gay team, one old guy and perky girl team, and one argumentative team.  Occasionally, the viewers will get lucky and a team will have so much personality that they will become something more than just that defining characteristic.  These are the seasons when we actually become emotionally invested in the outcome of the race.

So far, during this season, nobody’s really made a huge individual impression.  I feel emotionally detached from most of them.  I’m enjoying the season because I always enjoy The Amazing Race.  I like seeing all of the countries that the teams visit and I always enjoy the way Phil handles his hosting duties.  But, with all that said, this is shaping up to be a perfectly competent but not extremely memorable season of the Race.

Last night’s episode was a non-elimination, which is good because I really felt bad for Sheri and Cole.  I wouldn’t have been able to change the oil on that taxi either.  It may not have been good strategy for Scot to show Sheri how to do it but I’m glad that he did.  And, after all of the tears that Sheri shed, I was happy when Phil told her that, though she and Cole came in last, they were still racing.

How did everyone else do?

Coming in first, Brodie and Kurt.  They’re emerging as the team to beat.

Coming in second, Burnie and Ashley.  They came back from the back of the pack last night.  They’re such a strong team so why do I feel like I don’t know a damn thing about them?

Coming in third, Zach and Rachel.  I’m glad that Zach and Rachel finally had a decent finish.  Though neither had made a huge impression on the show, I’m a huge fan of Zach’s videos.

Coming in fourth, Dana and Matt.  Dana and Matt now appear to have settled into the middle of the pack.

Coming in fifth, Scot and Blair.  Scot and Blair used to really annoy me but I’m slowly starting to like them, especially after Scot helped out Sheri last night.  The show is determined to play up the Blair/Brodie showmance.  Or is it the Blair/Kurt showmance?  When it comes to jock teams, it’s difficult to remember who is who.

Coming in sixth, Tyler and Korey.  After consistently coming in 1st and second, Tyler and Korey came in second to last.  That’s a goof thing because Tyler and Korey were getting way too cocky for their own good.

And finally, coming in seventh, Sheri and Cole.  I’m glad they’re still racing but I just don’t see them lasting much longer.  There’s only so many non-elimination legs in a season!

Since this is the Internet All-Star Edition of The Amazing Race, let’s close this recap with a YouTube video on how to change your oil in five minutes!