The Amazing Race 32.1 “One Million Miles”

Yay, The Amazing Race is back!

The Amazing Race has always been my favorite reality show, even though it seems like CBS has never given it the same amount of respect that it gives to Survivor and Big Brother.  Whereas Survivor and Big Brother always seem to be guaranteed a spot on the schedule, The Amazing Race gets moved around a lot.  Sometimes, you have to be willing to search for it.

Consider this: this current season of The Amazing Race was filmed in November of 2018!  What we watched last night was filmed nearly two years ago!  Unfortunately, with all of the travel restrictions currently in place, this could be the last season that we see for a while.  Hopefully, it’ll be a good one!

As always, last night was mostly about getting to know the racers.  The teams went from Los Angeles to Trinidad and Tobago.  Tobago is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I enjoyed getting to see it.  Still, for all the time that was spent on detour and roadblocks, the most important part of the episode were the segments in which the racers explained their relationships.  I found it interesting how many of them said that they actually grew up watching The Amazing Race.

Here are my first impressions of the racers, in order of how they finished:

Coming in first, Hung and Chee!  Hung and Chee are, of right now, our front runners!  This married couple worked well together as a team, they didn’t have any glaring weaknesses, and I expect to see them on the Race for a while.

Coming in second, Michelle and Victoria!  As of right now, Michelle and Victoria are my favorite team.  I think it’s because their relationship reminds me of the relationship that I have with my sisters.  They’re another strong team and, based on tonight, they seem like they have a real chance to win.

Coming in third, Riley and Maddison!  Riley and Maddison are the bearded volleyball players.  They seem like a strong team.  It always seems like there’s one strong team of quirky athletes every season.

Coming in fourth, Will and James!  Will and James are boyfriends.  They did well last night and they seem like they could potentially be a strong team.

Coming in fifth, Jerry and Frank!  Jerry and Frank are the father and son team.  They didn’t do badly last night but I have a feeling that they’re going to be meltdown at some point.  Jerry is a coach who used to be very hard on his son and there just seems to be a lot of buried resentment there.

Coming in sixth, Leo and Alana!  I liked Leo and Alana.  They’re a cute couple.  I don’ t really see them getting too far in the race but I hope I’m wrong because they’re a likable team.

Coming in seventh, Eswar and Apana!  They’re siblings who are engineers.  They didn’t make much of an impression.

Coming in eighth, Kaylynn and Haley!  Kaylynn and Haley are this year’s “We may be blonde but we’re tough” team.  They didn’t make a huge impression last night but they do seem like they’re a strong enough team that they’ll be on the race for a while.

Coming in ninth, Kellie and LaVonne!  Kellie and LaVonne are former Olympic hurdlers.  At first, it seemed like they were probably going to be eliminated but, fortunately for them, the steel drum road block tripped up DeAngelo and Gary and Nathan and Cody, allowing Kelli and Lavonne to come in 8th.  I liked Kellie and LaVonne and, despite their struggles last night, I still think they have a chance to be a strong team.

Coming in tenth, DeAngelo and Gary!  DeAngelo and Gary are apparently this season’s celebrities.  They’re former NFL players.  Not being a sports girl, I had no idea who they were but the other racers recognized them.  As Phil pointed out, they’ve got a lot of brawn but it takes more than brawn to win the Amazing Race.  We saw proof of that last night as they came close to getting eliminated.

Coming in eleventh, Nathan and Cody!  I have to say that I was really shocked when Nathan and Cody ended up coming in last.  They seemed like a very strong team and they got off to a good start but they just faltered at the end.  It just goes to show that you’re never safe in the Race.

I’m so happy the Race is back!

Lisa Marie