The Amazing Race 32.12 “Now It’s About Winning”

Hey, everyone.

Last night, the Amazing Race moved to New Orleans for the final leg and it was all pretty anti-climatic.  From the minute the plane landed, Will and James were in the lead.  (It turned out that both of them have spent time in New Orleans and basically knew the layout of the town.  The other teams didn’t.)  Hung and Chee spent the entire night in second place.  Riley and Maddison spent the entire night in third place.  And that’s exactly how the race ended.

Will and James came in first.

Hung and Chee came in second.

Riley and Maddison came in third.

It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season.  Hung and Chee were a strong team from the start and probably could have made it to the end on their own.  Will and James and Riley and Maddison, however, owed their success to their alliance,  If not for the fact that they spent the entire race helping each other out, they probably wouldn’t have made it to the final three.  For someone like me who loves the Race and who, in the past, has always appreciated it as being a positive antidote to all the scheming and pettiness of Big Brother and Survivor, it was difficult to get excited about either team making it to the end.

It’s not cheating, despite what some people on Twitter are saying.  Racers are allowed to form alliances and they’re allowed to help each other.  Personally, I hope that, when and if the Race returns, they’ll institute a new rule about teams helping each other during the roadblocks and the detours.  This season was ruined not so much by the teams forming an alliance as by the way the alliance proceeded to bully and scheme against the teams outside of the cool kids clique.  Obviously, it was a strategy that worked but it was unpleasant to watch.  I can’t say I was surprised to see how unenthusiastic all the previously eliminated teams looked when they saw Will and James running up to the mat.

Probably the best thing about last night’s episode is that Riley and Maddison came in third.  As I watched last night, I realized that I still didn’t know which one was Riley and which one was Maddison.  They were perhaps the most boring team to ever made it to the finale and, if they had won, this season would have been unbearable.  As it is, Will and James weren’t particularly likable but at least they had some sort of personality.  Riley and Maddison pretty much just had beards.

Well, that’s it for this season!  And that’s it going to be it for this blog for a while.  I’m not sure when we’ll get another season of Survivor and the Amazing Race, though I’ll cover them whenever we do get them.

I might cover a few other reality shows in the interim.  We’ll see!

Lisa Marie 

The Amazing Race 32.11 “Run On Your Tippy Toes”

I never thought I would say this about my favorite reality show but, at this point, I really don’t care who wins the Amazing Race.

I mean, technically, I’m rooting for Hung and Chee because they’re the least annoying option.  But they’re still a part of the alliance that’s pretty much ruined this season.  This has been a very cliquey, very high schoolish season of The Amazing Race.  Six people got together early, decided they were going to work together, and then they basically just bullied the other teams out of the race.  It’s not cheating, despite what a lot of people on twitter are saying.  Teams are allowed to work together and it’s happened plenty of time in the past.  But it’s never happened to the extent that it’s happened during this season.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if the members of the alliance had interesting or vaguely likable personalities.  But Will and James are way too mean and, whenever things don’t go their way, whiny.  Hung and Chee are a strong team but they too often get tripped up over the little details.  Riley and Maddison are, without a doubt, two of the most boring human beings on the planet.  Who care about any of these people?

Personally, whenever the Race does return (and it could be a while, since this seasons at on the shelf for 2 years and shooting on season 33 was suspended due to the pandemic), I hope there’s a new rule about teams helping each other at the Detours and the Roadblocks, along with rules about how many times a team can be u-turned and yielded.  The alliance just made this season icky.

Last night, after a run through Manila, Gary and DeAngelo were eliminated from the race.  I was happy to see them go.  The fact that they survived for as long as they did was embarrassing.  After bragging about targeting Eswar and Aparna last week, DeAngelo whined like a little baby after getting eliminated last night.  He announced that he didn’t enjoy the race.  He was angry when the other teams suddenly treated him as poorly as they’ve treated every other team on the race.  Boo hoo, DeAngelo.  You nearly made it to the end, despite never reading your clues, never knowing what was going on, and almost always being at the back of the pack.

(For his part, Gary was less whiny about getting eliminated but who cares?  Gary was almost as much of a nonentity as Riley and Maddison.)

When the teams reached the Pit Stop in Manila, here’s where they stood:

Coming in first, Riley and Maddison.  They’ve been coming in first a lot.  Everyone calls them the Beards because that’s pretty much the only memorable thing about them.

Coming in second, Will and James.  Last night, I was briefly happy when it appeared that Will and James were struggling but they recovered.  I’m still hoping something happens next week to keep them from winning but, at the same time, I’d rather they win than Riley and Maddison.  They at least have some semblance of personality.

Coming in third, Hung and Chee.  From the very first episode, I predicted they’d made it to the end so I guess I should be happy that they did.  But I don’t know …. I’m kind of bored with them.  Every leg, Hung does something wrong and then Chee yells at him and then eventually, they manage to come in third.  I still hope they win.

Coming in fourth, Whiny and the Silent Giant.  Bye, guys!

Next week, we’ll have a winner!  See you then.

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 32.10 “Getting Down To The Nitty Gritty”

I really don’t want to talk about it.

Last night’s leg of the Amazing Race was another disappointing experience as the alliances continued to dominate and pick on the weaker teams.  Unfortunately, there was only one weaker team left and that was Eswar and Aparna.  Since Eswar and Aparna have, for the most part, come across as being pretty nice and decent, it was hard to watch Gary and DeAngelo pat themselves on the back for using the double u-turn on them.  It was even more difficult to then watch Maddison and Ross “burn” the other u-turn so that Eswar and Aparna couldn’t even use it on someone like Will and James or Hung and Chee.

“We protected our alliance,” one of the two bearded idiots said.

Do they not realize that only one team can win the Amazing Race?  If I was in the race, I would want to set back a team that actually has a chance to win.  I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back for keeping a stronger team in the race.  Alliances are for Survivor!

Anyway, when things the teams reached the pit stop in Cambodia, here’s where we stood:

Coming in first, Riley and Maddison,  The boring beard bros.  To be honest, I dislike them even more than I dislike Will and James.  Will and James are at least honest about being the villains this season.  Riley and Maddison have no personality beyond having beards.

Coming in second, Will and James.  They’re strong, they’re annoying.  Their alliance strategy has paid off but it hasn’t been fun to watch.

Coming in third, Hung and Chee.  Of the alliance members, they annoy me the least.  I hope the win.

Coming in fourth, Gary and DeAngelo.  The fact that these two idiots are still in the race just annoys me beyond belief.

And getting eliminated, Eswar and Aparna.  I knew they weren’t going to win but I still hate seeing them get eliminated by the 8 jerks listed above.

Next week, the teams start the final leg of the race!

Lisa Marie