The Amazing Race 29.11 “As Easy As Stacking Cups”

I am so bummed out by last night’s episode of The Amazing Race!

The racers went from Vietnam to Seoul, South Korea and they ran the leg that determined who would be in the final three, racing in the final leg for the million dollars.  From the minute that they landed in Seoul, Matt and Redmond were running behind.

“NOOOOO!” I shouted as they made the mistake of taking the subway to their next clue.

“AGCK!” I exclaimed as they discovered that their cab driver didn’t know where they were going.

Meanwhile, the roadblocks and the detours were all difficult and all required a good deal of time and effort,  This was not the leg to run behind on.  As I watched the episode, I started to realize that there was no way that Matt and Redmond would be able to catch up.

“Please,” I said, “let this be a non-elimination!  Please, tell me Phil is going to announce that four teams are going to race to the finish line…”

But no.  Matt and Redmond were the last time to arrive and they were eliminated.  That’s just the way the race goes, sometimes.  To the end, Matt and Redmond were the strongest team but they just ran into a lot of bad luck in Seoul.

Still, that doesn’t make it any easier to take their elimination.  First Team Fun and now the Boys.  All of the likable teams have been eliminated.  Seriously, next week is going to feature perhaps the least likable final three in Amazing Race history.

Here’s who will be racing to the finish line:

Brooke and Scott!  Whiny Scott and bitchy Brooke.  If they win, I will throw something at the TV.

Tara and Joey!  Team boring!

London and Logan!  Somehow, London and Logan have made it to the final three without ever making much of an impression.  I like London because we’re both artists but, at the same time, the only thing keeping London and Logan from being Team Boring is that Tara and Joey have already claimed the title.

Typically, I would say that Tara and Joey would be the front-runners but I don’t know.  As of late, they haven’t really been impressing me.  I’m going to predict that London and Logan will come out of nowhere to win the Amazing Race.

I just hope it’s not Brooke and Scott.

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.9 “I Thought We Were Playing It Nice” and 29.10 “Riding A Bike Is Like Riding A Bike”

Hi, everyone!

So, last night, we had two episode of the Amazing Race.  The first one ended with the revelation that it was a non-elimination leg, which was really good news for Tara and Joey.  The second episode ended with heartbreak as Team Fun — no, not Team Fun! — was eliminated after Floyd basically collapsed in Vietnam.

At first I didn’t like Team Fun but they won me over and I’m really sorry to see them go.  It’s especially upsetting because Floyd spent the final leg of the race helping out all of the other teams.  He and Matt worked together at the roadblock and then Floyd helped out London.  Both times that Floyd helped, he ended up setting himself further behind.  So, Team Fun is gone but fortunately, the Amazing Race has been renewed for at least a few more seasons.  So, who knows?  Maybe Team Fun will get a second chance to run the race.

(Or, maybe like Jeff and Jackie from season 26, they’ll end up in the Big Brother House!  Who knows?)

Anyway, there are now only four team left!  There are also only two legs of the race left.  Almost all of the early front runners are gone, leaving only one consistently strong team in the race.  Here they are, in order of how they finished last night:

Coming in first, Matt and Redmond!  Unless something goes wrong during the next leg and they end up getting eliminated before the final leg of the race, Matt and Redmond have to be considered the front runners right now.  They’re a strong team.  They have a good attitude.  They work well together.  With Team Fun gone, I now fully support Matt and Redmond to win it all!

Coming in second, Brooke and Scott.  It’s terrifying to think that Brooke and Scott could possibly win this season.  Scott is okay but Brooke …. oh my God, Brooke.  What a whiny little crybaby!  If Brooke and Scott win, it’ll all be due to Scott.

Coming in third, Tara and Joey.  Tara and Joey seemed like they were the front runners for a long time but, last night, we finally got a chance to see how they race when they’re frustrated and I wasn’t particularly impressed.

Coming in fourth, London and Logan!  Who would have thought that London and Logan would make it this far?  I like them both, mostly because I’m an artist and London’s an artist.  That said, they’ve yet to have a really strong finish and they’re continued survival seems to largely be a case of good luck.  They could make still make it to the final three, of course.  It’s easy to imagine Brooke and Scott having a meltdown and allowing London and Logan to slip by them.

And finally, in fifth place, Team Fun!  Oh well.  At least they made a lot of friends.

We’ll see what happens next week!

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.8 “Good Job, Donkey”

After watching last night’s episode of The Amazing Race, I have two thoughts:

First off, Team Fun has finally won me over.  I’ve spent most of this season annoyed with them and wondering what everyone else saw in them but, last night, they finally won me over.  Even though they got lost and then got u-turned, they remained positive.  They didn’t turn on each other.  They didn’t whine about it.  Team Fun may go overboard with the fun but they can work hard when they need to.  I was actually happy that they managed to avoid elimination.

Secondly, I am so over Team Michael and Liz.  For a while, I really liked them.  They appeared to be the front-runners and I was happy about it.  But, over the past few episodes, I have really gotten tired of having to listen to Michael whine about how he helps everyone but no one helps him.  It’s a race.  It was dumb to help those other people.  No one held a gun to Michael’s head and said, “Go offer encouragement to the other teams!  Do it now!”  Michael has many good qualities but there’s only so much whining that I can take.

That said, I do understand why he was upset over being u-turned.  If I was on the Amazing Race, I would like to think that I would never u-turn another team, unless it was absolutely necessary.  Brooke and Scott were in first place and Liz and Michael were at the very back of the pack.  (Add to that, Liz and Michael already had a speedbump coming up, which was going to slow them down regardless.)  There was really no need to u-turn anyone.

I’m also not sure why Tara and Joey decided to go after Team Fun.  It’s not like the racers are required to u-turn anyone.  Last night was the third double u-turn on this season and I hope it’s the last.

But anyway, Liz and Michael have now been eliminated.  Michael says that he views Liz as being his sister.  They both said they would keep in touch.  I bet neither hears from the other ever again.

Here’s how the teams did, in order of finish:

Coming in first, Tara and Joey!  Team Boring strikes again!  I think the secret of their success is that, since neither one of them appears to have a personality, there are no personality conflicts.  They’re like robots, specifically designed to team up and run the race.

Coming in second, Matt and Redmond!  The boys continue to run a good and positive race.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win it all.

Coming in third, Brooke and Scott!  Team Whiny is still in the race.  It’s funny that they’re doing well but they both always look absolutely miserable about having to spend any time together.

Coming in fourth, London and Logan!  London and Logan have somehow not been eliminated yet, despite always being in the back of the pack.  They’re a lucky team.  What if they somehow win?  Stranger things have happened.

Coming in firth, Becca and Floyd!  Team Fun finally won me over.  Actually, to be honest, Floyd won me over and Becca’s kind of along for the ride.

Coming in sixth, Michael and Liz!  Bye, guys.  You had some good moments but there’s only so much time anyone can spend listening to Michael complain.

There’s four legs of the race left and we’ve only got five teams.  That means that we’ve got one more non-elimination leg coming up.  Despite struggling last night, I think Team Fun will make it to the finale.  I also think that Brooke and Scott will be the next to be eliminated, followed by London and Logan.  It’s just a feeling I have.

So, here’s my prediction for the finale:

Coming in third, Becca and Floyd.

Coming in second, Tara and Joey.

Coming in first, Matt and Redmond.

We’ll see if I’m right!

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.7 “Have Fun and Get It Done”

Last night’s episode of The Amazing Race was a bit anti-climatic, just because it turned to be a non-elimination leg.  Even though Michael and Liz came in last, they were not eliminated.  Instead, they’ll just have to do a speed bump during the next leg of the race.

It’s interesting that, both times that Liz and Michael have come in last, it’s been a non-elimination leg.  Michael and Liz obviously have a lot of luck on their side and they need it because they’re always either great or terrible.  There’s no in-between when it comes to Liz and Michael.  For a while, I thought that Liz and Michael might make it to the finale.  After watching them over the past few legs, I’ve decided that they’ll probably finish in fourth place.  In many ways, they’re a strong team but they’re hardly perfect.  Liz occasionally get overwhelmed.  Whenever he gets frustrated, Michael turns into a stubborn jerk.  They’re strong enough to survive multiple legs but I don’t know if they’re strong enough to make it to the end.

As for the rest of last night’s episode, it was dominated by the beauty of Venice and some rather foolish melodrama over London and Logan not helping the other teams.  I always find it silly when teams get upset when another team doesn’t stick around to help them.  It’s a race.  You can’t win a race if you’re constantly stopping to help your competitors.  Michael’s constant whining — and there’s really no other way to describe it — about London and Logan not helping him made me lose some respect for him as a competitor.

That said, I’m always happy whenever the Amazing Race reaches Venice.  I spent the summer after high school graduation in Italy and I absolutely love Venice.  Last night’s episode brought back a lot of good memories.

Here’s how the teams did, in order of their finish:

Coming in first, Matt and Redmond!  They finally got their first place finish.  Perhaps it helped that they were no longer being distracted by their feud with Vanck and Ashton.

Coming in second, Becca and Floyd!  I’ve grown to actually like Floyd but Becca still drives me up the wall.  At least Becca has stopped talking about her fun meter.

Coming in third, Tara and Joey!  Team Boring is still running a strong race.

Coming in fourth, Brooke and Scott!  Brooke is still annoying and Scott is still trying to grin and bear it.  That everyone was shocked by Brooke’s success at the Roadblock shows you how little regard the rest of the teams have for Team Brooke and Scott.

Coming in fifth, London and Logan!  Everyone got so upset over London and Logan not helping anyone else find the first clue in Venice but I probably wouldn’t have helped either.  It’s a race and they’re getting way too close to the end to worry about anyone other than themselves.  Considering that London and Logan have always been at the back of the pack, I don’t blame them for looking out for themselves.

Coming in sixth, Liz and Michael!  It was a non-eliminated but they’ll have to do an extra task during the next leg. Also, the next leg will feature a double u-turn.  So, they’re success will largely depend on Michael not overreacting and getting frustrated.  Good luck with that.

As always, we’ll see what happens next week!

Lisa Marie

 

The Amazing Race 29.6 “Double U-Turn Ahead”

There were two good things about tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race.

First off, the sixth leg of the race took the teams to Italy.  The summer after I graduated high school, I went to Italy so I spent this entire episode pointing at the TV and going, “I’ve been there!”  I’m sure that probably got annoying after a little while but Italy is a beautiful country and I have a lot of good memories of my trip.  It was nice to be reminded of that summer.

The other good thing was that it proved something that I’ve always said about this show.  If you live by the U-turn, you will eventually die by the U-turn.  Earlier in the race, for no particular reason, Vanck and Ashton used the U-turn on Matt and Redmond.  When that U-turn failed to knock their rivals out of the race, Ashton responded by taunting them over only coming in third at the end of the third leg.

Subsequently, Ashton has managed get on everyone’s nerves with her superior attitude.  She has also treated her partner with almost nonstop disdain, constantly complaining about having to run the race with him.  While I can understand not wanting to race with Vanck (because, let’s be honest, he just gives off a creepy vibe), Vanck was her partner.  She was stuck with him.  All the complaining in the world wasn’t going to change that and, at the very least, Vanck was still a better partner to Ashton than Shamir was to Sarah.

This episode, Ashton’s attitude finally came back to bite her.  In Italy, with a U-turn approaching, all of the other teams conspired to get Vanck and Ashton out of the race.  Liz and Michael u-turned Vanck and Ashton.  Becca and Floyd, who arrived right after, then u-turned Liz and Michael knowing that Liz and Michael would not be affected by it and that, as a result, only Vanck and Ashton would have to do both tasks of the detour.

From the minute Vanck and Ashton were detoured, it was pretty much over for them.  They were already running behind and, as soon as they saw that they would have to do both tasks, they seemed to give up.  I would feel bad for them if not for the way Ashton had treated everyone else.  I hate to see people gang up once team but, in this case, Ashton and Vanck brought it on themselves.

Karma.  Don’t mess with it.

As for how the others team did, here they are in order of finish:

Becca and Floyd came in first!  They call themselves Team Fun and I know a lot of people love them but I think I would go insane if I had to spend more than five minutes in the presence of either one of them.  Positive energy is good in theory but sometimes, you need a break from the relentless joy.

Matt and Redmond came in second!  They’re both obviously frustrated by the fact that they have yet to get a first place finish but they’re running a strong race and I do think they might very well end up winning it all.  They work well together and they have no obvious weaknesses.  Tonight, it was just a matter of luck that Becca and Floyd reached the mat first.

Tara and Joey came in third.  Team Boring is still running strong.

Liz and Michael came in fourth.  They’ve got a way to go to return to their former glory but at least Liz and Michael are actually talking to each other again.  They’re either going to be put the last leg’s meltdown behind them or it’s going to happen again and they’ll end up being eliminated.

Brooke and Scott came in fifth.  I pretty much lost what little patience I had for Brooke tonight.  Her partner has twice conquered his crippling fear of heights.  Tonight, Brooke was the one who had to climb a mountain and look for a clue and, as always happens whenever she has to do something difficult, Brooke’s response was to have an emotional meltdown.  I mean, I’m scared of heights too but sometimes, you have to stop whining and just do whatever has to be done.  Brooke and Scott have been consistently in the back of the pack so, if they don’t get it together, they’re not going to be around much longer.

Logan and London came in sixth.  London and Logan should be a strong team but, for whatever reason, they have yet to move up in the rankings.  So far, over the course of six legs, they have finished: 8th twice, 5th three times, and now in 6th.  I’ve grown to like London and Logan but there’s only so many times you can narrowly avoid finishing last.

And finally, in seventh, Vanck and Ashton!  Sorry, y’all.  It’s always good to have a villain on any reality show but no one actually wants to see the villains stick around for too long.  With the season halfway over, it was time for Vanck and Ashton to get their comeuppance and move on.

Next week, they’re in Venice!

Ah, what wonderful memories.

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.4 “Another One Bites The Dust” and 29.5 “Have Faith In Me, Borski”

Last night, we had two episodes of the Amazing Race.  During the first episode, the racers remained in Tanzania and it ended with an elimination.  During the second episode, the remaining teams went to Norway and the episode ended with Phil announcing, at the Pit Stop, that the leg was only halfway over and, as such, the final team to arrive was not eliminated.

There was nothing that surprising about what happened in Tanzania.  It was a tough leg but, for the most part, the teams that have been doing well continued to do well and the teams that have been struggling continued to struggle.  I don’t think anyone was shocked when Sara and Shamir were eliminated.  Ever since Shamir’s breakdown in Brazil, that teams had been obviously doomed.  I felt bad for Sarah.  She seemed like a strong competitior but she got stuck with a terrible partner.  It definitely wasn’t fair to her.

The Norway leg of the race was a lot more fun to watch than the Tanzania leg.  Norway is a beautiful country and the detour with the trolls was really cute.  What was shocking about Norway was that, after working so well together, Liz and Michael had a complete meltdown.  They stopped communicated.  They started arguing.  Michael got his feelings hurt because he wasn’t in charge.  Even when they discovered that they had not been eliminated from the race, they stood at the mat arguing.  Will these two be able to continue?  I think they will, if just because they’re both racing for their families.  But they’ve got to get over being mad at each other or they’re doomed.

Here’s some thoughts on the racers, in order of their finish in Norway:

Tara and Joey — After coming in first in both Tanzania and Norway, Tara and Joey are suddenly the new front-runners.  Personality-wise, they’re still pretty bland but they’re running a good race.

Matt and Redmond — They came in fourth in Tanzania and second in Norway.  That first place finish continues to elude them but I still wouldn’t be surprised to see them win.

Becca and Floyd — Team fun is coming on strong!  Becca and Floyd did not annoy me as much as they usually do.  They came in 2nd in Tanzania and 3rd in Norway, despite doing the fast forward.

Vanck and Ashton — Team Unlikable.  After taunting Matt and Redmond about always coming in third, Vanck and Ashton came in 6th in Tanzania and 4th in Norway.  Vanck still seems to be off in his own little world most of the time.  Ashton has managed to annoy everyone and she is probably going to get her team u-turned.

London and Logan — They came in fifth in Tanzania and 5th in Norway.  They haven’t had any major missteps but they have yet to really show themselves to be the type of team that will make it to the end.

Brooke and Scott — They came in seventh in Tanzania and 6th in Norway.  With Shamir and Scott gone, Brooke and Scott are the new dysfunctional team.  Scott is regularly conquering his fear of heights.  Brooke had a nervous breakdown because she had to make a ladle.

Liz and Michael — Third in Tanzania and then 7th in Norway!  As soon as they got to Europe, Liz and Michael had an epic meltdown.  They stopped communicating.  They stopped working together.  They’ve got to get it together as they will be the next to go.  I put most of the blame on Michael, who can’t handle not being in charge.  He nearly sacrificed their race for his ego.

And finally…

Shamir and Sara — Eliminated in Tanzania.  No one was surprised.  Poor Sara.

That’s it for now!  We’ll see what happens next week,

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.3 “Bucket List Type Stuff”

Things change quickly on The Amazing Race.

At the end of the first leg, I thought that Seth and Olive were the team to beat and that Liz and Michael were obviously doomed.  Now, two legs later, Seth and Olive have been eliminated and Liz and Michael are quickly emerging as the team to beat.

Last night’s episode saw our teams going from Brazil (home of my friend, Alexandre Rothier — hi, Alex, if you’re reading!) to Tanzania.  The episode also saw this season’s first appearance of a Blind Double U-Turn.  Ashton and Vanck used the U-Turn on Matt and Redmond, largely because Ashton is still mad over … well, nothing.  (Ashton is convinced that Matt and Redmond went back on a promise they had made but the fact of the matter is that, when Matt and Redmond arrived at that travel office, Ashton was nowhere to be seen and…AGCK!  I get annoyed just writing about it.)  Tara and Joey used the U-turn on Seth and Olive and essentially knocked them out of the race.

This was supposed to be a blind U-turn but it didn’t work out that way.  Matt and Redmond figured out that Ashton and Vanck u-turned them and, since Ashton and Vanck were the 2nd team to arrive at the u-turn, that meant that the first team — Tara and Joey — must have u-turned Seth and Olive.

Matt and Redmond were not happy about being u-turned and they quickly showed how scary a team they can actually be.  They not only flew through both tasks in the detour but then managed to finish in fourth place.  For no good reason, Ashton and Vanck have now made permanent enemies.

Seth and Olive were less successful.  In fact, they almost seemed to give up once they saw that they were u-turned.  A final mistake — Seth deciding to run to the pit stop instead of taking a taxi — sealed their last place finish.  Despite the fact that there was a delay in checking in Becca and Floyd (as a result of Floyd temporarily misplacing his passport), Seth and Olive were eliminated from the race.

Here’s how each team finished, along with a few thoughts:

In first place, Liz and Michael.  After a terrible first leg, they are working well together and are now the new front-runners to win it all.  Who would’ve guessed?

In second place, Tara and Joey.  They’re not an exciting team but they are emerging as a strong one.  Playing the U-turn paid off for them.

In third place, Vanck and Ashton.  They’ve run two good legs but it’s hard not to feel that they’re about to fall apart.  Ashton is way too hung up on Matt and Redmond’s supposed betrayal.  Meanwhile, Vanck remains as detached as ever.

In fourth, Matt and Redmond.  In must be said, Matt and Redmond went a little bit overboard when it came to getting upset about the U-turn.  It really is just a part of the game.  But it was hard not to be impressed by the fact that the U-turn didn’t even slow them down.  They are a scary team and definitely contenders to win it all.

In fifth, London and Logan.  So far, they’ve shown no personality but they’re just so pretty!

In sixth, Brooke and Scott.  They seem like they a strong team but they are perennially stuck in the back of the pack.

In seventh, Shamir and Sara.  I’m tempted to call them Team Whiny Little Bitch but that’s not fair to Sara.  There’s only one whiny little bitch in this team and it’s not her.  Sara’s strong but she’s found herself stuck with one of the worst partners in the history of the Amazing Race.  What’s funny is that, every time they check in, you can tell that Phil absolutely loathes Shamir.

In eighth, Becca and Floyd!  They would have been in fifth place but Floyd misplaced his passport.  Oh, how I was hoping to see Team Fun eliminated.

In ninth, Seth and Olive.  Bye bye, former front runners.

Who will be eliminated next?  I’m going to guess Shamir and Sara because it’s going to have to happen at some point.  Poor Sara.

Lisa Marie

 

The Amazing Race 29.2 “Scared Spitless”

Jessie, Francesca, and Phil

Hi, everyone!

Last night, my experience with the Amazing Race was a little bit choppy because the show kept getting interrupted with special news reports.  However, though I may have missed a few little scenes, I saw enough to write about the episode.

For instance, I can tell you right now that I am ashamed of myself for ever thinking that Shamir might be a contender to win this season.  Oh my God, what a wimp!!!!!  “The harness was uncomfortable!”  Well, guess what?  Being suspended in the air over a city is going to be uncomfortable.  Sitting in the ambulance and crying about it is not going to change that.  Apparently, he was willing to give up his chance at the money just because he didn’t think it was fair that he should be uncomfortable.  What Shamir, in his self-centered way, didn’t consider was that he wasn’t just screwing up his chance to win the money.  He was also screwing up Sara’s chance as well.

That’s one reason why I don’t like the idea of strangers being forced to race together.  In all probability, Sara would never have agreed to race with Shamir if she had know what a whiny little baby he is.  I doubt anyone would have voluntarily raced with Shamir.  But now, she’s stuck with him.

When they reached the finish line, Phil did his best to encourage them to put their hard day behind them and move on.  Sara was in tears.  Shamir kept complaining about the harness.  If Shamir quits, does that mean that Sara’s race is over as well?  Or could they maybe give Sara a new partner?  I doubt it.  It wouldn’t be fair to the other teams to let someone switch a partner.  But, at the same time, it just doesn’t feel fair that Sara, who is a strong competitor, is stuck with Shamir.

Anyway, here’s my thoughts on how the rest of the teams did.  As always, the teams are listed in order of how they finished the latest leg of the race:

Liz and Michael — Wow!  I seriously thought that Liz and Michael were doomed but they came from behind and came in first!  It’s nice to see that they apparently learned from the mistakes that they made during the previous leg of the race.  They went from being the weakest team to potentially being one of the strongest.

Vanck and Ashton — Double wow!  I seriously thought these two were even more obviously doomed than Liz and Michael.  From having a meltdown during the last leg, they came in second this leg.  That said, their “feud” with Matt and Redmond reminded me of why I’m still not a huge fan of Vanck and Ashton.  It’s a race.  No one is under any obligation to do anyone a favor.

Matt and Redmond — Team Bro is still running strong.  They came in third and Redmond even made a funny joke about why he wanted to win the second leg.  (It involved the fact that he only has one leg.)

Seth and Olive — Still running strong.  The fact that they didn’t come in first this time is probably a good thing, believe it or not.  A fourth place finish will keep this strong team from getting overconfident.

Becca and Floyd — TEAM FUN!  Oh my god, they’re just having so much fun!  Bleh.

Brooke and Scott — Brooke and Scott seem to be doing better.  That said, they went from 4th to 6th.  There’s only so many times you can fall back in the rankings before you’re eliminated.

Tara and Joey — 6th last week.  7th this week.  They’re moving in the wrong direction.

London and Logan — 8th last week.  8th this week.  They’re pretty and consistent!

Shamir and Sara — Poor Sara.  They went from being in a good position to barely avoiding elimination and Shamir never seemed to understand that it was literally all his fault.

Jessie and Francesca — One was tall.  One was short.  I was never sure which was which.  And they’ve been eliminated.  At least they had fun without turning into Team Fun.

Will Liz and Michael’s luck continue?  Will Shamir ever start acting like a man or will Sara have to spend the rest of the race begging him to stop crying like little baby?

We’ll find out next week!

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 29.1 “We’re Coming For You, Phil!”

After being off the air for over a year, The Amazing Race is finally back!

The Amazing Race has never quite gotten the buzz (or the ratings) of Survivor but I’m glad that it’s back.  I’ve always liked The Amazing Race, largely because my sister Erin and I have always jokingly talked about trying out for the show.  Beyond that, I love seeing all the countries that the teams go to.  I love seeing which teams can work together and which teams fall apart.  And I love Phil.  He’s a great host.  Much as how the snarky Jeff Probst is the perfect host for Survivor, the always compassionate Phil is the perfect host for The Amazing Race.

That said, I worry about The Amazing Race.  I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be around.  I suspect that the ratings are suffering because the show’s frequently been switched around on the schedule.  As well, the previous few seasons have been gimmicky in a way that the show never was in the past.  There was one season where The Amazing Race turned into a dating show.  And then, that was followed by a season where everyone was a social media superstar.

This season, the gimmick is that the teams are made up of strangers.  Everyone showed up in Los Angeles and, after running a race through the streets of L.A., they got to pick their partners.  Everyone was making their pick based on first impressions.  No one knew anyone before selecting them.  They’ll be getting to know each other during the race.

Which, to me, kind of misses what made The Amazing Race so special in the first place.  The fun thing about The Amazing Race was watching people with a history try to work together as they raced across the world.  The fun was watching marriages collapse, friendships fall apart, and siblings become closer.  That’s gone now.

With all that in mind, last night’s episode was good enough.  We met the racers.  We got to know some of them.  The first leg of the race took them to Panama, where almost all of them got lost and struggled with the detour.  As always, one team came in first and one team was eliminated.  In this case, the eliminated team was eliminated as the result of a time penalty.

Here are a few thoughts on the teams, in order of their finish.  Keep in mind that we still don’t know a lot about these people so these thoughts aren’t going to be particularly in-depth.  Hopefully, that will change as we get to know these people:

Coming in first, Seth and Olive!  Seth is a cop.  Olive is a fire fighter.  They bonded as soon as they met and worked really well together.  They are the early front-runners.

Coming in second, Becca and Floyd!  Becca and Floyd are Team Fun and they annoy the Hell out of me.  Becca is every teeth-grindingly annoying tour guide that you’ve ever had to deal with.

Coming in third, Matt and Redmond!  Matt’s a snowboarder.  Redmond has one leg.  Together, they solve crimes.  No, actually, they are this season’s bro team.  They seem like they’ll be a strong, physical team.

Coming fourth, Brooke and Scott!  Brooke and Scott finished well but still spent most of their time fighting.  When Phil asked Scott if he regretted picking Brooke, Scott may have said no but his body language said yes.

Coming in fifth, Shamir and Sara.  Shamir and Sara both seem to be really likable.  That’s pretty much the only impression they made.

Coming in sixth, Tara and Joey!  Tara’s a drill sergeant.  Joey’s a cop.  Tara picked Joey despite the fact that he was the last one to arrive in Los Angeles.  They worked well together but I don’t see this team making it far in the race.  Joey doesn’t seem to be that smart.

Coming in seventh, Vanck and Ashton!  Vanck is socially awkward.  Ashton won’t stop talking.  These two are doomed.

Coming in eighth, London and Logan!  They’re both just so pretty.  I’m Team London because we’re both artists.

Coming in ninth, Jessie and Francesca.  They fought in Los Angeles but they got along famously in Panama.

Coming in tenth, Liz and Michael.  I have a bad feeling about these two.  Liz is neurotic.  Michael is a bearded butcher who doesn’t know how to talk to people.  They would have been eliminated if not for the fact that another team got a penalty.

Coming in eleventh, and getting eliminated, Jenn and Kevin!  Jenn was a model.  Kevin was an athletic trailer.  They both had great hair but no sense of direction.  They got lost in Panama.  They had to leave the Detour when the sun went down and it became to dangerous to compete.  They managed to beat Michael and Liz to the pit stop but, because they couldn’t do the detour, they got hit with a two hour penalty.  They were the first to be eliminated.  It had to happen to someone.

So, as of right now, Seth and Olive seem to be the definite front-runners to win it all.  We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie