The Amazing Race: Congrats to the hippies!

I don’t need to say much more other than, “I knew it!”  When the final three was established, we all knew TK and Rachel would be the winners.  We were given a scare though, because as usual Ronald and Christina proved me wrong by holding on to their lead for most of the race.  It wasn’t until the roadblock that they showed any signs of weakness.  This was one of the more challenging roadblocks this season, and I’m glad for it.  If I had to sit through one more “challenge” that didn’t require any stamina or strong will, I think I might have quit watching the show altogether.  The roadblocks and detours were becoming less task oriented and more sightseeing oriented.  It was making me think that I could win The Amazing Race without a partner!  Anyway, the roadblock made use of logic and memory (a deadly combination for some).  Christina looked like she was off to an excellent start because she had only one of the ten items on her stage incorrect.  I knew it was over the moment she started praying to God and talking to God instead of buckling down and getting to the task at hand.  As soon as Rachel announced she would do the roadblock, I knew she would be win it for the team.  She proved that she wasn’t intimidated of puzzles in the leg of the race that required them to put something together (What kind of blog is this?  I can’t even remember what the puzzle is!  All I know is that it was a replica of something…).  She finished the task by staying calm, which is something both she and TK did the whole race.  They proved again, just like BJ and Tyler, that hippies always have the edge.  

Calm, cool, and collected.

The Amazing Race: We have our final three!

Let’s all give a round of applause to Nate and Jennifer for almost making it to the final three.  I never thought they’d make it past the first round with the way they freaked out over those donkeys way back when, but they somehow managed to beat the odds (and not each other).  Week after week and meltdown after meltdown, I was sure they would be ousted sooner rather than later.  Who knew that behind the arguing and whining was a fairly competent couple of world travelers?  When I found out it was Jen’s birthday, I was confident that would mean no fighting on this leg of the race, but it just wasn’t meant to be.  Before I write my last words ever about Nathan and Jennifer, what was up with that ridiulous sequence at the end of the episode with Nate in tears and Jen staring at him?  Are we to believe that they’re going to try and make it work (Tim Gunn, they need your enthusiasm!)?  Anyway, here’s my prediction for who will finish first and take home the ultimate prize.

The winners should be…..TK and Rachel.  They overcame a 3+ hour deficit and a speed bump to come in 2nd last night.  It wasn’t an easy task either, especially since both the roadblock and detour didn’t seem all that time consuming or difficult.  The thing that gives this team the edge is their ability to stay relatively calm.  No other team is able to think that clearly that consistently. 

Second place will probably go to Ronald and Christina.  He’s really improved his attitude and behavior towards Christina, and it’s really showing.  They’ve been first a few times (this week makes two in a row).  Ultimately though, I think the stress of being in the finals and racing for a million dollars will catch up to Ronald.  Watch for him to revert back to his old ways of criticizing and browbeating. 

That leaves Nick and Don in last place.  They’ve done a spectacular job thus far, and I am really impressed at Don’s ability to keep up with people less than half his age.  It’s actually kind of inspiring, and I can only hope that when I turn 68 or 69, I will still be up for racing around the world and getting tattoos.  Sometimes this duo doesn’t make the best decisions, and I have seen them just barely skate by.  They don’t play a clean enough game to win because we all know you have to be flawless in the finals to win. 

Who do you want to win?  Do you think the Nick and Don can win? 

The Amazing Race: Where are TK and Rachel?

I’ll cut right to the chase with this post.  Of course it was a non-elimination leg.  There are only two and there’s only been one so far, and simple deductions will tell us that the non-elimination would happen before they made it to the final three.  Although, it’s fun to ponder the possibilities of having the final non-elimination leg in what the racers believe to be THE final.  How funny would it be to have Nate and Jen finish first in what they believe to be the final, only to have Phil and some “native” dressed in local costume say “Welcome to such and such” and Phil say “Nate and Jen, you are the first team to arrive!”  I know that Nate’s little pea brain wouldn’t be able to comprehend and he’d be wondering, “Where are all the teams to congratulate uuuuuuussssssss (supposed to convey his whiny voice)?!”  We can only dream about that becoming a reality.

I was hoping that TK and Rachel’s flight would come in before the other three teams, but when I found out it had two layovers, I had my doubts.  How many times have on the race have we seen later flights land first?  Also, where were they purchasing their tickets?  I thought they were going to a random hotel, but it looked like something way more official.  Does some random guy come in with your tickets in a sealed envelopes in all the hotels there?  Anyway, they ended up being dead last and over 3 hours behind all the other teams.  Of course, we should know not to worry because I am sure they will catch up just fine at the airport.

Also, last night marked the second time in a row that Nate and Jen came out acting all lovey dovey and at ease with one another.  Of course, we should know that this behavior would not last for long.  I find it remarkable that Nate and Jen haven’t murdered each other yet during the mandatory breaks.  These two clearly despise one another.  I just wonder when they’re going to realize it.  Also, what are your thoughts on the infamous shove into the car?  Did Nate really push Jen into the taxi?  If he did, does anyone doubt for a second that Jen would retaliate by kicking him in the balls? 

I am hoping that TK and Rachel can recover from the speed bump and the 3 hour deficit so they have a chance at the million.  I would also love to see Nick and Don in the final as well.  As for the last spot in the final three, I am torn.  I don’t believe that Ronald has miraculously changed overnight, but at the same time I don’t want Christina punished for having an overbearing father.  Also, I hate Nate and Jen, but their bickering is so funny to watch.  Also, I would hate for them to win a million dollars because it would only make their negative qualities that much worse.  There’s a universal rule (in my book) that people with entitlement issues (especially if they’re whiny) should never ever be awarded large sums of money.

The Amazing Race: It wasn’t even because of the speed bump

Kynt and Vyxsen were eliminated on Sunday’s episode of The Amazing Race.  However, as the title suggests, the speed bump is not to be blamed.  I blame panic and failing to think through a situation properly.  Before we get to Kynt and Vyxsen’s costly error, let’s discuss the other teams for a moment.  Did anyone else think for a moment that Nathan and Jennifer would go one leg of the race without bickering and fighting with one another?  I wasn’t fooled by their smiling faces and talk of reconciliation during the last pit stop.  It’s all too easy to set either of those two off, and this time it was random dogs that did Jennifer in.  I should also mention that these two can never seem to concentrate on their OWN task.  They are constantly watching the other teams and worrying about who is finished.  If they paid that much attention to their own progress, they would be alot better off.  These two are just plain toxic for each other, and I hope that they break it off after the race.  I just don’t see how they ever got together in the first place.

TK and Rachel bounced back this week with a nice first place finish and a trip for two to St. Maarten.  All I can say is that is better than a catamaran or whatever it was that Ronald and Christina won the other week.  TK and Rachel, I think, are the best bet to win.  Hippies seem to have generally good luck in the race and are well-suited to deal with the stressful situations (just look at BJ and Tyler’s triumph over the frat rats from Season 9).  I know that in the past I have accused Ronald of being annoying, overbearing, and rude, but he really is full of good quotes.  I can’t tell you how many times in the past week I have exclaimed, “Don’t be so cheap with the paste!!”  I am not sure what I find so funny about that comment.  It might be the way he accused his daughter of being stingy with the unnecessarily large bucket of paste they were given to hang up a traditional Bollywood poster.  Donald and Nick continued to prove me wrong by finishing second.  I really felt for Nick as he had to hand carry three tanks of propane up five flights of stairs.  I thought all teams were delivering to the same buildings, but I don’t think that was the case because Jennifer and Kynt were fortunate enough to have elevators in the buildings they delivered to.  Donald and Nick are my pick to take second place. 

Back to Kynt and Vyxsen and their tragic mistake.  Not u-turning the only team they had seen the entire race is completely beyond my comprehension.  Why would they choose to u-turn a team that has been consistently finishing near the top of the leader board week after week?  Also, they knew they were in a close race with Nathan and Jennifer.  It made the most sense to u-turn them.  Had they made it past this round, they would have been a shoo-in to make the final 3. 

According to my calculations (very basic ones), I think there is still one non-elimination leg left?  Is there any doubt that the next episode will be a non-elimination?  Who do you think will win The Amazing Race?   

The Amazing Race: New rules

For weeks I’ve been watching team after team get eliminated, all the while wondering if this was this week of a non-elimination leg.  On Sunday night, we finally had one.  This race is all about new rules, actual and theoretical.  The new “actual” rules consist of only 2 non-elimination legs (the first of which happened on Sunday), one fast forward (the only of which was used on Sunday),  and perhaps the most notable change of all, the “punishment” for being last in a non-elimination leg.  In races of the past, the team to come in last during a non-elimination leg were made to give up all their belongings (except the clothes on their backs) and all of their money.  Eventually in later seasons, some teams would sense that a non-elimination leg was getting close, and if they knew they were last, they would put on as much clothing as possible.  I guess Betram felt that this was too harsh because it was changed a few seasons ago.  Instead of giving up clothes, they would face a 30 minute time penalty if they did not finish first.  Apparently that was not working out for Betram either because on Sunday night they introduced the “speed bump.”  A speed bump is a task that the team who finishes last in a non-elimination leg must complete on their next leg.  The task will be unannounced and could cause them to fall very far behind the other teams.  I like this change because it follows the show’s formula really well.  Taking away money and belongings never seemed to fit the rest of the race.  Also, most teams would end up begging locals for money and end up with more than they had before. 

Now that the new “actual” rules are out of the way, let’s get to the new “theoretical” rules.  Who says you have to be a young and strong team to be successful?  In seasons past, the teams with older members were always the ones at a disadvantage, but this season they are proving to be strong players.  Take the two most recent first place finishers–Nick and Don and Ronald and Christina.  Nick and Don proved this week that just because Don is a grandpa and over 60 years old doesn’t mean they’re a shoo-in to be eliminated.  They showed great judgment in going for the fast forward and didn’t chicken out when they got there and found out they had to get the letters “FF” (fast forward) forever inked on their bodies.  Oddly enough, they weren’t the ones in danger of elimination.  In a strange turn of events, Kynt and Vyxsen, a strong team, were lucky enoughed to be saved from elimination.  The winners of The Amazing Race 13 might not be anyone we would have suspected. 

The Amazing Race: An Alternate Universe

Something very strange happened on last night on The Amazing Race.  Ronald and Christina, not only managed to survive getting eliminated, but managed to score a first place finish on last night’s leg of the race.  What?  The team eliminated, Azaria and Hendekea, were probably this season’s best bet to win the whole thing, but because of a combination of bad luck and indecision, they found themselves in last place.  I thought maybe it was a non-elimination leg because there are supposedly three of them, and considering we’re down to 6 teams and we haven’t seen one yet, it was a fair assumption.  So, what exactly was everyone else doing to allow a weak team like Ronald and Christina to take first place?  Let’s examine:

Kynt and Vyxsen were the second place finishers last night, and they didn’t really do anything majorly wrong.  They took slightly longer at the road block (finding the right brick to go into a wall) than the other teams.  They also decided to take the longer detour which required less physical prowess, but required the teams to navigate through the confusing streets. 

Nathan and Jennifer finished third, but they should have been second.  Interestingly, they continue to not really make any major mistakes, but for some reason they can’t seem to get it together.  Maybe it’s their incessant bickering and Nathan’s constant whining.  Seriously, this is the whiniest guy I have ever seen on television in my entire life.  Jennifer also failed to show signs of being an adult after she wailed on and on about how unfair it was that the taxi refused to take them to the pit stop because they were wet. 

TK and Rachel finished fourth, but had their flight been on time, I think they would have come in first place.  They are a solid team, and they manage to stay calm in most situations.  Donald and Nick came in fifth.  I have to say that Donald is definitely the stronger player despite his age.  I thought that it was nice of Nick to say they should do the shorter detour that required more strength so that Donald could rest.  I thought that meant Nick would do the rowing, but apparently resting meant having Donald row while Nick criticized.  As mentioned earlier, Azaria and Hendekea were eliminated because they failed to make sure their airline ticket was economy, not business class. 

Are you as surprised as I am about the first place finish for Ronald and Christina?  Can they keep it up?  Who do you think will win?  Check back for my odds later this week!

Back in the swing of things….

I am back from vacation and ready to discuss!  I have about a million episodes of shows to watch, and in the interest of not falling behind, I have made the difficult decision to skip all reality programming (with the exception of the one episode of Project Runway that I missed).  Last night was the first time I didn’t mind the recap they always  show at the beginning of the Amazing Race.  I was surprised to see that Jason and Lorena were eliminated.  She had the mother of all meltdowns the week before, but I thought they would be able to bounce back.  Also, there seem to be so many weak teams this season.  Nick and Don, Ronald and Christina, and Nathan and Jennifer (because they can’t keep their nasty thoughts about each other to themselves) are just a few that come to mind.  I guess the camels were enough to drive Lorena completely insane. 

Anyway, last night’s episode was a little slow in my opinion.  I noticed that both the roadlock and detour were not that challenging, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it’s because they wasted about 15 minutes with airport drama.  Which team won’t make the flight?  Will the short layover cause Team A to miss their connecting flight and put them dangerously far behind the rest of the teams?  Please, Bertram!  We all know that everyone will get to the destination within 45 minutes to an hour of each other!  The roadblock only seemed to trip up young Nick who could not locate a salon.  When asked who was a good listener, I immediately thought that Ronald would be sunk, but even he thrived during the roadblock.

The detour was a little bit more challenging, that is if you consider counting a challenge.  However, if you’re Blondies 2, and you’re “good at counting,” then counting the number of fence posts should have been a piece of cake.  By the way, what is the deal with arrogantly and smugly proclaiming that you’re “good at counting?”  It’s like saying you’re good at breathing, something that should just come naturally.  Apparently, Shanna or Jennifer or whichever one said they were good at counting, was overestimating her ability because they were eliminated.  I knew it was an elimination round despite the dramatic pause from Phil at the pit stop.  I know it’s supposed to be “random,” but I think we all know that nothing about this race is random (including the way people manage to just make a flight).  The rest of the teams fared predictably in the detour.  Nathan and Jennifer insulted and yelled at one another like five year olds, Ronald’s hernia was acting up again, TK and Rachel did well (effortlessly) again, and Kynt and Vyxsen once again remarked about their outsider status. 

The Amazing Race: The Top Contenders

 Rather than blog about last night’s episode, I thought it would be more interesting to see how each team has been doing and who the strongest teams are.  Kynt and Vyxsin are the only team to finish in the top 4 each week.  Despite what some people may think, it doesn’t appear that they’ve let their makeup routine stop them from being consistently good.  Azaria and Hendekea are doing very well, also.  They have two top finishes, and we’re only in the third week.  These two will be tough to beat, especially since other teams that have finished near the top or at the top seem to get lost quite frequently or flustered quite easily.  TK and Rachel have been racing consistently, yet they seem to get fouled up with directions.  I feel like they’re always taking a wrong turn somewhere.  This could really hurt them in the last few legs of the race, when a few minutes is all that separates you from the win.  Nathan and Jennifer have been consistent these past two weeks, but I can’t help but see glimpses of the team they were in Week 1 coming out in the later rounds when stress becomes an even bigger factor.  The same thing can be said about Lorena and Jason.  Jason seems calm and collected, but he can only do so much.  Lorena’s emotional breakdown during last night’s milk the camel roadblock almost got them eliminated.  I don’t feel that any of the other teams really have what it takes to win the whole thing.  One of them might get into the top 3 or 4 by sheer luck, but they won’t win. 

What do you think?  Is it too early to have odds on who will win? 

The Amazing Race: Major Daddy issues

This week’s tasks seemed to fly by quickly, and as soon as the teams got going, it felt like they were already halfway to the pit stop.  The top 4 remained pretty much the same as well.  There was a little bit of a shuffle, but I think it’s safe to say we have this season’s contenders established already.  Coming in first place, with relatively no meltdowns or arguments were Lorena and Jason.  This week’s comeback kids were definitely Nate and Jen.  I wonder if they saw a video playback of their actions from last week and were scared into acting like a couple to each other.  In week 1, you’d think these two were bitter enemies, which might not be that far from the truth.  Nate did cheat on Jen after all, and I’ll be damned if there isn’t some sort of residual anger towards that on Jen’s part.  I was surprised that they had the good sense to switch roles during the detour task.  I thought for sure Nate would have continued to scream at Jen about not knowing how to tie knots and that they would ultimately self-destruct and watch every team pass them by, much like last week’s donkey debacle.  Interestingly, the team that showed the most frustration with one another in the furniture task was TK and Rachel.  He was clearly getting frustrated with her which was surprising because don’t hippies have a usually cool, calm demeanor? 

The rest of the teams were relatively uninteresting, with the exception of Ronald and Christina, the father/daughter duo.  My heart goes out to Christina, and I think I know why these two aren’t close.  Being in Ronald’s company for two minutes would make me want to strangle him.  His first offense of the night?  Putting in his two cents about Nick and Don’s rude behavior at the airline counter.  Granted, Nicolas was being a little rude when he asked the airline worker to hurry up, but we have seen MUCH worse from previous contestants.  Mirna and Schmirna hovering (and I mean hovering) over people and speaking to them like idiots in fake accents immediately come to mind.  Why did Ronald feel the need to confront Nicolas about this?  Who cares?  If what he is saying is true, that people are more likely to do favors for you if you’re nice, then he has nothing to worry about.  Ronald came across as this self-righteous, arrogant jerk who just likes to hear his own voice.  Plus his comment about cleaning out his earwax was totally gross and unnecessary.

After belittling his daughter (on national television), Ronald made the two of them back out of the furniture task in order to search through the bicycles even after numerous assurances from Christina that she could handle tying the knots.  During the bicycle search he remained negative and confrontational.  His “words of wisdom” made no sense, and I secretly hoped that Christina would shove him off the edge of the roof.  That would have made for some great television.  In the roadblock challenge, he kept pestering Christina about the right way to vault herself across the muddy swamp.  Finally she succeeded, and I have to wonder if Ronald noticed that she did not take his advice.  By some miracle, they didn’t finish last, and Ronald will live to annoy me for another week.  Here’s hoping that next week he gets run over by something, maybe that betrayed donkey from Week 1. 

Pat and Kate were eliminated this week, as expected.  I never thought these two would make it very far.  Neither one of them showed any penchant for world traveling, reading maps, or paying attention to detail.  I’m kind of glad these two were eliminated because it’s one less gimmicky team I have to stomach in a season of gimmicks. 

The Amazing Race: Don’t be an ass

It feels like a long time since the last Amazing Race.  Thanks to Viva Laughlin for being a dud.  Otherwise, I feel like we’d have to wait even longer for a new Amazing Race.  Where do I even begin?  I guess I’ll start with the introductions of everyone even though we basically knew everything they said about them in last night’s intros anyway.  The introduction that stands out the most in my mind is the one of Ronald and Christina: father and daughter.  Did anyone else hear that she wants to get to know her father (who is not yet 60) during the little time he has left?  Is he dying?  Does he have some terminal illness that we don’t know about?  I would think that if he did, the producers would have made a HUGE deal about it.  Since no one has mentioned it, the only thing I can think is that Christina is insane and thinks that since her father is almost 60 (gasp!!), he must not have much time left. 

Last night’s premiere was typical beginning round stuff.  They didn’t have to do anything too complicated (physically or mentally), and they didn’t have to travel to any countries where they would face a language barrier.  It was a leg of the race designed to showcase the weaknesses of some of the teams.  Right off the bat, we had teams splitting up and going different ways to get to the airport.  I wonder if the teams that went the wrong way initially ever consulted their maps before going anywhere.  I also wonder why, instead of honking incessantly, people didn’t take the time to review their map to ensure they would be going the right way.  Where are you in such a hurry to if you don’t even know where you’re going?  Who cares?  Let’s just go!!!

At the airport, we saw our first signs of an alliance.  Christina brought a laptop with her (why would someone do that?  aren’t they just going to have to lug it around everywhere?) and since they let Azaria and Hendekea (brother/sister team) use it, the latter responded by booking them a taxi for them.  Azaria also gave up a bed so that Ronald and Christina would have a place to sleep.  I didn’t really understand why the Amazing Race didn’t book enough rooms, but I suppose it was nice of him to do that.  Once the teams landed in Ireland, we saw the first signs of a weakness in Nathan and Jennifer.  These two are going to be nasty to each other.  They were bickering and yelling at one another over nothing.  I don’t feel too bad for them though, because they’re one of those teams that does the Amazing Race to see if they’re meant for each other. 

The funniest (and most telling) part of the episode was the task that required you to load up 2 baskets on a donkey and then lead your donkey down a path to receive your clue.  Most of the teams had no problem at all with this, but there were two teams in particular that just couldn’t get their donkeys to move.  Again, Nathan and Jennifer’s yelling proved to be a major liability because they watched almost all 1o teams pass them in the donkey challenge.  I think their donkey sensed that they were wretched people and thus refused to move.  Yelling and screaming in frustration only caused their poor donkey to make horrible noises.  Ari and Staella were the other team that had trouble.  I wonder if it had anything to do with pulling on the donkey, yelling at the donkey, and making threats to the donkey.  Christina said it best when she said in passing, “Donkeys have souls too.”  Yes, they do, and they will not respond kindly to phsyical abuse.  Something about the look on the face of the donkey combined with the horrible noises it was making made me want to call PETA and report the Amazing Race for being unecessarily cruel to these animals.  Actually, the whole thing got me going about the immorality of using animals for labor.  It was heartbreaking to see them being mistreated by such ignorant people.  In the end, I am glad that Ari and Staella were eliminated.  It was karma.  They had it coming. 

Who is your pick to win the whole thing?  Is it too early to tell?  Who do you think will be eliminated next?