The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race started up the other night. A few random thoughts: :: I never know teams by name this early on. In fact, I won’t know teams by name until half of them are gone. So I end up referring to them by characteristics or by things that happened to them. :: I like that the teams had to drive themselves to places. That was great. Most of th time over the last few seasons, teams are told to rely on taxis or the like. This really started to grate on me in the consecutive seasons (a regular one,Down the rabbit hole….

On last night’s The Amazing Race, my initial least-favorite team, a couple of bumpkins I dubbed Cletus and Lurleen, was eliminated, mainly because Lurleen lost her way walking down a mountain and found herself…someplace else. It actually seemed a bit of a shame, because after I hated this couple in the first episode, they were shown much more sympathetically in this episode. Of the remaining teams, I’m not sure who I now am actively rooting against — but I am most definitely rooting for Margie and Luke, the mother and her deaf son. I just think they’re terribly likable; itDown the rabbit hole….

So The Amazing Race launched its fourteenth go-round last night. I don’t have a great feel for anyone yet, except that I know I hate this “hillbilly” couple (they call themselves that, not me). The guy’s a nag, and the lady’s a whiner. I have dubbed them Cletus and Lurleen. Unfortunately, they made it through to next week. Hopefully they go quicker than the last bunch of “hillbillies” they had on the show, the West Virginia coal miners from a couple of seasons back. (I actually liked those two, in all honesty.) I liked how they cut down on allDown the rabbit hole….

Wow, I haven’t blogged The Amazing Race much at all this go-round, have I? The show’s as good as ever, but there weren’t any teams that I found really loathsome this time out (unlike, say, Dustin and Kandace from the last two seasons). My favorite team was Kynt and Vixen, the goths in black-and-pink, but they were eliminated two weeks ago when they made a colossal error in not U-Turning a team that they knew to be behind them. My least favorite was the couple eliminated last week, but basically all they did was bicker constantly and treat each otherDown the rabbit hole….

The Amazing Race starts tonight, with a whole new batch of racers. I’ve only been on the TAR bandwagon for about a year now, having now seen three seasons through (starting with those great hippies’ win). The downside? No Mirna, sadly. The upside? No Dustin-and-Kandice, whose antics made me think that the show’s rules should include “No having anyone drive you to your destination, no having anyone let you follow their car to their destination, and no having some local ride with you so they can point which way you should turn to get to your destination”. Obviously, I haveDown the rabbit hole….

How does The Amazing Race do it? I loathed Dustin and Kandice in TAR 10; now I’m actually starting to root for them. And damned if I’m not now actively rooting for Chirna and Marla (or is it Charla and Mirna)! Mirna (the tall one, I think) never shuts up, but her manner of speech is oddly hypnotic and frankly, I’m finding Mirna increasingly pretty. What is this show doing to me! GAHHH!! Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

I didn’t blog this the other night, but I was surprised to see Rob-and-Amber depart The Amazing Race. I didn’t like them and was glad to see them go, but I liked the fact that the first time the detour involved brains, they promptly tanked it. So, who are my remaining favorites? I don’t know. Dustin-and-Kandice are kinda winning me over, since they’re always fairly positive and since they have to figure things out themselves this year. (Was there a rule change to disallow having natives get in the car with the racers to show them where exactly to go?Down the rabbit hole….

Now we’re onto the “All-Stars” edition of The Amazing Race. Thus far I can only say this: Rob and Amber are evil and must be destroyed. Seriously: since they’ve been on Survivor twice and they’ve already been on The Amazing Race once, this is their fourth shot at winning a million bucks. Why doesn’t CBS just cut them a check and be done with it? Sheesh. Best exchange amongst contestants on tonight’s episode: “It sure is nice in Peru.” “That’s nice, but we’re in Ecuador.” Worst thing said by a contestant: “We need to go more ‘rapido’. Not less ‘rapido’.”Down the rabbit hole….