The 17th season of The Amazing Race started in Gloucester, Mass., and through the magic of television and the power of Phil Keoghan, it did not look like the Gloucester I know. I have good friends who live there and I don't recall it looking that, well, lush. But good for them. And the lobstermen who ferried the 11 teams in for the start.
Phil launches the season with an arched brow and the unveiling of the Express Pass, a little piece of paper that gives a team the chance to skip a task entirely. It could, Phil tells us, be the difference between going home and staying in. Which seems obvious to me but still. I'm thinking based on 16 seasons of watching this show that a piece of paper that allowed you to change your horrible cab driver into the world's greatest cab driver would be more valuable since that more often makes a difference in who finishes where.
The teams are: Brooke and Claire, shopping channel hostesses who shall be known as Melon Heads because of what happens to poor Claire in the English countryside; Chad and Stephanie, known as The Ring because he plans to propose to her during the race; Rachel and Katie, beach volleyball players form New Jersey, which somehow makes them less hot; Jonathan and Connor, Ivy League (Princeton?) a capella singers; Nat and Kat, surgeons and one diabetic; Michael and Kevin, an Asian-American father-son team who are apparently a YouTube sensation; Nick and Vicki, all tatted up and heretofore known as Dumb and Dumber ("Ah, yes," Phil says, "the country of London."); Ron and Tony, who I would call Biggie Smalls because of the difference in their sizes, but that seems wrong; Jill and Thomas, boyfriend and girlfriend; father and daughter Gary and Mallory, and she's Miss Kentucky and wakes up every day with a song in her heart; and Andie and Jenna, biological mom and daughter who have never met before.
The opening is sort of slow, as everyone has to get to Logan (not easy, we New Englanders know) and then from London to Stonehenge, in clown cars. From there we have one of those "clues" that they have to decipher and they must find their way to Eastnor Castle, a ways away.
And here many teams completely fall apart, because apparently they can't read road signs in English. This does not bode well for the rest of the race, when they are in places where English is a Ninth Language.
So at the castle they scale the wall while toothless Brits pour dirty water on them, and then "sail" across the moat in upside-down turtle shells, and then hurl watermelons at knight suits (and where Claire nearly decapitates herself with a back-shooting watermelon and then, because Brooke tells her to, finishes the task even though she has gone numb from the neck up) and then find Phil hanging in the woods with Robin and the boys.
Jill and Thomas are first, and they get the Express Pass, and then lots of others come in (my favorite part was when Dad and Son and Dad and Daughter came in together) and then, way, way, way, way, last are Ron and Tony and by week 3 we won't even remember they were here.
Next week we head to Ghana. I'm guessing the road signs are going to be more confusing than in England. How about you?
That's true; if that can't handle road signs written in English, what are they going to do the rest of the race? Sometimes I watch the challenges and think they seem a little too easy, but I like it when seemingly simple tasks prove to be more challenging. I laughed so hard with the little turtle shell boats sinking over and over! So far, am liking the lady Docs, and the Asian dad/son (not a big YouTube person so had never heard of them before). The blondies are one of those teams that will stay in all season and I will never know which is which. The bickering "newly dating couple" is getting old season after season, although where else would we get drama besides people driving lost for hours in the English countryside. Was glad the biomom/daughter got to stay in the race a little longer, but wonder why they seem to base their new relationship soley on the race? If they got booted last night, would that be the end of their reconciliation? If they want a relationship, they should be committed to making it work, regardless of the race (that goes for ding dong ring guy, too).
ReplyDelete@Jen: "ding dong ring guy" LOVE IT.
ReplyDeleteSome of these people are beyond comprehension. If I was going on AR, I'd brush up on my stickshift driving skills. And I LOVE how the people who proclaim "don't think I'm stupid" are always the dumbest.
ReplyDeleteHave been waiting for this blog! Now my day is complete. Love that you're on this again. No favorites yet, but I think this one has potential. Laughed out loud at the volleyballers being less hot because they are from NJ.
ReplyDeleteThose little boats are called "currachs" and shows what lousy engineers the ancient Britons were - I've heard that they did not know how to build a straight road until the Romans showed them how... and then forgot after the Romans left. Ron/Tony apparently drove for HOURS without asking directions: reinforce the male stereotype, why doncha? Please call the Ivy Leaguer team "The Gleeks" - they were feeble during the first half but came on strong in the second half.
ReplyDeleteI remember Michael and Keven posted a Youtube video about the turtle shell boats. It was funny seeing everyone fail in those.
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