Nick and Starr Win the Amazing Race 13

After racing 30,000 miles across 5 continents, Nick & Starr beat Ken & Tina to the finish mat in Portland, OR. It was an exciting episode with lots of opportunity for teams to excel and shake up the standings. Ken & Tina made a strong case for winning the race, but in the end lost time searching the 150 clue boxes. Nick & Starr took advantage and sprinted ahead, never looking back.

Andrew & Dan continued their bumbling ways, finding a lousy cab driver, and removing themselves from contention so early in the race, that they were off screen for half the episode. Made for a nice change from previous weeks where we had to listen to them argue and bumble their way through the legs.

With this race over, it’s time to celebrate the holidays, then start looking forward to the premiere of season 14. Until then, Merry Christmas!

Episode 13.3: Reading is Fundamental

On this weeks episode of “Why Reading is Important”, Mark & Bill provide our object lesson in clue reading. As the racers leave Fortaleza, Brazil, they head to the airport to catch flights to La Paz, Bolivia where they choose between a band and a very uncomfortable bicycle before having to wrestle women for the pit stop clue.

It was apparent 5 minutes into the episode that we were going to be packed full of tension as the normal airport jockeying was reduced to Phil’s voiceover, and two lines on the Amazing Map. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you know you’re in for a good episode.

And the rest of the episode didn’t disappoint. The race to the Detour clue ended anti-climactically for the teams as they were forced to spend the night outdoors waiting for the morning paper to arrive. The delivery was followed by the feverish searching of the paper by each of the teams. It would seem to me that the fastest way to find the clue is to start scanning the entire paper looking for English sentences. But whatever their tactics, each of the teams find the clue and make their way to the hat store.

The Detour clue, received after purchasing a traditional Bolivian hat, offers the team two choices, and instructs them to walk to the location of the Detour. Both Mark & Bill and Terence & Sarah miss this vital portion of the clue and hop taxis instead. Unfortunately, only Terence & Sarah realize the mistake in time to correct it. The ominous crash on the sound track accompanies Mark & Bill as the fly through the Detour and head onto the Roadblock.

At the Roadblock, the 12,000 ft elevation of La Paz rears its head and sends Mark into a bit of a tailspin while practicing for his wrestling match. He eventually recovers, but not before most of the teams pass them.

In the race to the pitstop, they manage to beat out Kelly & Christy, but are forced to sit out a 30 minute penalty. Having arrived in next to last place, the odds are against them surviving the penalty. Sure enough, Kelly & Christy arrive in time, and, after a long drawn out spiel by Phil, find out that they are in 8th place and have survived another day.

Mark & Bill were very classy in their elimination speech. You can’t exactly blame your inability to read the clue on anyone but yourself, after all. I’ll miss you guys! I think I’m rooting for Toni & Dallas now.

Episode 13.2: Mysterious Powers of Mind Control

This week, the racer’s hop a flight from Salvador, Brazil to Fortaleza, Brazil. Along the way, alliances are exposed, rivalries develop, and teams must choose whether to use their brain or their brawn.

Ken & Tina are exposed as a pair of pushy, over-the-top individuals who feel the need to take credit for things well beyond their abilities. When the airline announces that they are switching to a larger plane, Tina feels a burning need to inform everyone who will listen that they did this at her bidding. I’m sure it had nothing to do with 40 people swarming into the airport looking to fly to Fortaleza. Several teams fake gratitude to her face, but blow her off once her back is turned. As they rightly should. In this race, you can’t take anything another racer tells you at face value. Especially when it is as obviously self-serving as that.

Once on the ground in Fortaleza, the teams race to Plaza do Cumbuco where their Detour awaits. Its a standard Brains vs Brawns detour with only Mark & Bill choosing to use their noodles. Everyone else races for the boat pushing detour. Terence & Sarah finish first, but strike out in the wrong direction after receiving their clue and end up miles from where they’re supposed to pick up their taxis. This pushes them well to the back of the pack, and Terence just can’t shut up about it. Meanwhile, at the brains portion of the Detour, Mark & Bill fly through the task and finish in no time.

With their stellar performance at the Detour, Mark & Bill are first to arrive at the Roadblock where Bill takes the brute force method of puzzle solving and proceeds to write down all of the words on the wall and reads them to the gentleman until you get the right one. The method pays off, and they take off tied for first with Ken & Tina. The remainder of the teams all eventually resort to the same method, some more quickly than others.

The scramble to the pitstop begins, with Ken & Tina just edging out Mark & Bill. The rest of the teams spill onto the mat with Anthony & Stephanie arriving last and being Philiminated.

Anthony & Stephanie share disappointment at their elimination, and confess that without the million dollars, they don’t have the stability necessary to get married. Personally, I’m not sure that winning the million dollars would have helped in that regard. If you aren’t willing to marry someone just the way they are, you shouldn’t marry them at all.

Episode 13.1: That’s Bee for Bye-Bye

Our 13th trip around the world kicks off in a squeal of tires and frantic searching for race flags. Some teams stand out for their ability to work together, some teams stand out for their inability to spot the race markers, and some stand out for having constant discussions of extra-marital affairs.

None of the teams have really stood out yet as top racers. Mostly, the lead teams seemed to get there by being on the first flight. The Geeks, Mark & Bill, made a case for their showing by having the insight to drape a jacket over the coffee cart to keep things from falling off. None of the other teams made a similar choice.

Terence is already on my nerves with his whining about Sarah not paying attention to him when other people are around. Buddy, if your that insecure in your relationship, the problem is likely going to be found by looking in the mirror. And did anyone else notice that Sarah shares more than a passing resemblance with Sarah Palin?

Anita & Arthur seemed like such a sweet couple. But like a lot of sweet older couples, they didn’t have the drive necessary to win this race. I’m sad to see them go, but they were one of the weakest teams.

All in all, an excellent start to the new season. Let’s see how things go from here.

Racer Preview: Terence and Sarah

Terence & Sarah continue the ongoing trend of casting lots of dating couples on the race. We have Sarah who seems like a Type A business woman. And Terence, a real estate broker/running coach. With the market tanking, I bet he was glad to get out of the country for a while. Nothing very impressive about this team, but their dietary restrictions (self imposed?) ought to get a workout on the race. There’s always a delicious local delicacy waiting to be sampled. Or choked down.

Racer Preview: Anita and Arthur

Anita & Arthur fill the roles of “old team” and “hippies”. They certainly seem to have more claim to being hippies than BJ & Tyler. They’re on the race, not to win the million dollar prize, but to see new people and find out about the world. Gone in the first 3.