I liked the movable Pit Stop idea. It wasn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things, but it did keep the Racers off-balance: not only do they not know where they’re going, they didn’t know where they are. And we got at least one clue (the stamp) that took a little more thought than the typical go-here-do-this. Anyway, time for the second in-season
Taxi Assessment:
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Eric and Lisa - Practicing yoga.
Garrett and Jessica - Herding each other
Marcy and Ron (down from “Stopping”) - My wife asked me which Detour option I’d choose if I were on the Race. I told her that, unless I was in last place, I’d do the “child’s play” one like most of the teams–“letter play” looked like it would be either a little bit shorter or a lot longer. And, as Marcy & Ron found out, the gamble just wasn’t worth it. I think Marcy & Ron were also hurt by being the only team on their leg of the Detour: they couldn’t see the competition and wound up overthinking the task and progressing more slowly than they otherwise would. Lesson: less thinking and more Racing.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Lance and Keri (down from “Passing”) - Wait, what was I saying? Lance & Keri seem to have taken the “less thinking and more Racing” maxim to heart. Especially the first part. Thinking they’re already in Ho Chi Minh City? Oblivious to the clue in the waterproof canister? Can’t find the cluebox? Letting go a balloon? Getting lost? I think this is a sign that Lance & Keri think they’re smarter (or “smahter,” I guess) than they really are, by a long shot. And since they’re so smaht, what they don’t do is re-examine their initial assumptions (because whay would they need to, being so smaht and all?), they just keep pressing on with whatever they’re doing. So once they go off the rails, they’re completely off, and they stay off, because they just assume the rails are still underneath them and don’t bother to check. Plus Lance is a tool, which doesn’t exactly make for calm introspective self-analysis. I was kind of bothered (not really) by Tiffany’s “meathead” remark last week, because how shallow is it to judge people’s intelligence by their physical appearance? Except…except she’s right; Lance is a meathead.
Mika and Canaan (holding steady) - This team isn’t actively bad, they’re just not really as good at anything as any of the other teams. They’re the only team left that has never placed better than seventh (which was on this leg). Since I doubt we’ll see a C&W duet task, or a thinking-only-pure-thoughts-about-your-teammate task, I’m not anticipating any opportunity for this team to shine. Which leaves them to hope that some other team does something really stupid every week, while Mika & Canaan avoid any egregious stupidity themselves. That’s a strategy that’s been attempted many times before, occasionally with surprising success, but it’s not likely to win a million dollars.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Brian and Ericka (holding steady) - A much better performance this leg than in the last one as they vault themselves into fourth. I was originally bullish on this team, but I really didn’t like what I saw last episode with the intra-team dynamics–this should be one of their strengths, and apparently it isn’t. However, everything went swimmingly this episode, and they absolutely pounded through the Detour for some reason and jumped up in the Pit Stop placement. I’m leaving them here for now, but they have the capability to move up in the rankings.
Maria and Tiffany (up from “Stopping”) - A better leg this time, and so I’m bumping them up a notch. They’re still the only team save Mika & Canaan that haven’t scored at least one top-four finish, and statistically they fare poorly. And, I’ll point out, they’re still not as clever as they think they are, which will probably bite them at some point. However, they had a solid leg this episode, despite the grueling concrete animal task, and they were never really in danger of elimination. Paired with their comeback in the second half last week, this team is looking better than I thought.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Zev and Justin (holding steady) - A little disappointing this leg, as their Pit Stop placement has been slipping from second to fifth to eighth. I’m still leaving them here for now, as their finish was really due to one poor giraffe-related decision (although a decision that the rest of the teams made successfully, I might point out). They’re on the cusp, though, and subject to a slide next week if they don’t perform better.
Sam and Dan (holding steady) - More fractious than I think a team of brothers should be, and not as good a performance in the flesh as they should be having on paper. They were solidly in the middle of the pack, but they’ve not yet showed a spark of brilliance. A dark horse candidate for the final three, if only becasue they’re a young buff all-male team.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Gary and Matt up from “Rapido!”) - A solid leg and their second top-three finish. Even though this team keeps stressing their prodigal-son/distant-dad relationship in the inerviews, I’ve not really seen it manifest much on the ground. That’s important, because good intra-team dynamics makes for good Race performance (as an inverse example, look no farther than Lance & Keri). Right now, I’m picking Gary & Matt as the third of the final three (behind the Globetrotters and Meghan & Cheyne), but I think this team has far more potential to go down than up.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Meghan and Cheyne (up from “Passing”) - My preseason favorites were the Globetrotters and Meghan & Cheyne, in that order, and I’m gratified to see them finish first and second in this episode. So, just for fun, I’ll bump both teams up into the top category. I should note that neither team has really emerged as powerfully dominant yet, so this categorization should be seen as only provisional. Meghan & Cheyne got a second-place finish this leg to go with their earlier first (and a sixth, let’s not forget). This team hasn’t got a huge amount of screen time yet, but they’re working well and living up to my preseason expectations.
Herbert and Nathaniel (up from “Passing”) - A great leg for the Globetrotters, pretty much steadily in first place all the way through and winning a footrace to the end. You could, legitimately, say they got lucky at the end by following Meghan & Cheyne’s cab, but their basic idea–stick close and win the footrace–was sound, as the ending showed. Still the team to beat, I think, until the “Who feels like a Jockey?” Detour.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]