The Amazing Race 15: Thinking Smart in Episode 6

The seventh leg of the race highlighted problems with a few teams and gave us a few displays of intelligence by others. However, the greatest part of the episode centered around the problems two teams had in accomplishing tasks. Ericka struggled through the Roadblock, while Maria & Tiffany, despite a lot of effort, were unable to complete either Detour option, which led to their elimination.

The Roadblock was easily completed by all teams except Ericka, who I believe was making systematic errors in her counting. Some totals were so far off it seems she missed a room. The proper way to go about it would have been to change the method – perhaps starting from the top set of bells and working down, or starting in the middle and then going up and down.

The Detour options were killers for Maria & Tiffany, and I feel bad they were eliminated due to their inability to complete either one. I'm not sure it was well designed, as each task required some degree of strength to complete and neither of them were particularly strong. In that sense, I'd have liked to have seen the bell ringing part of the Farmer's Dance option eliminated.

I'm not sure if either task was particularly faster than the other, but all things considered, I'd have gone for the Farmer's Dance over the Farmer's Game. This is mostly because I hate being cold and the teams looked pretty miserable playing golf in their underwear.

Only six teams remain, and they all took different paths to make it this far. Who was thinking smart in Episode 6?

Sam & Dan: First place, and well deserved. They did almost everything quickly in the leg, from the Roadblock to the Detour to getting from point to point. Dan even attempted to help the much weaker Maria & Tiffany team by giving her the answer to the number of bells. It was a good move, but didn't work out due to other issues.

Meghan & Cheyne: The team fell to second place, but that's nothing to be ashamed of. Meghan worked with Dan at the Roadblock and they finished it quickly. While Meghan was probably right about her ability to complete the Farmer's Game Detour option, Cheyne was right in that he could compensate for her lack of strength in hitting the ball. They may have finished a bit sooner if they'd picked Farmer's Dance, but second place is still a strong finish for a strong team.

Big Easy & Flight Time: The Globetrotters rebounded from the previous leg, taking third place. They had no problems at the Roadblock and did the Farmer's Dance Detour option, which I think saved them some time. After their scare in the previous leg, they are once again looking like a strong team, and should be seen as a threat to the others.

Matt & Gary: The Montana men came in fourth, and one reason they dropped position is their decision to change Detour tasks. In some cases I can understand it, but the decision was made over eating a little bit of fish and onions. Amazing Race teams have eaten much worse food before, and the quantity wasn't that much. It all goes back to their major mistake – they didn't read the entire clue. If they had decided they didn't want to eat fish before starting it, they wouldn't have wasted their time and had to ride off to the other option.

Brian & Ericka: The married couple had an ugly leg. Besides their bickering, they couldn't figure out their car, putting them behind in Holland. Ericka had a horrible time at the Roadblock, putting them solidly in last place. Still, their biggest mistake was not reading the clue. They walked for a long time in painful shoes to the Detour instead of using the bikes, then ended up borrowing a pair of bikes to get to the Pit Stop. It cost them an additional 30 minutes added on to the longer time it took them to get from place to place! Indeed, their poor finish may cost them the possibility of getting an earlier flight, train, or bus to their next destination city.

Maria & Tiffany: What went wrong? They didn't do badly in getting from point to point, and used their connection with the brothers to get the answer to the Roadblock without any work. However, they could not physically complete either of the Detour options. I would say they lost not due to an inability to race (even though they weren't a particularly good team), but due to a poor Detour design.

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Jeffrey Clinard has written about The Amazing Race since its debut season, writing over 100 articles about the show. His patronus takes the form of a penguin. He can be reached at realityfeedback@bookslv.com.

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