The Amazing Race 15: Thinking Smart in Episode 7

Sometimes The Amazing Race legs come down to a single factor – luck. The final rankings for this leg reflect it, as the infamous hay bale Roadblock was a matter of getting lucky rather than any degree of skill on each team. Along the way, teams encountered other forms of luck, in the form of available airline seats, train ticket dispensers, and ring tosses.

Like RNO editor David, I'm not fond of luck-based tasks, though I do give the producers a pass as the leg was non-elimination. It is actually a nice trend, as the first leg had the wasabi roulette wheel, another luck-based event, and was also a non-elimination leg. I tend to be more forgiving of luck-based tasks during these legs, or if the teams can pick it as a Detour option, thus signing up for it voluntarily.

Still, teams who did well in the previous leg were rewarded with the earlier flight, which shows it always pays to race quickly in every leg, and all teams went for what I thought would be the faster Detour option. Blowing stuff up is usually fun, and it was a fairly straightforward and simple task.

The Roadblock was also a simple and straightforward task. It was also difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating. I was quite astonished at the number of teams that didn't know exactly what they were getting into when they saw the hay bales. It appears some people hadn't seen The Amazing Race 6. Teams really should research the race and the types of tasks they might encounter; it can help them make better decisions when they are running.

The final standings in the leg aren't fully a measure of how smart a team acted during the leg. Still, some teams did make good decisions along the way, even if it didn't pay off due to the luck factor. Which teams were thinking smart in Episode 7?

Big Easy & Flight Time: The Globetrotters ran a good leg and kept a good attitude throughout it. Their skill in the previous leg led to their getting on the first flight, and while they missed the first train, it was only a 15-minute delay. After that, they ran well and were the first team to get lucky at the hay bale. All in all, they took first place and earned a nice prize. Oh, and happy birthday!

Meghan & Cheyne: The couple did a lot of things right, such as working with Sam & Dan during the free-fall event and getting a local to lead them to the hay farm. Still, they bickered over how to fill the sandbags at the Detour, though I suspect Meghan was correct on the fastest way to complete the task for this team. However, I can't understand why Cheyne wouldn't step up and take the obviously physical Roadblock task. Teams have to match ability to tasks, and what was involved should have been obvious. Still, they took second place overall in the leg.

Brian & Ericka: The married couple paid for their mistakes in the previous leg with a later flight. I'm going to assume both them and Matt & Gary tried to get standby on the earlier flight, but just didn't have any luck. Still, they made some of their own luck by paying a taxi to lead them to the Detour, and gained some time. In the end, they had more luck and Sam & Dan, and took third place in the leg.

Sam & Dan: The brothers had a frustrating leg. While they did well to work with Meghan & Cheyne up until the Roadblock, Dan was singularly unhelpful while sitting on the sidelines while Sam unrolled the hay bales. Indeed, he may have done more harm than good; if he was familiar with the challenge from The Amazing Race 6, he should have known all it took was to unroll the hay bale and the clue (or, in this case, the flag) would be easily found. They dropped position, but it wasn't entirely their own fault.

Matt & Gary: The Montana father/son team is still in the race, but are in last place and are facing a Speed Bump. They trailed for most of the leg, getting on the later flight and missing the train Bryan & Ericka caught, putting them 15 minutes behind. They further struggled with figuring out how to find the Detour, not hiring a pace car or asking for directions soon enough. They entered the Roadblock last and finished last, but they did finish. The question is how much time they've lost and whether they'll have a chance to make it up on the next leg in spite of their Speed Bump.

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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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