A Gamer’s View of The Amazing Race 16, Episode 1: Best, Worst, and Look Who’s in First

The Amazing Race is kind of an odd duck to me. It is by far the CBS reality show that I have watched the least. In fact, I have only seen two entire seasons and not even the occasional episode of any other season. But for this season, I have a very good reason to watch and an especially unique perspective on this season because Jeff and Jordan are in the cast and, in case someone who is reading doesn’t know, I was in Big Brother 11 with them.

Like my Survivor columns, I am going to be focusing this article on the strategy element of The Amazing Race. I will be exploring this strategy by looking at how the teams interact. The only real strategy that you have to face against the other teams in TAR is making alliances for potential help on Road Blocks, directions, flights, etc., and possibly avoiding the dreaded U-turn. I will be breaking every episode down to certain elements: What were the best and worst strategic choices/moments, who has the best odds of going the distance, and who has put themselves in the worst position and why. I apologize in advance that I do not know all the racers’ names yet, but I will learn them before the season is over.

We were introduced to all of the teams this season at the start of the episode. None of the teams really immediately stuck out to me besides Miss Teen South Carolina and, of course, Jeff & Jordan. Again, this is most likely due to the fact that I remember Miss Teen South Carolina’s flub in the pageant and I know Jeff & Jordan personally. Without further ado let’s start with …

1. The Cowboys trading in their cash in LAX for Brazilian currency – In theory, swapping out currency ahead of time is not a bad idea. It could potentially save time while entering your destination country. There is just one key element to that choice: you must pick the right currency! Again, in theory this was a great idea – it just didn’t work out the way they planned.
2. Brothers Dan and Jordan talking trash so much – In a game like this you really are left to your own devices. In Big Brother, it is pretty much a given that everyone is talking trash on everyone at some point, but in this game, talking trash seems to be the last thing you want to do. I would think that it would make the other teams be very cautious of you and maybe not want to help you. Although I have to admit, they did talk trash in an extremely humorous fashion!
3. The father and daughter painting the inside of the house – I don’t understand why they thought that this was a good idea. The clue for the Road Block said that it was a beautification project that the city was doing. Why would the city have a beautification project for the inside of a house that hardly anyone will ever see? I just feel that they didn’t think this one through entirely. Thankfully, it wasn’t something that cost them the race.
4. Team Teen South Carolina not following the directions – Why did they not take the trolley thing down the mountain side? It said in the clue that they had to take the trolley thing, so I really don’t understand why they didn’t do it. I fully understand that they came to the mat in second place and this seemed to be a non-issue, but it deserved a mention because it could have caused them to be eliminated from the race. We never know just how close the racers really are to each other and this kind of mistake later on might cause their demise. I hope it was a tough lesson that they will take to heart.
5. The brothers also getting a time penalty – The reason this is mentioned is basically for all of the same reasons as mentioning Team Miss Teen South Carolina, above, even though the brothers had a somewhat different issue in losing the paint brush. While it is not something that caused them to be eliminated from the race, they need to be more careful in the future.
6. The husband/wife team not making the proper choice for the cable Road Block – This choice single-handedly caused them to lose the race. I can’t help but think that if they had chosen the wife to do the cable challenge, it would have ended a lot better for that team.

And the winner is… The husband/wife team not making the proper choice for the cable road block! This was, hands down, the worst move we saw. Like I said, it is what caused their elimination. It is for this reason above all others that I had to select it as the worst strategic choice of the episode.

And the winner is… The teams switching their tickets to the Miami flight instead of keeping the Dallas flight! This move single-handedly prevented the first three teams to get to LAX from becoming the last three teams to leave LAX. If the teams had hesitated in their reaction to the mechanical failure, not only would they have missed their original flight due to mechanical problems, but they also might have missed the flight to Miami with the other teams. This could have been potentially made them many hours behind the other teams. Congratulations to them for reacting quickly and saving their positions in the race!

So who has put themselves in the best position? I have to say the team that is in the best position at this point and time is Jeff & Jordan. This was an easy pick. Come on, they finished first in this leg of the race and they now have momentum! Unless they hit some snag such as a Road Block they have a lot of trouble with, completely get lost, or something else equally as catastrophic, I do not see them getting eliminated at the next Pit Stop.

The team that is in the worst position is Team Grandma/Granddaughter. I have never run the race, but I would think that the race is something that is a constant balancing act between having fun and staying on edge where you have some hustle. I could be wrong, I mean this is just my opinion, but it seems to me as though this team doesn’t have enough hustle. They obviously care for each other a great deal and are enjoying being in each other’s company while running the race. I am afraid that if they don’t make the transition from “I am so proud of you, let’s have fun!” to “Let’s hurry we need to keep going!” then they could quickly find themselves at elimination station.

So there you have it, my first Amazing Race article. I am actually really looking forward to this season and think it is going to be a great one! Next week, I will be back once again with my column – and also watch for my Gamer’s View of Survivor columns as well.

Ronnie Talbott was a contestant on Big Brother 11.

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