The Amazing Race 12: Thinking Smart in Episode 6

Flights can always make or break teams, as shown in the last episode of The Amazing Race. The three teams with the best connections ended up in the first three spots, while Azaria & Hendekea, due to various factors ended up on the last flight, and were promptly eliminated. While there are times teams can recover from a bad flight, this wasn’t one of them.

This brings up a second point about air travel, and that is connecting cities. Given several options, teams should check to see if any have known problems, such as strikes, bad weather, or delays. While it’s usually smarter to go with the faster flight, anything that can cause a delay should be noted so teams can make an informed decision as to take the risk or not.

Teams should be constantly checking and double-checking their flight information, as well as other sets of instructions. It’s not hard to confirm that the tickets are economy class, or to check the instructions for legal means of transportation. When teams don’t follow those directions, they get burned, though in some cases it’s an easier recovery. While at times it’s just an honest mistake, there isn’t any excuse for not taking legal transportation. If the instructions say to take a cab, take a cab, and if they ban certain methods of transportation (like motor scooters), it means teams shouldn’t take them. Nobody gets away with it; Phil assesses the penalty when they attempt to check in.

Interestingly enough, it seems that teams could hand off their luggage; they weren’t seen carrying it through Croatia. Admittedly, it might have been hard to complete the Detour while carrying backpacks, but I’ve always wondered about that unseen part of the race.

The Detour was a choice of an assault by land or by sea, and there didn’t seem to be any particular merit in either, unless one team member was sufficiently stronger than the other. In that case, rowing the boat made the most sense, as it was essentially a one person task, assuming that person knew what they were doing. That’s sort of a major assumption though, but everybody seemed to figure it out in the end.

There still haven’t been any non-elimination checkpoints, and one of the stronger teams was knocked out of the race. Which teams were thinking smart in Episode 6?

Ron & Christina: The father/daughter team took first place for the first time and were thinking smart for most of the leg. They were smart enough to phone ahead for reservations, effectively putting them at the front of the line, and moved swiftly though the Roadblock. They completed the Detour fairly well, despite Christina’s lack of knowledge of the best way to row a boat, and got a bit lucky with their cab driver. Overall, they took first place, and won a nice prize.

Kynt & Vyxsin: The Goths had a good leg, getting good flight connections and picking a Detour option that worked well for them. They put in a nice solid effort in the leg, and took advantage of Nathan & Jennifer’s errors to pass them and end up in a very respectable second place.

Nathan & Jennifer: The bickering couple did well, despite their arguing. They got a good flight and did a good job at the Roadblock, though it was obvious they had no idea how to row a boat. However, Jennifer had a bad reaction to the cab driver who didn’t want to take wet passengers, then the team violated the rules by hitchhiking to the pit stop. They paid for it with lost time when Phil refused to check them in until they took legal transportation.

TK & Rachel: The couple had a few problems in the leg, experiencing flight delays in Prague, though they made the best of the situation by booking the next available flight. Often how a team deals with problems tells more about how they work than when things go smoothly. Their place was largely determined by flights, as the three earlier teams had better luck with flights and the trailing two teams had worse luck, but they did the most of what fate dealt them.

Nicolas & Donald: The grandfather/grandson team suffered from bad connections and would have been eliminated if Azaria & Hendekea hadn’t made a serious error. Most of it was due to the flight delay, and not securing tickets on the same flight as TK & Rachel, but I suspect even if they had been on the same flight their position would be the same. Donald was slow at the Roadblock, and teams who know they are at the back can’t afford any delays, as they may cause problems in the next leg. They are still in the race, but are looking less likely to win with each episode.

Azaria & Hendekea: What went wrong? Well, it was mostly confusion at the airport, resulting in business class tickets they were unable to use. Worse, they didn’t double-check before it was too late to board the plane. They also dropped the ball in not getting the country code for the reservations and abandoned their place in line, essentially putting themselves at the back. In all, the time they cost was time they didn’t have, especially as it was non-stop racing in Croatia. They simply couldn’t make up the lost time.

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.