The Amazing Race 8, The Finish Line: Episode 4 – Schroeder Family

So here we are, the first ever Amazing Race 8: Finish Line, the Internet talk show undoubtedly spawned by the success of Survivor Live. (Fortunately we don’t have the annoying Jenna Morasca hosting, however.) Our hosts are Sarah Bernard and Jon Weiss. Sarah is a contributing editor and writer for several magazines, and a pop culture expert and commentator for CNN and VH1 on TV. Jon is one half of the popular clown team of Jon and Al from The Amazing Race 4.

Not only are Sarah and Jon going to interview the eliminated family each week, but they are also taking viewer calls. This could be interesting. Their first guests are, of course, the Schroeder Family from New Orleans, LA. The Schroeders were “Philiminated” in Episode 4, which ironically ended in New Orleans. Dad Mark, his wife Char, and Mark’s children Stassi and Hunter join Sarah and Jon in the studio. I must comment that because of the way she is sitting on her chair, Sarah’s skirt, while probably not exceptionally short, leaves little to the imagination.

Sarah starts off by telling the Schroeders that she did not expect them to be eliminated, and asks what happened. Mark says they were so used to being in control the first few legs of the race, they were really on top of things, but they just started to fall apart and not being able to find the Southern Colonel for four hours did them in. The next morning they couldn’t get back on top of their game and the drove 20 miles in the wrong direction while looking for the park and had to backtrack. They knew unless another team made a bigger mistake than they did that their race was over.

Jon says that Stassi repeatedly said that every minute counts and it came true in this leg. Stassi says that it was so close, as they were finishing and being eliminated, the Weavers and the Gaghans were there watching them step onto the mat. In case anyone missed it, we get to see a clip of the end of the leg. As Sarah introduces the clip, Char says, “Roll that beautiful bean footage.” Jon says he is almost crying watching the clip. Char says they watched the episode with the Paolos and some friends, so this was the first time they had been able to see it on their own and get emotional about it. Sarah offers to show it again but they decline. Jon liked Mark’s comments at the end of the episode, that his family played a fair game, they had fun and they all support each other. Jon thought it was wonderful and absolutely loved it.

Sarah asks what everyone thinks about fathers listening to their daughters more and Mark says fathers maybe should listen to their sons more. Sarah asks Stassi if she was really upset about the moment when the Sheriff told them about the Southern Colonel Mobile Home Park and she thought it was the right place but nobody listened to her. She says yes, that moment and when she didn’t want to take the 8:00 ticket, and so many other moments, if she had just forced them to follow her advice it would have made a huge difference. Stassi doesn’t want to blame anyone else though, so she says she could have been more assertive and made a bigger difference.

Sarah says they are all blaming themselves and Char says that is who they are as a family. They are competitive but they take responsibility for their actions. No one person was responsible for letting anyone else down; they were a team so they are all responsible. Sarah says Mark was ashamed of losing so early and that’s pretty strong. Mark says it was their hometown, they felt like they had a really good chance to go really far in the race and they felt like they disappointed so many people by getting out so early, and in particular in New Orleans. Sarah says the other teams were looking to them as the team to beat. Mark says that makes it even more disappointing. Char says their team number was number one, their car was number one, and everyone was looking at them to be the team to beat. Stassi says it felt like they were going to succeed and it was a shock.

Jon asks if taking the 8:00 ticket instead of the 7:40 ticket was the determining factor, or was it not taking 55 South? Mark says it could have been either. On the race you get to make one mistake and can still make it through, but they made two mistakes in two days and it was just too much. Char makes a football analogy and says they had to focus on the whole game and not rely on that last-second game-winning touchdown. If they hadn’t made all the other mistakes then they wouldn’t have been looking for that touchdown that never came. They can’t blame it on any one person.

The first caller is Tom from Takoma, who says he was sorry to see the Schroeders voted off. He then corrects himself to say he was sorry to see them come in last. Tom asks how they felt seeing all those parts of New Orleans and how they’ve been affected by Katrina, was it hard on them? Mark says that the French Quarter was largely unaffected and is reopening now, but it was difficult seeing the places where he grew up devastated by the hurricane. It’s the outlying areas that are destroyed and that was hard to deal with.

Jon says the Rogers family (from Shreveport, LA, eliminated in Episode 2) has been instrumental in helping out the Schroeders. Mark explains that they went to stay with them and Char says they were there for two weeks because they had nowhere else to go while the flood waters were rising. Char goes on to explain that they had a car accident as they were evacuating, and wrecked both their cars. Char hit Stassi in her car. Jon asks Stassi if she is going to sue, as Char explains she hadn’t had a car accident in 20 years and here she hits Stassi. Denny Rogers sent a car to pick them up and take them to safety in Shreveport.