The Amazing Race 10: Thinking Smart in Episode 12

I’m glad teams have finally learned how to use local guides to find locations known to them, but not to the teams. It got a lot of teams to their destinations faster in the early part of the leg. It’s one of the best racing tips I have.

Unfortunately, all teams caught up at the airport, which is kind of disappointing. The smarter teams didn’t get the reward for their early efforts at being smart. Then again, this is The Amazing Race, and it happens all the time.

Smart teams also made a good move in calling for taxis to pick them up in Barcelona. That is one of the little things that separate smart teams from the others.

The Roadblock was a nice bit of local flavor, eating a camel meat dish. I wouldn’t mind trying it myself. The Detour provided the option of lugging it or lobbing it. While I’m generally not in favor of luck-based tasks like the tomatoes, it turned out to be the fastest.

The time to gamble with luck-based tasks is when teams are desperate. Dustin & Kandice should have gone for the luck-based task hoping they’d get lucky. They needed to end up in first place or gain at least 30 minutes on another team. Playing it safe wasn’t the correct move, though they really did race well for most of the leg.

This late in the race teams can’t afford to abandon Detour tasks either. I think Rob knew that, and if he and Kimberly had abandoned it, they probably would have lost. So they stuck it out despite the pummeling and are in the final three.

The race is coming to a close, and only three teams remain. But which ones were thinking smart in episode 12?

Rob & Kimberly: They had their problems, but their best decision was realizing a 20 kilometer drive plus the time spent on the other Detour would probably end their game. They stuck it out and their persistence paid off. They ended up in first place and are looking good for the final leg.

Lyn & Karlyn: The only all female team to make the final three didn’t exactly run a great leg, but it was enough. They dug through the tomatoes and got the clue in time to make it to second place. However, they still need to do more of the little things correctly (like getting cabs and local help) if they want to win the money.

James & Tyler: The former drug users ran a good leg, but had a few problems at the Detour which cost them time. However, they still did a lot of things correctly, and are looking strong going into the final leg.

Dustin & Kandice: What went wrong? They picked the wrong Detour and had some problems getting to the Pit Stop. They did a number of things right, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. I’m actually sorry they ended up losing.

Jeffrey Clinard has been writing about Survivor since the second series, and has published over 100 articles about the show and given advice to nearly 150 different Survivors on RealityNewsOnline. He can be reached at realityfeedback@bookslv.com.

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