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  • Amazing Race 9 Recap-The Premiere

       February 28, 2006

    The beloved Amazing Race is back! Phil gets ready to send the 11 teams of two off on their race around the world. Is it just me, or did Phil really emphasize the word "world"? In other words, "please watch, this won't be anything like the crappy Family Edition!"

    The race starts outside Denver at the famed Red Rocks amphitheatre. I don't see U2 anywhere, but you never know where that Bono will show up next! While I already made some snap judgements about the teams, the video intro for each team adds a little more info. Of note, Lisa and Jonie are whizzes with the Beadazzler (no, really), Fran had a beautiful wedding dress and Wanda & Desiree think the other teams might call them "hot little tamales". But that's enough of the pre-Race festivities. As Phil and his eyebrows say, "The world is waiting for you." GO!

    The first clue sends teams on their way to Sao Paolo, Brazil. Teams have to get on one of three flights. On the way to the airport they engage in one of my personal favorite Race activities: nicknaming the other teams. Dani & Danielle are, rather predictably, referred to as "The Pinks" or "Double D". David & Lori are "Einstein", Monica and Joseph christen themselves "Team Mojo", but they're perhaps more accurately described as "Ken & Barbie". My favorite nickname comes courtesy of John & Scott, who decide to call the bottle blondes Lisa & Jonie the "Frosties". I love it.

    Once in Sao Paolo, teams have to go to the rooftop of the Hotel Unique. As Phil sets the scene I notice that he seems to have gotten a haircut (a very bad haircut) somewhere between Denver and Brazil. What can't you get at airports these days?

    Anyway, delays cause the planes to arrive in a different than expected order, but the first two flights end up being bunched pretty close together. Teams go to the Hotel and get a clue directing them to a bridge. Traffic in Sao Paolo is a bitch and while the tasks so far aren't particularly hard, it is hard to get to them. Once at the bridge, teams hit their first Detour. A detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this detour teams either find a building in a pilot's guide and take a helicopter to it or assemble a motorbike. Okay, I can't believe any of the teams did the bike. Are they crazy?

    Even at this early point in the Race, you can start to tell what teams are strong and who is weak. Fran & Barry (who finished 8th) had a horrible leg. They couldn't find the clue box on the bridge, they picked the motorbike detour and then stayed too long and counted on other teams to help them finish it before they aborted that option and did the helicopter task. They were very lucky to avoid Philimination. John & Scott, on the other hand, weren't so lucky and were the first team to be Philiminated. They were behind the entire leg and because they were impatient sitting in traffic they left their cab and basically wandered the streets of Sao Paolo looking for the bridge.

    On the other hand, Eric & Jeremy (1st), BJ & Tyler (2nd) and David & Lori (NERDS! in 4th) worked well together and got through everything with a minimum of difficulty. Wanda & Desiree (3rd) did a great job and were definitely helped by their language skills. Notes on some of the other teams:

    Lake & Michelle (5th): I hate Lake. He marginalizes his wife and is way too hyper. They're the team that's going to lose simply because they failed to read a clue.

    Monica & Joseph (6th): She's the female Lake. She almost cried when they didn't get on the first flight and then moments later she's jumping up and down and "woooing" over something else. I don't think she's emotionally prepared for this.

    Ray & Yolanda (7th): They were barely in the episode, but I was impressed by how calm they were when they were putting together the motorbike in a very uncomfortable position as hordes of Brazilian men gathered to lear at Yolanda.

    Dani & Danielle (8th): They were smart to abort the motorbike detour, but probably stupid to try it in the first place. I like this team a little better than I thought I would.

    Frosties (10th): Screechy. They're like last season's Godlewski sisters with an extra 10 years and 6 inches (they're both over 6 feet tall).

    Overall, it was a great start to the new season. Right now I'm rooting for David & Lori, Wanda & Desiree and Ray & Yolanda. Well, I'm rooting for them and for next week's episode to have some wacky animal hijinks. Nothing beats wacky animal hijinks!

    Want more? Check out Viking Pundit's recap.


    Posted by kris at February 28, 2006 10:24 PM

        The trackback entry for this page is : http://www.inthehat.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1254

     

    Trackback Entries
      Velvet Sea linked with Amazing Race, How Sweet the Sound

     


    Comments

    #  March 1st, 2006 9:40 AM      kris
    comments from a friend of mine:

    Eric & Jermey - I think they'll be one of those teams that never does
    anything memorable, but every week they'll be right there in the top 3.
    If they don't win the million, I want to see where these guys are in 10
    years given their choice of lifestyle.

    BJ & Tyler - I was ready to like them, until they said they were nets
    for finding irony in the world. Gee, can those nets still work or are
    they all clogged up from the morning catch after they looked in the
    mirror? But they ran a solid race, had fun, and didn't act like jerks.
    So they are back to a neutral standing.

    Wanda & Desiree - Puerto Rican Gilmore Girls. I don't really see (yet)
    where Wanda is going to be overprotective.

    David & Lori - I loved them from the moment he said he is "really good
    at taking tests". Maybe a roadblock in Japan can be one of those tests
    that determines you entire future and leads to crazy teenage suicide
    rates. In danger of becoming too cute, but as long as they still give
    that impression that the next day they'll be racing in star trek
    uniforms that they made themselves, I'll love 'em.

    Lake & Michelle - Hated from the start, but they gained a few points
    when Lake helped out Fran & Berry. He gave them some help, but nothing
    that would risk his own standing in the race. That's the way to do it.
    Still, he is too "competitive" (read as "jerky") and doesn't even bother
    reading the clue. Highlight: When dentist Lake talks about how he
    didn't care about hurting others.

    MoJo - Keep them on for a while. I think she'll actually have a massive
    breakdown by leg 5, I want to see that.

    Fran & Barry - "I don't think that was there before." Awesome. They
    actually think that the show is moving the clue box. I would have loved
    to have been watching the episode with them last night to see their
    reaction when they walked by the box multiple times. Of course, the
    show may have digitally added the box. I do think I saw Jar Jar Binks
    in the background once.

    Double D - Got to go. The pink hurts my eyes. At least they got a
    small slap down at the detour, thinking they could get a local to build
    their bike for them based solely on their "charm", only to have him
    laugh at them and leave.

    Glamazons - GOT TO GO EVEN SOONER!! Loud and annoying in every bad way
    possible. Though the shot of their over-the-top staged excitement at
    the BeDazzler was pretty sweet.

    John & Scott - Not sad to see them go, until I saw that Scott wears a
    calculator watch... now I'll kind of miss him. But I got really worried
    when Scott asked John to "let the Genie out" in the back of the cab.
    Good thing their cabbie may not have spoken English, or I would have
    kicked them out right there.


    And with one great reality show starting anew, another comes to and end
    in the next two weeks. So let's combine them into...

    Project Runway teams I want to see on TAR...


    5.) Andrae & Daniel - Nice guys who work well together.

    4.) Santino & Diana - make him spend 24/7 with her voice. He he he.

    3.) Santino & drunken Guadalupe - this would be sweet, though I doubt
    they would survive a single leg before he kills her

    2.) Andrae and Santino - Imagine Andrae running everywhere, hopefully
    with a lot of revolving doors. Meanwhile Santino is telling the other
    teams that he defecated into the clue box and screaming at Phil, "We
    didn't come in third. We came in FIRST!! I'll eat your soul!!"

    1.) Andrae and Tim Gunn - "Has anybody seen Andrae? He went to do this
    Roadblock, and now I don't know where he is? ANDRAE?!?" Ultimately
    leading to a "Go to the Red Lobster by Towne Shoppes Mall to find your
    next clue."  
     
    #  March 1st, 2006 10:06 AM      kris
    I love the idea of Andrae and Santino on TAR, although if reality shows show re-use the same old people we'll never get to find any new favorites.

    But still, the thought of Santino telling Phil he'll eat his soul cracks me up.  
     

     

     


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