By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race All Stars, Season 24, Episode 11
Spain/Liverpool/Wales/Cheshire – They were a team for the ages, and after it was all over, Leo
Temory of the Afghanimals noted that no Amazing
Race duo would ever top their energy or their humor.
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| Leo and Jamal |
He was right. Along with Jamal Zadran, he formed a
cousin combo that brought the fun to every challenge. They sang; they danced;
they teased; and, alas, they got tossed.
It’s always hard on the Race when the teams are reduced
from four to three. It was especially sad on this episode that the Animals had
to go, taking with them from the pool, Team Wilcox.
Could have happened to anyone. They had the bad luck
of getting lost going from one challenge to the next. Blame Welsh road signs;
blame their Ford’s navigation system; blame the Animals.
 |
| Welsh road sign |
Based on form, it has to be the father-and-son duo
of Dave and Cameron O’Leary.
This episode featured their third first-place finish
in a row, their fifth overall. No other team has done so well.
All, in all, they seem like good guys, though Dave can
sometimes sound like that one-note talkative guy you get stuck beside on a bus.
Nearly all his comments have to do with his age –
he’s the oldest competitor, don’t you know – when they are not about Connor’s
age – he’s the youngest competitor, don’t you know.
 |
| Liverpool F.C. fans |
But Dave is a good athlete, better, maybe, than his
son, who had a deuce of a time trying to kick a soccer ball in Liverpool F.C.’s
home stadium. (In his defense, he proved himself a competent skeet-shooter,
clearly showing he earned his Boy Scout shotgun merit badge fair and square.)
Newlyweds Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly, the Brenchels,
finished second, continuing what has been a good run in the last few episodes after
a rocky start.
In this outing, Brendon did especially well in a
Welsh poetry challenge, a tongue twisting bit of recitation
that featured a
ride on the tongue-twisting Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. (Oddly, no one had to bungee jump off the aqueduct. An opportunity missed.)
 |
| Pontcysyllte Aqueduct |
The Brenchels haven’t been as much fun as they were in
Season 20, their previous time on the Amazing Race when Rachel was a basket
case, emotional, vindictive, self-absorbed.
This season she has been steadier. “I’m so proud of myself because I haven’t freaked
out the entire time,” she said at the beginning of this episode.
Those
words put veteran race watchers on high alert, and, sure enough, Rachel melted down big time later when she goofed up the instructions to the
Wellington-boot toss challenge, one of the sillier bits of local gaming to ever
be featured on the Race.
 |
| Duchess in Wellingtons |
As
soon as Rachel was told that she and Brendon had to do the boot toss over (reboot?) because she got the wrong boot sizes, her old default
responses kicked in. She burst into tears. She wailed. She blamed Brendon.
“Stop
crying,” Brendon said harshly. “You messed up. No excuses.” Good heavens, the
tough love worked. Then, too, Rachel remembered that she had to focus on the race
because she can get pregnant if they win. Yes, that cringe-worthy theme is back. Come
on, Brenchels, get a room.
The
country singers, Carolyn Cutbirth and Jennifer Wayne, came in third and therefore made the final, thanks, in
part, to some terrific skeet shooting on a country manor in Cheshire that reminded
everyone of Downton Abbey. Credit their DNA, as Carolyn is a descendant of
Davey Crockett, and Jennifer is John Wayne’s granddaughter.
 |
| Downton Abbey shooters |
They’re
cheerful. They don’t quarrel with each other. They don’t whine. And they can
sing. There have been surprise winners in the past – remember the Beekman Boys?
– it could happen again.
Overheard:
Jennifer: I think I have never
kicked a soccer ball in my life.
Carolyn: Welsh is the craziest
language.
Connor: I don’t know how they
expect me to learn Welsh in 20 minutes.
Jennifer: We figure we’ll go out and
be a couple of Annie Oakleys.
Caroline: We shot our way to the
final.
Jamal: We look like two English
boys who just got their lunch money stolen.
Rachel: We have to take away the
lesson that we have to read our clue.
Order of finish:
1)
Dave and Connor
2)
Caroline and Jennifer
3)
Brendon and Rachel
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