Can't they just not get along

By Jim Memmott

Amazing Race, Season 25, Episode 7

Morocco/Sicily – Laughter, go-kart races, cooperation between the teams.

“They’re having too much fun,” Ben Shapiro, a fan who remembers all 300 legs of The Amazing Race, says of this season’s remaining teams. “They’re acting like it’s a vacation.”

Shapiro, a fierce competitor in tennis for the University of Rochester, is not alone. Worry amongst members of this pool reached an historical high with Episode 7 of what has been a fun but generally friction-free season.

Good heavens, the whole hour was all about getting along with your partner and, here’s the rub, getting along with other teams.

Not

Even the fiercest of rivals – Team Dentistry and Team Brooklyn – were making nice, sharing a cab, trading compliments, joking around. I could just barf.

And the challenges? Not too hard by Race standards.

I wouldn’t give the ceiling painting or the aria/costume matching tests much more than a 5 on a degree-of-difficulty scale of 10.

And racing a go-kart up a picturesque mountain road? There are tougher challenges on the course at Minnehans Restaurant and Fun Center in Lakeville,

At Minnehans

N.Y. It was so easy, in fact, that most of the racers seemed eager to do a repeat even when they aced it the first time out.

Insult to injury, the episode counted for nothing; it was a non-elimination leg.

The college sweethearts, Te Jay and Tim, were thus given a reprieve, which prompted Te Jay to launch an odd metaphor.

“TNT,” he said, presumably punning upon their initials. “Our dynamite may have had a short fuse but we’re ready to explode and rock on.”

Them are fightin’ words, I think.

What else? The Dentists sparkled to their fourth win, Dr. Jim making the victory tally clear to Phil Keoghan, as if the affable host weren’t well aware of the ratings disaster that comes with one team winning most of the legs.

Worse news: Adam and Bethany, the surfing newlyweds, had a bad outing, finishing next to last. (Though Bethany did say “snarly” at least once.)

Bethany paints a ceiling

Better news: Kym and Alli, the Booklyn bikers, had another good showing finishing in second place.

Worrisome news: Is Kym giving the evil Dr. Jim a little too much respect? (Though, to her credit, she did write “Team No Fun” on the back window of the Dentist’s Ford.)

Brighter news: Brooke of Team WrestleMania is proving to be a likeable drama queen, over-reacting to the slightest problem as in, “If we can’t find a taxi I’m

Robbie and Brooke

going to throw up.”

Even brighter news: Robbie, her life partner, is emerging as a joker, that rare Race contestant who can make fun of himself, as in his fake diatribe about being cut loose from his social networks.

Oh the horror: This coming Friday the Race is getting bumped by the television debut of something called the Hollywood Film Awards, a “pre-Oscar showcase.” The Oscars are more than three months away. Do we need a preview now? (Insert rant about the early arrival of Thanksgiving sales and pre-Christmas specials.)

Overheard

Dr. Jim: You can go on a vacation and have an argument and not talk for two days…. If we have cross words (on the Race) we need to get past it quickly.

Robbie: I haven’t thought about tweeting today... I haven’t thought about working out either... I’ve lost a half of an ab.

Alli: Jim is a little nasty.

Dr. Misti: We don’t love them (Team Brooklyn) the way we love the other teams.

Robbie: I’m hungry. I want pizza.

Brooke: You just had pizza.

Robbie: But we’re in Italy.

Kym: I think I’ll retire here. Find myself a nice Italian husband. Eat Pasta. Get fat.

Dr. Jim: We’re both dentists, we live in a world where a half a millimeter is the difference between success and failure.

Kym (on the dentists): Now we just have to figure out a way to break their kneecaps.

Order of finish:

1) Jim and Misti

2) Alli and Kym

3) Amy and Maya

4) Brooke and Robbie

5) Adam and Bethany

6) Te Jay and Tim