By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race, Season
26, episodes 1 and 2
Los Angeles/Japan:
This is true. In this season’s second episode one of
the couples missed a train from Tokyo to Nagano because they were taking a selfie.
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| Libby and CJ |
Which is probably why the pair, CJ and Libby, ended up
getting sent home, taking the pool’s Team Showers with them.
Oddly, they didn’t seem all that disturbed at
being 10th, last and out. So it goes.
CJ and Libby were among the six already dating couples who
started the race in California. (At least I think it was California. They weren’t
there that long.)
They were joined by five couples on what host Phil
Keoghan calls an “extreme blind date.” You get it, these couples had never met, though they seemed to have been matched by
a fairly simple algorithm.
Two lawyers were put together, so were two gay guys, as well
as a doctor and a nurse.
 |
| Blind date not going well |
First dates can be awkward, and while no Racer checked out
his/her new partner’s credit rating (you’re
supposed to do that, you know), there were some cringe worthy moments.
The worst? Maybe when Blair, the self-important doctor (is
that redundant?), asked his date, nurse Hayley, to guess how old he is. She
guessed high. He was hurt. We laughed.
But, to their credit, the blind daters have outperformed the
committed couples, two of which (whom?) have gone home so far. (In episode one, lovebirds Jeff and Lyda, who
have been dating for four years, lost out in large part because he couldn't
dance.)
Ashley, one of the “pre-existing couples,”
theorized that the blind-daters have an advantage of sorts “because
they’re holding back all their aggression.”
Most of them do seem to have their eyes on the prize. Love
can wait.
(Though host and Phil, an
obsessive matchmaker, is working hard to move things along in the romance department.)
(Though host and Phil, an
Blind daters Jelani and Jenny, the aforementioned lawyers,
won the first two episodes. They’re smart and efficient.
They have, at best, a “budding friendship,”
(her term). That friendship could be nipped in the bud by her control issues,
but so far, so good.
It’s too early to get a real handle on
the other couples, blind daters or otherwise.
 |
| Blair and Hayley |
Still, it’s obvious that Blair will
be the creep on the street this season.
And blind dater Bergen’s assessment of his
assigned partner Kurt does not bode well.
“I normally don’t
date people that look like me,” Bergen said. “Maybe
I’m supposed to date my long lost twin.”
Parents cover your children’s ears.
I like Mike, the truck stop operator, and his inked up-partner
Rochelle, a contract engineer. But she’s a meltdown about to
melt, and their presence in the race seems doomed, unless there’s
an eating challenge in every episode. (Boy, did they put away the noodles.)
I don't hold out that much hope for Harley and Jonathan,
either, mostly because the long-time partners are very, very old for this
season. Harley clocks in at 41 and Jonathan at 46, even though he’s
a member of New Kids on the Block. (I don’t get it, can you be in a
boy band and also AARP?)
 |
| Harley and Jonathan |
It’s hard to sort out the rest of
the racers. The cast includes a Las Vegas showgirl (Jackie), two Olympians (Aly
and Steve) and two hair stylists (Ashley and Matt).
Missing in action are parent/child combos and sibling duos,
unless, of course, you count Bergen and Kurt, separated at birth, as they may
have been.
Overheard during the
first two episodes:
Jackie: My brain
is not as strong as most people, but I have everything else, so I get by.
Jenny: I have
never been on a blind date, ever.
Blair: It is so
difficult to find the right woman,
Libby to CJ: We’re
getting married. Right?
CJ: No comment
Rochelle: Can I
see a medic placease?
Mike: We’re
getting along great, like peanut butter and jelly.
Jenny: I hate not
having control.
Blair: It’s hard to walk the line
between giving positive reinforcement and being really annoying.
Order of Finish,
First Episode
1) Jelani and Jenny
2) Jeff and Jackie
3) Laura and Tyler
4) Aly and Steve
5) Harley and Jonathan
6) Bergen and Kurt
7) Mike and Rochelle
8) Hayley and Bergen
9) Matt and Ashley
10) Libby and C.J.
Order of Finish, Second Episode
1) Jelani and Jenny
2) Laura and Tyler
3) Aly and Steve
4) Harley and Jonathan
5) Bergen and Kurt
6) Jeff and Jackie
7) Matt and Ashley
8) Mike and Rochelle
9) Hayley and Blair
