Amazing Race, Season 30,
Episodes 4 and 5
France (Saint-Tropez/Les
Baux-de-Provence) – Two episodes, two teams sent home. One proposal
accepted. It was shakedown time in the south of France. Let the real games
begin.
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| Love rings out on the Race |
The bad news first: Just as we’re bonding with teams, they
goof up and tough cop Phil Keoghan sends them home.
In the first half of the two-hour, two-episode broadcast, it
was out with the old as the absolutely likable #TeamSlamDunk was done in by a
sailing challenge and/or advancing age. (On the Race, 40 is the new 80/)
Turns out that Cedric Ceballos, ex-NBA stalwart and 48-year-old
survivor of three heart attacks, was too big for his petite dinghy. “This is
tough to watch; it’s a murder scene out there,” his partner Shawn Marion commented as he watched the big guy nearly sink.
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| Cedric pre-race |
And so the hoopsters hopped on the mat last, and Phil told
them good-bye.
In the second episode, the eager eaters of #TeamChomp were bitten by a puzzling challenge that had something to do with Vincent Van Gogh, and,
thus, they, too, had enjoyed their last free meals compliments of the Amazing Race.
Even though the chompers were clearly broken up after losing,
Phil couldn’t resist a culinary pun, describing their defeat as a “tough
pill to swallow.” Ouch.
Now about that proposal: We had been alerted early on that
Lucas of #TeamOceanRescue would pop the question to his race partner Brittany
sometime during Season 30.
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| Lucas asks, Brittany responds |
Seems they had been dating for nine years, so long
that Brittany’s father thought that Lucas would never propose.
And, holy cow, romance wasn’t really in the air during the
first episode in France, as Lucas discovered his inner jerk, at one point calling his true
love “annoying.” Brittany, who seems rather fragile, was so shaken up that she
forgot to say “pineapple,” their safe word.
Flash forward to the end of the second episode. Brittany and
Lucas win the leg and the camera focuses on his pocket; he pulls out the ring.
He takes a knee; he asks. She answers, “Of course.” She cries, everyone hugs. No need for “pineapple.”
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| Evan sees the ring |
OK, the Race editors were manipulating all of us in viewer
land, but it was a nice moment, not the first proposal on Amazing Race, and probably not the last, but still sweet.
What else?
#TeamIndyCar, Alex and Conor won the first leg in
France, moving up from their usual position in the middle of the pack. Conor
continues to be quick with a quip. Alex is no slouch himself.
Speaking of automobiles. The episode also demonstrated why
driver-education courses really need a section on manual transmissions.
You’d
think that #TeamFirefighers, Eric and Daniel, would know how to make a stick-shift
car go backwards. Au contraire. They couldn’t find reverse. How does that play out when they’re
on a fire call? (Though more disturbing was the news that Daniel’s wife had a
baby the day before he left for the Amazing
Race. Father of the Year? Probably not.)
And, boy is Phil shaking things up this season. Just to keep us awake at home, he threw in another one of those head-to-head challenges. (You remember the French fry races, I'm sure.) In
this case the duos played high-stakes games of pétanque, a
French version of bocce.
Phil loves to see duos square off, as he gets to do the play-by-play. I see him moving on to cover curling at
the upcoming Winter Games, weather and Kim Jung-un permitting.
Speaking of play-by-play, the violinists of #TeamHighStrung,
Chris and Trevor, are tuning up their smack, supporting each other with
irony-laced uplift and criticizing the other racers for spouting “saccharine crap.” Are the guys too cool for school? No way.
Moving on, let’s hear it #Team Extreme, Kristi and Jen, who finished
third in the first episode of the broadcast, second in the other and are proving to be the strongest team in the race.
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| Kristi sails |
And cheers to Evan of #TeamYale, who chipped a
tooth while struggling with the sailing challenge but didn’t quit. And somehow
she got the tooth repaired between episodes, suggesting that France may have
better dental care than we have in the U.S.
Into, out of, the Amazing Pool
Into, out of, the Amazing Pool
Hello to Moine Rogstad of Avon who joins Emily and Denny
Showers in the newly-formed Team RogShow, backers of #TeamBigBrother.
And goodbye to Dennis Doell, who left the pool when his
squad #TeamSlamDunk was eliminated.
Gone, too, is Team Walkworth, the backers of the departing #TeamChomp. Because he was the first of our crew to go, Dennis gets his entry back,
just as he gets to choose first next time, if there is a next time.
Overheard Episode 4:
Lucas: I
apologized to her; that’s how relationships work.
Tim: Joey’s
taking on some water.
Cedric: it was
perfect for us, it was just pure hard manual labor.
Shawn: I don’t do
manual labor any more.
Tim: I guess
there’s no sailing class at Yale.
Chris: Trevor is
absolutely the Martha Stewart of our apartment. … He’s kind of the Jackie of
all trades.
Joey (sweating profusely):
I drink a lot of liquids. It’s part of my training for eating.
Brittany: I think
of myself as a thoroughbred whose spirit has been broken too many times.
Cedric: I can’t
complain. God has blessed me to be here.
Order of finish
Episode 4
1) Alex and Conor #TeamIndyCar
2) Cody and Jessica #TeamBigBrother
3) Kristi and Jen #TeamExtreme
4) Joey and Tim #TeamChomp
5) Chris and Trevor #TeamWellStrung
6) Evan and Henry #TeamYale
7) Eric and Daniel #TheFirefighters
8) Lucas and Brittany #TeamOceanRescue
Overheard Episode 5
Henry: She (Evan)
is a total bad ass.
Lucas: That’s
something I got to work on, trying to control my frustration and not taking it
out on Brittany.
Trevor: Looks
good, Christopher. You’ve had your tetanus shots. Don’t be scared.
Jess: I can’t
believe we’re losing to the lifeguards.
Lucas: Phil, can
you give me a minute? Can I say something?
Lucas: Today’s
perfect. We’re running through castles. She’s a princess.
Brittany: I’m on a
cloud. It’s almost surreal.
Order of finish
Episode 5:
1) Lucas and Brittany #TeamOceanRescue
2) Kristi and Jen #TeamExtreme
3) Eric and Daniel #TheFirefighters
4) Evan and Henry #TeamYale
5) Alex and Conor #TeamIndyCar
6) Cody and Jessica #TeamBigBrother
7) Chris and Trevor #TeamWellStrung
