Glasgow— Remember the old, pre-pandemic days when the “Amazing Race” just chugged along, dropping a team about every week? It was unpredictable, but orderly. Always nourishing TV comfort food.
And then came COVID-19 and right now, three episodes completed in Season 33, we don’t even know who will be at the starting line of Episode 4.
But before we get to that uncertainly, some quick thoughts on Episode 3, a lively outing in
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| The Twins triumphant in Scotland |
Scotland, where contestants played bagpipes, wore kilts, did everything Scottish but eat haggis. (Why didn’t they? Come on CBS, do your job.)
The Race showed us, as it always does, that driving a stick shift takes practice. There’s Ray clutching on the clutch. But he had to drive because his date and partner, Caro, doesn’t have a license. (How do you even get to go on the Race without a license? Just asking).
Talk about clutch performances: The episode made clear that Kim and Penn, winners of the episode, whose Holderness family videos have made them a sensation, are completely comfortable on stage and in front of a camera. They took to a Scottish song-and-dance challenge with gusto seldom seen on the Race. Good heavens, they’re fun.
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| Arun and Natalia Kumar |
Speaking of families, the daughter-father team of Natalia and Arun had a rough, but endearing outing, mostly because he really couldn’t dance, not at all, never, but tried his heart out.
At one point, Arun broke down, tearful and apologetic. Natalia reassured him that he the best guy on earth. Probably is, but we know where nice guys finish. Host Phil Keoghan lowered the hammer, and Natalia and Arun were eliminated.
But were they?
On Feb. 28, 2020, at the end of Glasgow episode, Phil told the racers that filming was on hold, given the emerging pandemic.
Then, in a preview of Episode 4, which was filmed in August 2021, we see Phil at the starting line with only five Race teams, Kim and Penn; Raquel and Cayla (flight attendants); Ryan and Dusty (best friends); Lulu and Lala (twins); and Akbar and Sheri (married educators).
Do the math: Four teams were missing in action, and presumably did not return for the reboot.
Thus, it’s probably goodbye to Anthony and Spencer (heroes) and Taylor and Isaiah (married, YouTubers).
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| Ray and Caro, happier times |
Looks like we won’t be seeing Caro and Ray again. They were testing their relationship on the Race. It wasn’t going well. Since then, they split up, according to reports.
And Sam and Connie did not return, the internet tells us, because she was pregnant at the time of the restart.
Phil told the five remaining teams that they would be joined by “familiar” faces, though he didn’t identify them.
The wisdom on the internet is that Natalia and Arun will return, which they should, if only because Natalia seems like a genuinely nice person, one willing, perhaps to a fault, to help other racers.
Michael and Moe, the singing police officers from Buffalo who were eliminated in the first episode, are likely to come back. At least let’s hope so, if only because a) they’re from Buffalo and b) they’re from Buffalo.
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| Brendon and Rachel |
“We learned a little secret about how you control your cow,” Rachel told us in Season 31. “You grab its tail, and you steer it.”
That’s the sort of life lesson the Race provides. Clear, helpful, baffling. Alas, the Race’s main life lesson now is one we’ve learned the hard way for almost two years: We just don’t know what’s going to happen next. But trust the process. The Race will resume. All will be well. Maybe.
Overheard
Arun: She’s my only daughter, and she’s getting married in June.
Ray: I just learned to drive stick shift two weeks before I got here.
Ray (to Caro): You’re not helping me at all; you’re stressing me out more than I already am.
Penn: I turned into a little diva.
Order of finish:
1) Kim and Penn
2) Ryan and Dusty
3) Anthony and Spencer
4) Sam and Connie
5) Caro and Ray
6) Raquel and Cayla
7) Lulu and Lala
8) Taylor and Isaiah
9) Akbar and Sheri
10) Arun and Natalia
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