Amazing Race 34 takes on Dad/Daughter dynamics

 The Amazing Race

 

Season 34, Episode 3 (second half)

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Florence, Italy – At the end of a long day in Italy, having struggled with a challenge she barely understood, Sharik Atkinson, had just one wish. All she wanted to do was quit the race and go home. Yes, go home.

There she was on the finish mat standing beside Linton Atkinson, her dad and race partner, pleading to host Phil Keoghan to send her on her way.

 

“I want to go home,” Sharik (left, pictured earlier with dad) said. “Please send me back to New York.”

 

Could this be happening? Could someone actually just chuck it all on the Race, pass up the chance to win a million bucks and lasting (well, not that all lasting) fame.

 

Phil got all tough love, gave Sharik the choice to stay or go. She hesitated, and then, finally, said she would stay. “Yeah, I’ll keep racing with my father,” she said, in a voice as flat as a pancake.

 

You had to wonder whether racing with her father is the problem, not the solution.

We're been here before. Parent-child combos are a feature on the Amazing Race, probably because they have so much relationship baggage.

 

Margie O’Donnell and her ever-needy son Luke Adams (left) were such good TV that they were on three seasons of the Race. So even if Sharik gets her wish and goes home, she’ll come back again, and again.

 

The rest of this week’s finish to the two-episode Megaleg – all the chiseling to discover a sculpture, all the Florence fashion displays, all the food carrying, was certainly functional, but forgettable, too. (People didn’t even have to eat the food they fetched.)

 

The twins, Emily Bushnell and Molly Sinert (below) were

impressive as they glided to a first-place finish. Military brothers Marcus and Michael Craig, were strong again, taking second.

 

Dom Jones approached Sharik on the bathos meter, as she struggled with self-inflicted problems. Miss-reading the instructions on the sculpture challenge, she was ready to throw in the towel, take a four-hour penalty.

 

Partner Rich Kuo (who could be faulted for his inept driving earlier) talked her off that ledge, got her back on task. But too much time was lost, and they finished last and were eliminated.

 

Their departure is a loss, as Dom (left with Rich) emotive and quick with a New Age read on life, was a scene stealer. I’ll miss her.

 

Perhaps Dom and Sharik could have learned something from newlyweds Glenda and Lumumba Roberts.

Not that good, they remain upbeat, supportive of each other and undeterred by any mistakes they make. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they actually got better?

 

Maybe that will happen in Episode 5, which will be in Jordan. Looks like there will be camels and lots of sand. Maybe Sharik will like Jordan. Maybe she won’t. Home might beckon. Phil might let her go.

 

Overheard

 

Dom: This is not my kind of thing.

 

Rich: I want you for 15 minutes to pretend you’re a freaking sculpture.

 

Sharik: His forehead fell off. I have to glue it back on.

 

Rich: Baby, I’m going to meditate for you, sending positive vibes.

 

Sharik: Yes, Dad, it was difficult.

 

Linton: We’re not quitters.

 

Lumumba: No non-elimination rounds. It just heightens the intensity. Everything is now.

 

Phil: (To Marcus and Michael) Man, you finish second in a Megaleg, and you’re beating up yourselves.

 

Sharik: Can I have water. I want to go home.

 

Glenda: We do not believe there is any value in being negative.

 

Dom: I’m so grateful to call him (Rich) my dude.

 

Order of Finish

1.  Emily Bushnell, Molly Sinert (Long-lost twins)

2.  Marcus Craig, Michael Craig (Military brothers)

3.  Abby Garrett, Will Freeman (Childhood sweethearts)

4.  Luis Colon, Michelle Burgos (Married couple)

5.  Quinton Peron, Mattie Lynch (Former LA Rams cheerleaders)

6.  Aubrey Ares, David Hernandez (Ballroom dancers)

7.  Derek Xiao, Claire Rehfuss (Big Brother graduates)

8.  Glenda Roberts, Lumumba Roberts (Newlyweds)

9.  Linton Atkinson, Sharik Atkinson (Father/daughter)

 

Eliminated:

Rich Kuo, Dom Jones (Motivational speakers)