After 8 Amazing Race episodes, let's look ahead

 Amazing Race 37 Episodes 7 and 8

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Bulgaria – It's prediction time.

After two episodes in Bulgaria, only five teams remain. So who's going to win it all?

 

Not the brothers Nick and Mike Fiorito

They were last in Episode 7, in part because they couldn’t find a bracelet in a haystack.

They also were suffering from dehydration, and, earlier in the season, Nick had to deal with a piece of rice stuck in his eyeball. (Their departure took Emily Morgan and Drew Mokris out of the pool)

 

The mother/daughter team of Melinda and Erika Papadeas are gone as well, as they finished last in Episode 8. They couldn’t decipher some Cyrillic.

But they would have been last anyway, as Erika misread a clue that said they could not take a taxi. It's odd watching a doomed team compete, oblivious to their fate, hopping into taxi after taxi. It may be a Race first. (With them gone, Allison Chanler is out of the pool).

 

So, let’s do some predictions.

 

Based on their finishes in the first eight episodes, here’s the Race leaderboard:

1) Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge (right, best friends.

2) Alyssa and Josiah Burden, married nurses.

3) Ana and Jonathan Towns, married parents.

4) Brett Hamby and Mark Romain, married Vegas performers.

5) Han and Holden Nguyen, siblings.

However, the last three episodes show some change, with Brett and Mark moving up, hopping over Ana and Jonathan. Likewise, Carson and Jack lost ground because of a very bad Episode 7.

 

So who is going to survive?

 

Despite one roughing outing, Carson and Jack should make it to the final episode. They’re cheerfully ruthless and, if nothing else, Jack will gain points as the most talkative competitor in Race history.

 

Similarly, Alyssa and Josiah are strong contenders. They are smart. They are positive. Alyssa can milk goats (Episode 7 ). Joseph even braved his phobias and walked on hot coals (Episode 8). They also have an Express Pass which could get them out of trouble down the road.

 

Watch out for Brett and Mark. They’ve got momentum. They’re athletic, and Mark is a terrific dancer.

 

I think Ana and Jonathan are on the bubble. It always seems as if he will lose it all, as when he drove the car into the ditch in Episode 7.

 

Han and Holden are the least likely to win,

though they have gotten stronger as the race has gone on, exceeding expections, at least my expectations. At times, though, it seems as if Holden is racing against his sister, and not against the other Racers. There are some sibling issues that may prove to be the greatest challenge.

 

Overheard:

 

Episode 7

 

Han: Holden went to military school, so that’s why he’s really good at maps.

 

Erika: I am not of the generation that has ever used a map.... Give me a phone.

 

Jack: I have no idea where we are.

 

Mark: My desire is to pass away from this life without ever having to touch an udder.

 

Carson: I’m not saying we’re lost anymore, but we’re not found.

 

Episode 8

 

Josiah: Amazing Race is a war. It’s not about winning the battles; it’s about winning the war.

 

Erika: I think this is why we’re still in the Race, because we got a little better about reading the clue.

 

Holden: We need a reset.

  

Phil Keoghan: What’s the first rule of the Amazing Race? (Read the clue.)

 

Order of finish Episode 7

 

Alyssa and Josiah

Brett and Mark

Ana and Jonathan

Han and Holden

Melinda and Erika

Carson and Jack

 

Eliminated

 

Nick and Mike

 

Order of finish Episode 8

 

Brett and Mark

Alyssa and Josiah

Ana and Jonathan

Carson and Jack

Han and Holden

 

Eliminated

 

Melinda and Erika

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Dubai: An Amazing Race sprint to the end

 Amazing Race 37 Episode 6

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Dubai – The Amazing Race loves a photo finish and that’s what it got in this episode.

 

I don't mean the finish for first. Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge, best friends and gamers, were miles ahead of everyone else to win.

Credit a very fast car that took them to the world’s deepest diving pool where they snagged a Fast Forward that got them to the end.

 

Speaking of the world’s deepest, the racers also got glimpses of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. Everything in the Emirate of Dubai would seem to be over-sized. Oil money?

 

The close finish came at the end of the line when the brothers Nick and Mike Fiorito

outran Pops Bailey (left) and his son Jeff to the line, sending the Baileys home, and taking Bob Wilcox out of the pool.

It could have been different. Pops and Jeff missed a train by a millisecond. If the doors had opened for them and closed for Nick and Mike, life would be different. The Race isn’t fair. You’ve heard that before.

 

The episode offered a sky-diving challenge, one racer from each team going up in the plane.

 

Alyssa Burden jumped at the chance, but

one of the most touching moments of the season came when her husband, Josiah, told us how scared he was for her.

 

Back on the ground, the racers had to arrange cakes and cookies and other delectables for an afternoon tea, their creations judged by a French chef. It was Downton Abby comes to the desert. Oil money?

 

One from each couple also had to ride a motorized surfboard. Hard for some, easy for others, including Han Nguyen, who, with her brother Holden, finished second on the episode. After looking like goners early in the season, they seem to be winners now. Go figure.

 

Overheard

 

Josiah: I’ve always wanted to land there and say “Oh, hi, Dubai.”

 

Holden: We’re going to go until the wheels fall off on this thing.

 

Jack: It smells like camel poop, I think.

 

Josiah: I’ll be so happy when she lands.

 

Alyssa: Josiah, thank you so much for letting me do this.

 

Holden: I was like dude, why are you a good looking French guy?

 

Holden: Whew, that’s my girl, and, by that, I mean my sister.

 

Jeff: I kept my shoes on going into the water.... Not conducive to the experience.

 

Jeff: I’ve always looked at my father as Superman, and I actually got to see him fly today.

 

Order of finish

 

Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge

Han and Holden Nguyen

Alyssa and Josiah Burden

Brett Hamby and Mark Romain

Ana and Jonathan Towns

Melinda and Erika Papadeas

Nick and Mike Fiorito

 

Eliminated

 

Pops and Jeff Bailey