Geeky and creepy in the penultimate Amazing Race

Amazing Race 37 Episode 11

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Portugal – Phil Keoghan knows how to build suspense. 

He ended the episode with a cliffhanger’s, cliffhanger, leaving us not knowing which team would be the third team in the finale. 

It was manipulative. It was heartless. And, boy, was it good theater.

 

Alyssa and Josiah Borden were maybe a minute behind Ana and Jonathan Towns, each team putting tile on a wall, piecing together a mosaic.

 

Then Jonathan (left) dropped a tile and the episode ended. Boom, just like that. Are he and Ana doomed? Will Alyssa and Josiah survive? We’ll soon find out.

 

The survivors will join Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge, the fun-loving gamers who finished first, and the siblings Han and Holden Nguyen, who took second. They’ll all fly (business class) to Miami for the showdown.

 

But the vibe will certainly be different depending on the third duo.

 

No one would be rooting against Alyssa and

Josiah. They get along. They need the money to pay off student loans. They have been strong racers, though a little shaky of late.

I suspect no one would be rooting for Jonathan and Ana, as Jonathan has emerged as downright creepy in his treatment of Ana. In this episode he even barked at her for joining him in a line.

 

“Just don’t cut me off, that’s rude,” he told her. “You stepped right in front of me.”

 

Ana talked back, just a little, but mostly she persuaded Jonathan to keep going, the race not being over until it’s over.

 

Thanks to her, they did keep going, and perhaps they survived. Perhaps.

 

Despite Jonathan, the episode was fun, the highlight being Carson’s joy when he realized he was going to get dressed up in a suit of armor and live out a Renaissance Faire Fantasy.

 

You gotta love Carson, and Jack, too. They are geeks without apology; they bring the good times.

 

Han and Holden had a strong outing, as well. Early on in the season, I had thought Holden was clueless, a talker without talent. I was wrong. He’s a younger brother who is ever eager for his older sister’s approval. She, in turn, is patient and all-knowing. There, I finally understand them.

 

Overheard:

 

Jack: We take on this underdog wimpy vibe in our head, and the other teams are the popular kids.

 

Holden: Dude, life’s so much easier with a map.

 

Alyssa: The energy is really changed; nobody is helping anyone anymore.

 

Jonathan: You’re worse at navigation.

 

Ana: Why are you being so disrespectful?

 

Carson: This is the best day of my life... My friends, who I play Dungeons and Dragons with, they are going to freak out.

 

Jonathan: I wish I could be in a different state of mind. It was tough to enjoy it when you knew you were going home.

 

Order of finish Episode 11

(Updated at the start of Episode 12, Ana and Jonathan were able to put the cracked tile into the mosaic, and they went on to finish third.)

 

Carson and Jack

Han and Holden

Ana and Jonathan

Eliminated:

Alyssa and Josiah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Race 37: The Jerk Factor is back

Amazing Race 37 Episode 10

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Strasbourg, France – Ten episodes down; two to go. The Race is about to end.

 

We move from penultimate one night and ultimate the next. By 11 p.m., May 15, a new winning team will have been crowned.

 

First question: Who will win?

The favorites would have to be Carson

McCalley and his buddy and fellow gamer, Jack Dodge. That, at least, is what analytics tells me. The lower the score the better, and adding up all their finishes lands them a score of 27.

 

Next in line with be the married nurses, Alyssa and Josiah Borden (left) with a score of 32. Right behind them with a 33 are the wife-and-husband team of Ana and Jonathan Towns.

 

The siblings Han and Holden Nguyen, come in with a score of 55, so it’s a fair bet that they will not make the three-team final. Indeed, they are an underdog for the ages, and it’s a wonder they are still in the Race.

 

What happened to Brett and Mark?

 

The married Las Vegas performers were one of the stronger teams, and yet they were eliminated in Episode 10, taking Judith Hunter out of the pool.

Brett and Mark had a bad outing in part because it was a self-driving episode, and they got lost, more than once. It was too bad for them, and too bad for the viewers at home. Watching people try to read road signs and drive in the wrong direction gets old. Bring back the taxis.

 

What’s with Jonathan?

 

I’ve complained in the past that the Race was beginning to lose its jerk factor. There were too many nice contestants, too many competitors who got along with their partners and everyone else. Missing in action have been Racers we love to hate.

 

Missing no more. Jonathan, who had villain potential early, has come into his own. He pouts. He doesn’t accept responsibility for his own mistakes. And he consistently blames Ana for dragging him down. “You’re a terrible partner,” he tells her. “You’re going to get us eliminated. It’s not funny.”

 

What’s with Alyssa and Josiah?

 

In Episode 10 they found themselves struggling with the cheese tasting challenge. All the while, they debated whether to use the Express Pass they had to use or lose by the end of the episode.

 

Alyssa said play it; Josiah said not yet. Good grief, why not? Finally, they played the pass and went on to second place. Alyssa broke down with relief. Josiah hugged her. Let’s hope they return to being their cheerful and resilient selves.

 

Overheard:

 

Han: The motto we’re going to embrace is, ‘You don’t need to be perfect.”

 

Mark: Well, we followed the directions. Where is it? We cannot be the only ones who got this lost.

 

Carson: We’re nerds, so jousting is right up our ally.

 

Jack: We love cheese, simple as that.  Never met a cheese I didn’t like.

 

Jonathan: We could have been in first, but my wife got mixed up on the cheese tasting.

 

Mark: We’re going to win this leg.

 

Order of finish Episode 10

 

Carson and Jack

Alyssa and Josiah

Ana and Jonathan

Han and Holden

 

Eliminated: Brett and Mark