A couple of interesting twists in last night’s episode. I liked the cooperative task, which pitted two teams of 10 rowers against one another in Viking-style boats. I generally like taks that reward something other than brute strength, in this case ability to follow instruction and willingness to work together, each assets that Amazing Race participants seem generally to be lacking. It doesn’t make such good television to have teams that actually communicate well and cooperate. Last night also repeated the premiere episode’s race to nowhere - in this case, teams raced to the Viking village where they waited for the next day’s boat race. There was a subtle reward, in that teams arriving later were more likely to be from the "bicker-and-don’t-accomplish-anything" camp, which worked to their disadvantage in the boat race.
The big winners looked to be Meredith and Maria, who seemed to evade consequence for their inability to drive a manual transmission car, although it finally caught them in the end. In hindsight, it was stupid to predict Don and Mary Jean as the losers, given that the CBS promos clearly showed the New Yawkers transmission issues. Meanwhile, the race (or Cleavage-a-Thon 2004 as it is quickly becoming) continues.
Satan: Still Jonathan. Now, not only is he verbally abusive to Victoria, he is physically abusive as well, shoving her out of the way when annoyed.
Not quite Satan, but of the demon realm: Adam. Going postal over the missing sunglasses was a bad move, son. No wonder you’re "formerly dating." Just waiting for the implosion now.
Great plan that almost went awry: Lena and Christy. Good move using your aw shucks, we’re from Utah charm to capture a nice Norwegian, but too bad you couldn’t keep him around to navigate at the end. In last to start week three, but I wouldn’t expect them to stay there.
Showing weakness: Don and Mary Jean. Amazing Race Rule No. 2: always play to your strengths. Don made two big mistakes this week. First, he appointed himself the Roadblock task, even though it clearly did not require physical strength, which may force Mary Jean into a task she’s not well-equipped for later in the race. Second, he forced Mary Jean to do an archery task even though she told him for years of her archery-related issues. To top it off, he couldn’t throw the axe well anyway.
Showing (surprising) strength: Gus and Hera. Still haven;t forgiven him for the snow bath from last week, but Gus is using his big brain to help the team, telling Hera to do a two-handed overhead axe throw, which worked out well. Give her the strength tasks, and use Dad’s knowledge and they could be OK.
Week 2 Prediction: Don and Mary Jean (0-2)
Week 3 prediction: Ditto.
