I foresee a lot of whinging about the last episode of The Amazing Race, but I’m at peace with it, really.Goodbye, Nerds. I’m really not sorry to see them go though. I never really warmed up to them. Yeah, it was great seeing nerds on TV, whatever, but they were just so stereotypical and non-threatening that I found their inclusion a little insulting. I wanted to see them kick ass. I wanted to see them use strategy and cleverness more than they did. (Which prompts me to comment that, in my opinion, Boston Rob was actually the nerdiest person to play the game. Whether or not you agreed with his strategy, he worked the mental side of the game more than any other player.) Which also reminds me, I don’t think that reading comic books and being good at puzzles makes you incapable of competing at something physically. (Says the girl who got up early this morning to go running with her very nerdy husband.) I resent the attitude that smart people can only excel at intellectual stuff and shouldn’t be expected to be able to kick a ball or win a footrace. That just annoyed me about them. We were just supposed to like them automatically because they wore glasses. Or maybe it’s because I’m a self-hating nerd. (Reminds me of when my parents finally got me a Cabbage Patch kid and she had glasses, which were presumably supposed to make me feel better about myself. Instead I just felt like a big nerd with a big nerd doll.)
I’m still liking the hippies, by the way. Yeah, the constant fake Italian accent is getting a little grating, but for the most part they’ve had fun the ENTIRE race. They don’t seem to get stressed and they’re not outwardly mean to anybody. They’re running the race I WISH Dave and Lori had run. And hey, Lake and Michelle are kind of amusing! I wouldn’t mind seeing them in the top three.
Robert
April 10, 2006 — 5:12 pm
Whoops, I just had a big whinge on my blog. Not so much about their elimination, but about how this season has had consistent top-rankers, and there doesn’t seem to be that much in the race that can really screw people over and make it more exciting. I was much more devestated about Wanda and Desiree being eliminated… and if Ray and Yolanda go I feel there is really no one left to barrack for.
Kris
April 10, 2006 — 5:20 pm
The TWoP forums are interesting to read, because a lot of people are all, “Waaaah! We need a bunch so the Hippies and Frats don’t win!” when the last four seasons have been nothing but “Waaaah! Stupid bunching sucks!” I mean, without bunching this really is the natural outcome. Teams who race well get further ahead. Did you see Phil on Sunrise last week? He was talking about how sometimes it’s hard for them to get to the next place ahead of the teams, and how he’s been literally running for the mat before at the same time as teams. So I definitely foresee a mega-bunch coming up, just to make it so that it doesn’t get any worse…
(I was also interested to note in that interview that Kochie asked Phil straight-up whether the plane had been held for Chip and Kim, and Phil DODGED THE QUESTION. He was all, “Really, don’t you think in the litigious U.S. we would’ve been insane to do that?” Which is not the same as saying, “No way. I wouldn’t screw with the game.”)
Rich
April 10, 2006 — 11:34 pm
Oh my God – Lake and Michelle are the worst, how can you want them in the Top 3. How about the old people? Aren’t they lovable?
Kris
April 11, 2006 — 9:55 am
No one who uses the expression “dagnabit” can be truly evil. 🙂
I was okay with Fran and Barry til they missed, like, three clue boxes in a row. My only criteria for lovability are ability to race and entertainment value, neither of which they provide much of, I’m afraid.