The First Leg

Adios, Ryan & Chuck!

Another great season of the Amazing Race has started, and for your sakes, I hope you watched! Because if you did, you got to see quite a great race, from the beginning freeway race in Los Angeles (with an almost-accident) all the way to the photo finish for who would be eliminated.

Long Beach, California, USA to Lima, Peru

We got our first introduction to the castaways....err, I mean contestants and saw the initial stumble of Amber and Rob. Hello? Can you really not figure out how to open a trunk? Anyways, at this point it's pretty hard to figure out who I'm rooting for, but it was entertaining nonetheless to see everyone feeling each other out. From watching the brothers flirt with the best friends, to Rob and Amber trying to play dirty against the grandparents, you can already tell this season was going to be entertaining. Sweet.

Peru: Lima and Cusco + local environs

Here's where I started to pick favorites. First, hats off to Bianca and Debbie. I really didn't anticipate liking them, as their picture makes them look like glamour queens. But damn, they can play the game. From misleading the poor former POW, speaking fluent Spanish and to beating everyone to the finish, I'll have to say that I am definitely most impressed with this team. And Meredith and Gretchen, I'm still blown away by how easily they handled the llamas in Peru. It was so smart how they did it, and they did it without seemingly breaking a sweat or getting snotted all over. Good for them!!! It looks like Rob and Amber will be using whatever advantage they can grab, especially if it's due to their celebrity. Whatever works, right? I'm not rooting for them, but I fully expect them to do well. Other than that, the contestants were enjoyable to watch, and I am not really surprised that Ryan and Chuck got eliminated, although that was pretty damn close. Ron & Kelly had better pick up the pace, or they're going to be SOL very soon.

Others' Thoughts:

Robbie Returns to Hobiespace!

Hey Hobie -

I don't want to write a novel about my take on the first ep of this season's AR because I should probably spend more time updating http://sandersworld.us (shameless plug).

First impression of the teams? TOO MANY GAY PEOPLE. There. I said it. I'm a homophobe. Sue me. At least Chip and Richen from a few seasons ago weren't "flamers" like the ones in this crew. Ick.

I personally thought this was a mediocre start. Hopefully I'm not reaching my AR peak as I did with Survivor a few seasons back.

Random Thoughts -

I guess Rob and Amber have "people" that open their trunks for them back home...I don't understand why people are so down on them. I won't get on my soapbox for those of you who feel that "they've already got their million...".

Why don't they just come out and say that Debbie and Bianca are more than just "roomates"? They were kissing and pawing at each other the whole show. The cat's already out of the bag for the gay couple and gay-son boy...what's the big deal here?

As soon as I heard the hillbillies speak, I started jonesing for Darrah (sigh)...

Everyone is so upset with Rob & Amber (i refuse to use Romber or Ramber or Ambob or...) for directing the couple to the wrong pile of sand. I don't get this. One - it's a competition. Two - the piles of sand looked like they were like 100 feet apart...walk your a$$es on down the beach to see the other times available!! Remember, at least two of these teams were such sheep that they just started digging where they saw others digging. Idiots.

Anyhow, I was disappointed that Darrah's perhaps-not-so-distant cousins were eliminated. And I hope the rest of the season picks up a bit.

Oh - stop what you're doing and go find and watch Carnivale!

robbie

Links:

Episode 1: How Much is that Llama in the Window? (RNO) - Episode Summary

Thinking Smart in Episode 1 (RNO) - A breakdown on who was good and who was bad