This week’s episode of The Amazing Race showed us how the choices we make can have some bad consequences. Things got off to a seemingly great start for several teams who discovered a flight that went from Sydney to Tokyo via Hong Kong, and arrived fifteen minutes earlier than the direct flight. Anyone who knows anything about story construction knew the editors were having a ball with all of the foreshadowing going on, as the teams contemplated that the flight with the connection could end up setting them back if there was a delay. And there was. Mechanical problems set the teams in Hong Kong — Kent & Vyxsin, Jaime & Cara, Margie & Luke, Mel & Mike and Zev & Justin — behind the other teams by a little more than an hour. Flight Time & Big Easy were with Zev & Justin when they were looking at the flights, but with only one pair of seats left on the flight, the Globetrotters repaid the favor they received in the first leg of the race, when Zev & Justin helped them with the answer to the clue. In this case, a noble action ended up hurting the team it was meant to help.
I’m enjoying most of the teams this season because I think having gone through this experience once has helped them focus on the task at hand. They’re comfortable with their partners and they know pretty much what to expect from the game. It’s interesting to see how quickly alliances are formed and broken, though. Last week, Jaime & Cara were Luke’s “Race girlfriends,” but this week Margie & Luke ditched them and took off with Mel & Mike because being in a caravan of four teams was not going to help any of them. The snub left the girls flustered. To compound matters, the confusing crowded streets of Tokyo became an obstacle, as the girls hit another car, damaged its mirror and had to wait for the driver to call the police, instead of settling the matter through insurance. This little mishap ended up putting Jaime and Cara in last place but not out of the race.
Unfortunately, even in this early stage of the race some disharmony and physical limitations are plaguing the teams. We’ve already seen Mel & Mike struggle as Mel nearly collapsed on the ferry in Sydney. It’s nice to see someone like Mel not want to give up, but his poor son has been beside himself worried about his dad’s health. At the Detour this week, the guys chose to do the “Luck” challenge, which required them to strip down to their underwear and don some traditional Japanese garment (which wasn’t more than a strip of material tucked into their waistbands). Then they had to search through the mud, while being pelted by the locals, for a plastic frog. After spending what seemed like hours in the freezing cold, Mel wanted to forge ahead because he knew they’d be eliminated if they quit. Mike kept trying to get him to stop, but Mel’s reply was, “I’d rather die here with you than home in bed.” Mike finally had to call it quits, and the men were taken to an ambulance to get their core temperatures back to normal. Mel & Mike were the last team to check in and were eliminated, but the love and respect they have for each other is truly uplifting.
Not so uplifting are Ron & Christina. Poor Christina; I bet she’s wishing she was running the race with her finace, who she revealed was Season 12 cast member Azaria, instead of her father. Even though she insists it’s been a great experience spending time with Ron, she never really seems all that happy. Last week, he complained about Mallory not knowing where she was going, but she got them to a clue before Ron decided again she didn’t know where she was going; then he got lost. This week, Christina made Ron stop to ask for directions from another motorist who told them where to go. Ron, again, said the woman was less than helpful, even though they got to their destination because of her help. I guess Ron is just very old school and doesn’t respect women very much; whatever his problem is, I hope they’re out of the race soon. Sorry Christina!
An interesting piece of business did involve Ron & Christina and Flight Time & Big Easy between the Detour and the Pit Stop. Christina carried her fanny pack to the challenge and left it on a rock, and when the Globetrotters left the challenge, they took the pack with them, realized it wasn’t theirs, and left it in the changing area instead of taking it back. Ron and Christina freaked out looking for it and lost some valuable time and when they arrived in fourth place; they were like stone. Phil asked them why they were so upset, and they related what had happened. So Phil gave the Globetrotters a 30-minute penalty that put them in fifth place and Ron & Christina in third. It will be interesting to see if this has any repercussions next week.
Some episode highlights:
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Mar 06, 2011 @ 23:41 EST5EDT
Hey Chuck.
Small correction: he’s called “Kynt” (third bullet point) :-)
And I have to snicker every single time his name is on screen. Yes I am a child ^^;
Seriously though… I am not the most macho guy in the world but if your dad is so frail Mike why do you drag him on a race around the world. Twice. And why do you then start crying _every_ _single_ _time_ when his frailty shows? One would think that after you saw how he was able (or unable) to compete in the first race that he’s not up to the task.
I seriously don’t know who to blame. The dad, him, the people at TAR casting them again… but going in I thought it was wrong to drag Mel on the race again and they should’ve forfeit in Australia already where Mike got his first nervous breakdown over his fathers lack of stamina – unable to make it through the whole day.. then that scene in the plane… I had flashbacks to my year working in a geriatric department in a hospital during my civilian service. I was feeding people with Parkinson’s and cancer. My first patient of them all, who had endstage lung cancer (and who died three days later) looked like Mel did on this race. Thin, frail… and very close to dying. Him saying “I’d rather die with you here on this field”, digging through the mud was giving me flashbacks I didn’t need. And honestly nobody needs to see THAT on TV. Why did they drag him out there? Just for the fame? Just for a million bucks (500k after taxes)? *sigh*
Horrible horrible episode.
*POST AUTHOR*
Small re-correction – his name is Kent now (and it is that way on screen): https://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/cast/18/kent-and-vyxsin/
He changed it after his father died suddenly to honor him.
As for Mel and Mike, I’m sure the decision was all Mel’s and I’m sure he had to take some kind of physical before even embarking on the race. I can understand if all of that had some bad flashbacks for you, but it didn’t make it a horrible episode. No one held a gun to Mel’s head and made him run the race again.
Nice to see “Kent” finally grow up a little :-)
And I don’t know why I didn’t check the interwebs before correcting you. I even had the WP page open. Sorry then. But in the end it’s all good – because now I know that I was wrong and if I kept my mouth shut, I never would’ve found out I guess :-)
You hit the nail on the head by the way… I bet he wanted to race but when I see his son crying over and over again I think that he should’ve known that he wouldn’t be able to take it.
And when I see Mel shivering and his muscle-spasms I doubt that it was more than a physical in an office. You’d think they’d make you run the Cooper Test or something…
Besides, when I look at how they set up the stages it almost seems as if they wanted to wear the teams with low stamina out with the long first leg and the cold-test now. There was nothing involved where you could potentially break something (heavy lifting or anything).
I really blame Mike for not knowing better.
The first team to be eliminated said they got nothing for racing. Do you know the amounts they get for participating? On “Survivor”, candidates get 10k for taking part in the Reunion show (and everyone is there) so you basically get those 10k for taking part (if you don’t quit due to anxiety before the show that is). Is there any money they make on TAR?
I mean seriously all that crying about how the time spent together is so great… all I could think about was how it would be the exact same if he just sat on a porch with his dad or walked through some park. You can’t tell me that this is a great memory they have. Mike’s been worrying the whole race. Why didn’t he worry before? *sigh*
Anyway, yes you are right, it was a horrible episode _for me_. Not in general. I think it’s clear that that is what I meant, nobody else has flashbacks like me I didn’t mean to imply that :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, I read an interview with Kent and Vyxsin and his dad died very suddenly and it was a life-changing moment for him, so he changed his name back to Kent to honor his dad. It’s nice that he’s matured into Kent but still has a bit of the flamboyant Kynt in him (okay, way more than a bit).
As far as what the teams get paid, I’ve found a little information from 2005 which breaks it down as:
Winner, $1,000,000
Runner-up, $25,000
3rd $10,000
4th $7,000
5th $6,000
6th $5,000
7th $4,000
8th $3,500
9th $3,000
10th $2,500
11th $1,500
Keep in mind you have to put your life on hold for 30 to 40 days, so that’s a lot of missed time from the office. You don’t go home when you’re eliminated, so if you’re eliminated early that’s not going to cover much of that lost salary … and hopefully you have an understanding boss who will give you your job back! People really have to put a lot on the line to be on these shows, besides their health! I don’t know what kind of shape Mel is in or how intense his physical was before the race. Editing could have made it look a lot worse than it was, and Mike could just be a cryer. But it was a choice and I’m sure Mike probably asked his dad several times if he was sure he wanted to do this again. You have to admire Mel’s attitude though, because I’d be much happier dying in the comfort of my bed than in a cold mud pit!
Hehe yeah I know that editing plays a huge part… I mean of the hours they spent there, they just showed us glimpses. So I know it’s unfair to harp on Mike so much but I am sitting there watching and they keep repeating how great it is to compete together and all that but… you know… they already did that! It’s not a “once in a lifetime” thing anymore. And they are both writers so this is basically not costing them anything (even more, they are fed and kept in a warm place 7 miles above ground most of the time ;-) ). I just think that after the first time competing, they both knew that they were unable to win this. And they might just wanted to get another week or two of traveling out of it. Which is nice.
But then please don’t cry all the time. First it’s kind of endearing, then it gets kinda annoying, and in the end you are getting more and more angry that they were brought back in the first place just to fill the 60+ demo demands
But hey on the other hand casting isn’t a science and sexist that I am I am still laughing to this date about Richard Hatch showing his junk in the face of a lesbian in the first Survivor All-Stars ^^; These things are kinda hit and miss and I bet there are a lot of people in Florida who loved how Mel and Mike competed :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Some good info directly from Mel concerning being eliminated and how it all came about: https://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Race-Mel-Mike-1030423.aspx