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| Let's recap the Sri Lankan-based episode 5 of TAR All Stars. |
The leg started off with a mad scramble for flights, something that had been sorely lacking so far on this season. From the speculation I've heard, pre-prepared flights, as well as lackluster challenges with Detour locations nearby each other, and multiple legs in one country, is The Amazing Race's way of cutting costs in it's lowest rated season ever, so it was nice to see more options available for once.
This resulted, of course, in the two teams in the back of the pack being without the choice flight from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo. Margie and Luke opted to take the safe route and wait it out on standby, while Brendon and Rachel chose a risky flight to Singapore with only a half hour connection.
I'm going to explain why this was the best possible choice they could have made. Let's play out the other scenarios.
1) Brendon and Rachel get on standby with Margie and Luke.
This means they would end up on the early morning flight to Colombo hours behind the others, resulting in a harried race through Sri Lanka to not come in last. Although more exciting for us as viewers, Brenchel had no idea that Margie and Luke weren't on the earlier flight, so in their minds, this choice would be an almost automatic elimination. Even if they had done this, they still would have had a decent chance of being eliminated.
2) Brendon and Rachel take the Singapore flight and miss the connection.
After missing their connection, they likely have to take a flight even later than Margie and Luke's and end up being eliminated. However, as Brendon correctly stated, "We've got nothing to lose." They were at the back of the pack anyway, so this was a calculated risk vs. reward that ended up paying off.
Fortunately for the Brenchel fans (which I may now be slightly a part of), neither of the two above scenarios happened, and Brendon and Rachel completed their Speed Bump and remained in the race.
The problem with Brenchel's wise decision (or Margie and Luke's poor one) is that it effectively killed any drama about who was going to be eliminated, much like what happened on the third leg with Joey and Meghan; we knew who was going home, so all that was left was finding out who would come in first...it ended up being Dave and Connor, although I was rooting for Caroline and Jennifer to come out on top.
I have to say that although I like Dave and Connor, and they seem like super nice people, they're really not that interesting compared to some of the other teams out there. They're still my picks to win, but I'd be a lot happier with Jen and Caroline or Joey and Meghan.
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| This was a calculated risk vs, reward that ended up paying off. |
What we did get to see a lot of was character development. Brenchel once again proved their steady calmness, Caroline and Jennifer expounded upon their relationship with the cowboys, Leo had a chance to entertain the crowd, and Flight Time got to show off his basketball skills, which were very impressive.
They actually spent so much time on Flight Time and Big Easy at the Roadblock that I started worrying they might somehow be eliminated, but fortunately they survived. I'm starting to really like the Globetrotters and would not mind seeing them make it far in the race.
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| Flight Time got to show off his basketball skills, which were very impressive. |
Margie and Luke really had no chance for the entire leg, but they seemed to take it well. I won't say that I will miss them (finally one of the three-timers has been eliminated!) but I was a little sad and felt a little sorry to see them go.
Alright, next week, it looks like the teams are predictably staying in Sri Lanka, and Rachel will cause a traffic accident. Should be quite the story to explain to the police. Tomorrow I'll recap the Sunday night episode of BBCAN, which I need to go watch, so stay tuned!
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