Rabbit Zebra Ferret
Unlike in other reality competitions, alliances and social interactions have little to do with who wins The Amazing Race. If you complete the tasks fastest and cross the finish line first, you win. If you can’t do it, you’re going to lose, sooner or later. There are rules in the race, but there is also plenty of leeway within the rules, and nobody says you have to be nice to your fellow competitors. In fact, you probably don’t want to go too far in that direction, or you’ll be giving up an advantage that might be crucial.

Still, it’s hard to root for a team like Sam and Dan, who have consistently backstabbed the other teams throughout the race. Tonight they reached a new low, when at the Road Block Dan agreed to work with Big Easy to complete the task, a simple anagram. Dan then conveniently reneged on the promise as soon as he had solved the puzzle, and skipped out without sharing the answer. This caused Big Easy to get so frustrated that eventually he and Flight Time decided to wait out a four-hour penalty rather than continue a task that had already consumed so much of their time.

Well, Sam and Dan have wanted the Globetrotters out of the way since the race started, and their maneuver tonight finally accomplished that. The one and only team that had been fully supportive of one another all the way was eliminated, and the nasty brothers and the two bickering couples will race to the finish in the finale next week. (On the other hand, how hard is it to unscramble the word “Franz” in a Road Block that’s called “Kafkaesque”? It’s not fair to Zev and Justin, among others, for the Trotters to quit and then call it a “strategic move.”)

It’s probably not fair to Meghan and Cheyne to characterize them as one of the bickering couples. They’ve argued only when frustration got too much for them to handle. The rest of the time, they have worked together well. They started tonight with a lead and finished with what looks like a bigger lead. Every task went smoothly, except for a little tension while wheeling their clay-covered golem figure through the streets of Prague, and they hit the mat in first place once again.

Brian and Ericka should have had it harder, but if anything their leg went more smoothly than anyone’s. Maybe it was the absinthe they drank as part of the Speed Bump they incurred by finishing last on the previous leg. Brian isn’t a drinker, but he was even more mellow than usual tonight. (Ericka, on the other hand, fell apart when she dropped a few beers at the Detour, and she snapped repeatedly at the drunks strolling the same Prague streets where they were trying to make their deliveries. At one point she cried, “I’m not willing to make this work!”)

I’d be happy with a win by Meghan and Cheyne, and I fully expect it, because they’ve dominated the race. I’d be okay with Brian and Ericka winning, because they have consciously tried to play fairly. They’ve struggled to stay positive, with enough success to make them a likable pair. And if Sam and Dan win, I’m sure they’ll sleep well with their million dollars, despite what they showed of their character along the way. Maybe they can take some of that money and buy Brian and Ericka a cab ride.