TAR6: That's Ass To You

Thoughts on last night's episode "You Deal With This Before I Hyperventilate":

Well it is the penultimate episode of TAR6.  Hard to get too excited about it, the minute Phil tells us 4 teams are left a little bell goes off in the heads of TAR fanatics that this will be a non-elimination episode.  By now, we all know 4 teams go into the finale, with the last Philimination taking place in the first hour of the traditional two-hour wrap-up.

So let's look at the Final 4.

Adam & Rebecca - If the TAR gods are looking down, this team will be the next one eliminated.  You think they would have been a physical force in the race given their age and occupation, but the continuous playing out the psycho-drama that is their relationship has hurt them big time.  It is really surprising that they have made it as far as they have.  I still enjoy Rebecca's snarkiness -- and once again she supplies the name of this blog entry when Hellboy (who seemed particularly helium sounding this week) pleaded that she stop calling him "honey."  You knew, Rebecca was going to come up with something good.

Jon & Kris - What is there not to like about this team?  Well, they are a bit bland at times, but they are certainly one of the most drama-free teams ever to compete on TAR.  Big props to Kris for noting that communication issues were their problem not the locals, saying something to the effect of "we are in their country."  Nice, too often we have "Ugly American" syndrome on TAR - and given their multiple nightmare taxi rides last night - it was even more applause-worthy.

Freddy & Kendra - Oy, "Fredra" continue to annoy me.  If it were not for Jonathan & Victoria (appearing on a primetime Dr. Phil on Feb 15th!), these two would have been the "love-to-hate" team of this season.  Once again, Kendra made the mistake of opening her mouth - this week's non-self-edit was "this ghetto street."  There is no doubt now in my mind that the TAR editors had to chop out some Sri Lanka dialogue.  But Kendra ultimately changed her mind on Shanghai... calling it "beautiful," I was waiting for her to add "just like me."      

Hayden & Aaron - They showed some cracks again early in the episode... but again prevailed to win yet another [insert sponsor here] vacation.   I don't know about you, but the last thing I would "enjoy after the Race" is to not get on another frickin' airplane ... shouldn't they give out recliners and big-screen TVs instead?   My favorite moments with this team last night included Hayden crouching behind a plant to hide from another team... and Hayden's passive-aggressive take on the Detour brick-ice options "if you feel we should go with the bricks, let's do that."  Translation: I will blame you and not shut up about it if this does not work out.  Fortunately for Aaron (and the rest of us), we did not have to see if that would have been the case.

So you know where I stand, the ideally competitive final leg would be Hayden/Aaron vs. Jon/Kris vs. Freddy/Kendra ... and hoping and praying that Freddy/Kendra don't win.

In TV Guide, host Phil says of next week's finale  "we've been blessed with another close finish" -- c'mon Phil even if it wasn't, the editors would surely make it seem that way!  So who will it be when Phil proclaims: 4 continents, 24 cities, and 40,000 miles... x and y you are the winner's of the The Amazing Race!

Comments

[Jeff]

I loved Rebecca calling Adam's bluff in last week's episode. I totally forgot this week's would be a non-elimination round, and so I was practically biting my nails as they reached the pit stop. I'm loving Jon and Kris; they're the most well-adjusted, go-with-the-flow team. (They're also so pretty I just can't stop looking at them.) ;)