Well it appears I kept to my plan of taking a "vacation" from weekly TAR posts...
This is only my 3rd post about TAR12. It was nice to not have the pressure of coming up with something for the next morning. I had felt like things were getting repetitive both with the show and thus what I had to say about the show... so I encourage my fellow bloggers if it stops being fun, stop doing it (and don't apologize for it either!)... if we wanted homework, we'd go back to school right?!
The last thing I wrote about TAR12 was nearly two months ago with a post centering around the two old guys - Grampa Donald and "Who's Your Mean Daddy?" Ronald - and you lie like a rug if you used the either of their names and the phrase "last leg" meaning they would actually be on the last leg of The Amazing Race!
All credit to both of them. While Nick pulled a bit more of the weight (often literally with those backpacks!) with Donald, we're still talking about a 68-year old man racing around the world. Ronald has undergone quite the transformation with daughter Christina... or else Nate/Jen were hogging all the "I hate you!" come editing time... and we haven't heard "boo" about the hernia for a couple of continents! While I believe Ronald always had good intentions, one only hopes this new-found respect (or maybe just improved communication skills) spill over to their post-Race lives... it was nice to see.
Feel good "old man" stories be damned, it is hard not to consider TK & Rachel the favorites going into the final, and usually grueling, final leg. While Donald is the elder-statesman this season, TK & Rachel's combined age is 13 years younger than Ronald! Given the immaturity we often see on the Race from folks far older, it is hard to believe that TK & Rachel are 22 & 23 (if you're too lazy to do the math, that makes Ronald 58 years old)... and while one can certainly question their intensity level (they're nice/likable enough... granted pretty bland, but almost refreshingly so, reality TV-wise), they are competitive enough that coupled with their youth and relative fitness they seem have to the winning edge...
... and with the demise of Nate/Jen, we are left with the quite rare villain-less TAR finale. And for that, I hate them!!!! I hate them!!!! I can't even stand to look at them!!!!! (Just wanted to see what that felt like)... not really, this time around it'll be the nice guys and gals not finishing last but 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
You're right, there wasn't much to say week after week, besides Nate and Jen should not be together. We've seen it before. I will not lie and say I picked the final 3, but for me it's like my birthday came early! Whoops, sorry Jen.
Posted by: Gail | Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 03:25 PM