Whenever I watch an episode of The Amazing Race, my emotions tend to stay within a certain level. I may be impressed by the various countries they go to, anxious to see which team will win a footrace to the pit stop, or touched that a team learned so much about their connection in such a short amount of time, but I tend to walk out of every episode of The Amazing Race feeling pretty okay.
Not this time.
When I was watching the downfall of the Cowboys, I was infuriated beyond belief. It’s not the fact that Jet and Cord were eliminated that bugged me the most, as they’ve not ran the best race this time around and were mostly getting by on how efficient they are. No, what bugged me was the apparent alliance that the other five teams have and how they’ve skirted the rules on cheating for a second challenge this season. Yes, sharing answers with another team during a roadblock is technically within the rules, but it really shouldn’t be. The Amazing Race always stood above other reality shows because it was about integrity, intelligence, and relying on just you and your teammate to get around the world, but the top five of this season has been heavily diluted by alliances.
I mean, what have Jen and Kisha done this season? How many non-physical tasks have the Globetrotters done themselves? What kind of voodoo are Kent and Vyxsin doing (or fonduing, if you will) to keep themselves in this thing?
It’s just extremely lazy racing and it’s not the most fun thing to watch; I want to watch the minds of these people turn and I want that “aha!” moment when they figure out a challenging puzzle. I want to see independent, strong, well-prepared racers running to the finish line to collect their million dollars, not a team who had to piggyback on another team (or teams) because they’re too insecure to stand on their own in the race. There’s a difference in being a nice person during the race and being an enabler and there are several teams who have been keeping other teams afloat the entire time. The thing I’m looking forward to most in the final episodes of this season, aside from seeing who wins the million and ogling the gorgeous scenery that we’ll undoubtedly bear witness to, is seeing this alliance break up and the barnacle teams finally losing their grip in this competition with a strong team pulling through in the end.
What did you think about Sunday’s episode? Did the “cheating” leave you upset? Who are you rooting for to win?
I totally agree with you on this one. It infuriated me when I saw everyone gang up against the Cowboys, letting lost or lazy teams coast on by while the Cowboys had to come by their answer honestly. I don't mind when teams employ a strategy of sneakily trying to follow another team in a car, but when teams purposefully help each other in order to get another one out of the race it does begin to destroy the integrity of what has usually been one of the classier of the reality shows. I guess it would be impossible to ban alliances, and I haven't been bothered by them as much in the past because usually it's only two teams helping each other temporarily. But this leg of the race was just cruel.
That was my last episode of TAR – ever. I agree with the article and the prior comment. I don't care who wins and won't waste my time supporting cheaters. I think there should be a show about the Cowboys similar to The Last American Cowboy – even just one season! The good classic American work ethic and kindness, honesty and gentle humor would be a balm from the cheating we've seen. It's not the U-Turn that gets me, it's the ganging up and sharing information. Those teams should have been penalized for that sort of "game play." Jet and Cord, best wishes and God bless you!
I agree with the above comments, as do the rest of my family and people at work. Cheating should never be part of a game and ganging up on another team is poor sportsmanship. There are people left in Amazing Race now who would never be there, but for the help of others giving them the answers. I may decide not to watch. Like the others, it used to be a really good show without a lot of bitching. Jet and Cord played fairly and lost because of it
It is a shame that children watch this show and see the cheaters win, over the cowboys' integrity. I am done. I am going to watch only the rest of this season just to see the remaining teams start to cannibalize each other. Then I will never watch this show again. Shame on TAR for allowing this. Shame on the remaining players, even Justin for sharing the correct answer initially. A very sad commentary on American ethics.
I just watched the show again to make sure that my comments were correct. In every other episode, if the rules were not followed exactely, teams were penelized. This episode the rules were clearly stated that if the person got the distance wrong, they had to return to the starting point & start over. Every team colluded and cheated & CBS let them get away with it. Watch the episode again & you will see that I am telling the truth. Jet & Cord were the good guys & CBS has proven once again, to be more dis-honest than their news anchors!