Comments about the racers first, then about the mechanics of the show this season...
I think the dad and daughter lept to the top of my favorites list when they landed in 10th place at the very end. That man *did not quit*. There were so many close calls with them from the nearly-missing-the-tendon to the nearly-missing-the-flight to the nearly-missing-the-last-place that my husband and I were totally on the edge of our seats by the end of the episode. I totally remembered how much I loved and missed this show just watching these two racers go for it. I hope they at least make it to the top five, if not the top three. Given the condition of his knee, they may not last as long as they might otherwise.
Didja notice that when the cousins went back with the meat, the guy who was helping carry Mirna and Charla's bags had a hand on the bone just behind Charla's head? I wonder if they got an unseen time penalty for that, or if the producers just missed it or discounted it since they'd already gone four blocks past the butcher shop.
I like the moms, the cousins, the parents, the seniors, and the brothers simply because it's easy to tell them apart! Half of the other teams just seem too much alike-- if you only see the girl, it's hard to tell who's who during the first ep! I was wondering why the moms didn't get down the second zipline first, since they were first to get across, but my husband thought maybe they were a little more freaked by the distance down and let some other team go first. I know I would've wanted to see someone else go first to see how they landed before zipping down sixteen stories on my own!
Ditto what y'all said about the Christian couple-- I think the Lord is giving her the better suggestions right now!
I'm reserving further "fave" picks until the end of the next episode. There's still too many racers for me to have them all pegged yet.
Potentially off-color curiosity-- is this the first season that they haven't had a gay couple? They usually go for one older couple, one African-American pair, one set of siblings, one couple that's on the verge of breaking up, and a few from the stock soccer moms / friends / parents / parent-child categories.
Now for our observations on the mechanics of the show:
* The new "Yield" option is interesting. My husband and I bet it replaces the fast forward (you can only use Yield once in the game) as something more predictable. No more going to India and leaping ahead, or getting the fast forward where your bus breaks down and gets you to arrive in next-to-last place. It's fairer that everyone knows who can still use it (I think they had team name stickers to show who could take advantage of it pasted next to the actual ticket and timer), and that there's a preset time for how long the next team has to wait. But there's a nasty twist, too-- you have to use it on a specific team behind you. That can cost you potential alliances and make you a target for that team's yield later on. It'll be interesting to see if people use it.
* It seemed that while there wasn't a roadblock (one team member must accept and do the task without really knowing what it'll be), there seemed to be a lot more for the racers to do during this leg. An overnight flight, an overnight stay in a tent, etc. It seemed that they were really seasoning them and giving even the losing team enough of an experience to feel like they really did something and had a challenge from the race.
* On a similar note, we thought that the producers were being intentionally devious in two of the game elements, with the goal of teaching the racers the evil bits of strategy and transportation hell. The flights had different departure times with backwards arrival times, meaning that racers learned that they need to check those times before buying nonrefundable tickets. The clue box with the last route marker was set away from the hotel, with the challenge flag set where teams could easily find it. Thus, the route marker was missed by two teams who went to play roulette, and their penalty was to have to go back and find the route marker and hope they returned before the last team did. The trip was long enough to be a nuisance, but it wasn't a route marker before a long flight or overnight bus ride. The racers thus learned that they'd better make sure they have all of their route markers before starting any challenges. Much better to learn those two bits of strategy (and potential race-losing pitfalls) before moving on to the more challenging legs of the race.
Hybrid Mode
