“Donkeys Have Souls Too”
November 4th, 2007
The first episode of every season of The Amazing Race features a great deal of bunching, necessary to keep the teams close together. However, for all of that effort, I can’t remember a single opening leg that is particularly memorable, mainly because they’re all the same: they drive, they fly, they task, they bunch, and then they arrange themselves as they wish. Really, there’s nothing that one can be surprised by in a premiere (As purely anecdotal evidence: not a single premiere made TWoP’s Top Nine Episodes List).
However, I consider this premiere to be one of the most memorable…or, if you will, least objectionable. The team who went home were rather annoying, the significant other-related drama was generally well-handled, and they managed to cover a wide territory of tasks in the span of only a single hour. Was it brilliant? No: all premieres lack the emotional connection we will eventually make with this teams. But, in short, this episode had soul, and that’s really what counts.
I won’t even attempt to remember all of the teams, but there were some highlights: the emotional moment for the father/daughter team (Which doesn’t seem to last, delightfully), the parallel of Jason/Lorenna (Who fought and then came back from behind) and Nathan/Jennifer (Who fought and barely avoided elimination), and the zest for life seen from the “dating goths”. There’s a lot of variety to be found within the teams, and I think it paid off in a lot of personalities.
My favourite moment, however, was when one of the Lesbian Ministers took a moment to talk about the beauty of the race, and how fantastic it is to be able to experience planet earth in this way. I liked them: they seemed humble, and when they reached the mat they were simply happy to have survived the first leg. Here’s hoping they can keep going on that, because I think there’s some potential.
As far as the tasks go, the episode actually hit a lot of the various options the producers have in front of them.
- Physical Tasks: There was a lot of running in Ireland, more than you’d usually expect. Combine with a short tandem bicycle ride, and the physicality of the teams was certainly in play this week.
- “Cool” Tasks: Biking across that inlet with the other person hanging below was mindless (Although Nathan proved there was some level of speed/power involved), but it sure was damn cool.
- Finesse Tasks: Yes, as the title of the episode shows, Donkeys do have souls. The teams that remembered this and were really nice to their donkeys were rewarded. The teams who chose to yell at them? Well, they were very nearly eliminated.
There was also a good balance of taxis and driving, something you sometimes don’t see this early in the race, and there were a few directions-related switches (Including the order of the top Three teams).
The last team to arrive (Ari and Stealla) were fairly predictable, and it was really an undignified way to go: threatening to cut up and eat a donkey really doesn’t do much for a guy’s reputation. That being said, I was glad to see that they appeared to still be friends, and I’d rather they grow an impressive hatred of donkeys than a hatred of one another. I have a feeling Ari could have been objectionable with time, so his exit leaves Nathan as the show’s requisite asshole (Although, Jennifer wasn’t taking his shit, which was good).
As for next week, I am already anticipating “Grandpa goes Tarzan” as Phil put it, and it should be interesting to see whether some of the teams who have yet to make a real impression (The Blondes, the Sisters) emerge any further.
Cultural Learnings 