“I’ve Become the Archie Bunker of the Home”
November 11th, 2007
After last week’s episode resulted in the two most frustrating teams battling it out for last place, we should have known that it wouldn’t last. This week, while the show certainly did not devolve any great deal, we did see a team that deserved to stick around longer get beaten down by mostly just plain fatigue. It’s not that they didn’t earn their departure, but rather that I would have liked for the race to accomodate their pace just a little longer.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if the other, less likable teams hadn’t also had a pretty good leg as they traveled from Ireland to Amsterdam. It was actually a leg in which we saw the worst in one team, and no one really stepped up to show us anything we didn’t expect…well, outside of a bit more of Donald than I personally expected to see at this stage of our television relationship.
The Challenges
There wasn’t anything overly difficult this week, but I do have to mention the detour (Hoisting Furniture vs. Hunting for Marked Bicycles) for its breaking down of certain gender stereotypes. The knot-tying aspect of the challenge seemed to be better-handled by the female team members, which helped the level the task between an all-female team like Shana and Jennifer and a male-female pairing like Nathan and Jennifer. I also like to see Detours where the needle in a haystack option is balanced out by not just physicality but also a mental aspect. [Note: Did Phil not introduce the Detour as a choice between two tasks each with its pros or cons? Or did I miss it?]
The roadblock (Pole Vaulting across a muddy ditch), on the other hand, was just too simple – it would have resulted in an incredibly intense finale if the last teams had arrived together, but a missed bus turned the task into an all-too quick stopping point. I mean, Jason and Lorena won some off-road bikes essentially because he was the first to bother trying to jump, not due to any major level of skill. The task provided some humour, and a bit of grotesque exposure, but it didn’t really have an impact on the leg to the extent another task may have.
The Teams
Ronald and Christina – It is from Ronald that the Archie Bunker reference is self-referentially spewed, and for good reason: he was a pompous ass the entire episode. It made it all very hard to watch because while his sales skills led him to being nice to ticket agents, he doesn’t follow the same rules with his own daughter. That’s tough to watch, especially when he berates Nicholas in public for behaviour he practices on a regular basis. Their episodic journey was certainly intriguing, and I am interested in seeing whether they can ever possibly emerge from the basement considering their current relationship.
Nicholas and Donald – Speaking of Nicholas, who certainly could use some standby manners, these two were on a journey of their own in this episode. It just seems like Donald’s pace is really too slow for them to ever truly compete on a task – the second they enter into a task which involves a lot of walking, they need to hope for some serious mistakes. And, yes, Donald stripped down to his underpants while trying to complete the roadblock, and it was kind of disturbing. I’m with the locals on that one: it seemed wildly unnecessary unless he was wearing clothes far too big for him.
Everyone Else – Lorena and Jason worked together well as a team after some communication problems last week, Marianna and Julia made a crucial navigation error which stuck them in the back of the pack and nearly led to their elimination, Jennifer and Nathan continued to have serious bickering issues but still managed to get 2nd Place anyways, Kynt and Vyxsin would have had a great leg if Kynt hadn’t reused “Oh My Goth!” to draw my ire, Shana and Jennifer impressed at the detour, TK and Rachel sucked at the detour and didn’t seem all that affected by it, and Azaria and Hendekea creep me out when he calls her things like “baby girl” – I’m pretty sure if you tested people, most would assume they were not siblings and were just not big on PDAs.
The Elimination
I really, really wish that Kate and Pat were twenty years younger, because I loved their attitudes – their pre-leg admission that they don’t believe God cares what happens to them in the race was wholly refreshing, and their acknowledgment of Ronald’s treatment of Christina (And their guilt at finding it morbidly enjoyable) were a welcome change of pace. In the end, they were just not fast-paced enough to deal with being an entire flight behind, and the result was their elimination far too early in the race. So long, Kate and Pat!
Cultural Observations
- “Amsterdam. That’ll be bitchin'” from Rachel would have been my choice for the episode title if TK and Rachel had actually done anything of note: instead, they remained without personality even when they should have been fighting.
- I don’t think Christina was lying: her father really hasn’t been in her life if she hasn’t before this point told him off for treating her like that. I’m really curious to see just how much like Archie Bunker he is in real life, and how much of this is brought on by the stress of the race. We always have to remember that we’re seeing this people out of context.
- My other favourite moment, proving that even when airing sooner than expected the TAR Editors are still amazing: Kynt crosses the ditch, and TK’s comment to Rachel is “Come on, she made it over, we gotta go!” Man, he’s really got to pay more attention – he really is from the middle of nowhere, isn’t he?
- Next week: Camels! Man, Donkeys and Camels within three legs – that’s just mean.
Cultural Learnings 