'Amazing Race': Happy Birthday Jen! (Okay, Maybe Not)
It was Jen's birthday on this leg. In case you didn't catch that. You know, like the 7,000th time she insisted that Nate shouldn't continue with his end of their patented hate-a-thon because It's. My. Birthday. Apparently, bad relationships are supposed to get a pass on major holidays. Sadly, that didn't work this time. Whatever are we going to do for evil relationship fodder in the finale?
Yes, this is a cranky day for your studious AR blogger. Because, in part, it might be necessary to start cutting some slack for Ron, previously known as Mean Dad. Amazing Race has always been flogging the idea that it brings together people who would otherwise put arsenic in the jellied cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving table. But, hey, let's be honest: the thing that really makes it work is the whole idea of making a reality TV show where instead of being trapped together on a semi-icky island or a faux house/TV set, monitored by the Chenbot, the contestants actually have to deal with Real People! Who Speak Other Languages!
Which brings us back to Ron. And Christina. Clearly they had a big advantage on this task because, while in Taiwan -- the destination city -- it appeared that Christina could communicate in Mandarin with cab drivers, etc., as they raced to get into the final three.
And that put them way ahead of Jen & Nate, given that Nate thought that going to Taiwan meant he was about to get some really fabulous Panang chicken. Unfortunately, his lifetime experience with his great "Thai friends" did not exactly help.
T.K. & Rachel showed significant signs of having moved into the bloom-off-the-rose stage in the early going, but they were totally blessed by the classic Amazing Race equalizers (aka, things that don't open until a certain hour and plane fights that catch everyone up). And, amazingly, Nate & Jen were smart enough to not actually fly to Thailand, but instead Taiwan. So the episode turned into a three-way race been T.K. & Rachel, Jen & Nate and Don & Nick, with a given that Ron and Christina were out in front.
So, here's where we're at as we race to the finish line: Ron is having a Race ephipany about how being Mean Dad is really not the way to go Grandpops and Grandson (aka Don & Nick) have somehow managed to hang in there to the end. And if the last leg doesn't involve flying somewhere that includes any kind of layover or possible double connection, T.K. & Rachel have a chance.
Oh, and Nate & Jen never once finished first. Odds on their relationship working out? I give it 95-to-1.
-- JENNIFER FREY
By Jennifer Frey |
January 14, 2008; 2:01 PM ET
Amazing Race
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Posted by: h3 | January 14, 2008 03:21 PM
I'm so glad they are gone! I was so tired of the "we deserve to come in first because it's our TURN!" whining. I won't accept that from my 9 year old, and I sure don't want to hear it from an adult. How about working hard to actually arrive first instead of yelling at each other the whole time? Sheesh!
I'm really happy that TK and Rachel are in the final as well. They occasionally space it, but are genuinely nice to each other, which is nice to see.
Posted by: hr | January 14, 2008 03:56 PM
I'm definitely glad Nate and Jen are gone. They provided interesting viewing for a while, but I didn't want them in the finale to get a chance to win the money.
Posted by: Marsha | January 15, 2008 05:13 PM
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Oh, my gosh, I was SO happy when Nick and Don got there third. Buh-bye, evil Nate & Jen couple. May you break up immediately and find other people to make miserable.