Watching Reality TV

Wee! It’s time for “Amazing Race” again! Easily, this is my favorite reality show. And this season we’re leaving from Los Angeles. I’m not going to go into who the teams are because there’s just too many of them. If you want to learn about them all, go here. Let’s just say there are plenty of opportunities to snark in this group here. It’s just a matter of who is going to get snarked on first. The teams arrive at a giant mansion in various automobiles to meet with the ubiquitous Phil. I must say, the Goth couple sorta freaks me out. They’re just so… bright. And dark at the same time. I don’t know. They’ll be easy to pick out of a pack for a while, I imagine.

Phil gives the teams the go-ahead to run to their backpacks and collect their first clue. And it is: Go to Shannon, Ireland. Sweet! I don’t think the show has ever been there before, so this will be awesome. Teams pile into their SUV’s… and immediately get into a traffic jam. Teams are giddy, as they always are the start of the race. I find that I’m giddy right along with them. Some teams are having no problem finding the airport and others are… less successful. Vyksin? Are you kidding me? Oy. I find myself watching the teams and wonder who I will love and who I will hate. And who will be eliminated first, of course. The teams seem to be navigating some very nice neighborhoods here. There’s urgency to get to the airport because there are limited seats on the first flight out (as always). Loreena and Jason arrive at the airport first and easily get tickets. Shana and Jennifer and Kate and Pat arrive next. The rest of the teams are literally biting at their heels. Marianna and Julia get the last seats on the first flight and the rest are bumped back. Ouch.

The next plane leaves 45 minutes later. Not too bad, but every minute counts. The second plane is Aer Lingus whereas the first was British Airways. The first flight goes to London first and then onto Shannon. Of course, the first flight is delayed leaving London. So it would appear that the second flight arrived first. Ain’t that just the way! They’re going to a ferry port and will take the ferry to an island where they’ll find a ruin. At the ruin then they’ll have to sign up for ANOTHER ferry to take the next morning, in increasing time increments. The first flight lands shortly after the second so we have a nice big old glut of teams racing to the ferry port. The first ferry arrives at Inis Mor and the teams get directions to the ruin in question. It’s a pretty big island, as it turns out. Nathan and Jennifer are bickering already, something Kile and I predicted in the first five minutes of the show. The first teams spot the ruins and struggle up the hill to find the ferry signup sheet. Nathan and Jennifer make up. She mentions that was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Oh dear. Donald gets his sneaker stuck on a bush (seriously) so he and his partner were on the last boat. The teams have a nice inn to stay in. It’s warm and dry, that’s what matters. Something they won’t see too often from here on out, I imagine.

The next morning, the first teams take the ferry back to the mainland where they’ll find a vehicle to drive along with their next clue. Cleggan Farm where they’ll take a muddy bike ride to find the next clue. So far, there’s been no skill involved. I’m sure that’ll change shortly. Loreena is freaking out about Jason going the wrong way and I’m worried she’s going to bust a vein in her head if she doesn’t settle down. They stop to get directions and they were going the wrong way but Jason doesn’t seem that concerned. The second ferry arrives and that group gets their start while the first teams arrive at the farms and grab their bikes. Someone’s bike chain breaks, which is unfortunate. TK and Rachel arrive at the Roadblock first. One of the teams must either do a high-wire bike ride while their teammate rides along below. Sounds pretty precarious. TK and Rachel, of course, are very excited about it. All in all, it’s pretty controlled but TK and Rachel manage just fine. They move onto the next clue where they need to chose a donkey and fill its baskets with peat and direct it back to the farm where they’ll get their NEXT clue. The scenery is amazing and makes me want to visit Ireland that much more. Some people choose to be sweet to their donkeys, some people insult theirs. The donkeys have varying degrees of feistiness, which is always fun. Someone, forget who, threatens to eat his donkey while another (donkey, not racer) brays at his team defiantly.

Bad donkey luck continues while Ari and Staella have a horrible time with theirs. TK and Rachel get the next clue first. The Connemara Heritage Center is the first pitstop so they take off, with teams hard on their heels. Azaria and Henndekea are first to the mat and have won a Travelocity vacation to Alberta, Canada. Kynt and Vyksin are team number two, proving that Goths can race too. TK and Rachel are third. Nathan and Jennifer are still stymied by their donkey. Shana and Jennifer (known as hot blonds to everyone else) are currently last but are in high spirits. Good thing, because they soon pass Ari and Staella. Lorena and Jason come in fourth. Nick and Donald come in fifth. Shana and Jennifer come in an amazing 6th place because they had an awesome donkey. Ronald and Christina come in seventh while Kate and Pat were close on their heels at eighth place. Marianna and Julia make it to the mat in ninth place with Nathan and Jennifer (finally) just behind at tenth place. Sadly, Ari and Staella come in last and are eliminated. That was just some BAD donkey luck there. It always sucks to be the first one eliminated.

Yay! “Amazing Race” is back!