Amazing Race Final four pre game

I must say this year’s Amazing Race has given us a surprising final four that at the begin of the show I would have never guess to have made it this far. The Cowboys are the only team I correctly guess to make it to the finals and I consider them to be the favorite going to the last two weeks of shows. Jet and Cord may be good old boys but they have proved already there is nothing they can’t master whether it is high fashion, pasta making or aiming a soccer ball. The three remaining teams seem to be very weak and have emerged from a particularly weak field this season. The Detectives, the Brothers and the Models including the former beauty queen Miss Teen South Carolina were all teams I considered ripe for elimination at the start but have survived to the end and might all advance if they Cowboy slip up. Let’s take a look at the final four one last time.

Coming into the tonight’s leg the Detective’s Louie and Michael face a speed bump that they must overcome to advance to the finals. This team got on my nerves in the very first clip shown of them when they declared themselves to be favorites and couldn’t see why they could lose since they were Policemen. This struck me the wrong way right off the bat and in the first two episodes I took to calling them the dim witted detectives or the keystone cops. They made many mistakes and did not seem very bright. It is not until week four of the race the Detective turn things around by downing beer and sauerkraut in Germany the quickest that leads them to a first place finish. At the time I thought they were luckier than good that leg, but quickly had to change my opinion in the following legs. The Detectives became more formidable of a team following this targeting strong team for elimination such as Joe and Heidi and succeeding in ousting them with the U-Turn. They also preyed upon Caite hatred on the lesbian duo of Carol and Brandy and orchestrated their removed from the race via Caite at the next U-turn. While I was personally happy to see Brandy go since her constant bitching was insufferable, I think the Detectives may have miscalculated in not targeting the Cowboys Jet and Cord. This may cost them the million dollars in the end. The duo has become more likable as the race continued and I wouldn’t mind seeing them win.

The unlikely duo of the Brothers Dan and Jordan has done everything in their power to be eliminated but have consistently finished just ahead of the eliminated teams. They don’t seem to be very good at anything they do but the brothers’ love for each other and the show shines though in each task. The pasta making challenge was particularly difficult for Jordan last week and it was touching to see the other brother Dan calm him down enough to finish ahead of the Detectives and avoid the speed bump. These two are my dark horse candidates to walk away with a million. Should the Cowboys falter or make a huge mistake the brothers could creep in under the radar for a victory. They have had bad luck though out the race yet survived and they have won leg and are actually due for a streak of good luck. The Brothers are huge fans of the show and are likely prepared for the memory challenge that has become a part of the final leg of the show in recent seasons. I expect that Jordan who loves the show has been taking notes on where they have been and what they have done and could excel at this in the final challenge. Or they could continue to be just average and get eliminated or finish third at best.

Equally surprising to be the last woman standing is the beauty queen Caite, although at first I felt sorry for her because of her famous televised slip up about maps and “the Iraq”, she has not proved to be very bright. At war with the lesbians though out the show Brent and Caite has seemed to come on strong since eliminated their nemesis Brandy and for some reason have seemed to gain confidence from their ousting of the duo. I must admit that though I personally hated Brandy and thought she has totally out of line towards Caite, I must admit that the Carol and Brandy deserved to advance to the final four over the models. However seeing Caite get her revenge and deliver my favorite line of the Amazing Race of all time that the models were going to “U-turn the fuck out of them!” (the lesbians) had me off my couch and cheering when the plot actually worked. Brent and Caite however allowed themselves to be manipulated into this move by the Detective preying upon Caite’s emotions and did not think out and end game that would have been without the Cowboys in the finals. Thinking is not the pair’s strong point and I don’t think they have the brainpower that the final memory test could involve. This is likely to be their downfall. The have an athletic edge on two of the teams but that may not be enough to win. If Caite were to come home with the crown of Amazing Race winner I would consider it the biggest upset in race history.

Finally the likable Jet and Cord start this leg in the lead, and seem to be the favorite to win the whole thing. They have survived a couple of huge errors of going to the wrong towns in Germany and not being able to down beer fast enough but still finished ahead of other teams. They have mastered high fashion, soccer kicking, repelling, and bungee jumping without losing their cowboy hats. They were the first team to overcome a speed bump to finish in first place without the aid of a fast-forward. The pair has shown amazing adaptability and guile and were underestimated by the rest of the field at the beginning of the race. The Detectives tactical error of not targeting the Cowboys for elimination may have handed the pair the win. However the Cowboys narrowly survived elimination one leg and if they repeat that performance tonight that will be going home early. This seems as unlikely as seeing the pair with out their hats on but as the Detectives noted last week you are just one bad cab driver away from losing a million dollars. Should be interesting viewing.