Golden-Haired Princess De-Throned

... Spoiler Alert! ... Spoiler Alert! ...


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 6 of The Amazing Race Series 8 - Family Edition (TAR 8), do not read any further!


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The last TAR 8 episode we saw here in Australia ended with the Godlewski family being the last team to reach the pit stop but the first team to be saved from elimination on the Family Edition of the show. The pit stop was located at Mira Flores Locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

For the record, this was the order in which the teams reached Phil on the mat last episode, and the order in which they started this leg of the race:

1. The Paolo Family
2. The Weaver Family
3. The Bransen Family
4. The Linz Family
5. The Gaghan Family
6. The Godlewski Family


Note: If you're already ahead of this point in the series, please refrain from giving any spoilers in your comments. Thank you.

As always, I’ll provide my thoughts on each team in this episode, listing them in the order in which they arrived at the pit stop at the end of the episode (hence the 'Spoiler Alert!').



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1. The Paolo Family


I can’t believe how well this family is doing – considering all they seem to do is lash out at each other! How can they be so effective? It’s disarming. And I find myself greatly enjoying their exploits on the field. I’m almost cheering them on. It’s heartwarming when they come to new realisations, like the fact that DJ is impressed and respectful of what his father does for a living. It’s just nice. And sure, maybe it’s nothing much but it seems like it is when compared to their normal behaviour, but that’s okay. There was of screaming-encouragement of/to Marion to get through the final dash to the pit stop, and for a while there it looked like the Linz family might overtake Marion. But no, the Paolo family pulled through again to take out the top prize. So it was another scary (and no doubt smelly) hug between Tony and Phil, and a pretty cool prize into the bargain. Good on ‘em.




2. The Linz Family


I objected strongly to the statement (as they considered whether or not to Yield “the Florida team” – which is to say, the Weaver family), “Let’s be mean for a day”. Pfft! They are constantly mean. They’re jocks, and bullies. And it’s typical of such people not to see just how mean-spirited they actually are. They’re unpleasant people, the more you get to know them. I really don’t want them to win. Unfortunately, I think they’re the team that’s best set-up to walk away with the million dollars, at this point. I’d love for them to be Yielded (if the other teams have any common sense they’ll see that their biggest real threat to the million is the Linz family), and then maybe be eliminated as a direct result. It’s possibly the only way they’ll fall far enough behind to come in last. They’re very strong, and they constantly arrive in the top three spots. That final run to the pit stop last night was probably going to be theirs if it was another hundred metres further. Megan would have outrun Marion eventually. I’m glad she didn’t.




3. The Bransen Family


It was strange to me that Wally wanted his blonde, beautiful daughters to get out of the van at night and approach a couple of shady-looking characters on a dark street in a foreign country to ask for directions. What is he - crazy? The fact that he got a little grumpy with them for it was stupid. I wouldn’t want my daughters getting out to talk to those guys in that setting. It’s just sensible for the man to ask. What a Wally. Again, there wasn’t much else to report on the Bransen family. If I was making up nicknames for this season, I’d be calling these guys the Blandsens. I really couldn’t care less about them.




4. The Godlewski Family


Perhaps the best bit of this episode was Sharon Godlewski’s massive sulk when she cracked it about the driving. She seems to have done almost all the driving so far on the race … maybe she actually has done all of it, because I can’t remember any of the other three being behind the wheel before Michelle was forced to step up. I know the teams are all really feeling the stress and sleep deprivation of the accumulated legs by now, so it’s often highly amusing to see how this plays out in the team dynamics – and it’s even better this year because they’re all four-member-family teams. These girls can be really b!tchy when they want to be, including making it clear that they were being nice to the Weavers to get something out of them, but didn’t intend to continue being nice to them. What cows.




5. The Weaver Family


Okay, things started out looking good for this team when they loaned the penniless Godlewskis some money despite the latter’s behaviour towards the Weavers last week. But then (after touting on about how they’re Christians), the Weavers started going off the rails. After stupidly stopping for directions (ordinarily I’d say you should always ask for directions, but when every other team passes you while you’re doing it and you lose your second place spot - knowing there’s a Yield ahead and you’re the most hated team on the race – then it’s a definite mistake!), the Weavers were Yielded. That part wasn’t a surprise, but what was a surprise was the fact that it was the Paolos who Yielded them; not the Linzes! The Weavers’ behaviour while they waited at the Yield was utterly atrocious, too. They insulted (behind their backs, what’s more) the Paolo family (“They’re in front of a garbage truck!”), Brian Paolo in particular (“He looks like a chipmunk”), and the Godlewski girls (“I hope those boobs cost a lot”), in addition to pounding the picture of the Paolos on the Yield sign out of frustration. Not what you’d call a very good example of Christianity (but then, no self-proclaimed Christian in the public eye ever is, because eventually they’re going to be a human and let the rest of the side down … but IMHO that’s more due to the unrealistic expectations of the public than anything else. After all, they’re only claiming to be Christians; they never said they were Christ himself ... and here are three such examples. But either way, we can at least agree that the Weavers sure weren’t setting a good example to everyone watching around the world. I was hoping (although it was pretty obvious that it wasn’t gonna go that way) that the Gaghans were somehow going to beat the Weavers to the pit stop … but it wasn’t to be.




6. The Gaghan Family : ELIMINATED!


This family is undoubtedly my favourite of this season. It was heartbreaking to see them falter at the red coffee bean challenge; a roadblock that was a one-person task only, and completely random in terms of how quickly it could be completed. Mum Tammy did the best she could, and the other family members had to watch from the sidelines. As Wifey said when Dad Bill was saying there was nothing they could do to help her, “he’s a nice man”. She said it full of warmth, too – not flippantly. Son Billy was an excitable but generally pleasant kid (to be honest, I was fearful of the kind of snotty little American children this season may have held in store for us, but thankfully we’ve been spared that horror), and I can’t say enough nice things about daughter Carissa. Her tears when Phil gave them the bad news were heartbreaking. She's such a sweetie. I very much wish they were still in the race, because they’d proven themselves to be a formidable team, even catching up considerably – and overtaking other teams – in the initial drive at night to the closed volcano park (and what’s with none of the teams being ready at the gates when they were opened the next morning, btw?!).

Due to the Weavers’ carrying on in this episode, I’ve gone off them completely. So I now find myself in the bizarre position of announcing that my new favourite team is … the Paolo family! (I know; how weird.)


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Last week's tips:

First Team: The Gaghan family. (Wrong – so freakin’ wrong)
Last Team: The Linz family. (Wrong)
Yield? Yes. Correct! (A complete fluke, quite honestly ... although you can sorta tell what's due when)
Fast Forward? No. Correct!
Elimination Week? Yes. Correct!
Biggest Argument: The Paolo family. (Wrong – it was the Godlewski girls)
Smartest Team: The Gaghan family. (Wrong – I actually think it was the Paolos for going with the banana task, which meant they got to the pit stop first)


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Next week's tips:

First Team: The Paolo family (I might as well jump on their bandwagon now).
Last Team: The Linz family (They’re still bullies and I want them gone).
Yield? No.
Fast Forward? No.
Elimination Week? Yes.
Biggest Argument: Just to be different, I’m going to say the Bransen family.
Smartest Team: The Godlewski family (*shrugs* - I dunno).


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