They're Playing Dirty, Now

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


If you haven't yet seen (and you intend to see) episode 7 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 Gaghan family being the last team to reach the pit stop and the fifth team to be eliminated from the Family Edition of the show. The pit stop was located at a beach in Quepos, Costa Rica.

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 Linz Family
3. The Bransen Family
4. The Godlewski Family
5. The Weaver 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 Godlewski Family


It was amusing to me that the one time these b!tchy girls decide to be nice to the Weaver kids (at the go-cart track), the Weaver kids were so used to being the most loathed team on the race that they (understandably, in my opinion) took their sympathy for fake and patronising insincerity. They lost their flight reservations and I wish they hadn’t gone up to the counter to arrange seats closer to the front of the aeroplane, because otherwise they wouldn’t have discovered the error until they tried to board – as it was, they were able to get an alternate flight that actually put them in first place. What’s with the phrase, “Oh man, it’s hotter than snot!”?? They argued a lot and when Michelle got the directions wrong, she naturally got crabby with her other sisters. Makes perfect sense to me. I don’t like these girls much. There’s almost no one left in the show who’s likeable.



2. The Weaver Family


Their good efforts to move back up into second place (again) underlines what I said a few weeks ago about how they’re a surprisingly efficient team and always manage to work their way up the pack. They even did it last week after being Yielded. I must say their continual prayers are becoming a bit annoying. They’re allowed to pray, but have they ever heard of an internal monologue? Maybe the only thing that’s annoying is the way the editors of the show put crazy and/or ‘omm’ing music underneath it, making them sound like quacks. I really liked how Mum Linda insisted on doing the go-cart racing task to spare her children (although son Rolly might have been a wiser choice, if he was able to handle it); I thought it was very protective (while not being over-protective) of her to step in like that on a task that clearly resonated with the family over the death of the father. Again, it was cruel of the producers to include that task in an obvious attempt to increase the drama and stress of the race. I found it most amusing when the Weavers confronted a back-peddling DJ Paolo at the airport about him having Yielded them in the previous leg. He really had his back up against the wall (literally), and despite their claim that they’ve “been nothing but nice to you” (maybe to their faces!), his reply that he only Yielded them because they were the last team there was an outright lie. And he said “we can be friendly”, but I’m sure he didn’t mean it. Then in the final stretch of the show, when the Weavers passed a garbage truck on the highway, they started up the mocking references to them again: “There’s the Bronx team … Arizona’s finest.” I still want them to poll higher than the Linz family (and possibly the Godlewski family), but I’m not sure I want them to win anymore.



3. The Linz Family


I didn’t like the nasty grin the boys gave each other when the go-carting brother pulled into the pitstop and they made reference to him running Linda Weaver off the track momentarily. They knew the Weavers’ backstory; they were just being mean and vindictive for their own purposes. I suspect that the Linz family is going to win the series, and it makes me sad chiefly because I hate it when bullies prosper.



4. The Paolo Family


A word of advice for young families just heading out on an adventure such as this: If you can’t swim very well, don’t volunteer to swim. Especially not when you’re under pressure tod do it quickly and everyone’s in a panic. It was funny how Tony couldn’t swim and DJ couldn’t care. Wifey noticed how – all throughout the episode – the Paolo family members yell the exact same thing over each other all the time. It’s amusing (unless you hate them, in which case I can’t imagine how painful it must be to listen to all their carrying-on!). After the sugar cane task, it was hilarious to see how his parents singing the ‘Scotch Finger Biscuits’ song embarrassed DJ no end: “Am I in hell?” In the same bit, he was yelling to Brian to read the next clue before they pointed out that he had it. Then things started to get progressively worse for the Paolos. Marion didn’t like being told they were off to Phoenix Arizona (“Phoenix Arizona? What the hell are we going to Phoenix Arizona for?”) and her wishful thinking got the better of her (“I wanna go to New Zealand!”). Just make sure you don’t drop in to Melbourne on the way through, okay lady? When searching for the cars in the Phoenix airport, Marion finally asked the question that I (and many other viewers) have been asking since the very first episode: “I don’t know why your father doesn’t knock your block off.” Okay, so it’s not a question – but you get the idea. Other statements made throughout the leg (“I hope you never get married, DJ – no one could stand the way you go on” and “You got a nasty mouth on you”) further demonstrated the complicated mother-son relationship they enjoy. I think it’s time somebody moved out of home!



5. The Bransen Family: SAFE!


I almost wish the Bransen family had been eliminated, although they’re less repulsive than some of the other families and therefore it’d be preferable to see them survive to the final episode at the expense of some of their competitors. At this point, I’d ideally love to see a Paolo/Weaver-Bransen final three, but I’m a realist and I know that’s not going to happen. They really went off course when they got lost heading for the pitstop this time, and it cost them dearly. It was highly amusing to see the Paolos misjudge how many teams were ahead of them and stop to put on all their clothes before the Bransens had arrived. The final mad dash to the mat with half their clothes on them was great footage! And what’s with Phil? He’s getting a chance to really show his wit this season. “I always knew you had a lot of support on this race, Tony, but now I see exactly how much support” (or words to that effect). I also thought it was sweet of the Paolo family to stop the Bransens stepping on the mat until the father-daughter-daughter-daughter team had put on all their clothes. (I’m ignoring the voice in my head that’s telling me the Paolos were actually trying to widen the gap between the final two teams by stalling the Bransens and making them waste valuable time for the start of the next leg!)



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Last week's tips:

First Team: The Paolo family (Wrong)
Last Team: The Linz family (Wrong)
Yield? No Correct!
Fast Forward? No Correct!
Elimination Week? Yes (Wrong)
Biggest Argument: The Bransen family (Wrong – it was the Paolos, of course)
Smartest Team: The Godlewski family Correct! (Simply for coming first)


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Next week's tips:

First Team: The Linz family.
Last Team: The Paolo family.
Yield? No.
Fast Forward? No.
Elimination Week? Yes.
Biggest Argument: The Paolo family.
Smartest Team: The Linz family.


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