There is this consolation to the quick elimination of the “Twinnies” on the premiere of “Amazing Race All-Stars” Sunday. You don’t have to hear them yell at one another any more.
natalie and Nadiya hoped to overcome previous attempts on the show with fewer arguments and more precision. All they managed to do was to pack a season’s worth of arguments into one episode that eliminated them and threatened a few other teams that for some reason buddied up with them.
The twins managed to get on the first flight to China, but immediately got bogged down in the first contest in the bridal gown district by a mixture of blindness, bullying and bullheadedness.
The Afghan cousins who at first followed them, wisely split off and soon succeeded. Then the YouTube annoyances and singing Nashville women followed them, to their peril.
At the front of the pack were the two cowboys. Going their own way was their fate the last time they raced but this time gave them an edge, when they were alone in taking a Metro to the wedding dress district rather than a taxi. They led all the way to the pit stop, where they pocketed the Express Pass and another they’re supposed to give to another team. Going their own way will make it difficult for them to give that pass to anyone.
Watching an all-star season is like watching simultaneous reruns. We’ve seen all these people too much before — several teams are competing for a third time, which seems unfair to those who’ve never had a chance.
It seemed disingenuous that most of the promotion for “All Stars” surrounded the two Kentucky pals, Bopper and Mark only to find, a minute into the show that Bopper was never going to race because of a health problem. He urges Mark to go on without him, and the show pairs Mark with Mallory the overly perky girl who is also from Kentucky but has little in common with her brand new partner. (They get on each other’s nerves when she leaves a backpack behind next week).
People who begin to have careers just being on reality shows need to be stopped. So I hope the road is short for Brendon and Rachel who have been on “Big Brother” twice and now this twice.
I am also way over the deaf kid and his mom, who makes his mom do most of the challenges.
Having repeat players means that every one of the challenges is a breeze for them — nobody balked at doing somersaults five stories up. They’ve faced all kinds of challenges in previous races and never blink at what they’re asked to do. Either up the ante in competition, or best of all, cast all new teams afresh each season.