The Amazing Race: Power Rankings
The Amazing Race: Power Rankings
By Daron Aldridge
March 31, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
As tempting as it may be to give one team the top ranking, make the other mediocre teams tied for second (or rather second-to-last) and one team last place, I will resist the temptation and give you my power rankings heading into the seventh episode.
1. Bates & Anthony: Our hockey brothers have achieved a perfect storm of racing this season – be strong, work as a team and fly under the radar. First, they are easily the most physically capable team remaining. Second, as brothers, they clearly know what buttons to push on their teammate, but six legs in and I don’t think either of them has even raised their voice toward the other. Finally, and most shockingly, they have somehow deflected the attention of the other racers away from themselves. How can the teams legitimately look at Sock ‘er Moms Mona & Beth and YouTube’s Joey & Meghan and think, “Man, if I get a chance to U-Turn ANY team, I am picking one of those two and not the big strapping hockey players that have ended up in first at least twice so far.”? For achieving that feat I give Bates & Anthony the top ranking. They are the only team that I truly think deserves to win. If they are somehow knocked out of the Race before the finale, Phil should just cancel the remaining legs and keep the million dollars himself.
2. Pam & Winnie: Our best friends could and should just draft off Bates & Anthony all the way to the final three. By virtue of simply being better than the other C-students left on the Race, Pam & Winnie get the second ranking. While they did capture first a couple of legs ago, the girls haven’t done much that screams “IN IT TO WIN IT!!!” It is more like “in it because we just haven’t been eliminated yet.” There seems to be an unofficial alliance between them and the hockey brothers, so they definitely have that working for them. Unfortunately, the longer they stay in the Race means more screen time and thus far that’s equating to me not liking them more with every minute. My distaste for their personalities makes it hard to rank them so high but such is this season.
3. Max & Katie: Team Cape Fear are newlyweds with marital strife in the near future if their Speed Bump is difficult at all. I know that it seems like a leap that the team facing an extra task (meaning they are firmly in last place) is still ranked third. Well, these are my opinion-based rankings and even with being saddled with an extra task, Max & Katie come across as more capable than the other teams. Also, considering the history of Speed Bumps on the Race, the task will be a slight time-consumer that will only delay them by a few minutes before catching up to and passing another team…cough cough…Chuck & Wynona.
4. Mona & Beth: Our Sock ‘er Moms are out to prove me wrong for thinking so highly of them in the beginning. I had higher hopes and a final three showing for them in my initial predictions but that assumed potential has either not been lived up to yet or never existed in the first place. Speaking of first place, our roller derby moms haven’t captured first or second at all so far. I am keeping the faith that they will whip themselves into position and avoid elimination in the near future. But that goodwill has to be validated at some point to remain this highly ranked.
5. Joey & Meghan: Team YouTube made up a bit of ground from their sixth place finish the week before on the inconsequential leg when David & Connor withdrew from the Race. Even with that slight rebound, these friends have epitomized middle-of-the-pack performance. For two people whose jobs is to stand out on a Web medium with millions of other contributors, Joey & Meghan haven’t done much to make themselves stand out in a crowd of 22 people from 11 teams. What they lack in experience and confidence during challenges (they invariably seemed downright frightened or timid at tasks), they make up for in enthusiasm, which is admirable. But ultimately, being enthusiastic won’t win the Race by itself but it will get me to rank them better than…
6. Caroline & Jen: While Team YouTube is middle-of-the-pack, Cowboy Royalty here is pure back-of-the-pack material. Even in instances where they have been in the front with the objects of their flirting (i.e. Bates & Anthony), they manage to slowly slip back to the not-so-great comfort zone. A couple of other problems with these girls: They seem to have the super power to pick the wrong person for a Roadblock AND then, one or both of them lament the choice and start sobbing. Unless Bates & Anthony carry them to the end (and I am talking physically throwing them over their shoulders and carrying them), I think their Race days are few.
7. Chuck & Wynona: The Mullets should send David & Connor a fruit basket because if not for David’s Race-ending injury, this married couple would be on a plane back to Alabama. Last week’s third place finish was an anomaly with Chuck’s trap-building expertise that made short work of the Fowl Detour. But their fish-out-of-water reality will eventually bring their Race glory days to a halt. The only saving grace would be all the challenges being taxidermy or hunting related, so Chuck could keep this team going. I highly doubt the producers would make a Chuck-bias that transparent.
For the seventh leg, let’s get out of Africa (Streep- and Redford-style) and see where the Race takes our teams next.