The Amazing Race 23: Preview
The Amazing Race 23: Preview
By Daron Aldridge
September 29, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Having lost this year to The Voice, it’s a logical question of whether the Race is at Jordan’s mid-'90s break in championships or at the end of its legacy a la MJ’s not-so-stellar Washington Wizards comeback. It will all depend upon how this fall’s and next spring’s seasons shape up. Regardless of the awards, The Amazing Race has logged well over a million miles of global travel in 22 seasons and it’s time to add even more stamps to its passport.
Last season’s winning team of Bates & Anthony is by far the closest I have gotten to predicting a champion before the show started with my guess of them getting third overall. Can I improve upon this record for the new season? Doubtful, but here goes. Let’s look at the teams who will be "entertaining" us over the next 13 weeks.
Rowan & Shane: Business partners/actors. Coming from an acting background, these friends appear to already be going Method in preparing for the Race. Rowan explains that they won’t tell the other teams that they are actors, but rather competitive bingo players (?!?) who “go where the money is.” I don’t get this ruse at all. I mean, it makes sense to let your fellow competitors on Survivor not know you are a lawyer because you might be a more persuasive speaker to a jury or even on the Race itself, like when the female federal agents told the others they were teachers to appear as less threatening. I don’t see how hiding the fact they are actors achieves the same goal. It seems as if it was done more to entertain themselves than benefit their game. It’s unfortunate because they seem to be likable and fun guys but I suspect their fear of being the first ones eliminated will be the reality.
Tim & Danny: Childhood friends from Oklahoma. Another pair of "nice guys" for this season and I suspect another not-so-great showing. There seems to be much trepidation in these guys based upon the interview alone with Danny, in particular, fidgeting the entire time. Plus, when it came time for them to explain that they’ll be nice to the other teams, but they won’t help them if it jeopardizes their game, it seemed like Tim was trying to convince himself and not the viewer of the fact. They seem too timid and unsure of themselves, which spells disaster here. I fear the Race will chew them up and spit them out after only two legs, giving them a tenth place finish.
Ally & Ashley: Members of the LA Kings Ice Crew. It’s time for this season’s interchangeable blonde team that will give me fits throughout the season because I will not be able to tell them apart. I pray that the editors regularly and accurately tell us which girl is performing which challenge. The upside (for me, that is) seems to be that the ladies won’t hang around for long. They are both young and come across as a bit naïve with little experience to scream "Amazing Race winners." Not to diminish it, but their role as essentially ice hockey cheerleaders doesn’t quite have the same heft as being players like Bates & Anthony last season. I don’t suspect that they fully grasp what lies ahead for them on the Race. Like their Oklahoma season-mates listed immediately above them here, the Race will prove to be too much and they will be out in ninth place.
Hoskote & Naina: Father/daughter. First, there hasn’t been a parent/child team to win the Amazing Race in the previous 22 seasons (even the much-reviled family edition saw an all siblings team win) and I doubt very seriously that this will be the team to blaze that trail. Second, I fear that this is the second coming of Ron & Christina with an overbearing and bossy father not listening to his adult daughter or trusting her decisions. Hoskote (or HP) is an ER doctor and admits that he is used to people not questioning his orders but hopes the Race can teach him. I hate to break it to him but if it hasn’t changed or been taught by this point in his life, it probably won’t be happening. Sorry, Naina, but I predict you will be out in eighth place.
Brandon & Adam: Friends and beard enthusiasts. If you thought Rowan & Shane with their Bingo ruse would be the oddest team on the Race, you would be wrong. At least, for the sake of appearances, these 30-somethings with long hair and equally long beards seem to fit the bill for team to stand out in a crowd. Adam could probably be described as a minimalist since he lives on $5,000 a year on a near-self-sustaining farm with his wife. That type of independence and aptitude will probably serve them fairly well on some challenges but I don’t know how they will handle the physical aspects of the Race. That uncertainty is why I am placing them in seventh place, but they are my spoiler team because I could easily see them surprising us all and cracking the top three a la hippie winners BJ & Tyler.
Tim & Marie: Exes from New Jersey. My track record of picking winners is as equally as dubious as pegging the teams that will be the season’s villains or most reviled teams. Despite that fact, I continue to throw out such assumptions at the beginning of each season and here is the team that I feel confident in labeling as such. Mix Marie’s lack of humility in her assertion that they are more physically fit and capable that any of the other teams and Tim’s admission that they will fight over whose idea is the best (a glimpse into why they are "exes"). What do you get? A caustic team that will rub the other teams, the audience and each other the wrong way until they are eliminated. Unfortunately, such teams can go fairly deep into the Race and I think Tim & Marie will do the same with a sixth place finish.
Chester & Ephairm: Friends and former Houston Texans teammates. These guys will probably be one of more fun and entertaining teams on the Race as previous professional sports teammates have historically proven (see last season’s winners Bates & Anthony and Unfinished Business season runners-up Big Easy & Flight Time). But entertaining doesn’t always translate to success on the Race. They have competed together, which should be an asset, but the Amazing Race isn’t an afternoon playing football. The biggest concern I have is that in their interview, they seemed more concerned with poking fun at one another and talking over the other person, which if indicative of how they will race, I don’t think they will be long for season 23. Let’s put them slightly ahead of the middle of the pack as the fifth place team.
Leo & Jamal: Cousins and self-described “Afghanimals”. What’s an “Afghanimal” you may ask? (Really, you should ask.) According to the cousins, it’s because their parents are from Afghanistan and they are animals. Well, okay then. That silliness aside, Leo & Jamal seem to have the same good-natured side of Rowan & Shane and Brandon & Adam but also more capable of competing longer. While Leo seems a bit too quick to refer to how much he plans to dance along the Race, they do seem to have the advantage of being multicultural, which often on the Race works in such team’s favor. The locals can be quicker to help these people running around with a camera crew if they look a bit more like themselves. Give them a strong finish in fourth, just outside of the final three.
Nicky & Kim: Baseball wives. Here’s the last of our teams that is directly or indirectly related to the world of professional sports after Ally & Ashley and Chester & Ephraim. Nicky describes herself and Kim as “even-keeled” and they definitely come across as low-key. I feel bad for labeling them as "baseball wives" because it would be easy to equate that to being "trophy wives" but they actually present themselves as soft-spoken and articulate women and not vapid. They recognize that since they each have different strengths they bring to the Race (Kim is more artistic and abstract thinking and Nicky is the analytical one), their success will be determined by picking the right person for each Roadblock. So true, and as long as they keep that in check, they should go fairly deep into the season. Let’s put them in the final three.
Jason & Amy: New England dating couple. Having been together for a year and half, they are this season’s ubiquitous “test our relationship” test. This isn’t just my assessment. They used these exact words in their interview. Normally, that would be the kiss of death on long-term prospects in the Race, but they both convey a sense of confidence without arrogance and jibed well together, finishing thoughts and complementing each other’s strengths. Speaking of which, they agree that while they may not be the best at everything, they have tried enough activities where fear of the unknown isn’t likely to hold them back. If they follow through with the calm demeanor in the midst of the Race, then I think they will securely take a final three spot and be the second place team overall.
Travis & Nicole: Married ER doctors. In the past few seasons, we have had other pairs of doctor teams: Nat & Kat, who won and became the first all female team to win, and last season’s Jamil & Idries, who collapsed under the weight of a diving challenge in the third leg. Well, I am pinning my hopes and predictions of victory that Travis & Nicole will mirror Nat & Kat and win the whole shebang. Given the hectic, fast-paced and adaptive nature of their professions, the Race should be their cup of tea. As we know, the Race can throw curves and twists at teams every leg and Travis & Nicole should be able to read the situation and take control, like they would at the hospital. Don’t let me down, folks. Prove you are the best.
There you have it. My "take-it-to-the-bank," sure-fire, guaranteed to be somewhat (or completely) wrong predictions for the upcoming season of the Amazing Race. See you Monday to find out how the season kicked off.