The Amazing Race 25 - Episode 10
Power Rankings
By Daron Aldridge
December 5, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Kym & Alli didn't make a terribly bad decision (but as David pointed out in the recap, it was greedy) and likely all of us would've also opted for the Fast Forward with such a lead on the other teams. They just fell victim to a task that was tailor-made for another team to excel at. If the producers didn't expect us to see through this transparent move to keep the surfers in the race, then they really think little of us.
Regardless of how I feel about it...what's done is done and it's time to move on with this week's rankings.
1) Adam & Bethany: The married surfers/Express Passers/Fast Forwarders have shown they have the skill, attitude and luck (or grace of God) to make it to the end. Aside from a couple of legs with slip-ups, they have left a wake of positivity and positive results behind them. Their everlasting support and encouragement of one another is refreshing in this type of competition. I could quibble over the fact that the producers have predetermined that the surfers should make it to the end with last week's suspiciously designed Fast Forward but I will no...oops...looks like I just did. If it had been a lesser team that hadn't proven their Race worth, then I really would have an issue with it. All that to say that the newlyweds deserve to win it all and likely will.
2) Misti & Jim: Team DDS had the advantage of the newly introduced Save sitting in their pocket the whole Race and it never actually became a thing so to speak. They didn't need it because they rocked most of the challenges and showed they were as competitive as Jim was confident, which is to say "extremely" on both counts. I would argue that the Save is a failed experiment and feel good about not letting it factor into my rankings. Back to the ranking rationale, we know that Jim thinks he is the dominating force on the team, but I have been impressed with Misti lately, especially with the rappelling task in Malta. She can hold her own with even the strongest of females on them race like the cyclists and Bethany, and it seems that Jim realizes and appreciates her for it, which is nice to see. On the race, I think Jim's hubris will be his downfall. They will think whatever decision he is making is the best one ever and be blind enough to other possibilities that the others will pass them (see last week's flights). The dentists have been a top team since the beginning and that remains the case.
3) Brooke & Robbie: Without the presence of a villain since Survivor Keith's departure, Tag Team's Brooke has turned heel and assumed villain status. More specifically, she's shown that she's just a grown up mean girl. While this might play nicely in the wrestling ring, it doesn't work for me as a viewer. She is simply just not entertaining or funny, which is sad because Robbie seems like a genuinely nice and good-natured fellow. Considering all of this, it pains me to put someone I just don't like in the top three. That is where I sit at this point this season. Are they physically capable? Yes, for the most part, despite Brooke's incessant moaning in pain after just starting a task. Are they mentally capable? Surprisingly, Robbie does well with memory tasks and Brooke once again just moans and complains about the task. But it's the physical edge that puts them ahead of...
4) Amy & Maya: The second sweetest team on the race (behind the lovey dovey surfers) just can't hang on the physical tasks. Amy's injury just amplifies the fact they are physically outmatched. And while it's not all strength and endurance that you need to win the Amazing Race, you do need to do more than hobble to the Pitstop. Maya may have enough energy for the both of them but unless the five foot tall dynamo can throw Amy over her shoulder, then it just can't happen for them. I would like for it to but I have serious doubts.
We shall see which team is eliminated next or not eliminated because there is still another non-elimination looming for us.