The Amazing Race All-Stars Recap
By Stephanie DeGateo
February 22, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This throw back to Linda Richmond's Coffee Talk seems appropriate given all the New Yawkers gracing this installment of TAR, and especially given the first team eliminated. But before we get to the particulars of the uninspired leg that led to a truly disappointing elimination, let's start at the very beginning, which I've heard is a very good place to start.
Phil has gathered 11 teams of "All-Stars" in Miami to race one more time around the world for $1 million. The teams invited back are, in order of their initial appearances...
Bill and Joe (aka Team Guido) Season One's villains are back, a little older; initially, at least, a little less cocky, but just as color coordinated. They even recreated their signature "toast" in the opening credits. Initial Final placement: Third Place.
Kevin and Drew (The Frat Guys) If Bill and Joe were the villains of Season One, these guys were the comic relief. They are also a little older and a lot more out of shape. The duo is the first of several prominent New Yawkers in the installment, and definitely don't seem to be all that psyched to be back. Initial Final Placement: Fourth Place
Danny and Oswald (Team Cha Cha) Fan favorites from Season Two, these friends are back together after having a falling out. They mended their fences before being invited on the race, and already seem to be back in their grove. Final Placement: Fourth Place
Terri and Ian: Their second place finish in Season Three makes them the oldest team to place that high. Ian has a fiery personality that was off-putting at first, but he grew on viewers by the end of the race. Plus, he had hats and looked ridiculous in them. And, the hats are back!! Initial Final Placement: Second Place
Jon Vito and Jill: Season Three's couple to root for is back. They were dating then, but broke up in the interim. They comment that they are looking forward to the race to see if they can become close again. The quintessential New Yawk team...straight out of Staten Island, with a significant connection to 9/11 forming the basis of their relationship (Jill's brother, who was Jon Vito's best friend, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and died that day; they started dating thereafter). Initial Final Placement: Fifth Place
Charla and Mirna: What would an all star edition of TAR be without "Little Person" Charla? Unfortunately, inviting back Charla meant inviting back her truly annoying cousin Mirna. Her Season Five clashes with eventual winner Colin were classic, and she's sure to have a combustible relationship with someone like Rob. Initial Final Placement: Sixth Place
Uchenna and Joyce: Season Seven's winners, they are best known for Joyce shaving her head in a Fast Forward challenge. The married couple's initial hook was that they wanted to win so that they could apply their prize money towards their continuing quest to have a baby. They are still trying, and apparently, this is a strain on their relationship. They are filling the obligatory "couple testing their relationship" slot in TAR:AS. Initial Final Placement: First Place.
Rob and Amber: Seriously, do I need to tell you who they are? The fact that their listed occupations on the CBS website are "television personalities" says it all. Initial Final Placement on Season Seven: Second Place
Eric and Danielle: These guys raced in Season Nine with different partners. Danielle, of the infamous Double D's – a Staten Island pair of best friends who wore pink and looked and sounded alike (her friend's name was even Dani!) – finished in ninth place. Eric, who with his friend Jeremy, horndogged their way into second place, started dating Danielle after meeting on the race. The only new pairing of the bunch. Initial Final Placement: Him - Second; Her - Ninth Place
Dustin and Kandice (The Beauty Queens): Season Ten's beauty queens are back to show everyone just how competitive they can be. And by "show everyone", I mean constantly mention it during their interview segments on the show. One of them got married during the short break between Season Ten's finish and the start of this installment (I know it was Dustin, but I'm already conceding another season of getting them confused). Initial Final Placement: Fourth Place
David and Mary (Team Kentucky): The most inexplicable entry in TAR:AS is Season Ten's Team Kentucky. They weren't particularly good racers – in fact, they were downright bad. However, they had a hook and Rosie loved them and gave them a house and they were a feel-good story, so here they are, acting star struck in front of reality "stars," which they themselves are. Initial Final Placement: Sixth Place
Taking the above second suggested topic first, I'm not sure what the criteria were for selection as an "All-Star". Certainly, it wasn't best racers, as there is only one winning team in the bunch. It also doesn't seem to be just fan favorites, as I would not classify Eric and Danielle as such. However, no grouping of 11 was going to satisfy everyone, so I won't spend a lot of time wondering where teams like Kris and Jon or the clowns are. What I am struck by is that the producers did not invite back any "Alpha Male" teams, pairs of young, athletic guys that tend to do so well (e.g. Tyler and James, Reichen and Chip, BJ and Tyler, etc., etc.) Were these types of teams deemed unpopular or was there a deliberate attempt in getting a different type of winner?
As to the lack of amazement, maybe it was just this leg. In short, nothing happened. The teams boated in to the starting line, a la Sonny Crockett, and drove to the airport. With very little drama save a weak attempt by Team Kentucky to mess with the Beauty Queens, the teams were off on two planes to Ecuador. There, they found a restaurant where they slept and off they went, driving 65 miles to an ecological reserve where they found a detour. Much to my chagrin, there was the now standard paying a taxi driver to lead to the destination and the use of locals to accompany the teams to the next clue. Of course, this use of locals backfired on both Charla and Mirna and Jill and Jon Vito – the cousins were led to the wrong entrance to the reserve, which resulted in an additional hour of driving time to get to the detour. For Jill and Jon Vito, it resulted in elimination.
The detour was poorly planned also. The choice was either a needle in a haystack task or grooming a horse. The latter task actually sounded more imposing in the task instructions read by the teams - it ostensibly involved wrangling a wild horse prior to cutting its hooves and tail. However, the team members did not need to do anything vis-a-vis the roping of the horse. All the teams picked this task and none of them had any problems.
No, the only problems the teams had this week were navigational. Charla and Mirna, Kevin and Drew, Jill and Jon Vito and David and Mary all had difficulty finding the detour. The Frats even had a flat tire which they rode out rather than change. In the end, it was Rob and Amber, who used a taxi as a guide, coming in first and Jill and Jon Vito finding the detour last and being eliminated.
And herein lays the biggest problem with TAR All-Stars for me. I loved Jill and Jon Vito when I watched them back in Season Three and I really, really hated to see them go. Knowing the teams prior to the start of the race means the viewer (at least this viewer) was already emotionally attached to many of the teams, whether rooting for them to win (like Jill and JV) or lose (like David and Mary). Personally, I like not knowing the teams that get booted after 48 minutes of air time. The Muslim friends from last season seemed nice and all, but I did not really lament their elimination. But with Jill and Jon Vito – I really felt sad for them and bummed that I won't be seeing them race together for a few more weeks. My hope is that they are enjoying their month long vacation together and (not to sound like my meddling Italian mother) that they get back together, get married and have lots of little kick-ass kids with the same cute accent and drive as their parents. (With maybe a little better navigational skills). And while I hope for that, next week promises a blow up between Charla/Mirna and Dustin/Kandice. Mmmm – maybe this season will have some high points after all.