New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Dan and Jordan realize they lost a paintbrush while ambling around town and clearly they are more cognizant of the rules and clues than Caite and Brent because Jordan insists they find it to avoid a penalty.

Shawne and Monique arrive at the house and like the others easily finish it. When I say others, I don't mean father/daughter Steve and Allie because at Steve's suggestion they go inside a house being renovated and start painting an unfinished interior wall.

As Phil tells Shawne and Monique they are team number two, Caite and Brent just sit and watch dejectedly. At least they acknowledge that before the race they made a note to remember "details." Maybe they need a reminder note to look at the first note.

As Cord finishes the cable walk and Michael and Louie get their clue, Jordan is admonishing Dan for losing the paintbrush but they proceed to find the house knowing a penalty awaits. Let's check in with our other potential penalty as Steve and Allie finish painting the wrong house...pardon me...the inside of the wrong house. When they ask the other worker there for a clue and he looks at them like the fools they are, the reality sets in that Steve's brilliant idea was far from brilliant.

Just like Jet and Cord not turning off being cowboys, Michael and Louie stay in cop mode as Michael figures they are now part of a Chilean graffiti abatement program and proceed to waste time painting over graffiti on a house. This season is looking like it'll be chock full of boneheaded moves, which is great for the viewer.

From the last team to start the Roadblock to a glorious third place finish, Jet and Cord have redeemed their currency exchange fumble and shown they could be real competition. As they expected, Dan and Jordan receive a 15 minute penalty for losing their paintbrush when they try to check in as the fourth team. Caite and Brent can surely empathize as they still have four minutes left on their penalty as we see Steve and Allie and Joe and Heidi check in at fourth and fifth place respectively.

To illustrate how close the race is with the middle pack, just three minutes later Carol and Brandy show up for a sixth place finish while Brent and Caite finally are allowed to check in at number seven. She's been silently sitting out her penalty, so we were deprived of potential verbal slipups. But then Caite says that "technically we are second." No, ma'am. "Technically," (meaning you adhered to the rules and instructions of the game) you were seventh place, which is what Phil checked you in as. Accept your mistake and move on.

Dan and Jordan are finally checked in as number eight and Michael and Louis are stunned to find themselves as number nine. Their shock surprises me because they were in the middle to the back of the pack the entire time. They are either oblivious to the other teams or delusional. Maybe it's a little bit from column A and a little bit from column B.

As expected, Jody and Shannon take tenth place, which means that Adrian and Dana are gone from the race. Despite a last place finish, it is impressive that Adrian stayed positive and kept trying but just couldn't deliver.

All in all, this was a fun start to the season and I think the teams will be entertaining and fun to watch. I reserve the right to lambaste and mock teams as the race progresses and they start to grate on my nerves. Of course, I did find it odd that they didn't even show any footage of Joe and Heidi doing the Paint the Town task. If you are so uninteresting that they don't even give you a pity task completion shot, then that speaks volumes about what you bring to the show. And that would be nothing.

Until next time, when aligned teams violate the rule we all learned in Kindergarten of "No Cutting in Line", enjoy your mandatory rest period.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5