The Amazing Race 26: Power Rankings

By David Mumpower and Kim Hollis

March 5, 2015

They don't know it, but this dance has awakened the hell beast that will destroy us all.

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Early editions of power rankings for The Amazing Race feature notorious guesswork. We’ve seen roughly 106 minutes in total for all nine remaining teams. And a portion of that time was wasted on CJ and Lebya’s train incident. In short, all we really know for certain at this point is that Hayley and Jackie are flirty while Jenny is in it for the money. So, this week’s rankings reflect a touch of logic, some inference, a few biases against teams that have annoyed us thus far, and a bit of gut instinct on a couple of teams. Let’s start (and finish) with the obvious.

1) Jenny & Jelani
After two legs, they are undefeated. You cannot argue with results. Thus far, Jenny has asserted her authori-tah over her partner, and he seems perfectly comfortable in this subservient role. As long as it works, why wouldn’t he be? Even if Jenny & Jelani fail to mesh as a couple, they will both have no problem getting dates when they attain the celebrity (and money) that comes from winning The Amazing Race.

2) Aly & Steve
In terms of performance, they should probably be slotted a spot lower in rankings, so this is one of those hunches. Aly & Steve are both Olympians, which gives them a huge advantage over most teams. They are used to taking advice from others, and their training focuses upon squeezing every second possible out of each heat. We don’t want to read anything into their most recent challenge, a combination of speed skating and bobsledding skills, since we are discussing a speed skater and bobsledder. We are simply anticipating future behavior predicated upon natural abilities. Then again, the same logic would have made Jeff and Lyda’s travel experience a huge asset. They were the first people eliminated. Similarly, professional athletes Ephraim Salaam and Chester Pitts spent several years practicing and playing together, yet they’re still stuck in an airport somewhere in Lisbon.




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3) Laura & Tyler
After Laura mentioned a romantic fantasy ending in marriage within two minutes of her introduction, she has largely settled down, perhaps recognizing that she was coming on too strong. With a pair of top three finishes, the two of them have integrated quite well. Plus, Tyler proved that he was “the smartest dude” during the puzzle challenge. Admittedly, a couple of the other competitors probably would consider a Chinese Finger Trap lifetime imprisonment, but a win’s a win.

4) Harley & Jonathan
We are listing their names this way, because we doubt that Harley comes first in the relationship very often. It’s the downside of dating a celebrity, even one whose star has faded since the late '90s. Thus far, they have been a joy to watch. Almost every famous person to appear on The Amazing Race has acted a bit above it all thus far. Jonathan, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying an opportunity to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime event with the love of his life. It’s refreshing to see a regular gay couple on reality television rather than the melodramatic ones producers seek out for the purposes of perpetuating a (false) stereotype.


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