Mary spoke tearfully towards the end of her run in Madagascar: "I miss my kids so much. But they're the reason I'm here so I gotta keep on." After an anti-climatic but emotional elimination upon the fourth largest island in the world, her coal-miner husband, David, piped-in with mumblings about his now dashed hope that the Race's million-dollar prize would change the lives of his children; and, obviously, how distraught he was that this now would not be so.

By David W. Taylor (Email The Author)
Reality Reel Media
11.17.06

This is heartwarming patter to hear but one can only wonder how much David & Mary were Racing with their kids and their wonderfully enhanced new life in mind... especially when constantly keeping abreast of the whereabouts of their Six-Pack Alliance crew and manipulating their own Racing technique for the sake of the skins of Alabama and the Chos. I want to say, reluctantly, what was your choice here? Your children, your future, or your fleeting Six-Pack gang?

"I'm not going to change who I am as a person," reiterated Mary. "I've made friends well worth more than a million dollars in this Race. I'm not going to become a devil just for the money, it's just not worth it to me."

Becoming a "devil," then, appears to mean that this is what one turns into when one decides to become a cold-blooded competitor in The Amazing Race with only the future of one's children in mind. Or is that just being one with your priorities?

I wonder what David & Mary's children think of their parents losing The Race for the camaraderie of relative strangers? I'm not implying that David & Mary were foolish or anything other than admirable in choosing to Race as passively selfless saints (at least to their own). But at some critical moment one must decide between "Daddys's Little Devils" or Erwin & Godwin. Or in other words: seize the moment or lose it forever.

I'm sure David & Mary wanted it both ways: to be chummy and delightful with a set of friends on The Race and somehow glide across the Finish Line on benevolent wings of grace into First Place — without stepping on any toes — but would they then allow themselves this luxurious earthly reward when Lyn & Karlyn, say, were just a few paces behind them? Or knowing the Chos, who had saved their hides with a Fast Forward charade and wept when David & Mary were "marked for elimination" a second time, were following closely upon their heels? After all, it might not be Rob & Kimberly or Tyler & James they would meet squarely at the end. It's an interesting hypothetical David & Mary unfortunately — or perhaps luckily (in their case) — would never have to grapple with.

Lyn & Karlyn, more "devil"-like though they are, are at least honest about their more, shall we say, self-serving competitive nature. Karlyn especially expressed many times that their alliance fellowship boundaries would only be respected up to a certain point. They both have one leg firmly in their own greedy universes, which is not a bad thing.

They hardly wasted any time in disrespecting the loving Erwin & Godwin soon enough after David & Mary's departure: plowing in front of the Chos and snatching a taxi under their very noses at a Finnish train station... not to mention the stunned Finnish gentleman who was about to climb in. Godwin says wearily, "being polite sucks sometimes..." But this calamity would hardly change the Cho brothers. And it just might signal a boost in Team Alabama's Racing stock.

The Chos were equally open about the zen-like nature of their Racing regime: it wasn't the money at all. It was the world out there; the planes, trains and taxis. And finding like souls and opportunities for serving. And of course these good Bay Area boys are young, pleasantly idealistic, and without stressful family obligations. And must have had incredible parents. One wants them to win out of pure reverence of purity — like cheering Yoda over Darth Sidious.

And the spirituality of the Chos continued on through Madagascar and into Finland as Erwin dedicated this leg to the fading glimmer of David & Mary; and with brother Godwin, donned Kentucky's ubiquitous "friends in low places" black miner tee shirts as another glowing tribute to the unforgettable cornpone pair of Racers from Kentucky. Their personal bonding and tearful exuberance almost becoming wacky.

At this point one must give accolades to Dustin & Kandance who have come in first in the last two legs and Racing well throughout — and not one peep about being women and empowerment and sisterhood and showing the world something and all that rot. No, thank goodness, the beauty queens simply Race hard and let that do all their talking for them. What a refreshing pair! If they continue to dominate they will heartily deserve to win.

We're getting another long bout of less than stellar Detours and Roadblocks... who can forget five of the six remaining Amazing Race 10 teams descending upon the "Salt" Detour on Mauritius, a lush island which lazily abuts the eastern coast of Africa? Scooping and digging through the large mounds of unprocessed salt, and leaving several piles nearly leveled, not one team could find a single salt shaker — a shaker that contained the next bit of Route Information: hightail it to the Chateau Bel Ombre and Phil and the Pitstop.

Something appeared terribly wrong. How could ten people sloshing through and pulverizing several of these salt piles not find a salt shaker? Why were the pepper shakers the only objects found? Did somebody, as it appeared, screw-up and forget the proper equipment? What was that all about?

Equally monotonous and murky were the Finnish Swamp This and Swamp That Detours where teams took to mud-skiing and mud-obstacle-course challenges. I'm not sure that in the whole country of Finland one couldn't find something for the Teams to do with a little more cultural flair? Something more titillating? Gripping?

In Helsinki's Olympic Stadium The Amazing Race almost came off unexpectedly imaginative when Teams thought they were going to find Phil and the Pitstop at the end of a long run on the stadium grounds. Instead we were shown an Amazing Race flag draped over a small office door somewhere hidden in the Stadium complex. I thought that was ingenious. I thought the Teams would run in and see Phil sitting at a small desk — maybe hovering over some paperwork with reading glasses? — and he would check them in right then and there. That would have been groovy.

But, surprise!, ugh, yet another rappel gig down the side of a building, face first. We'll hear the usual squeals about the fear of heights and "I don't know if I'll be able to do this" uttered rather unconvincingly, but everyone will do it. With all the safety ropes and harnesses and redundancy built into the exercise it becomes a rather tame affair. Not that the initial plunge over the precipice wouldn't be unnerving. It's just that we've seen this stuff before. Not to mention a few instances already this Season, with poor Sarah as the main sideshow attraction.

Somewhat more riveting was watching Teams descend into the Earth's depths — over one mile — by mine tram and then by riding a mine bike down a long tunnel. At least it became sort of a Race, especially on the way back up, when Teams had to transport a limestone brick strapped to the back of their bikes and then push the whole contraption back up the tunnel's steep incline. It was here that Rob came fighting back after yet another directional fiasco — he and Kimberly allowing trailing Teams Lyn & Karlyn and the Chos to beat them in.

And this wasn't the first time — even this leg — that Rob & Kimberly came up discombobulated. They were the last Team to exit the airport in Helsinki; the last Team to find the Clue-bearing schoolhouse after their family-oriented (but eerily unemotional) AOL emails at the Cafe Kappeli. They just missed by seconds the first available train heading for the city of Turku to which Rob responded by tipping his head in disgust and barking to Kimberly, "Just let me have my moment..."

And then after all the grueling catch-up performed by Rob with his limestone anchor below ground, Rob & Kimberly lose ground again in making their way to the Olympic Stadium office. I was having great gut feelings about this nervy, edgy pair... but lately I'm becoming convinced that they will implode before they can ever reach the end. Both are manic and anxiety-driven. At least it's hugely entertaining.

I think the new "Intersection" twist is a good idea. The Teams seemed perfectly matched up this time but it shouldn't be so every time out. In the future it could make for some brutal head-butting and back-biting. Think if Team Guido had suddenly become partners with Kevin & Drew after the infamous airport incident in The Amazing Race: Season One? Or if sedate (and sometimes baffled) Fran & Barry had been forced to team-up with the mercurial Eric & Jeremy from The Amazing Race 9? Or if Jon & Victoria had been intersected with, well, anybody else?! That I would pay to see...