THE AMAZING RACE VII --TAR7-- Official Show Thread & photo preview

Here we go again, race fans, for the Seventh Season of The Amazing Race (TAR7). We'll vicariously travel with eleven teams as they fly, drive, climb, crawl, leap, slide, and boogie around the world to compete for one million dollars. They'll never know where they're going next or what they'll have to do once there. The last team to arrive at the "designated pit stop" at the end of each week's episode will be eliminated from the race -- unless it is not. So pull up your favorite armchair and travel along with the Freeper Amazing Race contingent every Tuesday night for the next few months as we root for favorites, throw tomatoes at the others, and wish we were the ones living dangerously. BON VOYAGE!

Brian, 27 & Greg, 24 are brothers from Santa Monica, California. Brian is an actor/bartender and Greg is a bouncer. Their primary motivation for participating in the Race is to travel the world with each other and meet new people. Veto!s opinion: Team Bro wants face time on tv. They are big, strong, in shape, and they think they're action stars. But are they wily? Could be they'll be eating other teams' dust.

Debbie & Bianca are best friends from Los Angeles, California and Woodbridge, Virginia, respectively. Bianca is a high school teacher and Debbie works as a photographer. Both are highly educated, experienced travelers, and have lived abroad. Veto!s opinion: Keep an eye on these two. Unless they scratch each other’s eyes out, they’ll probably do just fine.

Lynn & Alex are (would you believe?) a gay couple from West Hollywood, California. They both work as executive assistants. With their four-year anniversary on the horizon, they possibly hope to get married in Amsterdam—if indeed they race through Amsterdam. Veto!s opinion: Need I say?

Megan & Heidi, a make-up artist and fashion designer, are roommates from Oak Park, California. Both are allegedly extremely competitive and not afraid to take risks. They decided to sign up for the Race “just for the challenge and competition.” Veto!s opinion:. Can the Hair Queens keep up the pace when their tresses get tangled? I see hissy fits on the horizon.

Meredith, 69, & Gretchen, 66, are a husband/wife team from Easton, Maryland. Meredith is a retired executive and Gretchen is a retired nurse/flight attendant. He holds seven National Masters Swimming Championship titles, she admits to being quite loud, particularly when upset. . Veto!s opinion: If Gretch doesn’t turn into Nurse Ratched, they may go far and win Freeper kudos for their efforts.

Ray, 44, & Deana, 27, are a dating-on-and-off team from Canfield, Ohio and Youngstown, Ohio respectively. Ray, a former semi-pro football player, is a stockbroker and Deana is a marketing and promotions executive. Both enjoy weight lifting and karate. Veto!s opinion:This season’s “will their relationship last?” team. Ray will overdo it trying to beat younger guys. Ho-hum.

Rob, 29, & Amber, 26, AKA Boston Rob and Ambuh, are an engaged couple from Canton, Massachusetts and Beaver, Pennsylvania, respectively. They formed an alliance and fell in love when they competed with each other on “Survivor: All Stars.” Amber won the one million dollar prize. Rob finished as the $100k runner-up, but proposed to Amber before they knew which had won the big bucks. Veto!s opinion: Two Thumbs Up! Highly athletic and competitive, these two know how to work together. But will their “take-over-the-‘hood” skills that won them Survivor translate to racing’s Hall of Fame? Why, indeed, not?

Ron, 28, & Kelly, 26, are a dating Team from Villa Rica, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina, respectively. Ron is a former Iraq War POW who is currently a student at the University of Georgia and works as a motivational speaker. Kelly was crowned Miss South Carolina in 2002 and works as a Legislative Correspondent…(for whom?) Ron was an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq. When shot down, he was captured, interrogated, held captive and later rescued by the United States Marines. Following his rescue, Ron returned home and was introduced to the reigning Miss South Carolina. The two have been an item ever since. Ron is very competitive and admits he’s a thrill seeker. . Veto!s opinion: Two more thumbs 'way up. They’ll be Freepers’ favorites, and they have what it takes to win.

Ryan, 31, & Chuck, 32, are lifelong friends from Landrum, South Carolina and Inman, South Carolina, respectively. Ryan is a general contractor, and Chuck works in boiler tube replacement sales. Both are motorcycle nuts and very religious. . Veto!s opinion: Definitely wily Southern boys. Up against tough competition, but I hope they make a good showing.

Uchenna, 40, & Joyce, 44, a childless married couple from Houston. Uchenna worked for Enron as an energy trader and Joyce worked in sales for WorldCom, have different jobs since their companies went bankrupt. If they win, they say they’ll use the money for in-vitro fertilization. Veto!s opinion:A tough, scrappy pair, but too much tension here, methinks, for them to get much traction. They’re hardly Kim and Chip, the wonderful black couple who won Amazing Race two seasons back.

Susan, 54, & Patrick, 26, are mother and gay son. She is the Director for Judicial Affairs for Miami University in Ohio and Patrick is a writer now living in Hollywood. Susan, married to Patrick’s father for 34 years, earned her college degree as a “non-traditional” student. Patrick says his family has always been very supportive of him,even —surprise, surprise-- when he told them he was gay. Veto!s opinion: They’re looking for love in all the wrong places; hopefully, their elimination from the show will be swift and merciful.

I think it will come down to Romber, Relly, Juchenna, and Grian in the final 4 and a foot race between Romber and Juchenna for the cash.

Juchenna, LOL. Your final four sounds good, though I cannot set aside the fact that Lynn and Alex are outracing everyone but Romber at this point. They may or may not crash and burn.

I was surprised about switching Detours midstream, but now that you mention it, it's been done before, just not so spur-of-the-moment.

As for holding the plane in Mendoza, it could happen IRL. I've had planes held for me when I was late...Fiji Air did, some others too, others did not in spite of abject pleading and whining. Depends upon the airline, the airport, the size of the crowds, and the mood of the airline rep. A loose-pack leaving from a tiny airport might reasonably wait for another couple of fares.

I did rather wonder at Romber's "luck" in driving right into their destination while saying they were lost. Had they not arrived at the horses very quickly and performed excellently (we saw that part), they could not have made the 9:30 plane.

(Travel nostalgia: I was flying home with the boss of my company, an obnoxious but very wealthy guy. Traffic jam, cab was very late to the airport but got there before the flight left. He wheedled, then pulled himself up and threatened to buy the airline! LOL. They let us go down to the gate, saying that others were going too for the last couple of seats. In a mini-Amazing Race, we outran a couple of nuns for those last two seats! God forgive us!)

Tonight we will be treated to a two hour extravaganza! So set your tivo or vcr and capture the fun. Where will they go? Previews, as I recall, showed some action in Africa.

With apologies to Amazing Race fans and to CBS for purloining a bunch of info from their site, here’s a quick and belated recap of last week’s race.

Beginning at the Pit Stop near Mendoza, Argentina, teams drive 25 miles to the town of La Lunta and look for a horse ranch called Cabaña La Guatana,. Here they find a Roadblock in which one team member must ride a horse around a series of barrels and then, using a stick, spear a ring at the end of the course. If they could perform the task in 40 seconds, a competitive time for an Argentine cowboy, they would receive their next clue.

Lynn & Alex, previous winners, arrive first and Alex aces the challenge. Uchenna and Joyce – Juchenna—arrive next but Joyce has major problems with her steed, falling off a couple of times. Then come Ron and Kelly (Relly), and Kelly completes the course like a pro. Brian and Gregg (Bregg) are next, and have no problem. These are the teams who completed eating the Argentinean Bar-B-Q in the previous episode, which they rejoice about as they arrive, one after the other, at the Mendoza Airport and await the 9:30 a.m. flight to Buenos Aires. The next flight will leave hours later, at 2:30. This makes a clear demarcation between teams battling for first place, and teams battling to avoid coming in last.

Hahahaha, rotten Romber didn’t make the first flight. Kelly commented on Rob’s taking the penalty when he decided not to finish eating the meat, “It just goes to show that if you want to win the Race, you can’t give up on anything, and that’s why we’re on the first flight.” Lynn/Alex put it more succinctly: “Survive that!” they gloat while seated on the plane.

But wait! Back at the horse ranch, Romber arrives and Rob completes the challenge in no time flat. They arrive at the Mendoza airport a couple of minutes before the flight takes off, much to the dismay of the earlier teams.

As they fly off over the Andes, the action heats up back at the horse ranch, where Ray and Deana (Reana) have finally arrived. Deana has an incredibly hard time with her steed, falling, bleeding, getting blisters as she jerks the poor beastie around mercilessly….will somebody tell me just what is it she can do well? Ray is feeling the same way, as he struggles to remain civil to her and not turn into Jonathan, Jr. While she fights with her long-suffering horse, Meredith and Gretch (Metch) arrive and Meredith completes the task quickly. Deana finally gets it right after Susan and Patrick (Umbilicals) arrive. With predictable histrionics, Patrick mounts his horse and complains as his mother gives advice, “I want you to stop before we have an embarrassing moment.” (Like, which moment with you is not embarrassing, Patrick?) These last three teams finally fly off to Buenos Aires on the 2:30 flight.

When the first plane arrives in BA, Romber and L-alex (Team Ex-lax? ExLynn?) grab cabs and make a beeline for the next clue, which they find at the English Clock Tower, where they have to find a furtive looking fellow in a black raincoat who will give them their next clue. Romber’s cab gets there first, putting them back in the lead. Their clue tells them to take a train 20 miles to the town of Tigre, where they will find boat docks at a certain dock at 700 LaValle.

They blast to the station where they find they must wait long enough for the train to allow the other four teams on the first flight to catch up with them. The race is on again in Tigre, where ExLynn and Romber make a run for the docks while Juchenna, Bregg, and Relly somehow manage to get lost in the city. At the docks, teams find a Detour, giving them a choice of finding a particular Shipwreck or a particular Island in a seven-square-mile are of river delta where shipwrecks and islands abound.

The two teams jump into little boats manned by friendly boatmen, and Romber’s boat develops a crack down the center. Rob decides to carry on anyway, at risk of the boat falling apart and they manage to find the correct old Shipwreck hunkered down on it’s rotting keel in some channel. As they limp back to the starting line with their boat threatening to come apart at the seams, ExLynn has boat trouble too, with it’s craft taking on water. Oh nooooo, they’ll have to get another boat. They wait in the channel until one arrives, allowing Relly, Juchenna and Bregg to pass them up. According to the rules, no time credit is given to Teams who need replacement vehicles.

While ExLynn flounders, Rob & Amber are traveling 35 miles by taxi to the town of Vicente Casares to find La Martina, the most prestigious polo club in Argentina and the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. They come in first and win another trip! This time a week’s stay in London. Starry-eyed Amber gives Rob a big kiss. (What girl wouldn’t?) “Everybody thought that for sure we made a mistake when Rob decided to quit, and it didn’t hurt us at all.”

Brian & Greg settled for second place, with Uchenna & Joyce a seconds-later third. Ron & Kelly nabbed fourth place, while a disappointed Lynn & Alex came in fifth.

So the race is for elimination prevention as the 2:30 flight lands in BA. Ray kvetches about being in the same relative position as Metch, whom he considers all but ready for the rest home. “They’re about two decades behind wehre they ought to be.” What a nasty schmuck! Not as bad as Jonathan, but Ray is eroding his thin veneer of civility with every passing minute.

These two teams are on the same train to Tigre and board their little boats as Umbilical, with typical bad judgment and overestimation of themselves and their abilities miss that train and have to take a later one putting them at the back of the pack. Nevertheless, they think they are first and beating the other two teams. (The Liberal mind at work! LOL)

Earth to Patrick: You’re toast and we’re glad.

In Tigre, Meredith & Gretchen took an early lead to the docks while Ray & Deana wandered through the city long enough for Susan & Patrick to pass them. With all three Teams searching for the island in a tight race, Umbilical’s boat broke down, and Huzzah, they are last to arrive.

How will Umbilical react to seeing the entire show, edited, I’m sure, to reveal them at their worst. LOL. Even TAR7’s editors and producers must have been thrilled to see these two jerks eliminated. Sayonara! Ciao! Good Riddance!

Final Order:
Rob and Amber
Brian and Greg
Uchenna and Joyce
Ron and Kelly
Lynn and Alex
Ray and Deana
Meredith and Gretch
Susan and Patrick ELIMINATED

I’m a Left Coaster, not checking back in until mañana.

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