Amazing Race 10 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 10th Edition

Thoughts on Episode 12 and Outlook for Season FInale

Thoughts on Episode Twelve -- Barcelona, Spain

Teams had to travel along the Atlas mountains from near Marrakech to Casablanca, Morocco and find the Quartier des Habous, with the cluebox in a small park.

Roadblock

Teams had to find a meat market in Quartier des Habous and select a portion of camel meat. At Cafe 11, one Team member had to prepare and eat a pound of camel meat, with a cook named "Muhammed" actually grilling the meat. The preparation included using a hand grinder, adding spices, then placing the meat on a skewer. The meat was hot both from the grill and from the spices, but the team member was given water to drink.

Episode Twelve Roadblock
Team	Team Member	Result
Tyler and James	James	Ate quickly enough to keep a bit of a lead.
Karlyn and Lyn	Lyn	Worked as well as she could with a stream of distracting comments from teammate Karlyn
Rob and Kimberly	Kimberly	Did OK though she struggled to keep it down, and was unfamiliar with grinder
Dustin and Kandice	Kandice	Finished close behind James

All Together Now

All four teams get on same flight to Barcelona, Spain. There, they were to find a Horticultural Park with a Labyrinth. Teams came back the next morning, expecting to quickly find the clue and grab a cab. Success belonged to Rob and Kimberly and Dustin and Kandice in making workable arrangements. James and Tyler and Lyn and Karlyn had to find their own cabs.

Detour

Lug It: Teams had to travel the main road of Las Ramblas to the Maremagnum Bridge by cab and on foot, where they would have to find a costume of a giant character, and lug it about a mile to the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri where they would find another "gigante" costume, a plaque to the saint, and receive their next clue.

Lob It: Teams traveled nine miles to a town square where a famous tomato throwing festival called the Tomatina would be reenacted, with locals lobbing tomatoes at them as they searched for a tomato containing their next clue. The town was not the actual site of "the world's largest food fight", Bu�ol, Spain.

Dustin and Kandice got seriously lost on the way to the costumes on the Maremagnum Bridge. They saw signs right away with the Maremagnum name and became confused about where to go. They were so lost that the initially cabless James and Tyler caught up with them near the costume station on the bridge.

Episode Twelve Detour
Members	Detour Selected	Result
Tyler and James	Lug It	Second in, just behind Dustin and Kandice in the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri.
Karlyn and Lyn	Lob It	Second in, second out of the tomato fight, gained ground
Dustin and Kandice	Lug It	Just ahead of James and Tyler at the costumes, barely ahead as they found the giant costume near the plaque for St. Phillip Neri
Rob and Kimberly	Lob It	Kimberly recovered from her meltdown with help and advice from Rob

One All Female Team in the Finals

Because Dustin and Kandice lost so much time finding the costumes, Rob and Kimberly found the Pit Stop at the Palau National of Mont Juic, the site of the art museum in Barcelona and a magnificent set of fountains renowned for nightime light shows, in first place! The next three teams were dropped off by their taxis within a couple of minutes of each other. Lyn and Karlyn figured out right away that they had to go up the many flights of steps to find Phil. Using an escalator, and steps when necessary, they finished second, the first all female team to reach the final three. James and Tyler used their fast feet to find the right place, once they figured to go up. Dustin and Kandice went back toward town before climbing. It did not matter. With the penalty, they were pretty much locked out once they fell behind the battered and tomato spattered Rob and Kimberly, and even more so once they were in a duel with James and Tyler and the models thought they might have to push ahead of the beauties and not just follow them.

Outlook for the Season Finale

The Amazing Race 10 remains less predictable than the previous couple of editions, with teams that are very competitive. The final three remaining teams are skillful and resourceful. Each of the three teams has a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses that have emerged as they travel the globe.

Comparison of Teams in AMAZING RACE 10
Place	Members	Strengths	Weaknesses
1	Rob and Kimberly	Athletic, fast enough in footraces, good swimmers, good at tasks. Rob is awesome biking.	Arguing, fighting, hot tempered, even hitting each other. Rob loses patience easily, Kimberly fights for control all the time, and is overly sensitive.
2	Karlyn and Lyn	Communication, determination, very good navigation and driving	Limited traveling experience, not physical, short in stature, slow at tasks, poor in swimming, Lyn may be slower in footraces. Karlyn can be nasty.
3	Tyler and James	Most athletic team, good swimmers	Not paying attention to details of clues, some bad luck, poor navigation, poor decision making, communication with locals. James is passive, and has short reach.

James and Tyler are formidable, as long as they focus and avoid getting lost. Perhaps the other chink in their armor is that James must do all remaining Roadblocks. Kimberly and Rob did well enough at tasks to overcome having a serious meltdown. Rob and Kimberly need to have the better luck of Episode Twelve to continue to stay ahead of the improving single moms, as they still have the better overall task skills, outside of driving.

The long shot team, Lyn and Karlyn have become more effective, once they discovered that they can find their way independently again. Their navigation skills may be the best of the final three teams, and for a relatively nonathletic pair, it is the one skill that intimidates the other teams. If they can continue to keep up the pace on tasks, and avoid getting lost, they can compete in every way except footraces.

The theme of Amazing Race 10 is the promise of twists, turns, and surprises never seen before in the Race, clearly seen in Episodes 1, 3, 5, 8, and 11. What will the season Finale reveal about the teams and who will win the million dollar grand prize? Watch Sunday, December 10 at 8PM Eastern/Pacific or after 60 Minutes, if delayed by NFL football. Also, be sure to catch the FINISH LINE at 1 PM Monday December 11 on the THE AMAZING RACE 10th Edition Web site.