Amazing Race 11 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 11 -- All Stars Edition

Thoughts on Episode 6 and Outlook for Episode 7

Thoughts on Episode Six--Airport Blues

Episode Six was a elimination leg. That was a shame as the airports were packed, and the producers chose the wrong passage and episode to provide tickets for the teams. Teri and Ian and Joe and Bill got the worst of it. Charla and Mirna benefited from being first to book the best connections, followed by three teams. Danny and Oswald, Dustin and Kandice, and Uchenna and Joyce found a flight as they found the next flight to South Africa. They had to run to the ferry dock to compete for which of two boats to take in the morning, along with front-running Charla and Mirna. The first boat, or dhow left at 5:30AM with Charla and Mirna and Danny and Oswald--setting off a duel for first place. 3 hours later, the next ferry left with Joyce and Uchenna and Dustin and Kandice for a face off for third and fourth place. Next to arrive by themselves were Eric and Danielle on one of the last ferries of the first day, followed by the hapless Teri and Ian, along with the equally determined Guidos taking a ferry at 8:00PM, 14 and a half hours behind the shorties and Cha-Cha. But, the passage to Zanzibar took eight hours.

Detour

Solve It: Teams had to solve 62-piece puzzle, based on local art form, Tinga Tinga. The kicker was that the pieces were painted on both sides. Still, it was by far the easier detour. Only Teri and Ian struggled so badly that it materially affected their placement.

Schlep It: Teams had to roll two odd shaped 50-pound logs from a lumberyard to a shipyard one mile on a cart. It was slow going and by far the harder Detour.

Only Dustin and Kandice chose Schlep It, figuring the physical task would be easier, but paid with a lower placement of fourth, behind Uchenna and Joyce, in spite of coming on the same dhow and that 30-minute penalty coming to the Uchenna and Joyce.

Episode Six Detour
Members	Detour Selected	Result
Danny and Oswald	Solve It	Finished first with methodical effort.
Eric and Danielle	Solve It	Finished bags last, but got help from kids to make delivery
Teri and Ian	Solve It	Last to finish, sealed fate when they could not tell that the pieces were painted on both sides until after Joe and Bill left.
Dustin and Kandice	Schlep It	They did OK with pushing the logs down the road, until they fell off. Delays made this detour a poor choice.
Uchenna and Joyce	Solve It	Their excellent skills earned them third place.
Joe and Bill	Solve It	Finished sixth. Their exceptional skill allowed them to grab permanent lead on Teri and Ian..
Charla and Mirna	Solve It	They worked steadily, finished second.

Arrival at Masai village

Only one change going to the Masai village, as Danny and Oswald decided to spend time buying fruit in a local market. That allowed Charla and Mirna to get ahead of them, and stay ahead all the way to the Pit Stop.

Roadblock

Who's on target?

From the website: One Team member had to learn how to use a traditional wooden weapon, called a Rungu, used by members of the Maasai, or Masai, tribe by throwing it 65 feet to destroy one of these clay targets in order to retrieve their next clue from inside.

Episode Six Roadblock
Members	Team Member	Result
Danny and Oswald	Danny	Second out.
Eric and Danielle	Danielle	Caught a bit of a break with the mask falling, fifth out.
Teri and Ian	Ian	Ian was great, except that he was too late arriving.
Dustin and Kandice	Dustin	Dustin worked methodically to be fourth out, but lost time to Uchenna.
Uchenna and Joyce	Uchenna	Third out, gained time as Uchenna hardly struggled in spite of words captured in the preview, apparently completing the task on the 3rd throw.
Joe and Bill	Bill	Good enough to be sixth to leave.
Charla and Mirna	Mirna	First to arrive, many tries, but after while, found target, did somersaults or cartwheels as she finished first.

The special moment of the night was Uchenna jumping with the Masai. He said it was a dream come true.

Outlook for Episode Seven

Danny and Oswald had chosen to communicate effectively. Save for a couple of lapses lately, they are leveraging their experience, and are performing smoothly without being unduly hurried. Joe and Bill, and Dustin and Kandice are doing well for the most part.

The team of Uchenna and Joyce has been up and down as they have both looked a bit drained at times, and done well sometimes at tasks, and not so well at other tasks. Are Eric and Danielle unnerved by being pulled off that flight?

Comparison of Teams in AMAZING RACE 11
Members	Strengths	Weaknesses
Charla and Mirna	Communication, determination	Limited traveling experience, short in stature, slow at tasks, Charla is not as strong, Mirna forced to overcome Charla's shortcomings.
Dustin and Kandice	Competitive, college educated, athletic	Not paying attention to details of clues--or even preservation of clues, try to push ahead of others, not fastest in foot races, emotional. Dustin is bossy and domineering.
Danny and Oswald	Athletic, fast enough in footraces, good at tasks. Both are highly motivated and determined.	They have had friction between them, and can be a bit hot tempered.
Joe and Bill	Very intelligent, surprisingly athletic, good strategists	Can get seriously lost, fighting tendancy to lose focus, can be abrasive.
Eric and Danielle	Eric is highly athletic, both are intelligent enough. Both are highly motivated and determined.	Danielle had trouble getting lost and losing things. can be emotional. Both can be geographically challenged at times. Eric can be abrasive. Danielle can be emotional.
Uchenna and Joyce	Both are athletic. Joyce is great at puzzles.	Look drained at times, can be beaten in footraces, can be slow at tasks.

What will the special 2-hour broadcast reveal about the racers? It may well be an elimination leg, with plenty of action. The Early Show is scheduled to interview the "castoffs" the week following. Watch the exciting seventh episode of Amazing Race All Stars Sunday, April 1 at 8 PM Eastern/Pacific.