“The Amazing Race” premiered Sept. 25 to millions of viewers eager to see how drama unfolds for a diverse roster of characters. Eleven teams must race around the world completing challenges and navigating across cultures, with the slowest teams getting eliminated. The last team remaining gets $1 million.
Two of the notable teams are Kevin and Michael Wu (father and son) and Gary and Mallory Ervin (father and daughter). Kevin Wu, a Youtube personality with more than one million subscribers, is famous for capturing father-and-son culture clashes. Mallory Ervin is Miss Kentucky 2009.
“I wanted them to win so badly,” said Karina Galvan, a professional writing major at Eastern Michigan University. “They are so picturesque of how families should be. My family is everything to me and they help and care about each other. Those teams show that.”
Now that her favorite teams are out of the race, Galvan is no longer so invested in watching the show. One team she doesn’t like are the doctors, Kat Chang and Nat Strand. Galvan roots for people whose positive qualities are relatable to her, as well as the underdogs.
“Why should they win?” Galvan said. “Doctors make a ton of money. What do they need the prize money for? They almost don’t have a reason to win.”
Galvan sometimes thinks about competing on the show. Her idea of a good teammate would be her brother because they are opposites but cohesive. She said he is smart, loving and dependable. It was while Galvan was in high school her relationship with her brother blossomed in another dimension.
“I was in a car crash in high school, and I was in a coma,” Galvan said. “My brother was driving. It impacted our relationship because since then, he’s looked out for me especially. I appreciate that.”
Though those teams are no longer in the race, two other notable teams have sparked criticism. One team is Brook Roberts and Clair Champlin, television hosts of a home shopping channel. In the season’s second episode, Roberts had to fling watermelons with a slingshot to knock down knight armor. One of the watermelons went backward and smashed her in the face. Roberts landed on her back and could not feel her face for minutes afterward.
Alexander Pankiewicz, secondary education major at EMU, does not watch “The Amazing Race,” but he saw a clip of Roberts getting hit with a watermelon on Youtube. What he finds more shocking is how his teammate told Roberts to keep going.
“The lack of compassion and lack of sympathy was more absurd than the event itself,” Pankiewicz said.
He thinks the show is a symbol of American culture because it’s about heightening the individual and glorifying the strength of the average-Joe.
“It makes me appreciate the lottery; that’s a lot less effort,” Pankiewicz said. “The show is stupid. You have done nothing, but because you can’t shoot watermelons, you get some fame and $1 million dollars.”
Another memorable couple is operations manager Chad Waltrip and hair stylist Stephanie Smith. In episode eight, Waltrip proposed to Smith with the engagement ring that belonged to his mother until she passed away when he was in high school. They were waiting for a challenge to start in Muscat, Oman.
“No, no, no,” Galvan said. “That was a terrible time to do that. They were only going out for eight months. How do you really know someone in that short of a time? They fight so much in the show, so I don’t see the marriage ending well.”
One thing EMU student Theresa Dark notices about “The Amazing Race” is how similar it is to a show called “Eco-Challenge,” which was on the Discovery Channel from 1995-2001.
“Eco-Challenge” tested teams of five people who were put in extreme situations in obscure places in the world. Teams had to carry all of their equipment and food everywhere with them.
One of her favorite scenes from “Eco-Challenge” was watching how a team came to a decision after a teammate injured his leg. The team must all be together in the end, or it is disqualified. Dark loved seeing how the team decided whether to carry him or quit the challenge. She wondered if “Eco-Challenge” was turned into “The Amazing Race” in order to make money.
“I liked that the show (“Eco-Challenge”) was pure,” Dark said. “There was no prize money because the challenge was enough. There was no fighting amongst each other and they didn’t get picked by auditioning. Many teams didn’t even finish.”
The next episode of “The Amazing Race” will be on at 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21 on CBS. Five teams remain, and the location will be in Bangladesh, India. The twist in the episode is there will be a double U-turn, where each team must complete their challenges again.
