The Amazing Race 6: Episode 12

aka The Curse of the Cabbie.

Tonight we saw a perfect example of why I love this show so much. Which was timely given that I was at a book signing for Douglas Coupland this evening and he and I chatted a bit about reality television (his favorite reality TV show is The Swan) and he told me he just doesn't get The Amazing Race.

One of the things I love about The Amazing Race is the fact that you get contestants with pre-existing relationships. My big complaint about MTV's The Real World (which I did watch once upon a time) was the fact that they were putting these STRANGERS together in a house. They didn't have the dysfunction and inside jokes and challenges that real friends living together would have. Those fucked up dynamics would just start to set in as the season came to a close. I thought they should put my friends and I together in a house... now THAT would have been entertainment! (With, of course, the added benefit that my friends and I would get to live in a kick ass house). Same thing goes for Survivor and any other show that pits stranger against stranger. This is the beauty of The Amazing Race. Because you have teams you have the pre-existing dysfunction that any relationship carries. And it's watching that dynamic, along with the challenge of the race and having to work with and against the strangers that makes it compelling television.

One of the other things I like about this show is that small element of luck that plays into it. It's the curse of the cab driver. Because as strong as you might be as a team, and as well as you might play the game, you never know when you're going to get the crappy cab driver whose going to fling you into last place because he gets lost, blows a tire, or simply doesn't understand the concept of "fast." Of course, I like the element a lot less when it's working against my favorite team in the race, which it definitely was this evening, but Kris and Jon made it to the final four and now all we can do is hope and pray.

Unfortunately, tonight was a non-elimination leg which means we are stuck with Adam and Rebecca for the final episode. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hope they don't win. So stay tuned next week for the season finale.