Amazing Race Family Edition first impressions

Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the first episode yet, you won't want to read this until you do.


Okay, now for the rest of you, here are my impressions of the first family edition of the Amazing Race. It's not as different as I anticipated, so far. A few points:

* I do have a feeling this is going to be an all-American or at least North American adventure. I get a real sea-to-shining-sea feel from the route so far, which would be quite interesting.

* No Road Blocks?! Perhaps they just skipped this for the first leg, but I'll be disappointed if there are no Road Blocks this season. Traditionally they have been tasks just one team member must perform. I figured they might modify it to allow two, but not do away with it completely.

* Have any of these people ever read a map? It's pretty typical for teams to get lost on the heavy driving legs, especially early on, but this was excessive. Navigation is a key element to the Race, which they should know if they've ever watched it.

* Nice touch having Kevin and Drew from season one as the hot dog vendors. :)

Now for the team impressions:

* The Weaver family (dad killed in a freak speedway accident) are better racers than I expected, but WOW are they annoying!
* The Godlewski (sp?) sisters started out horribly, but then won the leg. How'd they do that?! They are surprisingly competitive.
* The Gaghans are tons of fun. That little girl is quite the competitor. They race smart and logically. I like them.
* The Aiello guys did almost as well as I thought they would, but made a poor choice on the detour. They need to think a little more.
* The Paolo family is quite possibly the most obnoxious bunch of people ever on television. Poor mom won't last long with little rest and many more physical challenges.
* The Linz siblings - wow what happened there? Four young, healthy, seemingly intelligent people finish next to last? Hopefully the shock of it will wake them up and they'll use their heads more on the next leg.
* The Black family just made one critical mistake - building instead of pulling the buggy. That task held a clear advantage for teams with small (and lightweight) children, but they just didn't see it.

So far, I'm pulling for the Gaghans, Linzs and Aiellos. I can't wait for the Paolos and Weavers to go. Here's hoping next week we see some Road Blocks! So far, it's a great race!

Posted by tivogirl at 8:46 AM