‘The Amazing Race 23’ review: Did Jason & Amy just make a huge mistake?
Tonight on “The Amazing Race 23,” questionable decisions was the name of the game, and with that, we don’t want to bury the lead here: There was no questionable move whatsoever than Amy choosing to help out Nicole during the Roadblock. With this one move, she gave the race’s longtime favorites to win Travis & Nicole a chance to stay in the race, when they otherwise could have been in danger thanks to Ally & Ashley trying to make up some ground.
We’ve given Team Boston (even though Amy is actually “Providence Amy”) a hard time for being boring, but they seem like very nice people. The problem is that there’s a time on the show where you have to stop being nice. If you are struggling on the final leg, will Nicole stop and help you and cost herself a million bucks? We don’t think so, and we’d much rather have the ice crew around than a dominant team.
This was just one interesting issue in what was an awesome episode of the show in Indonesia, mostly because of all the interesting social dynamics. Tim & Marie have emerged as our favorite team of the whole season shockingly, mostly because they are the most upfront of the bunch. You get what you see, and that’s great television. The Afghanimals are annoying, but we liked them a little more than usual this leg as they fought to #1, and called out Nicole & Travis in the process for following their moral code only when it suits them.
While Nicole & Travis were safe thanks to Amy’s generosity, this was a bad episode for them. They came across very entitled, and people who take this race much too seriously. The Afghanimals aren’t breaking any rules, so they are almost like those people who get upset at Monopoly when someone tries to steal money from the banker. Leo & Jamal have lied about some silly things, but it’s not been anything that terrible that they should be publicly shamed for it. We understand that this is a game for a million dollars but it’s a game! Have fun! If we were running, we’d try to embrace it rather than Travis giving Nicole all sorts of side-eye for not finishing a Roadblock soon enough.
The reason why Ally & Ashley are out is simply because they just didn’t follow directions, which one of the worst ways to possibly get eliminated. They misread a clue at the Detour, and went to the zoo to feed an elephant without any food. It’s a shame that the Afghanimals have lost their “race wives,” but their exit has left us now with the most competitive four teams. We just hope that the level of intensity stays this high the rest of the way. Grade: A.
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Photo: CBS