Oh this is an interesting twist because you can either pick someone who is quite similar to yourself so at least you know, you will be on the same wavelength, you will want to do the same kind of detours and you probably will be able to get along a lot better with each other. However, that will also mean that you have the same kinds of weaknesses and gaps in your skill set - picking someone who is the total opposite of yourself may result in the feeling one gets on an awkward blind date, but in terms of a strategy for TAR, it could be a winning formula that creates a well-balanced team with a much wider set of skills and strengths. The downside of that of course is that being so different, you may not get along very well, communication could be hindered if you are on very different wavelengths and that could lead to a lot of stress on the race. However, this is a race, not a blind date: as long as both parties are committed winning, then there's no reason why two very different racers can put aside their personal differences and work well together just to win a million dollars. After all, many of us regularly work with people whom we have little in common with - yet we manage to sustain very functional, even successful working relationships with them just to get work done. It does take some social skills to achieve that and some racers clearly have more of those vital social skills than others.
So by that token, how do the teams look?
I will split the team into three categories: "similar", "chalk and cheese" and "I'm not too sure yet - I'll have to get back to you". Firstly, the "similar" teams include Shamir & Sara, Seth & Olive, Becca & Floyd, Tara & Joey, Matt & Redmond, Jess & Francesca and Kevin and Jenn. For "chalk and cheese", we have London & Logan, Brooke & Scott and Vanck & Ashton. For most of the teams, I knew exactly which category to put them in and it was clear that most contestants picked someone rather similar to themselves. Tara gladly picked Joey even though he finished last in the bag challenge after a costly, silly mistake with the Panamanian flag - but if you look at their social backgrounds, Tara is an army officer whilst Joey is a police sergeant. I can definitely see these two working quite well together. This does remind me a lot of the Survivor Worlds Apart season where the teams were divided into three tribes: white, blur and no collar tribes. Maybe I am making assumptions based on their jobs at this stage, but I don't have that much more to go on after just one episode. There was just one team which I hesitated to categorize: Liz & Michael. There is a 13 year age gap between them and I'm not really that sure how much they may have in common actually given they have different jobs and are from different parts of the US. But they seem to get along quite well together even if they did struggle through the first leg, barely escaping elimination. So I'm going to have to get back to you on this one soon.
Oh please. Some teams clearly couldn't be asked to come up with a cute name - #TeamLizandMike? #TeamVanckandAshton? You're just using your names! And who calls themselves #TeamAmerica without referencing the movie (see video below). And as for #TeamFun and #TheBoys? Good grief, what a serious lack of imagination there. Ironically the team who have the best hash tag are the ones who have been eliminated first: #longhairdontcare. Like either give the racers some help with coming up with a slightly catchier hash tag or don't even bother with it - otherwise, it just looks so incredibly lame. You had so many months to do post-production after the race was run!
One aspect I love about TAR is the way the casting reflects the full diversity of American society: black and Asians, gays, old and young (well the range of ages are 21 to 46 this season), the handicapped/disabled, many different social classes and backgrounds. Some contestants have traveled a lot over the years whilst others have barely ever left the US. Some contestants are multilingual whilst others are painfully monolingual. I love the way there are three Chinese Americans in this year's season: whilst Vanck seems to tick every box of your typical East Asian geeky nerd, but Kevin and Jenn are as far removed from that stereotype as you can get. However, they were also the ones who also got eliminated first because they were just way too laid back in the race, whilst I laughed so hard when Vanck said, "make a 135 degree right turn" and Ashton's priceless reaction to that. Quite frankly, as a Chinese-British man who works in finance too, I probably share a lot in common with Vanck and probably would think like him too on the race, but I am giving him the benefit of the doubt - he looks like a rather smart guy and there may be a method to his madness in choosing someone like Ashton as his partner for the race. Like sorry, she just wouldn't be my first choice.
Whom would I have picked as a partner then?
Oh it is an easy choice: Redmond - the motivational speaker with one leg. Not only is he physically strong, after everything he has gone through from losing his leg to rebuilding his life after that, I think his story is inspirational and he is number one on my list, easily. I have so much respect for him. He reminds me of one-armed surfer Bethany Hamilton from season 25 who stood out as one of the strongest and most likable racers of all time. After that, I'd pick anyone who stands out as particularly physically strong: Olive, Logan, Scott, Matt and Kevin. Like I said, I'm like Vanck: I'm the super intelligent Asian geek who works in finance, Modesty aside, I've got enough brains for a team of two - given that I speak Spanish, asking for directions in Panama would've been a breeze for me given that I traveled through Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic last summer. What I do lack however, is the strength to do some of the more punishing challenges that one typically encounters on TAR. I am now 40, if I was 10 or 15 years younger, I wouldn't worry so much about that but my injuries from days as a gymnast are catching up with me and I'm just not as strong as I used to be. By that token, I'd avoid any partner whom I would deem as physically weak - not gonna name names here, but you know pretty well whom I have in mind. I think I would also avoid picking someone like Vanck or Shamir - we're just too similar, I'm sure they're both nice people but you'd wanna create the strongest possible team.
It was interesting that most of the teams chose to do Scoot - where they had to beat a pair of professional rowers in a canoe race. It was quite doable actually because by the time you tried it the third time, you had a 100 meters head start and that made it a lot easier - it was almost worth deliberately losing the first race just to conserve your energy for when you had a realistic chance of beating the professionals. I would have been very tempted to try Shoot however, given that you only had to hit two targets and with a bit of skill and luck, you could get through that a lot more quickly. It is a gamble of course and the more skill you have with the shooting (say if you have done some archery before), then the better your odds. Given how very hot and sticky the weather is in Panama, I would have favoured the task that would have been far less physically challenging. That was why I was surprised that Liz & Michael gave up on this task given that they were clearly going to struggle with the more physically demanding detour, like how many times did their canoe capsize? In fact I was amazed at how many teams tried and gave up on bow and arrow challenge so quickly - come on, you know they never give you anything that easy to do and you're highly unlikely to get it on the fist couple of attempts. There's always a learning curve with any skill-based detour, don't panic, just stay calm and focus.
Is the two-hour penalty too harsh?
Kevin & Jenn struggled a lot in Panama, getting incredibly lost and wasting so much time as a result. They could have still caught up with Liz & Michael but they were unfortunately unable to complete their canoe detour as it had gotten too dark and thus they were hit with a two-hour penalty at the pit stop. That was Liz & Michael's saving grace for they had an equally disastrous leg, arriving at the pit stop after Kevin & Jenn despite having finished the detour first. I personally feel that a two-hour penalty in this case was way too harsh - it was not like Kevin & Jenn gave up on the road block and took the penalty by choice, no it was beyond their control as night fell and perhaps the TAR production team didn't think that some of the teams would be so terribly slow that they would still be struggling to complete that detour as night fell in Panama. Kevin & Jenn were on the second flight which was delayed an hour (but still, it was only 9:36 am when that second flight arrived). Had the plane landed on time (or at least wasn't that delayed), it would have given Kevin & Jenn enough daylight to have completed that canoe detour and that would have probably saved them in this leg That's why I thought that two-hour penalty was extremely harsh and they were unlucky with the flight delay.
Clearly, Seth & Olive rocked this leg and I can imagine them doing very well, possibly winning this season. I also think that Matt & Redmond are another potential winning team given how strong the guys are physically. Right now, it looks like a two-horse race, the others are just along for the ride. I'm not convinced that team fun Becca & Floyd are as strong as the two teams already mentioned, but they could be the underdogs - they clearly work very well together and can handle the stress that this race throws at them. How many teams have self-imploded under the stress of TAR? Way too many. As for the weakest teams, definitely Liz & Michael who struggled all the way in this leg - Michael looks overweight and this will be a factor given the amount of physical challenges that one can typically expect in any season of TAR, especially when he is racing against some extremely physically fit racers. I think Brooke & Scott along with Jess & Francesca are going to self-destruct when the stress gets to them - we have already seen the first argument between Jess & Francesca before they had even paired up, which makes me think that things would probably go wrong for this team. As for Ashton & Vanck, I don't know - they have to learn to work together and the problem with Vanck is that he is an investment researcher: he probably spends all day staring at a computer screen without talking to anyone. Would he have the social skills to work well with Ashton, or can she as an estate agent (how that's old school sales) posses the right kind of people skills to tap into Vanck's intellect for the sake of the team?
My prediction for the next leg.
The teams are off to Sao Paulo in Brazil next - a popular destination for the TAR franchise. I predict that either Seth & Olive or Matt & Redmond would win the next leg. If there are going to be more physical challenges, then Liz & Michael would almost certainly struggle and be eliminated. But if the challenges in Brazil are not that physically challenging, then one of the teams that do not work very well together could self-implode and crumble there - perhaps Ashton & Vanck or Jess & Francesca. But let's see - the language barrier could be a huge problem in Brazil and perhaps a team who has someone who can speak some Portuguese could potentially have a huge advantage in Sao Paulo.
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