The Amazing Race: Save Fran!

I thought last night's Amazing Race was an average episode that lacked drama. The strong teams did well, the average teams did average, and the weak teams sucked wind. The promo for the episode could have been, "Sure, Fran survived breast cancer. But will she survive THIS?!?" Seriously--were the producers trying to kill her? Sometimes the road blocks and detours are so physically demanding that I find myself rooting for the Oldsters to be eliminated just so I won't have to see them suffer anymore. That staircase climb must have been brutal for even the young, fit racers (can you climb four flights of stairs without feeling winded? How about 40!). And then they throw in a rope climb up a waterfall for good measure. It hurt just to watch some of those teams at work. Even thought the inept Glamazons ruined the mercy elimination of the Oldsters, I won't complain about that outcome. As for the other teams, here are a few thoughts:

• The Hippies: Obviously they're a strong and generally likeable team. But I'm starting to feel like they're forcing the whole "dude, we're totally flaked-out hippies" angle. The play-acting could become tiresome.
• The Frats: Ick.
• Lake and Michelle: This guy was clearly cast to be the show's requisite Control Freak Lunatic. He's got great potential, but he needs to start racing better if he's going to play his designated role effectively. The best race villains are both psychotic and effective. Wearing a motion sickness patch on dry land is a nice touch of crazy, though.
  
• Maureen and Joseph: Did she really cheer him on during the rope climb by yelling, "use your MoJo!" Yes. Yes, she did. They're dead to me.
  

The Hippies and the Frats look like the teams to beat, but it's way too early to call the final three. All the other teams have to do to stay competitive is just not finish last. Finishing first may get you a prize, but beyond that, it doesn't really matter where you end up after any given leg, because the show never lets any team get too far ahead. Even an hours-long head start will get wiped out in the next leg when all the teams have to wait for something to open, or get forced on the same plane/bus/train, etc. As the weak teams get eliminated it gets harder not to finish last, obviously, but no team's going to put the race away until they actually cross the finish line. Once the Oldsters and the Pink Ladies are gone, it will be interesting to see how things shake out every week, because all the other teams seem pretty competitive.