TAR16, Recap Leg 0, 2/13/10

Welcome back to the Amazing Race! Miss me? I thought so. First off, this year’s premiere is on Valentine’s Day, so what better way to celebrate than to watch loving couples yell at each other as they criss cross the globe. Just what I think of when I’m having a good time. We’re back to eleven teams, so no monkey business from the producers, and Toyouke is nearby to throw in her two cents as always. The eleven teams are: (click for more)

Brent and Caite, are dating models from Columbia, South Carolina. And Caite says in her bio that she made a horrible flub in a Miss Teen USA contest. Oh, great, this isn’t. . . (Toyouke: “Yes, do you want to call her Miss The Iraq and Such As?”) Lovely. They get someone who doesn’t know her geography to run a race around the world. I hope Brent watched season 3 and/or has picked up some pointers from Zach. (Toyouke: “But Brent's bio pisses me off. "I wouldn't trade places with anyone! My life is awesome! I would give all the money away!" Shut up. However I will say that Caite's video is mostly coherent. But she's 20 and he's 28, and that is a lot.”) Hopefully we will be saved by a quick exit, but I’m guessing not. Prediction: Sixth Place.

Carol and Brandy, are dating from Los Angeles. Finally, a pair of lesbians on this show. (Toyouke: She seems too old for a Brandy.” Kmanpat: “But Brandy, she’s a fine girl, what a good wife she would be.”) They look tough. Female winners? I don’t want to hedge my bets, but with a clean race, I can easily see top 3. Prediction: Winners, TAR16.

Dana and Adrian, are married high school sweethearts from Arlington, Texas. Aw, my parents were high school sweethearts. Until I see them in action, I’m going to be comparing them to Uchenna and Joyce and Chip and Kim. But both of those couples made it to the end. Prediction: Fourth Place.

Jet and Cord, sound like a parachute precision team, but in reality are hot brothers and cowboys from Tupelo, Oklahoma. (Toyouke: “Jet and Cord are kick ass cowboy names. And another set of brothers where the younger looking one is actually older. Jet does like, 2/3 of the talking in their video. But who cares, anyway. Do you care? Cowboy brothers.”) I don’t care in the least. Hot cowboy brothers. Prediction: Third Place.

Jody and Shannon, are grandmother and granddaughter from Texas. Jody is a professional trainer, and her granddaughter is one of her clients. Which, kick ass. (Toyouke: “Bring it on. However I do not want to listen to her preach about how "everyone should run triathlons and old people should work out and lose weight because I used to be fat.") Last time we had an age gap like this, Nic and Don from TAR12 finished third, if I recall. So here we go again. Prediction: Second Place.

Joe and Heidi, are a married couple from El Segundo California. The Wangs (Toyouke: “Wang! Haha.”) seem very Asian, and Asians aren’t usually the strongest teams, unless they get a break. (Toyouke: “But don’t forget, in high school, Heidi was voted Senior Class President, Most Likely to Succeed, Most Likely to win a Nobel Peace Prize and Most Likely to Total Their Car. Also one of her big challenges will be not being able to east sushi.”) Well, that’ll be fun for them. Prediction: Ninth Place.

Dan and Jordan, are another pair of hot brothers from Barrington Rhode Island. And one of them hates travel. Sucks to be him. (Toyouke: “Do note, Jordan has wanted to be on this show since it started. He is also slightly flamey. Which makes sense because he's gay, although he claims to have a "life partner" who is a girl.”) Plus, their last name is Pious. Hee. And note that we have a boy Jordan and a girl Jordan. Technically. Prediction: Seventh Place.

Jordan and Jeff, are a newly dating couple from Big Brother California. Last time the Race had a Big Brother Team, it exploded marvelously in the second episode. Although, it’s another age gap team, and they actually look like they might like each other. (Toyouke: “I already hate them. And she won. Somehow being on "Survivor" is better to me than "Big Brother". I'm more OK with people who starved for a month than people who just got locked in a swank house for a while. He seems defensive about how people won't like him because he's already been on TV.”) Prediction: Eleventh Place.

Louie and Michael, are detectives from Rhode Island. Two Rhode Island teams? How does that work? (Toyouke: “They're not just detectives, but undercover detectives. I wonder if that gives them an advantage? I think being able to adjust to changing situations and think on their feet might help. ‘We have to win because our friends will never let us live it down. They will make cartoons.’ Hee.”) Cartoons indeed. They strike me as the ATCs all over again. And that’s good. Prediction: Fifth Place.

Monique and Shawne, are attorney moms from the East Coast. So, basically, two Claire Huxtables for you. They’re kinda generic, but they have a lot of energy. Prediction: Tenth Place.

Steve and Allie, are the father daughter team from California. He’s a professional baseball coach, and she’s in marketing. Professional baseball coach as in the World Series Phillies. Cool. (Toyouke: “Also their challenges will be "not getting lost because we get lost in our own neighborhood" and "not having mom to do everything for us".”) This could be interesting. Prediction: Eighth Place.


And there it is. Don’t forget to tune in Sunday, February 14 at 7 pm CDT for the one hour premiere. See you with the first recap soon!