The Amazing Race has given us some fantastic sprints to the mat over the years, and this current season added a new one this past week. Father and son Jeff & Pops were beaten in a foot race to host Phil Keoghan by brothers Nick & Mike after the former pair missed their train by seconds, allowing the latter duo to catch up and hop on the same one. It was heartbreaking to see Jeff try to throw his hand in to stop the closing door. It didn’t work, but it turns out thanks to a rarely discussed Amazing Race rule, they weren’t actually as close to getting on as you’d guess.
We get a lot of shots on The Amazing Race of teams desperately trying to make various departure times, but in order to actually get on, they’re not the only ones who need to make the departure time. The team’s camera crew also needs to get on or else the team isn’t allowed to proceed. In this case, they weren’t very far behind Jeff & Pops, but thinking about how Jeff would have needed to hold the train for himself and then Pops and then the camera crew offered some reassurance to the eliminated pair as they watched the episode back. Here’s what they told Gold Derby during an interview…
Honestly, watching that ending was intense. We’ve had a year to get over things that happened, but it was also kind of eye-opening and seeing that perspective made us feel a little bit better because we realized we wouldn’t have made it on that train regardless. We were moving toward the door as we were questioning the platform, and as we got to the door, I put my arm out. The only thing I regret is not grabbing the door and opening it up. But we as a team and as a crew, they’re getting that shot, and they wouldn’t have made it on the train either. We all four would have had to make it on the train, and it wouldn’t have happened.
There was no discussion of the camera crew also needing to get on the train during the actual Amazing Race episode, which follows the pattern of what we normally see from the long-running reality show. The producers aren’t deceptive about the rule, but it’s typically only discussed if it plays a major factor in the outcome of the show. We saw that last season as a rare example when one team was forced to wait in their car because their camera crew got lost. The show blamed it on the racers for not making sure their crew was behind them, but a lot of fans weren’t happy campers and didn’t feel like it was fair.
I don’t share those sentiments this time around. If Pops & Jeff had gotten on the train, waited for thirty seconds and had to get off because their crew wasn’t there, I’d be screaming loudly, but that definitely wasn’t the case here. The crew is always five or ten seconds behind the team as they need to follow them to record their movements. So, waiting a reasonable number of seconds is just part of the rules of gameplay.
Fortunately, Pops & Jeff don’t seem too bent out of shape over what happened. They’re competitors and, of course, wanted to stay longer, but they also quite obviously had the time of their lives during the competition together. They got to visit a ton of amazing countries, had a lot of great experiences together and even recently go to throw out the first pitch at the St Louis Cardinals game. It was a joy to watch them, and I’m glad they’ve coped with what happened so well.
The Amazing Race 37 is currently airing on Wednesday nights on CBS. This season has featured a lot of new wrinkles and game play tweaks. It's also already been renewed and reportedly casting a lot of former Big Brother players for an upcoming season, which should be a lot of fun.
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