Did you watch the most recent episode of Amazing Race 36? Well, let me summarize a key plot point: three teams just did the entire thing together. I’m not talking like they gave each other a little help. They literally, as a group, traveled to and completed every step of the mega leg together. It was really frustrating to watch as a viewer, and it was even more frustrating because the producers of the show vowed to fix the problem several seasons ago.
How much help is too much help is always a common argument amongst both Amazing Race fans and players on The Amazing Race. There are some who like to see every team run their own race the entire time, while there are others who think occasionally navigating together or pooling resources on a particularly difficult Roadblock is good strategy. Practically the entire fanbase, however, collectively complained very loudly during Season 32 when the so-called Mine Five Alliance gave each other answers and specific instructions on various Detours and Roadblocks, partially as a strategy to try and eliminate specific teams.
At the time, the complaints were so loud that producer Elise Doganieri had to address them in an interview. She admitted all the helping was “frustrating” to watch and said they’d need to put in a rule to prevent it from happening. Here’s a portion of the quote she gave to Reality Blurred…
I’m going to be really honest with you. I think we’re going to have to put a rule on that in the future… We put a lot of work, months and months of research development, scouting, challenge decisions being made. It is a little frustrating to watch when somebody is giving information to another contestant, and the other team is not getting that information because then to me, it starts to affect what maybe should have been a little bit of a different outcome.
Makes sense, right? Well, unfortunately, it apparently didn’t make enough sense to actually implement because Amber literally did the Roadblock for Angie and Leticia this week. She finished after a few tries on her end, and then she walked over to their puzzles, stood behind them and told each step-by-step where each one of the pieces went. She may as well have just put the pieces on the board for each of them.
Now, I’m not going to call what she did cheating because there’s clearly not a rule against it. So, it’s not cheating. It’s helping. And, to be clear, I get exactly why she helped. It’s hard to see your friends struggle with something difficult when you have the answers, and from a strategic standpoint, if you’re worried about navigating to the next step of the leg, it makes sense to give your allies the answer so you can all keep working together. If the only goal is to be not last and survive, then working together with other teams to not be last is the ideal strategy.
But watching all the teams help each other doesn’t make for a good viewing experience, and it also doesn’t help the teams that are behind catch up. Something needs to change. The Amazing Race has made a number of rule changes and format tweaks over the years, and now it’s time for another one. Maybe it means teams can’t talk to each other during Roadblocks and Detours. Maybe it means teams can provide help but they are banned from directly giving each other answers. Maybe it means something else. I don’t know what the solution is, but sitting back and letting teams do entire legs together is not it.
I love The Amazing Race. It’s one of my favorite shows on television, but it needs to be proactive to solve the issue here. Talking isn’t enough. It’s time for a clearly defined rule change.
