Rob and Amber's success
hurts ‘Amazing Race’

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The team that's ‘like an STD’
For all the talk about “The Amazing Race” being a game, it’s really not; the other teams aren’t necessarily obstacles or even allies. The race is between the team and the course, and that’s it. With varying degrees of intensity and success, past teams have definitely brought competitiveness to the show, but Rob has stepped it up to a new level. This has been a near-constant source of conflict between Romber and other teams on this race (fellow racer Lynn said the team is “kind of like an STD”).

Certainly, this season has a number of intense competitors besides the “Survivor” couple. When Joyce was faced with the decision of whether or not to have her head shaved in order to skip some tasks, she didn’t even hesitate: “Let’s go, let’s just do it, I don’t care,” she said, her focus only on earning the fast forward. Gretchen and Meredith, the oldest couple to ever make it to the final four, have survived injury (Gretchen fell in a cave), near-constant screw-ups (Gretchen fell after the couple returned to the cave for the second time, having missed a clue the first time), and game twists (all of their possessions were taken away except their passports and the clothes they were wearing). Yet they hobble along, and their determination keeps helping them to beat younger teams to the pit stops.

But Rob is more than determined. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. On a recent episode, he was literally grabbing children from a crowd to help him push an elephant on wheels. He constantly recruits locals as guides and convinces them to follow him around for miles and miles. That’s smart, but as Rob drags someone around with them, this strategy comes across as quasi-kidnapping (in India, fellow racer Ron said that Rob “coerced” a man “into following us on the rest of the leg”).

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There’s more: Rob once stole a cab belonging to another team. He bribed a bus driver to not open the back door, thereby delaying the teams standing toward the rear of the bus. He’s asked for information and made his source swear that he wouldn’t tell anyone else. Often when he does these things, Amber stands nearby and looks embarrassed.

Rob’s most controversial action involved a unique interpretation of the rules. In early seasons, failing to perform at a task resulted in a race-ending 24-hour-penalty for a team. (Mother and daughter Nancy and Emily were eliminated from the race during the first season after incurring such a penalty). But with that penalty now reduced to four hours, Rob played the odds. He refused to eat four pounds of meat, and then convinced other teams to join him in quitting. It was a brilliant strategy: he skipped the task and ensured that he wouldn’t be eliminated, as his fellow quitters would be behind him.

Haven't they won enough?
Although he may have considered this sort of move beforehand, he seemed to conceive of this strategy as we were watching. Rob sometimes plays the dumb or ignorant card, but he’s always thinking and scheming. All of his actions are permitted in the rules of the race, but are they ethical? Is this how teams should run “The Amazing Race”? Should they be more concerned with thwarting others than with helping themselves? And, as a former reality cast member, should they even be allowed to race?

For CBS, the answer is probably a strong “yes!” to the last question, and “who cares” to the others, as this season’s ratings have been up consistently. For fans of this three-and-a-half-year-old series, the answers are less obvious.

Part of the appeal of reality television involves getting attached to cast members, who we grow to love (or hate) as a series unfolds. This explains the increasing prevalence of people we already know showing up again and again on reality shows; they’re easy to cast, and the audience’s familiarity means the show can jump right into the drama. Just tune in to MTV’s “The Real World/Road Rules Challenge,” where this is only display week after week, season after season. Cast member Veronica recently noted, without a bit of embarrassment, that she’d been on seven “Challenge” shows. That’s a total of eight reality show seasons, including her original appearance on “Road Rules.” And that’s insane.

Perhaps there’s a severe shortage of reality contestants. But without new faces, there wouldn’t be anyone new to get to know.

And part of the appeal of “The Amazing Race” is getting to know pairs of people as they navigate the earth and get to know each other better. Rob and Amber’s presence may alter the game, but it’s denied us the chance to meet two new people, denied those new people the chance to have their chance at $1 million, and denied Rob and Amber’s fellow racers the chance at an even playing field.

If Rob and Amber win “The Amazing Race 7,” they’ve earned it, and deserve their reward. They just didn’t deserve to run the race in the first place.

Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

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