Of all the reality shows I’ve watched — and that’s all of them — “The Amazing Race” might be the most difficult to sell people on, sight unseen. When you explain how teams of two travel around the world together, completing various tasks, and the first team to reach the final destination wins, it ends up sounding like some kind of vaguely educational bore. You just can’t do justice to how well this show is edited to create suspense, or to the great feel you get for the exotic locales that the players visit, thanks to some first-rate, frenetic camera work. Even with 11 teams of two, each with their own camera crew, you never see any crew members in any of the shots. Imagine the choreography and camera skills that requires, particularly when the teams are dashing to the finish line in a pack.
The teams of two are crucial, of course. There’s nothing quite like watching old friends, or couples, or siblings trying not to fault each other for stupid mistakes while rushing to make a flight to Tokyo or packing onto a crowded bus in India. In fact, they should really change the title of the show to “The Blame Game,” since so much of the drama comes from seeing how the two-person teams handle the stresses of traveling together under time pressures.
I purposely chose not to quote the first paragraph, excellent though it was, because it contained some minor spoilers.
I just wanted to add that this reviewer really “gets” some of the best things about The Amazing Race – the excellent camerawork and editing, the clever use of tasks to evoke place and culture, and solid casting.