Racing Back to Normal
Covid impacted so much of our world the last few years, it hardly needs to be said. But in the world of entertainment, I feel like it impacted The Amazing Race a bit more than some other shows. It makes sense. When you have a show that is all about interacting with people all over the world, you are going to have to make adjustments. But season 35 was a return to The Amazing Race of old, and it was wonderful as a result.
The premise of the show is that thirteen teams of two, all of whom have a pre-existing relationship, set off on a race around the world. They have to follow clues to pre-selected locations, completing tasks along the way. At the end of each leg, one team is eliminated until the final leg, when three teams race to the finish line.
The last few seasons have found the teams using chartered flights to get them to each new country, and have kept the locations to a smaller geographic area. This season saw the return of a truly around the world race. The teams started in Los Angeles and flew to Thailand, Vietnam, and India before landing in Europe where they visited Slovenia for the first time. All of this while navigating commercial flights, public transportation, and rental cars. In other words, it was back to normal.
Part of the joy of the series is the arm chair travel. And we get some great locations this season. Slovenia wasn’t on my travel radar, but now I’m dying to go. And I would have enjoyed any of the place they visit.
And I really enjoyed getting to watch the teams deal with the struggles of figuring out not only their transportation but also their directions. Both have always been elements of the race, and it was great to see them back in full force here. The previous seasons, as fun as they were, didn’t allow for teams to change places in the rankings as often. Here, we saw some big swings, for better or worse.
Yes, I always find teams I’m rooting for or against. Mainly, I like rooting for the teams that seam nice and get along with each other. Teams that are constantly sniping at each other or other teams get on my nerves very quickly. That happened here, as it always does, but there are some truly great teams that it is easy to root for. And this season proves that you should never give up until you’ve ended a leg.
The strikes of 2023 did impact this season. Because CBS was looking to fill in its schedule, they decided to air 90 minute episodes of the show. I know some fans didn’t enjoy this, but I thought it was wonderful. We got to see more of each location and spend more time getting to know the teams. This season was put into production after that decision was made, and the producers did a good job of giving the teams enough tasks that I never felt like I was watching filler.
All of this combined to make season 35 of The Amazing Race a great season. While it is hard to have a bad season of this show, some really stand out more than others. This is one of those seasons that fans will love and, if you haven’t watched it before, would be a great season to jump in and watch.
I totally agree with you on this one. It was so great to see proper traveling again, U-turns, interacting with locals, having to hustle to make trains, etc. And I was happy with all three teams in the final.
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