The Amazing Race 30 Editing Analysis and Predictions Week Six Edition

Three double episodes until this season finishes? And a partner swap twist which will make it impossible for me to make predictions for leg eight?

Bertram Bertram,

Don’t you see,

Sometimes your scheduling just tortures me,

Which sucks cause I work on these blogs for days,

But I guess it’s why I am broke and for 30 seasons you’ve been so paid.

WEEK SIX WINNER’S EDIT PROJECTIONS (The following is the order of those who have the best chance of winning based on the edit set forth by production)

1) KRISTI & JEN

Do you know how in the Dutch version of The Mole, Wie is de Mol, how one of the expressions is “tunelvision,” which refers to not having tunnel vision when you suspect who the mole is at the beginning, and you end up being eliminated early because of it?

Well, I feel like I am being led to the slaughter because Kristi & Jen’s winner’s edit remains strong.

At the end of this round, Kristi & Jen emphasized how they have been finishing in the top three in each of the first six legs. Of course this leads me to believe that Kristi & Jen will be vulnerable over the next couple of rounds. That is a good thing because it gives them a more well-rounded storyline. Editors love making you think the eventual winners are at risk of going home at one point or another (it’s a little thing called emotional investment in your characters), and it’s really the only missing component of Kristi & Jen’s edit.

Otherwise they have been framed to be respected, performed well, frequently narrate tasks and events around them, and Phil can’t help but repeat the all-female angle numerous times.

2) HENRY & EVAN

“Henry & Evan are super competitive. Watch out for them.”
“Henry, we need to learn to communicate more.”
“My God, that was a close miss with being eliminated during the fritas leg.”
“Hey, editors are showing me reacting to the proposal even though I have never been involved with Lucas & Brittany up to this point!”
“Look at how much the audience loves us except for that guy on Reddit who wants me to wear a strap-on or those middle-aged women on Facebook who think Evan is being ‘bossy’ and ‘bratty’!”

I still think Henry & Evan are getting more of a fan favourite edit rather than a winner’s edit, but I think it is shifting more to a winner’s edit as Alex & Conor are making a stronger claim to the fan favourite edit.

Henry & Evan have definitely been a core part of this season since day one. I can’t really overlook that. In the meantime, they shall continue to puzzle me.

3) LUCAS & BRITTANY

I know the edit has been more negative than positive at this point in the season. However, there is still room for a turnaround and have it fit under the frequent “personal growth” winners edits that have become increasingly common as of late.

They’ll have to stay around for at least a while because they are at the centre of, well, the only drama that has happened since the start of the season other than “Will Cedric have another heart attack? Please don’t–oh god–why is he clutching his right arm–oh, it was just sore. Thank God. Oh god–he is clutching it again–oh he was just itchy. Please cut to another team because I can’t take it anymore.”

They will need a secondary thread though since editors don’t love a single clash to be the only one that exists for the entire duration of the season (unless you are TAR Canada 5 where the only drama was between the cast and the audience’s overall sense of boredom).

Out of all of the teams, Lucas & Brittany are in the most precarious position. Either I boost them to the top or drop them to the bottom depending on how this double-header goes tonight.

4) ALEX & CONOR

Their edit has started to slip away as of late. They have been positioned more as the comedic relief team. Conor randomly drinking beers, the team staying out of all of the central storylines this season, and Phil using them as the team he loves to pick on at each pit stop.

OK, maybe just Conor. He has been this season’s punching bag since day one.

Other than “oh, we beat a team on the first flight,” we didn’t get much material from them this week. Even during the whole U-Turn drama, their participation was really downplayed.

Furthermore, their alliance with a certain team has been really downplayed in the edit. We see the teams frequently together on-screen, but we never see them say “We’re a tight alliance!”

We have since learned off-screen that the two teams would never U-Turn each other under any circumstances. That would have been an extremely relevant piece of information to showcase this week and would explain even more why Alex & Conor chose not to U-Turn, but it was cut from the episode.

Therefore, I can’t help but feel Alex & Conor’s withdrawal from the events of this game means they ain’t winnin’.

5) ERIC & DANIEL

Despite the firefighters having their strongest finish yet, the editors couldn’t help but show that Eric & Daniel needed nine attempts before completing the Lowell Detour.

Between a relatively invisible edit, no real storyline, and terrible puns which editors have already stopped showing on TV, it’s pretty easy to rule out the twins as contenders.

If anybody has identified a storyline other than Phil very briefly mentioning “remember how terrible you guys were in this race at the beginning? You’re not so terrible anymore!”, be my guest. I love a good counterargument.

LEG SEVEN PREDICTIONS (The following is the order I expect everyone to arrive at the next pit stop)

This is the only leg I can predict this week since I WON’T EVEN KNOW WHO IS RACING WITH WHO IN LEG EIGHT!

1) ALEX & CONOR – 3.67 Team Average

Alex & Conor will probably have the easiest time in a country like Zimbabwe. As somebody who spent the day with somebody who previously fled Zimbabwe, I have a rough idea of what it takes to get by.

By the way, have the casuals mentioned Cecil The Lion yet?

2) HENRY & EVAN – 4.167 Team Average

Henry & Evan have been experiencing some communication problems and bad decision making as of late. Evan opted to take public transit and Henry wasn’t able to raise his concerns enough to convince Evan to switch tasks.

When a team isn’t working as a team, you’re bound to slip in the standings. Unless one of the two in the team is a genius and the other is a complete dumbass. However, that isn’t really the case with Henry & Evan.

I can’t see them winning a leg until they are able to adapt to the current situation rather than stick to an established game plan before the season even started–a plan which isn’t really applicable to some of the situations they encounter.

3) KRISTI & JEN – 3.167 Team Average

Relax Eric & Jeremy. Your TAR US team average all-time record will be safe as of tonight. Marc & Rovilson were already safe as of two weeks ago with their worldwide record.

4) LUCAS & BRITTANY – 5.83 Team Average

I just can’t picture Brittany being calm in downtown Harare. I just can’t. Can you?

5) ERIC & DANIEL – 6.0 Team Average

These guys are going to be soooooooooo out of their element this week. I don’t think they have experienced anything in their lives that even remotely resembles Zimbabwe. I am very curious to see how they do this week because all signs point to them going home.

Now watch them win both legs tonight. . .or at least one of them will get to win two legs.

P.S. Thanks to the Partner Swap, we now have a shot of being able to tell the twins apart on a more consistent basis rather than gambling on which one looks slightly less bald upon appearance! Hooray!