I like the idea of "second chances," but I'm not thrilled with this cast.
Amanda/Kris: Boring couple, cast for eye candy and seemed nice enough, but not memorable per se. Don't really care how they do.
Mel/Mike: Loved these guys--funny, great attitude with locals, tasks, circumstances, used their heads well during tasks (just not on the gorilla thing)--wanted them to do well
Jaime/Cara: A bit condescending to locals, which is the first thing to set me against a team. Cast for eye candy, recast for eye candy and perhaps controversy. Not a memorable team the first time around.
Zev/Justin: Funny, brutally honest yet somehow still open-minded. Sad to see them go the first time, hope they do really well
Ron/Christina: The man who made the biggest changes over the course of the race and really understood the value of the relationship as a part of the race. Fun the first time around, curious about the second time around. I like them more than some, and I wouldn't mind having them in for awhile, though it remains to be seen if I'll root for them fully.
FT/BE: Funny, understood the race, have character, but when things got too tough they quit. That annoyed me. Other than that, though, they were fun, and I wish them well enough . . .
Kynt/Vyxsin: A cute couple, and I liked them the first time. I wouldn't mind seeing them do well . . .
Kisha/Jen: I mostly liked them, but they weren't hugely memorable to me, either . . .
Margie/Luke: I never understood the HUGE popularity this team had the first time around. Indifferent at best . . .
Gary/Mallory: Nice enough (though her voice sometimes gets to me, but that's not really her fault), but not terribly exciting . . .
Jet/Cord: They had their fun/funny moments, but they (well, Jet) occasionally showed hints of nastiness (not cut throat competitiveness, but nastiness)
I would have loved to see:
S12--Nate/Jen, maybe Azaria/Hendekea (I mostly liked this cast, so I wouldn't mind seeing most of them back)
S13--Toni/Dallas, Kelly/Christy (mostly for the nice blend of sass, stupid mistakes, and moments of brilliance), Mark/Bill (funny!), and, because I'm from Eugene, Anita and Arthur (loved this cast, too--they could take most of them and I'd be happy)
S14--They already cast them all, and of all the seasons this was one of my least favorite casts--I'd keep Mel/Mike
S15--They got the teams I liked, though I wouldn't have minded Gary and Matt again
S16--would've loved to see the detectives on again, and I guess the cowboys were okay, but otherwise I wasn't thrilled with this cast.
S17--Nat/Kat and Brooke/Claire are fun, and I wouldn't have minded seeing the Conner/Jonathan again
There are some teams where I never understood the hype (Jordan/Jeff, Margie/Luke, Jet/Cord)--I liked them all well enough, but I just didn't get why they were so incredibly popular.
Oh, and teams cast for eye candy simply annoy me.