Ask Matt: 'Race' Alliances, Grooming During the Pandemic and Other 'Conners' Issues, 'Queen's Gambit,' HBO Max Movies, and MoreMatt Roush, TV Insider
Are Alliances Making the Race Less Amazing?Question: I have been watching The Amazing Race for many years and I have to tell you after this year, this may be my last. I am so disgusted with the "alliances." It takes away from the excitement of the race. Telling other teams how to finish a task or telling them what to expect just doesn't seem fair. The first team to complete a task paves the way for the alliance teams to breeze through. We miss out on the fun of watching the struggle. If this happens in the next season, I will stop watching. What are your thoughts? — Larry
Matt Roush: If this becomes the strategy for teams going forward, I agree it will be a game changer in the worst sense of that phrase. I tend to always root for underdogs, so have found myself rooting in recent weeks against the "Mine Five," fruitlessly as it turns out. There have been alliances before, but never one so large and determined as this at sharing answers to puzzles ("Sauerkraut") with other teams in a concerted effort to block lower-hanging fruit. (As sibling team Eswar and Aparna rightly pointed out before their recent elimination as the first of the five to drop out, they're only hurting themselves in the long run by protecting other top teams like the vulnerable NFL buddies, who now seem to be on the chopping block.) It does seem an unfair and lopsided advantage, and the gloating by certain teams feels especially unsportsmanlike. So yes, I can see how this strategy has soured the season for many fans who waited a long time for The Amazing Race to return. Although now that it's every team for itself in the final legs, it's getting interesting again.
https://www.tvinsider.com/973846/ask-matt-amazing-race-alliances-conners-problems-tv-characters-masks/
