Please, Just Eliminate Someone Every Week
There is no joy in non-elimination legs, and likewise, there is no joy in the endless legs that the show has already done twice this season. If you come in first after a Detour and a Roadblock, barring any time penalties, you should get the first-place prize. If you come in last, you should be eliminated without exception - it's that simple. I love Kent and Vyxsin (and their eyebrows), but the fact that a double leg saved them from elimination after some of the most mind-blowingly stupid series of screw-ups the show has ever seen is evidence enough that this "twist" is altering the game negatively.

These "All-Stars" Have No Stamina
Last night, hilariously, Luke broke down in tears when he couldn't select the right tea from a sea of teacups after what felt like hours of trying. A few episodes ago, Zev allowed Kent and Vyxsin to catch up with him -- despite their enormous setbacks that leg -- because he spent more time being frustrated by the Chinese zodiac than he did trying to bear down and complete the challenge. And, of course, there was Jaime and the dinosaur, not to mention the ridiculous amount of added energy Christina has to put in just to keep Ron on task every leg. That was four people in six episodes who had complete mental breaks and almost gave up entirely. And aside from the dinosaur challenge, the others weren't even particularly difficult or physically exhausting challenges. These "all-stars" are a bunch of babies.

The Challenges Are Still Too Easy Most of the Time
Paint a statue of a Hindu god. Whatever that put-on-an-outfit-and-shoot-an-arrow-three-feet thing in Japan was. Ride a yak in a stream. Have someone else pedal you to a school where you'll carry two armfuls of paperbacks a couple yards. Hammer some liquid candy for five minutes. Was that dinosaur-building challenge so impossible just to make up for how easy everything else has been?

Oh, We're Doing Clunky Product Placements Now?
Last night's Snapple placement went from subtle and acceptable (the clues being placed under the caps of unlabeled bottles) to egregious and laughable (special Amazing Race Snapple at the finish line?) quickly, with each team mentioning the brand at least once, and for some teams (Kisha and Jenn, I'm looking at you) speaking its name about a dozen times. I completely understand if you need product placements to pay the bills, but do a better job incorporating them into the show seamlessly than lazy-ass The Biggest Loser does. Thank god Jennie-O Turkey doesn't watch this show (yet).

Those Stupid U-Turns
They've done away with the awful Blind U-Turns for now, which is great, but as it stands, the regular U-Turns do nothing but make life needlessly more difficult for teams that are usually already in trouble. Flight Time and Big Easy were U-Turned in last place. On the same leg, Cara and Jaime were U-Turned in second to last place. They both fought it out (as they would have anyway) and ultimately Jaime's frustration in the dinosaur challenge was what sent her team home, not the U-Turn. It's a pointless diversion as a double U-Turn, and as a single one it just completely screws over one team unfairly, as it has for Amanda and Kris twice now. Why they even have it in any iteration at this point is baffling.

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