The Amazing Race Philippines 2, Leg 6 Wrap-up – "You should fight all the way to the end."

“You should fight all the way to the end. At the end of the day, competition ito.”

Those were some strong words for RR & Jeck. But I think it was deserved. And that last part can definitely apply to the rest of the teams as well.

The season started out with a huge lack of competition and it seemed like the basic essence of The Amazing RACE was being lost with the way the teams were playing the game.

These last two Legs (Ilocos and Cebu) have really reminded us and the teams what the Race is all about. RR & Jeck’s elimination just highlighted the fact that this is indeed a competition. Which is why their regular defeatist attitude and RR calling everything and everyone “abnormal” was such a disappointment, and sometimes disrespect to the Race, the eliminated teams and those thousands who auditioned for the show.

Though I think the answer sharing and teams trying to find ways around fully completing tasks are just as bad as RR & Jeck quitting and not taking things seriously.

What made the first couple of eliminations so horrible were that teams like Zarah & Osang and Tina & Avy actually did fight to the end. And they did give it 100% on every task and challenge. Luz & Chen may have had a huge meltdown after being eliminated, but without that one fatal mistake, who knows how far they could’ve gone. And these were teams who didn’t have alliances. Especially Tina & Avy who were pretty much alone their entire time on the Race.

That’s also what makes Kelvin & JP’s story of overcoming U-Turns and the bottom to now be Team #2 all the more exciting and awesome to watch.

These two Legs seemed to be a wakeup call to the teams. No, this isn’t supposed to be easy. Maybe they were lulled into a false sense of security after the first few Legs. I hoped the Race would step up the challenges and they definitely have. Teams are needing to actually get down and dirty. No more pagbigyan (like RR & Jeck did and ultimately helped kick them out of the Race) or holding each other’s hands. Now it should be every team for themselves.

Like Vanessa of season 1 said, “This is not a joke. This is a reality show.”

Indeed it is. It is a reality show, a game. Walang personalan. Teams just have to Race and compete.

Anyway, to the tasks on this Leg. The RCD Royale Homes task was fine and a big thank you to them for sponsoring the show.

The Parian Monument clue was a great task that needed teams to be very observant. The Road Block was an awesome physical task that these teams needed to experience.

The Double Battle was okay, but it opened the door for RR & Jeck to basically hand over a win and ensure their elimination. The Detour was good and it was great to see teams not all choose one side.

The Sinulog Festival was a nice little showcase for Cebu and a simple task that of course can provide some great drama.

Again though, the Pit Stop episode was a little too tedious, though I guess you couldn’t fit the Sinulog task into the episode with the “sermon.”

Overall, another great Leg though and an awesome Superleg that really challenged the teams and reminded them not to just banjing-banjing though the Race.

My Subjective Team Rankings for this Leg

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It is definitely great to see Kelvin & JP finally fight their way to 2nd place. They’ve been one of the most consistent teams in terms of never giving up, overcoming any obstacles and doing it on their own. They’ve been great to watch and root for.

Very happy AJ & Jody won this Leg after not getting a prize last Leg. Still definitely unfair that they won Leg 5, yet didn’t get a prize for it. So at least, they worked as hard as they could to win this one. Plus, we got some great arguments between them this week. That’s always fun.

Roch & Eji may have finished 5th, but they had a good week. Roch especially fought hard through the Road Block and toughed it out at the Duel Duel. Plus I definitely feel her on the frustrating taxi driver. Wouldn’t you get annoyed by a taxi driver who doesn’t know his way around his hometown? Especially if you’re in a hurry. lol

Jet & Yna felt like they were in trouble this Leg and that’s a great thing. I think they definitely needed a little nudge reminding them that this is a Race and they won’t be able to make deals at tasks anymore. Which is why Yna getting through the Road Block as well was great and something they should definitely keep in mind moving forward. She actually CAN do stuff! I knew that and was happy to finally see it.

Matt & Phoebe may not have reclaimed the top spot, but they’ve shown that they really are a strong team. They’ve been able to overcome Yields and U-Turns as well and are no doubt still a big threat to the other teams.

Hopefully this Leg knocked Vince & Ed down to size. They’ve needed to be humbled a little, especially Vince. But they’re also lucky RR & Jeck had such negative attitudes half the time, otherwise they could’ve easily been eliminated this leg.

And RR & Jeck. So much potential. “Disappointing” talaga.

The montage actually proved Derek’s point. After actually not giving up in the first Leg with them jumping in the floods and just edging out Zarah & Osang, they pretty much just crawled through the rest of the Race. Quitting or threatening to quit numerous times. They say they were always in last? That’s true, but they certainly didn’t do anything to help themselves get out of last.

This Leg especially provided a huge opportunity for teams to be able to catch up. Again, if they gave twice as much effort into Racing as they did trying to be funny, they would be All-Star material. One of the best, most enjoyable teams to watch.

But that wasn’t the case. No amount of one-liners and tarayan will make up for the fact that they whined about “abnormal” tasks and people, quit and threatened to quit, dragged their feet most of the Race and had the most lackadaisical approach to the Race I may have ever seen. They came across as halfhearted and that is definitely disrespectful, or at the very least very unfair to the eliminated teams and aspiring Racers who would actually Race with their whole hearts and to the fullest. I’m sure the crew and challenge producers didn’t appreciate being called “abnormal.”

I know teams don’t want to be judged. All reality show contestants will take issue with how they’re portrayed and take issue with editing. But teams can only be judged by what’s shown on the episodes. As a viewer, you must respond to what’s being presented on screen. And in the episodes, it was shown that they were not giving 100%. I don’t think them giving up on challenges or their defeatist attitude is something that can be crafted only in the editing room.

Again, plenty of teams have gone through tasks twice as challenging as these teams have gone through without any complaints. Just something to think about.

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