Alright, I’m just going to come right out and say it: the hillbillies are not the dumbest Amazing Racers of the season.

Sure they could barely walk straight and she spent more time blubbering than a four year old, but Steve and Linda exited The Amazing Race this week with words of impressive perspective.

Meanwhile, the almost-eliminated flight attendant team spent what seemed like hours searching for something that wasn’t hidden while Amanda walked around embarrassing her boyfriend Kris with linguistic gems like “that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever gotten to done”.

In any case, it’s not the dumb folk who make The Amazing Race worth the watch year in and year out, it’s the impressive ones; and this season’s got a nice slew of them.
With the first of what promises to be many victories, Tammy and Victor have stepped up as the new sibling team to watch. With Nick and Starr-like resilience and trust paired with Harvard educations and sure-fire street smarts, Tammy and Victor are my current picks to win.

Other teams who deserve your attention are the impressive mother/son combo of Margie and her deaf son Luke as well as married couple Brad and Victoria who haven’t stepped it up yet but I really think are going to be major players in the coming weeks. As for redheaded cheerleaders Cara and Jaime, they run the serious risk of getting on my nerves but they also seem like they could turn out to be a pleasant surprise. Screenwriter father/son team Mel and Mike as well as tiny stuntmen/brothers Mark and Michael are amusing and endearing but most likely won’t go the distance (though Mark and Michael have definite dark horse potential). The final sibling team, sisters Lakisha and Jennifer, are the perfect racers on paper (siblings and serious athletes- a winning combination) but won’t go the distance unless they learn to work as a team.

So basically, there are only 2 more dumb teams to go before The Amazing Race 14 takes off as a show full of fantastic people doing fantastic things in fantastic places- get excited!