Good to hear from you, AG: I have been tough on MoJo haven’t I? They do have good editing patterns and are much stronger racers than what we are led to believe. They are as close to narrators as I think we can have in the race’s format. It certainly is a good sign in a competition that you know your opponents. The fact that their comments are mainly negative isn’t as good however.
I don’t like to compare edits but it is possible that Flo and Zach’s story was sufficiently well received and certainly well remembered that the editors wouldn’t mind having a similar result. I may not see them that way but I’ve been reminded often enough not to dismiss the idea. After the first episode all I could remember was Monica jumping up and down, then they almost disappeared for a few legs but they’ve certainly have gained in airtime lately. Since we are hearing their comments on others, we could say that the editors have switched our viewpoint. We’re racing with them now as much if not more than the hippies.
Are they winners? I’d be in your camp and say they are, if not for a nagging concern. With the cast we had, they could’ve been made into the darlings of the race. Why weren’t they?

Hello IrishCharm, you say you don’t have much to add then you introduce a possible new theme to the race! Certainly, it would be another bad sign for the Frat Boys. They competed to be first when there was no need to do it. Pride has caused many downfalls. I don’t see MoJo with overbearing pride, not on a repeated basis anyway. They have been presented as having a lack of confidence, Monica saying she’ll slow them down competing against 4 men as an example. They do believe bad luck is following them however. Even if fighting against that could be a source of pride, it may be stretching things a bit far! If hubris is a theme that the editors want to point to, who will win? The hippies are mainly respectful of others and locals but have been shown to be arrogant at times. Fran and Barry would fit best but they haven’t always been humble.

I see I have convinced neither you nor EarlCP (Hi Earl!) about RaYo. That’s a good thing, since that is not my intention. I try to read the story through what the racers say and do. That is why I like to use quotes to follow the events. I try to be neutral in determining what the editors have done to the characters. Of course total neutrality is impossible but do you believe that I don’t really cheer for RaYo? My pride (!) might take a hit and I might not know what I’ll write if they get eliminated but that will simply be something new to analyze. To me, their story didn’t need to have an arc since they were always more present than their results warranted. They aren’t good racers, making numerous navigational mistakes. They shouldn’t win. The two boys teams and MoJo are better. Even Fran and Barry are better when they are in a car. What makes me say they are going to win? Phil has never had a negative comment about them. They never have been shown to worry about their outcome. Ray has had numerous “winning quotes”.

I’ll be very curious to watch tonight. Their bickering last week cannot be ignored in the recap. Will they be the focus of the recap or will it be the hippies’ struggle and the Frat Boys’ “hubris”? I think we’ll hear Phil say something like “Ray and Yolanda had their first argument but quickly recovered to finish third while other teams faltered.”