FWIW, when I watched TAR 1 on DVD it seemed to me that often the recap and/or next week previewed the loser two weeks before they were eliminated, so this season I started keeping track of who was highlighted. After a few weeks I lost interest because it was always Peter and Sarah and David and Mary but I still made notes on it. All the speculation of Lyn and Karlyn winning made me go back and look at it. Dustin and Kandice have been mentioned in almost every recap/next week on since episode 4! (The fight with Tom and Terry, two different fights with Lyn and Karlyn, an ill-fated alliance with Peter and Sarah, car accident, the intersection, they excelled, they gloated, they had a rivalry with Tyler and James). That's overkill! Who was mentioned the least? Lyn and Karlyn, Tyler and James and Rob and Kim. One of the recaps focused on Rob suffering from heat exhaustion. At the time I found it odd that they even mentioned it because it happened during a pit stop and we saw no sign of his problems during the race. We’ve already said that this race is tough. Rob spoke of having endurance during the first episode. Why else would the editors put this in if not to illustrate it? Phil also said they fought their way to number one after the leg they won. Lyn and Karlyn were only mentioned in reference to the alliance and their fights with the Barbies.

If the editors are faced with a final three of two nice, but boring men, a nice, but narrow-minded couple who lose their temper a lot and a schoolteacher who tends to be long-winded and is teamed with a b!tch, it’s much better TV to focus on the underdog alliance, the competitive and telegenic BQs and a physically disabled athlete with a dysfunctional partner. There’s also been a subtle shift in the people posting here on our own message boards. People are getting fed up with Dustin and Kandice. I think consciously or unconsciously, our own peeps views are a barometer of the editing too. I’m beginning to think that the Blondes don’t survive being marked for elimination. I know there’s been a lot of talk about an all-female team winning the race, but I don’t think one will. The women have shown they can compete and be taken seriously, but my money is on Rob and Kim.