Don't Hug Him! He's Full of Shrimp!

Oh no! My worst fears realized. Another episode of The Amazing Race: Family Edition, and both the Weavers and Paolos avoided elimination again. The rest of my week is ruined just knowing that next Tuesday I'll be subjected to more complaining from Marion Paolo and more selfish prayers from the Widow Weaver.

It's easy to understand why the Paolo family is so unlikable. They haven't stopped fighting since the race began, even when there's no cause for conflict. When they eventually are eliminated, there will be some phony sentimentality as the boys admit they love their mom, and she'll say how proud of them she is. But give the Paolos five minutes, and they'll be bickering again.

The Weavers are unlikable for a variety of reasons. It's uncomfortable to watch a woman who recently lost her husband pray for help with directions. I'd expect her, of all people, to realize that the Almighty's time is probably better spent helping people who are poor or, um, grieving.

It's also uncomfortable to watch the three Weaver women running in such skimpy outfits. Rebecca and Rachel would be sent home from school for wearing shorts that short. It's probably a not a good idea to wear such revealing clothes unless you're built like a swimsuit model. That goes for everybody, not just the ample Weaver girls.

I'd go easier on them if they'd just stop shrieking whenever something happened to them--good, bad, or otherwise. The late night singing on the bus didn't help my opinion of them either, and I can't imagine how torturous just being within earshot of them for more than a few seconds would be. Rachel and Rebecca are acting the way most of us cynical folks over twenty think teens act: obnoxiously and without regard for others.

I'm assuming that the Widow Weaver's tolerance, and even encouragement, of this behavior is some pathetic defense mechanism. She's afraid of being seen as a bad mom, so she's defending her daughters rather than correcting them.

Rolly gets a pass in all this because he's a teen boy who's acting quietly withdrawn, the way we like teen boys to act. We got our first glimpse of the real Hunter Schroeder tonight, too. Hunter progressed from silent bitterness to mumbled contempt for his stepmother, Char. I always knew he had it in him. Until either Hunter or Rolly screams, "I hate you!" at his maternal figure, I won't consider this season a complete success.