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6. Stan & Xophie / Scientist/Lab Slave (hakushu8)
6th Place
Avant Tai's The Amazing Race Season 5

Stan & Xophie are an extremely high placing team because they were just awesome. They were one of the few teams who were able to have skits that had some subtleties lying underneath and some complexity. Although I often lament at ATTAR5's cast, they did have some new dynamics. Stan & Xophie were scientists who also happened to be of opposite sexes. They could have pulled an ATTAR4 and become completely boring and mute, an ATTAR3 where they would just friends and then dated and then squabbled a whole lot, an ATTAR2 where they outwardly attacked other teams, or an ATTAR1 where they were simply nice to each other. Instead, they had a mix of all 4 previous dynamics. A big surprise was the fact that Xophie was not a screaming bitch and could actually argue at Stan reasonably and like an adult which scored them big points. The pair had probably the more subtle storylines of the season. While there was some tension between Stan & Xophie regarding the contract and Nick, it was handled in a very unpredictable way. When the pair parted ways at the end of their race, I was upset. I wanted to see a happy ending and to just get something bittersweet and mutual was just… disappointment. Although, it was a good type of disappointment and I was happy that one of the best teams of the season had lasted so far into the race. My only hope for the team is that they are both happy and Stan is enjoying his kitty.

Another great thing working Stan & Xophie's way were the other teams dynamics. Barring Kat & Kitty, everyone else was either bland, OTT, or didn't last long enough to get high on the list. As common for the Top 10, the team landed itself into a very interesting controversy. I had planned Leg 12a to be a shocking continuation leg with a shocking dual elimination to whichever team was in last. When Leg 11 rolled by, everything was fine until the second half of the superleg was cut off by Yuku completely melting down. As a result, several teams were not able to intersect including Ahmed & Ashley, Rich & Cassie, Morgan & Blair, and Hayley & Chester. When the leg resumed the next day, Cat & Mari concocted an evil scheme for Morgan & Blair and Ahmed & Ashley to intersect with each other leaving Rich & Cassie to intersect with the unpopular Hayley & Chester. However, Rich & Cassie had already intersected in Leg 2 of the race meaning they could not intersect. This exploitation of a crazy loophole managed to be both a brilliant move and a torture strategy. Leg 11 + 12a then continued with Rich & Cassie and Hayley & Chester being stuck at the intersection and Stan & Xophie and Ray & Kent being stuck only ONE update in front of them due to Stan & Xophie's failure to make the leg. The 3 hours of the intersection were almost up when Cat & Mari checked into Leg 12a. This triggered two things: first, the last team would have been eliminated in Leg 11 so Rich & Cassie were out. Then, Hayley & Chester were eliminated by being in last as well and were a result of the shocking immediate elimination in Leg 12. So, by 1 UPDATE and a huge technicality, Ray & Kent and Stan & Xophie were safe. However, they then subsequently had to run 2.5 legs the next weekend, which lead to Stan & Xophie being NEL'd and then their elimination. The sheer luck of their survival and the amount of drama lands them this high in a spot. Although, Wan & Chung and Ronnie & Ben's debate was a lot more bitter and memorable, this drama was a lot more complex and involved a hell of a lot more people.