Mother and son duo Margie and Luke wouldn't have been expected to be one of the top three teams going into "The Amazing Race 14" but the mother and son proved themselves early and often over the course of the race... taking the first race leg and most of the other ones that Tammy & Victor couldn't claim.
While Margie & Luke couldn't overcome Tammy & Victor in Beijing, the duo avoided the big mistakes from the other two pairs for a second place finish. Luke's laying the makeup on his mom didn't stop them from passing the Beijing Opera task while Margie had seemingly no difficulty with the native food Roadblock.
Though Margie's life experience has been key, this team's greatest advantage may be Luke's outside knowledge of the show and how it operates. I've always believed that it was possible to study "The Amazing Race" from the outside and gain at least a peripheral insight into how to play the game. (I wouldn't have this blog if I didn't believe that.)
In the penultimate episode, Luke proved that by using his show knowledge to deduce that the U-Turn would be close to the Detour. It didn't find his team the Detour but it kept them from getting too far off the track.
While Luke's own behavior has not always been inspirational, a Margie and Luke victory would certainly break more than a few stereotypes about what the physically handicapped can and can't do in this world. Regardless of the end result though one way or the other, Margie and Luke have shattered those particular barriers for true race fans already.
_________________________Labels: margie and luke, tar 14.11, tar14 teams, the amazing race, the amazing race 14
