Disclaimer: I do not own any Star Wars cartoons or The Amazing Race.

Racers, We Hardly Knew Ye

The flip side of the annoying team that lasts for so long, leg after leg, trying the patience of most of the viewers at home until it finally goes down in flames (or wins), is the especially likable or sympathetic team that breaks some people's hearts by being eliminated very early in the Race.

It seems that all the teams that were the first three to be eliminated in our latest "The Amazing Race" were either lovable for one reason or another, admirable for their spirit, or some other positive factor, or was composed of members with problems that made them unable to cope with the earliest challenges and made them feel like they were destined to lose when they really weren't. And the teams that fit into these categories were Zeb and Chopper: Dysfunctional Rebels, Sugi and Embo: Good Bounty Hunters, and Asajj and Barriss: Darksiders.

Leg 1 of the 10th Amazing Race in our galaxy far, far away, was initially fair to all the racers involved, and the racers were on an even keel, even with them being divided into two flights with some time distance between them. But then, after they got to Dagobah, Master Yoda put them through a Force-based Detour, with a choice of a physical or a spiritual challenge. And while it was Asajj and Barriss' choice to do Spiritual Cave, those poor souls, influenced by the dark side and unhappy with their lot in life, received visions that terrorized them and brought them face-to-face with their own darkness. And poor Barriss was hit by the worst vision of all, a vision of the galaxy torn apart by war, all Jedi Knights as dark side pawns, and a vicious duel with Darth Sidious, which ended with her seeing her own face in Palpatine's visage.

Barriss, in particular, as well as Asajj, realized how far they had strayed from honor and nobility, and how they supposedly didn't deserve to win the Race, and when they came in last at the end of Leg 1, Barriss' despair and rage make Dex speechless after he eliminated them from the Race. Seeing innocent, lovely Barriss Offee in a state of total unhappiness after losing the Race due to a dark vision on Dagobah, makes us wish they could've made it at least a little bit farther than they did, even if they didn't win.

In Leg 2, there were not nearly so many mentally troubling challenges to do. Zeb and Chopper got a chance to show off how they worked as a team, despite their dysfunctional relationship, where they hated and pranked each other while doing their best to move forward like the team they were. The good part was, they gave us a dysfunctional relationship that was humorous and goofy, sort of like Qutee and Wack, the Droid Team, making us laugh at them and enjoy how they teed each other off. The bad part was, at a crucial moment at the end of the leg, Chopper defied one of Zeb's requests, just to be contrary to the man he disliked, and it made them come in last in Leg 2 and get eliminated. Sorry you guys had to go. It would have been nice if you could have stuck around a little longer.

Leg 3 was a non-elimination leg, so the last team in that leg, Qutee and Wack, were still in the race. But at the beginning of that leg, Sugi took a bad fall when she slipped on some ice on Hoth, and twisted her left ankle badly. For the rest of that leg and into Leg 4, she did her best to ignore it, but by the time Leg 4 was well underway, it was starting to get significantly worse, and she made the mistake of electing to do a Roadblock that required some legwork. As a result, she slowed herself and Embo down considerably. But for the entire time she had that injury, no matter how much it panged her, she never gave up or gave in, always determined to move on, because bounty hunters never give up, according to her. They get up and they keep coming back to do the job again until it's finished, or they fail for good, or they are dead. Sugi and Embo may have been bounty hunters, and Embo may have sometimes gotten involved with the really dirty scum of the galaxy, but unlike many others, like the other bounty hunter team, Cad Bane and Robonino, or the infamous Boba Fett, for that matter, they had a sense of honor and passion for their work, and the money wasn't the only thing they cared about when they were racing. Even with her mercenary career, Sugi has earned a place in some of our hearts.

There has sometimes been talk of doing an "All-Star Edition" of The Amazing Race someday. It's a pretty good idea, but don't forget, Amazing Race producers, there could also be a "No-Star Edition."

Bring back one or more of these three unfortunate teams and let them try again!

Yours etc.,
Obi-Wan Kenobi