Andy DehnartThe Amazing Race Unfinished Business is the title of the 18th season of the CBS reality competition, and host Phil Keoghan announced during a preview at the end of the 17th season finale that when it debuts Feb. 20, “your favorite teams return to finally finish what they started and prove they deserve another shot.”
That’s a big stretch, considering the teams that have been cast. I’m not sure which teams I’d pick for those who deserved a second chance, but the cowboys and the Globetrotters wouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the list, nor would Gary and Mallory–nor would most of those teams, who don’t really stand out to me as having “unfinished business,” whatever that means. (The 11 teams started racing the Saturday before Thanksgiving.)
“Unfinished Business” is kind of an awful subtitle, though CBS biggest competition, Survivor, has a related theme and subtitle. While it doesn’t appear that Survivor will bring back people worthy of a second chance during the show’s 22nd season, its big twist, Redemption Island, will allow two previous cast members to try to redeem themselves, and apparently allow people who are voted out to do the same thing.
Update: The season 18 preview (below) showed a lot of teams from this season, in addition to those who’ve actually been cast, which seems like a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the popularity of teams like Brook and Claire even though they won’t be racing. Because it uses so many old clips, I don’t think we can assume it gives any definitive information about casting, except about those teams who appear in new interview clips.