'TAR' Edition: Crickey! The 'Race' Goes to the Land Down Under

It's really getting down to the wire on The Amazing Race. The slightest mistake can send you packing and obsessing about the little detail that took you out of the race for the $1 million. Luckily for five of the teams last night, there were many mistakes made by each of the teams. Unfortunately for one team, not everyone was able to capitalize on those mistakes. The teams left the Pit Stop in Oman and opened their clues to learn that they would need to travel 9,000 miles to Perth, Australia. Fran and Barry were first out the gate, but they soon encountered a major traffic jam. Apparently, the king was visiting the city, so a few roads had to be shut down. The other teams encountered the same traffic mess, so it was no harm, no foul. The Hippies were the last team to depart and they were given no money because of last week's non-elimination round. No worries, though, because Fran/Barry left them $20 and Ray/Yolanda left $10. MoJo threw a piece of paper in their car and said that they weren't going to give the Hippies money because the Hippies said they wanted to Yield MoJo if the opportunity presented itself. Team Slacker left them an I.O.U for $100, which although annoying, was also a bit clever. Any cleverness was instantly erased, however, when they said that the Hippies would be able to make gas from trees since they are, in fact, hippies. All of the teams made their way to the airport. Everyone, except the Hippies, bought tickets for the earliest flight, so the other teams assumed that the Hippies wouldn't make the flight. Cut to the Hippies who decided to pick up a hitchhiker. Man, don't these two watch scary movies? Hitchhikers are always scary! But wait, this hitchhiker is actually pretty awesome! What's more, he's a Bedouin, which the Hippies explain is the same thing as a Hippie. What are the chances? Anyway, the Hippies needed to stop for gas, and the editing showed the rest of the teams boarding the plane. The fun-loving duo are so not making this flight! Cue my nail biting and nervous leg shake. Back at the gas station, the hitchhiker bought food and gas for the Hippies! Man, this hitchhiker is the best ever! Sadly, he had to get on his way and he and the Hippies shared a tearful goodbye (not really, but there was a lot of nose rubbing). Meanwhile, the rest of the teams were overjoyed because it was getting close to departure time and the Hippies were no where to be found. Cut to the ticket counter and the Hippies desperately trying to get tickets on the same flight. It wasn't looking too good and that "this could be trouble" music was playing, but wait! The ticket agent came through for the happy-go-lucky team! They're on the flight. I can't wait to see the pissed off faces of the other teams. Cue the pissed off faces of the other teams. At this point in the recap, I would like to give a big BOO! to MoJo for their mean spirited comments toward Team Hippies. So what if they said they wanted to Yield you? This is a game and as such, teams are going to do whatever benefits them the most. I still don't understand why MoJo got so bent out of shape over the Yield comment. No matter, because of the teams made their way to Perth and the King's Park War Memorial.


At the War Memorial, teams learned that they needed to travel to Fremantle and catch a ferry to Rottnest Island. All of the teams reached the ferry, but per usual, it didn't leave until 7:30 the next morning. The teams made their way to a nearby hostel where the biggest TMI moment of this Race took place. Fran/Barry stayed in a room called "The Pleasure Dome," which prompted Barry to respond, "This race has ruined our sex life. I’ll tell you that." Moving on and not a moment too soon, the teams boarded the ferry the next day and received their clue on Rottnest Island. The teams had to choose a tandem bike and ride for 3 miles until they reached the lighthouse. Team Slacker reached the lighthouse first and learned that they needed to keep riding to the Detour: Sand or Sea. In Sand, teams needed to drag 40 branches 126 yards to a marked sand dune (I know, it sounded incredibly easy to me too. In fact, I kept waiting for the second part of it, but this was it). In Sea, teams needed to search 50 crayfish traps lying on the ocean bottom, and each team member had to get a live crayfish and trade it for a clue. Team Slacker chose the latter along with MoJo, but MoJo got lost trying to get to the Detour, allowing the Hippies and Fran/Barry to jump ahead of them. While lost, Monica got frustrated and said the forbidden word "damn." Luckily, Yolanda was not in earshot or things could have turned ugly. Joseph apparently has the same aversion to the "D" word, though, because he flew off the handle after Monica used it. It seemed that MoJo had, well lost its MoJo and the dating couple began arguing over being lost. This was so bound to happen, though; because the two stated when the leg started that they needed to be careful not to make any mistakes. NEVER say things like this on TAR! Meanwhile back at the Detour, Team Slacker was sporting Speedos, which was the second biggest TMI moment of the Race. The Hippies were quickly working through Sand as were Fran/Barry. Team Slacker retrieved their two crayfish and got their next clue, which instructed them to travel by ferry back to Fremantle and make their way to the now closed Fremantle Prison. Just a side bar, but wouldn't it have been way cooler if it had been still in operation? I mean, how popular would Team Slacker have been?? MoJo finally arrived at the Detour and Joseph easily dove down for his crayfish. The duo thought that they needed only one, but soon learned from the man they were supposed to exchange the crayfish with that they needed two. See, this is why you don't say things about making mistakes BEFORE the leg starts. It will come back and haunt you. Monica had to dive down to get her own crayfish, but she flipped out when the "lobster" flipped out. We took one of those TAR doomed commercials, and as usual, when we returned Monica dove down and got her crayfish (or lobster to her). While all of the crayfish drama was unfolding, Team Slacker snagged the first ferry back to Fremantle. The Hippies finished the Sand Detour, but just missed the ferry. Some of the people at the ferry told them that they would save a half an hour if they took another ferry to another location on the mainland and then took a taxi to the prison, so the best friends decided to follow that plan. Fran/Barry finished their Detour and made their way to the ferry. Back at the Detour, Ray/Yolanda arrived and started on Sand, taking advantage of MoJo's mistake. The dating couple finished right behind MoJo, and the two teams joined Fran/Barry on the ferry ride to the mainland. On the ferry, Joseph decided to borrow a cell phone and call to arrange for a taxi. Fran/Barry had done the same, so when the boat docked, it was a mad dash to the cabs, with MoJo coming out victorious because the cab driver said Joseph's name. Ray/Yolanda and Fran/Barry (whose cab apparently didn't show) struggled to find a cab, so Fran/Barry took a bus instead. All of the teams were on their way to the prison.



Team Slacker was already at the prison, where they found this leg's Roadblock. One team member had to search the prison for Division 4 and then find one of the cells with batteries and a flashlight. Then, they would have to find the hidden tunnel and using the flashlight, find a clue somewhere in the tunnel. Jeremy of Team Slacker fame, had little difficulty finding the flashlight, but apparently he missed the part of the clue that said that the tunnel was "hidden" because he searched the prison grounds for over an hour according to Eric. He searched for so long that MoJo arrived and Joseph began his search. The Hippies finally showed up, and Tyler began searching as well. Jeremy finally found the tunnel and he made some remark about it being hard to find. Once again Jeremy, "hidden" tunnel - sort of the point. Anyway, Jeremy descended into the tunnel and decided to try his luck at the row boat. He didn't find a clue, so he then tried the walking passage where he quickly retrieved a clue and learned that they would need to travel 1 1/2 miles to the Pit Stop. Meanwhile, Joseph found his flashlight and lied to Tyler when Tyler asked if they were in Division 4 (BOO! to MoJo again). As Jeremy ascended the tunnel, Joseph was waiting to go down and search for his clue. He asked Jeremy for advice and Jeremy told him to take the row boat. I thought that Joseph had just gotten a beautiful dose of karma until he quickly found a clue. Apparently, Jeremy managed to miss the clue like he missed the "hidden" tunnel. Tyler was soon searching for his clue too, and Ray/Yolanda and Fran/Barry were working through the task. Team Slacker couldn't find a taxi, except for the one waiting for MoJo. Some locals told them that the Fremantle Sailing Club (Pit Stop location) was just up the street and that they could walk there. Meanwhile, MoJo jumped in their cab and started on their way. At the sailing club, a foot race ensued between Team Slacker and MoJo, with the slackers once again coming out ahead. Back at the Roadblock, the Hippies completed the task and made their way to the Pit Stop. Yolanda made quick work of it and she and Ray took off for the sailing club, but according to the editing, Fran/Barry weren't too far behind. As usual, Ray/Yolanda got lost at the location, but soon found Phil and were relieved to have landed in fourth. Fran/Barry fell to last place and were eliminated from the Race.


What did you think about last night's episode? Were you sad to see Fran/Barry exit the Race? Are you still loving the Hippies? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. All of the pictures in this edition are from cbs.com. The site has a lot more pictures and info if you just can't get enough of TAR. You can also click on over to The Early Show's site (click on "Watch 'The Amazing Race' castoffs") to watch today's interview with the eliminated Fran and Barry. And be sure to tune in later today for the regular edition of Pass the Remote jam-packed with thoughts on Alias' 100th episode. Plus, the Idol and Model moments and all the latest television news!

To read more of today's television headlines and listings, and to get a complete archive with the best of Pass the Remote and a photo gallery, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.



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