'TAR' Edition: Teams Play in the Dirt as the 'Race' Moves East

I've been preaching about the lack of non-elimination rounds on The Amazing Race for the last couple of weeks, but boy am I glad they saved it for this week. If the Hippies had gone, I would have been very upset. It's so much better that they were saved by the non-elimination round than last week's Lake and Michelle elimination. Anyway, the teams departed the Pit Stop in Greece and learned that they would be traveling to Oman, where they would have to find a giant incense burner (insert you own Team Hippies jokes here). First though, they had to walk to the bus station and board one of two buses to the airport. Nothing big happened during this time, except for an interesting fight/non-fight between dating couple Ray and Yolanda. It was hard to follow, but apparently the two started off by joking around about stopping to ask someone which bridge they had to cross. Seeing as it was the middle of the night, there wasn't anyone around to ask, but things between the two somehow escalated. We saw a quick clip of an interview with Yolanda where she said something about how she and Ray love to joke around, but neither knows when the other suddenly turns serious. Well, Yolanda turned real serious after Ray "cussed" at her. He said something about finding the "damn" bridge, and she got very upset because he cussed at her. It's a good thing Yolanda didn't spend more time around Lake and Michelle, huh? I feel Yolanda. She saw the entire thing as Ray disrespecting her, and he made it worse by flipping her off when she turned around. Yolanda, who in addition to having a severe aversion to the word "damn," apparently has eyes in the back of her head because she knew what Ray had done. Things turned sour between the two and remained that way for the rest of the leg. The two finally reached the bus stop and boarded the 9 a.m. bus with Team Slacker, MoJo and Fran/Barry. Meanwhile, the Hippies finally made their way to the bus stop and boarded the 10 a.m bus to the airport. This is when one of the best scenes to ever unfold on The Amazing Race unfolded (I don't think it was quite up there with the PhilJig, but it was darn (That's for you Yolanda. I could have said the other D word, but I didn't) close). Team Hippies sat on the empty bus to the airport and informed all of us that they were riding the bus with the spirit of the eliminated teams. First, they channeled Lake, and I swear (but not in front of you, Yolanda) that it was dead on! If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that Lake, himself, had mistakenly got on the bus using his map of Greece that's all in Greek. The Hippies continued by channeling Team Nerds (and those ever-clever TAR producers slid the Nerds music underneath as well) and then Team Double D (one of them asked if Oman was in China). It was sheer brilliance and total hysterics! I (heart) Team Hippies.


At the airport, the first set of teams stumbled around trying to find the first flight to Oman. All four teams settled on the flight that would get them there at 10:50 p.m. Team Hippies showed up as all the other teams were purchasing their tickets, and for some unexplainable reason, the teams wouldn't tell Team Hippies what time the flight got in. I know, it didn't make any sense to me either, especially since they just asked the gate agent two feet in front of them. When did everyone become anti-Team Hippie? Boo to the other teams. Anyway, Team Hippies landed on a flight that got in an hour after the other. All of the teams landed in Oman, and Ray remarked that all of the signs were "squiggly." Apparently, Ray failed to see the English written beneath the "squiggly." Eventually, all of the teams made their way to the giant incense burner, but as usual, learned that it didn't open until 6 a.m. Team Slacker acted shocked once again (Hey guys, fool you once shame on TAR. Fool you twice, shame on you. Fool you for the 100th time this edition, oh, never mind!). Meanwhile, Yolanda once again reminded Ray that he cussed at her and how she didn't appreciate it. The next morning, teams ran up the hillside and found the clue box. They learned that they would need to drive themselves 135 miles to the town of Sur and find the ferry crossing. All of the teams were off and running, except for Ray/Yolanda; the two got lost two seconds after they left the parking lot. Meanwhile, the other teams found that the road they were following suddenly turned into a dirt road and that suddenly turned into a huge flooded crossing. A man that Monica wanted to "take home in my pocket" guided each of the teams through the water. They continued down the road, but came across a second flooded crossing with no little pocket man as Monica calls him. Team Hippies and MoJo hesitated at the seemingly vivacious current. Soon, Fran/Barry came along and stopped as well. Then, Team Slacker drove past the other three and plunged into the water crossing without a caution. The other teams chanted "please let them get stuck, please let them get stuck," which was a HUGE coincidence because I was chanting the exact same thing! Anyway, the rest of the teams followed and not a single one got stuck. I really couldn't believe it. This had TAR replacement car written all over it! So, the teams forged on and reached the ferry crossing, except for Ray/Yolanda who were still lost, but stopped for directions and finally made their way.


At the ferry crossing, the teams encountered a Detour: Camel or Watch -tower. Time out for a second. What happened to the cool punny, rhyming Detour names? Me thinks the producers were slacking on this one! Anyway, in Camel, teams had to use a pulley system to load a camel into the bed of a pick-up truck, and then, using a map that looked like it was drawn by a fourth grader, drive the camel 1 mile to a Bedouin camp and exchange the camel for a clue. Does anyone else think of Kelly Preston in that Amanda Bynes movie What a Girl Wants when they hear Bedouin? Nobody? Just me then. In Watchtower, teams had to search three watchtowers for an Arabic message box, and then drive the box 1 mile to a silver shop to exchange it for a clue. MoJo, Hippies and Fran/Barry all chose Watchtower while Slacker chose Camel. Monica decided that the closest Watchtower must hold one of the message boxes. Turns out that it was the ONLY one not to house one, so MoJo decided the task was too hard and switched to Camel. Meanwhile, Hippies and Fran/Barry each found a message box and boarded the ferry (read row boat) back to the main land. Team Slacker made easy work of the camel loading, but took a wrong turn on the way to the Bedouin camp (Seriously people, Kelly Preston met Colin Firth at the camp and they got married and then the mean man in England sent Kelly away because Colin was royalty and Kelly was just an American, but Colin thought that Kelly left and he never knew that she was pregnant with Amanda until a 15-year old Amanda suddenly shows up at his doorstep, well rather, she trespasses on his property and almost gets arrested, but whatever. It's a classic people! A classic!). Anyway, MoJo easily loaded the camel as well and they headed off to the Bedouin camp (And then Colin dances to "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" while wearing leather pants. See what you're missing?), but they followed the map and found it easily. Actually, Joseph followed the map while also steering and driving the truck and Monica sat with the camel and spoke to it. MoJo, Fran/Barry and Team Hippies all received their next clue and learned that they had to drive 80 miles to the village of Al Hawiyah. Finally, Team Slacker delivered their camel and passed Ray/Yolanda who were just beginning the Camel Detour. Ray/Yolanda easily finished the Detour, and they too, were on their way to Al Hawiyah. Team Hippies and Fran/Barry arrived at the village first and encountered this leg's Roadblock. One team member had to dig through 117 sand mounds to find one of six underground ovens that housed the team's food for the night. Barry and BJ began digging in the scorching sun. Soon, MoJo arrived and Monica began searching as well. Team Slacker arrived next and Eric began digging. Barry found the food first, but had trouble bringing it to the surface allowing Monica to get ahead after she found hers. MoJo opened their next clue to learn that they would need to drive 150 miles to Jabreen Castle, which would serve as the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The two excitedly hurried off. Fran/Barry were right behind and Team Slacker behind them, leaving Team Hippies still searching in the sand.


The sun seemed to get hotter as BJ kept searching. Ray/Yolanda pulled up and Yolanda began digging. I had my fingers crossed that Ray wouldn't yell "the D word that shall not be named" during the stressful ordeal. The camels that were standing around watching the task seemed to be growing more and more ornery, so Tyler of Team Hippies fame, went over to relax one of them. See, Team Hippies brings happiness to all of God's creatures! Anyway, Yolanda finally found an oven and she and Ray made their way to the Pit Stop. Meanwhile at the Pit Stop, Fran/Barry took advantage of Fran's excellent navigation skills and landed in first place. MoJo came in second, and Ray/Yolanda found themselves in third thanks to Team Slacker's "short cut." Seriously, have there ever been more famous last words? Whenever anyone tells you they have a short cut, run the other way. BJ finally found an oven and he and Tyler headed to the Pit Stop. Things were looking close thanks to Slacker's "short cut" and the editing, but Team Slacker came out victorious with a fourth place finish. Team Hippies finally got to the mat, where they were relieved to find out that this was a non-elimination round. What did you think about last night's episode? Were you as relieved as Team Hippies that this was non-elimination? Did you think that Ray/Yolanda's damn fight was a whole lot of nothing? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.


Be sure to tune in later today for the regular edition jam-packed with thoughts on Alias' big return. 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.



SAVE EVERWOOD NOW! Click HERE to learn how to help the show get another season

Don't forget to help Veronica Mars with the $4,000 Shower Campaign. Click HERE for details