'TAR' EDITION: Teams Monkey Around in Thailand

Don't let the monkeys above fool you with their cute poses and food coddling because these monkeys were holy terrors last night on The Amazing Race! But before we get to them, we have to start back in Darwin, Australia where the teams ripped open their clues to learn that they would be flying 7,000 miles to Bangkok, Thailand. Ray/Yolanda were first out, and the amicable team left an extra pair of pants for the pants-less, shoes-less and money-less BJ. The pants were Yolanda's, but hey, beggars can't be choosers! The Slackers left next, and they dropped off a pair of sandals for the down and out Hippies. MoJo left next, and as expected, left nothing for the Hippies. And even though it was 1-something in the morning and the teams were only heading to the airport, MoJo felt it was necessary to get in front of the Slackers, prompting one of the Slackers to say, "See you at the airport!" Now, I'm certainly no fan of the Slackers, but I have to give them props for finally catching on to the theme of The Amazing Race: hurry up and wait. They finally learned that places aren't open at 2 in the morning, including airport ticket counters and flight schedules. Meanwhile, the Hippies left the Pit Stop and immediately began looking for shoes at the lost and found (Check your car boys!). They found a pair, and headed to their car where they found what the other two teams had left them. They then had to go beg for money, so BJ struggled with whether or not he should wear the pants that Yolanda left him. I'm pretty sure they were supposed to be full- length pants, but on BJ, they were totally capri pants! I hope BJ didn't go with his usual no- underwear philosophy because if he did, then he might as well consider those pants his now. There's no way Yolanda wants them back if he was going commando in them! Anyway, if you are ever in need of a little extra cash, go to Darwin, Australia! Did you see how generous these people were?? Australia has to be the NICEST COUNTRY EVER!!! As soon as they figure out how to speed up air travel so it doesn't take 14,000 hours to fly there, I'm SO there! Speaking of air travel (gotta love the segue!), the other three teams were all booked on a 6 a.m. flight to Bangkok that got them there at 11 p.m. The Hippies finally arrived at the airport, but the flight was full. Uh-oh, sounds like it's time for a commercial break, and sure enough, it was commercial time. While we stewed over whether or not the Hippies were completely screwed, the show came back on and as usual, things resolved themselves. Instead of getting them on the same flight, the ticket agent on the phone told them that another flight opened up that would get them into Bangkok at 10:45 p.m. As Joy from My Name is Earl would say, oh snap! It seemed that the Hippies had made out like bandits (or is that Bedouins? It's hard to know with them).


Once the teams arrived in Thailand, they had to make their may to a bus terminal and catch a bus to Lopburi where they would find their next clue. The first flight carrying the three teams managed to land 45 minutes ahead of schedule, so the three teams hailed taxis and made their way to the bus station. Team Slacker got an early jump and booked themselves on the midnight train to Georgia, I mean bus to Lopburi. Ray/Yolanda did the same, leaving MoJo behind. When the dating couple arrived at the bus station, a local told them the next bus didn't depart until 4:50 a.m., so MoJo spent the night in a hotel. The Hippies finally arrived at the bus station and decided to sleep there, which proved to be quite advantageous. They woke up and found that there was a 4:20 a.m. bus and hopped on. MoJo arrived a few minutes later and booked themselves on the 4:50 bus completely unaware that the other teams were all on their way already. Meanwhile, the first bus with the Slackers and Ray/Yolanda arrived at Lopburi and the two teams made their way to the Buddhist Temple, but it didn't open until 8 a.m. The Hippies arrived right before the gates opened, and everyone wondered about MoJo. The teams headed for the clue box and found this leg's Roadblock. One team member had to prepare a feast for the sacred monkeys that live at the shrine (and something said that the Slackers were going to be right at home with their new friends). But wait! There's more! This clue contained a special envelope that said not to open it until the team reached the Pit Stop. Hmmm, five bucks says it has something to do with Travelocity (and yes, I know I just furthered the product placement madness by mentioning Travelocity). And if this wasn't enough excitement (can you have too much?), this clue also contained the second Fast Forward on the race. In this Fast Forward, teams would have to travel to a nearby restaurant and take part in a favorite after school ritual. That sounds exciting! I mean, it could be sports like Yolanda predicted or watching TV or building forts or skipping rope in the park or any other normal after school ritual. Wrong, wrong all wrong. The "favorite" after school activity is eating an enormous bowl full of fried crickets and grasshoppers! And they say Americans will fry anything! The Hippies and Ray/Yolanda went for it, but both teams seemed a little turned off when they saw the bowls of bugs. Yolanda pumped herself up by saying that she and Ray were from the south, and "we'll eat anything fried in the south!" Everything that is, except for a bowl full of grasshoppers and crickets as the two decided after the first bite that they were going back to the Roadblock. The Hippies decided to dig in.


Meanwhile back at the Roadblock, Team Slacker was working on getting his feast just right. MoJo finally arrived and Joseph began preparing as well. Soon, Ray/Yolanda were back and Yolanda was working quickly to get her feast right. Things were going pretty smoothly until the monkeys decided that the entire process was taking too long. The greedy little bastards began attacking the feasts, causing the team members to replace the pieces that they took. Tempers began to flare as the monkeys got grabbier and grabbier with the food. I'm telling you, these monkeys were out for blood. Team Slacker managed to get the feast together long enough to allow the judges to declare it done, so he took the food to the monkeys and they descended on the unsuspecting feast like Vultures on a carcass. The Slackers opened their clue and learned that they needed to travel to the Chao Phraya River, take a ferry to Koh Kret Island, and find the Buddha Garden. MoJo finished next and the scene repeated itself as it did with Ray/Yolanda when Yolanda finished. All three teams were on their way. Meanwhile, the Hippies were having a hard time finishing their full bowls of bugs. Both were trying to shovel them in between heaving into the buckets next to them. Surprisingly, it wasn't so much the bugs themselves that was causing the team to lose their lunch, but the fact that were so full and had many more bugs to eat. Finally, they finished the last remaining insects and opened their clue to find that they had to make their way to the Marble Temple (another Buddhist shrine) and the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. Of course, the team got there in first place and handed their secret envelope to Phil. Apparently one of the envelopes contained a golden Travelocity gnome. What a surprise! The Hippies' envelope, however, had only the normal gnome.


The rest of the teams made their way to the gardens, with the Slackers arriving first. They found the clue box and this leg's Detour: Move it or Alter it. In Move it, teams had to carry 72 clay pots on a narrow board through the busy streets to a boat docked on the river. In Alter it, teams had to assemble a shrine to Buddha and then gold leaf the statue of Buddha in the center. The Slackers chose Alter it, as did Ray/Yolanda who were close behind. MoJo came along and chose the same, but backed out when they saw the other two teams ahead of them. The Slackers and Ray/Yolanda soon learned that the task required a lot of attention to detail and it wasn't something they could hurry through as they had hoped. Meanwhile, MoJo made their way to the clay pots and began placing them on the narrow board. They began the trek to the river, but soon found that the pots didn't stay on the board too well, and the board with all the pots was extremely heavy. They managed to get only 46 out of the 72 to the boat, so they went back for more. This time, Monica dropped almost all of her pots, so the team had to go back for a third time. The other two teams finished up Alter it and were making their way through the traffic-filled streets to reach the Pit Stop. MoJo finally finished the Detour and found a taxi. All three teams were trying to navigate through the streets, but the Slackers reached the mat first, but they didn't have the golden ticket either. Ray/Yolanda and MoJo seemed to arrive around the same time, but Yolanda got stopped at the entrance because her arms and legs were exposed. She had to put on some clothing before they could proceed. The clothing set back didn't matter, though, especially since it was clear that Monica would have to do the same, and Ray/Yolanda landed in third. They also had the golden ticket and won a private yacht cruise around the Sydney Harbor. MoJo hit the mat not too long after Ray/Yolanda, but they were eliminated from the race. Monica teared up, but she explained that they were tears of happiness because she enjoyed the experience. What did you think about last night's episode? Were you sad to see MoJo exit the Race or glad they got a good helping of karma? 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 MoJo. And be sure to tune in later today for the regular edition of Pass the Remote jam-packed with thoughts on last night's excellent episode of Lost. Plus, the Idol and Model moments and all the latest television news!

To get more television coverage, including a complete archive of the best of Pass the Remote and a photo gallery featuring pictures from the set of Veronica Mars, click on over to PassTheRemote.net.



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