The 'Race' Gets Frustrating

There were so many opportunities for more disposable teams to face elimination during last night's episode of The Amazing Race, but one of the teams that I like went instead. For the most part, I like all of them so far, but there are a few team members who get on my nerves. Sarah and Peter work my last nerve with their constant "using her disability to their advantage" and his patronizing, condescending tones. Duke and Lauren are still my fave, but I also really like most of the other teams. I was hoping that Sarah and Peter's flip-flopping during the Detour would be enough to land them in last. Too bad so many other teams had problems as well. Here's a breakdown of last night's entertaining moments.

*Did you guys know that horses have minds of their own? I had no idea, so you can imagine how shocked I was when Kimberly declared that she doesn't like horses because "it's like they have a mind of their own." Thanks for the education Kimberly! She also taught us to duck when we're riding said beasts with minds of their own and a branch comes into view. What would we do without Kim's little lessons?


*I greatly applaud the models/former drug addicts for beating something that grabs hold of so many people and doesn't let go, but I'm not sure we need to be reminded of their accomplishment every scene. These two board a train and bring it up, leave the Pit Stop and bring it up and so on. I half expected them to bring it up when they got the flat ("Dude, this sucks. But it's nothing compared to what we went through beating our drug habits"). Of course, they didn't say this, but it wouldn't have surprised me. Again, major kudos to both of them for their accomplishment, but let's move on to the here and now.


*And speaking of car troubles, what was up with all the different teams and their struggles with those old Russian military vehicles? A flat, breakdown, and two dead batteries! Car trouble is a part of the Race and it always adds a lot to it, but last night's antics seemed a little excessive. Of course, the multiple car problems evened the playing field and kept things more interesting (especially in the case of the single moms and cheerleaders), so this isn't really a complaint, but more of an observation.

*How great was it to have a driving challenge?! I love when the teams have to drive themselves somewhere in a foreign country. It leads to so many intense, surprising moments. Last night's Mongolia driving challenge did not disappoint. Lost teams, aforementioned car troubles, teams passing teams, wrong turns, innerteam fighting over directions -- it's great television.


*Did that Detour bring out the worst in people or what? I think that's the fastest I've ever seen so many teams get nasty with each other, and yet, they all remained nice to the other teams. Kimberly, this season's Stress Queen, never fully recovered from her terrifying horse experience and carried her emotions over to the Fill It Up Detour where she finally exploded after Rob kept harping on her. In her defense, he was driving me crazy too. And then there was Sarah's implosion over "quitting" the Take it Down Detour, switching to Fill it Up, watching her hynik run off "with fire in its eyes" (TM Peter), and then switching back to Take it Down. When the two reached the Pit Stop in first place, she told the audience that she's taking note of areas where she and Peter don't work well together. I found myself yelling at my TV screen, "How about his ridiculously condescending tone? Maybe you should take note of that!" If only she could hear me.


In the end, the cheerleaders' poor navigation skills did them in. When I saw them trying to get that flaming arrow into the target and the background went from light to dark, I began seeing shades of those poor sisters from several seasons back that couldn't find the clue in the haystack. I was sure that Phil was going to come over and tell them that they had been eliminated from the race, so no need to keep pushing themselves. I guess Kellie's strength ran out first. I'll miss the cheerleaders. They brought a nice dose of fun and camaraderie to the rest of the teams. What did you think about last night's episode? Were you bummed to see the cheerleaders go or cheering for their elimination? Leave me a comment with your thoughts.


All of the pictures in this edition are courtesy of cbs.com.


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