The Amazing Race

The overall bike ride was 2-3 miles, that's, what, a fifteen minute ride at most to get back to the start? ARGH. Your brain, it has a purpose.

Wow, I can't believe that Jennifer wasted A WHOLE HOUR waiting around for another racer to show up! Why would your first instinct not be to go back to the starting point? That seemed like the most logical thing to do. That was one huge mistake that immediately led to their downfall.

I am definitely no longer a fan of Cindy and Ernie. She had many Ugly American moments in Malawi ignorantly commenting on the culture and people. Their nonplussed comments at the top of the episode about their accommodations at the previous pit stop were dismissive and irritating. And their entitled whining at Tommy and Andy beating them in a footrace to the mat to finish first was incredibly annoying. Really, they should just step aside and let you finish first? Would you expect them to do that in the final leg if you still hadn't finished first?

I also dislike teams who say that the U-Turn is "mean spirited" and "don't want to resort to playing that way." It's a fair, legitimate part of the game and can be a very strategic move.

Laurence is a huge idiot. Why would you not U-Turn someone who you knew was behind you instead of a team YOU JUST PASSED?

THAT was delightful.

I meant the bunnies, but the elimination was good too. I've been disliking Laurence and liking Zac, but I cooled off on him a bit too in this episode. The whole thing about how the dance was "not my finest moment" -- I know that could just have been good-natured self-deprecation, but I felt I caught an annoying whiff of gay panic in there. I got the vibe from both of them that they felt annoyed to be doing stupid tasks instead of macho ones. And like, half the fun of the Race is doing stupid tasks. So shut up and goodbye.

I'm so happy Amani and Marcus are still in it (who was it who called her "Armani"?), but MAN they have to step it up. Next week -- the POSING OMG. I can't wait.

I pretty much hope Bill and Cathi win this whole thing.

BUNNIES: DELIGHTFUL.

Instant Monkeys wrote:BUNNIES: DELIGHTFUL.

INDEED. Marcus giving his bunny a pep talk? Also delightful. I sort of got the impression that the last leg took a lot out of them and they were making fatigue mistakes. Hopefully they can get it together for the next leg.

I have to admit that I admired the fact that, despite some major mistakes, what's-his-face and what's-her-face (I sincerely still cannot remember their names) didn't end up yelling at each other and stayed focused.

The bunnies were indeed DELIGHTFUL.

Those costumes for the dancing were wonderful. With the exception of Zac, they all seemed to be enjoying it.

I'm amazed that those two hung around the airport twiddling their thumbs all night. Racing 101: when you have that much time at an airport, don't rest until you KNOW you've exhausted all options. I can't believe they made their way up to 4th place.

Bunny agility! How could anyone possibly choose making butter over doing bunny agility??? It's agility! With bunnies!

Cindy and her total U-Turn reasoning fail made me yell at the TV muchly. A first place finish in ONE LEG is NOT a million dollar decision. Maybe it's a free trip to somewhere decision, but you are going to be instantly bunched next leg so first place means nothing, you are supposed to U-Turn someone you want to eliminate because you don't want them in the finals arghrhghghh I give up.

Anyway: Bunnies!

I actually understand why she did it. It was so affecting her mental game that they had never come in first. She needed that if she was ever going to come close to the million.

Although, along the same lines, as much as I love Cathi, her whole thing about how U-turning a team made you the worst people ever, ignoring the fact that she had also just U-turned Lance and Zac, made her kind of a hypocrite. I understand being angry about it, but you can't continue to berate people for using the U-turn if you've just used it yourself.

But the bunnies made everything worth it. They were so cute, too! I would have just sat there and cuddled bunnies.

Ugh, so glad to see Laurence go.

When Zac was doing the dancing challenge, Laurence kept saying encouraging things, and I was starting to think that I'd misjudged him. Then - just as I commented "Huh, I would almost have expected Laurence to say 'I would've done a much better job'" - he went and said pretty much exactly that. Jerk.

dionneshea wrote:
Although, along the same lines, as much as I love Cathi, her whole thing about how U-turning a team made you the worst people ever, ignoring the fact that she had also just U-turned Lance and Zac, made her kind of a hypocrite. I understand being angry about it, but you can't continue to berate people for using the U-turn if you've just used it yourself.

Totally agree. Laurence did it, too, going on and on about how awful Cathi and Bill were to use the U-turn on them, when he used (or tried to, anyway) the U-turn one episode before this. I know if I went on TAR and was dealing with killer fatigue and all the rest of it I'd probably be bitchy and hypocritical, too, but from the comfort of my living room I just rolled my eyes at all of them. It's part of the game, it's within the rules, and you don't get to simultaneously use one of the elements of the game to improve your own position while complaining that other teams are using the exact same element of the game to improve their own position. I also had little patience for Ernie and Cindy asking the snowboarders to let them win the leg last week, and then complaining this week that it was "stolen" from them. If you want to win a race, you have to run faster than the other guys. It doesn't make them bad people to try to win a competition that you all signed up for, knowing it was a competition.

Loved, loved, loved seeing Denmark on the race. I lived there for a year as an exchange student and it's one of the best countries on earth.

Cindy doesn't bother me as much as she does some people, though her desire to win a leg is a little out of control . . . focus on winning a million dollars instead of one free trip! But I laughed outloud when Bill told her the story of how he and Cathi met in middle school, and Cindy responded about her and Ernie, "Wow. We just met in a bar."

And those bunnies were so incredibly awesome.

The best part of that exchange was Bill ... "Well, that's ok, too."

That rabbit dressage was every bit as awesome as last week's promo made it seem. I particularly loved Marcus's cheering when Amani was doing the course-- it's up there in the pantheon of great AR moments.

Bill and Cathi, I love you to pieces.

Miss Moneypenny wrote:

Instant Monkeys wrote:BUNNIES: DELIGHTFUL.

INDEED. Marcus giving his bunny a pep talk? Also delightful. I sort of got the impression that the last leg took a lot out of them and they were making fatigue mistakes. Hopefully they can get it together for the next leg.

Marcus the ENTIRE time with the bunnies was amazing. His cheering when Amani did it, and then the pep talk? So delightful.

actually understand why she did it. It was so affecting her mental game that they had never come in first. She needed that if she was ever going to come close to the million.

Also, they knew Marcus and Amani weren't at the church when they all got the clue and that neither M/A or J/S had arrived at the roadblock when they left so they most likely figured they couldn't knock out the snowboarders so they used it to at least win a leg.

The funny thing about Cindy and Ernie using their U-Turn this week is that when it was all said and done, it didn't even matter; they would have most likely finished first anyway. In hindsight, they could have used it last week on Andy and Tommy to ensure first place since they got lost after using the Express Pass, and then taken this leg as well and finished first twice in a row. Maybe Cindy will become tolerable again now that she's finally finished first.

Marcus and Amani settling for the show-booked airline flight was just plain stupid. Use your down time wisely to improve your position! Don't just twiddle your thumbs and wait. I was glad to see them bumped up in the final standings, but hope they are sharper mentally in the next leg. Stopping for directions IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY ROAD was also not wise.

So glad to see Laurence go. He seemed supportive of Zac at first, but then ruined that nice moment. Father of the year, he is not.

Marcus the ENTIRE time with the bunnies was amazing. His cheering when Amani did it, and then the pep talk? So delightful.

Bunny agility may be my favorite task EVER. Marcus was hilarious pep-talking his rabbit, and with the cheering. Also, it was delightful that Bill named both of their bunnies - I think it was "Hoppy" and "Spotty."

(I've seen bunny agility in person and it's just as wonderful as it looks on tv.)

Not upset by the Laurence/Zac elimination. Laurence lost me forever during the sewing-machine tasks, with all his comments about how the women should be experts at sewing.

(I've seen bunny agility in person and it's just as wonderful as it looks on tv.)

JELLUS!!

Posing contest: we were dying here. That was hilarious.

The task on the pirates ride is my worst nightmare and would have made me take the five hour penalty, which would have been fine since everyone bunched at the end of the day, but the posing pouches made up for it.

Ernie's scarily white teeth and unexpectedly cut body made him look like a Ken doll when he was posing. Bwah.

Cindy seemed to have crazy ass bruises on her legs! I wonder if it was when the bed fell on her. But then I thought hadn't we seen her in the later task with the dug out canoes running in a bathing suit that wouldn't have hid it so maybe she fell at some other time or they just didn't focus on it.

I was so uncomfortable watching the posing that I FFed through it. Not uncomfortable prudish, just uncomfortable as in I watch the race and imagine doing the tasks and it made me so uncomfortable to even think about doing, I couldn't watch anyone else do it. That said, I would do a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle on the pirate ride, because I love the dizzy spinny rides like nobody's business.

For all I thought Cindy would totally melt down with the ticket fiasco, she not only took responsibility but wasn't bad about it at all. I wonder if they'll get some kind of penalty for it though.

Raised by wolves wrote:For all I thought Cindy would totally melt down with the ticket fiasco, she not only took responsibility but wasn't bad about it at all. I wonder if they'll get some kind of penalty for it though.

Probably not, because they actually did buy the tickets, and the show knows that, it's not like they snuck onto the train without paying.

Raised by wolves wrote:I was so uncomfortable watching the posing that I FFed through it. Not uncomfortable prudish, just uncomfortable as in I watch the race and imagine doing the tasks and it made me so uncomfortable to even think about doing, I couldn't watch anyone else do it. That said, I would do a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle on the pirate ride, because I love the dizzy spinny rides like nobody's business.

Do you think the Express Pass would have been allowed during that posing contest? Because I would have used it the second I saw those bikinis.

And I'm the type to do what the snowboarders did once they finished their puzzle (spin the cup like crazy) so I would have enjoyed that task immensely.

Aw, that was too bad to lose Bill & Cathi, though they never managed to equalize after their big delay at the bodybuilding challenge (was that second half technically a nonelimination leg or just a double length leg? I can't remember if Amani & Marcus won a prize last week or not.)

I find Jeremy & Sandy incredibly boring, am annoyed with Cindy, and really hate it every time the snowboarders bring up God, so I'm rooting for Amani & Marcus, but they keep making silly mistakes with navigation. Stop doing that! You are likable!

Grr, my stupid DVR didn't tape the Race last night, but then when I realized it and went to see if the channel was working, it worked very briefly -- right when Bill and Cathi were being eliminated. Oh well, at least I don't have to hurry to watch it before I get spoiled now.