Wow. Two hours of The Amazing Race? Way too much drama for me on a Sunday night, though I do have to say that I would have been peevishly outraged had they broken the episode into two parts, given the fact that--a first in Race history--teams were beginning a new leg of the Race before the trailing teams had finished the last one. Way to go, Dustin and Kandice!It really was two hours of twists and turns and uncomfortable alliances but I'll limit my comments to just a few salient points. After all, I don't want to be droning on endlessly like Mirna or something.
The Best Laid Travel Plans. Is it just me or has this season of TAR featured the most excruciating travel sequences ever? Some teams, like the Guidos or Eric and Danielle (ha!) have faced setbacks time and time again. Last night was no exception as two teams (forced to "work" together) missed their connecting flight by mere seconds and watched in horror as they moved the stairs away from the plane, leading Joe to run out on the tarmac and start screaming and waving. Yes. That actually did happen. (In the end, it took a solid 30 hours for these teams to arrive in Warsaw.)
Uchenna and Joyce missed their connecting flight in Frankfurt, which would have put them tied for first with Dustin and Kandice, but managed to make up the time during a massive equalizer that had first place team, Dustin and Kandice, wait over 12 hours for a charter bus to Auschwitz.
The Horrors of Humanity. I'm talking about the teams' experiences at a nighttime, candlelit Auschwitz, even more haunting and sobering at night. I was glad to see that each of the teams treated it like the solemn memorial that it is and stopped "racing" for the duration of their time there, treating the memorial as a stark reminder of what humanity can do to itself. (And who knew Uchenna was such a philosopher?)
Intersection. Poor Dustin and Kandice got screwed by a taxi driver who had no idea where he was taking the girls in Warsaw and blew their enormous lead (at one point they were at least 15 hours ahead of the last place team). So I was literally screaming at the television when they arrived at the Intersection (remember those?) third, meaning that they would have to wait at least 4 hours for other teams to arrive to link up, as Danny and Oswald and Uchenna and Joyce had already departed together... for the fast forward. And the Beauty Queens were doing sooooo well this leg, too. Grr. I was really hoping they'd be able to come in first two weeks in a row and get their heads back in this game. Alas...
Danny and Oswald. Are these the two nicest guys to ever run the race? They're reflective when they need to be (Oswald was really affected by the concentration camp and reminded of his life in Communist Cuba), silly when they can be, and they are just plain nice to everyone on the race (remember last week when they helped an ailing Charla?). Even so, I was surprised that they gave Uchenna and Joyce the prize when both teams jumped onto the Pit Stop as a single unit. Sweet.
Charla and Mirna. What can I say about these two that I haven't already? When they're not switching into bizarre foreign accents for no reason, they are getting into people's faces in an aggressive, confrontational manner. Like ticket agents, for example. It was so uncomfortable to watch Mirna harass the travel agent in Zanzibar, calling her "my sister" and then speaking nastily to her a second later. Shudder. Likewise, the altercation with the taxi driver in Warsaw ("I am a young girl! I don't have $100.") was equally embarrassing for everyone involved. But the worst is the way that Charla and Mirna bark at one another (which the Beauty Queens found hilarious during the sausage-eating detour) and the fact that they seem to have no understanding of who should do a particular challenge. Did it really make sense for Charla to don the armour and lead a horse--ten times her size--to the castle gates... in the dark?
Fortunately, my three favorite teams are in the first three spots and I am hoping it stays that way. I'd be thrilled if Danny and Oswald or Dustin and Kandice win. And while I adore Uchenna and Joyce, they have won TAR once before, but even I wouldn't feel bad if they won again. Who are you rooting for to take home that cool $1 million prize and why?
Next week on The Amazing Race: Charla and Mirna and Eric and Danielle clash over some computer time, Danny and Oswald reach their breaking point, and the teams head to Malaysia, where one team is surprised to learn that they've become targets of another team.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: College Basketball (CBS); Deal or No Deal (NBC); Everybody Hates Chris/All of Us (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC; 8-9:30 pm); Prison Break (FOX)
9 pm: Deal or No Deal (NBC); Girlfriends/The Game (CW); The Bachelor (ABC; 9:30-11 pm); 24 (FOX)
10 pm: How I Met Your Mother/Two and a Half Men (CBS); The Black Donnellys (NBC)
What I'll Be Watching
8 pm: Everybody Hates Chris.
On tonight's repeat episode ("Everybody Hates Eggs"), Chris and Greg wind up with that age old heath class project: caring for an egg as an exercise in parenting skills. Meanwhile, Julius makes the frightening realization that the family's electric bill is way over their budget. Ouch.
9 pm: 24.
It's Day Six of 24. While FOX doesn't give us much in the way of previews, here's what we do know: CTU is forced to take immediate action when Jack relays intel he's gained on Russian terrorist Gredenko (Mr. Gredenko to you), while Noah Daniels and the president continue to clash.
10 pm: The Riches on FX.
Is anyone else watching new drama The Riches on FX? On tonight's episode ("Been There, Done That"), Doug Rich's ex-wife comes after the family for missing alimony, leading Doug to try to make the problem go away before she blows their cover.
Comments
I was screaming, too, when BQ arrived 3rd at the intersection. Poor girls - they were so far ahead.
I wasn't surprised when CCC gave up the prize. They've come in first before and I don't think U&J have. That's why they are so awesome.
C&M....nothing else to say.
And just when I think Charla and Mirna can't get anymore annoying... I felt so bad for that travel agent. (Or anyone they come in contact with, for that matter.) But I did get a kick out of watching everyone in Warsaw ignore them. And then to hear Mirna exclaim that they were probably last again, even though they've been in first place 2 times in a row. Mirna seriously needs to get over her "poor me" complex!
I will continue to root for Team Cha Cha and the Beauty Queens. Last night's episode was very dramatic; I loved how the Beauty Queens started the leg before Danielle/Eric and the Guidos even landed at their location. I hated the equalizer though of 12 hours, but of course the show is too hard on production to have team so many hours behind - I wish they did a season that literally a team was 5 days ahead of other teams - but the show would have to be reformatted.
As much as I hate the Guidos and am happy they were eliminated, I was hoping they would be saved in the end and beat Charla/Mirna to the mat by more than 30 minutes. Charla and Mirna are evil, especially their altercation with the cab driver, and I can't believe that he agreed to even drive them anyway after all of that. They were rude to the travel agent, rude to the other teams, and rude to each other. I feel bad for the beauty queens who got stuck with them at the intersection.
My only other comment is this - the Guidos had everything working against them - and were basically rigged against by the producers. They never would have been able to catch up to any other teams with the amount of time they were behind, especially with getting on the second bus. And by pairing them up with another team, they never would have been able to get to the pit stop 30 minutes ahead of another team. hmmm, suspicious... how come rob and amber couldn't have come in at a non-elimination pit stop?