This week’s The Amazing Race proved timing, and knowing your priorities, is everything. An airport is usually the place that equalizes all of the teams and has become one of the least interesting parts of the show, but this week there was some good drama and maneuvering as the teams left Oman for Bangladesh.
Initially, everyone seemed to be on the same flight that arrived at noon the next day, but Nat and Kat took a chance at booking a flight to Dubai in the hopes of booking another flight from there. I thought for sure this was a disastrous move. Jill and Thomas kept trying to find earlier flights and finally found one that arrived seven hours earlier. Chad and Stephanie had basically booked tickets with them and decided their priority was hitting up the airport Dairy Queen. Really? I’m sure they haven’t been eating food they’re accustomed to, and a little comfort food is nice, but you really have to be brain dead not to be hitting up every travel agent at an airport looking for an earlier flight, when you’re trying to win a million dollars! Even Nick and Vicki managed to find a flight that arrived 4 hours earlier (and got the last seat available), so Chad & Stephanie and Brooke & Claire were on the last flight out. The funny part was they ended up at the same airport as Nat & Kat so the three teams got to Bangladesh in a tie for last.
This week saw the introduction of the Double U-Turn, a creation of pure evil. I’ve never been a fan of the U-Turn even in its singular format, because it just doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re so far ahead of everyone that you have no doubt you’re coming in first, why use it on someone else way back in the pack? And this one gave two teams the chance to U-Turn other teams. Thomas and Jill decided to U-Turn Brooke and Claire because they are worried about them coming in first all the time. Umm, guys, I think you have the wrong all-female team there. If any team is a threat that would be Nat and Kat who have come in first, like, four times!
Vicki pursuaded Nick not to use the U-Turn on anyone, although his target was Chad and Stephanie. Then Nat and Kat decide to use the U-Turn on Chad and Stephanie (who would have used it on Nat and Kat), but again, Chad and Stephanie were in last place at that point. I just think it was unnecessary. There should be some obstacle that a team in last place can use to trip up someone ahead of them to give them an advantage instead of just making a last place team even more behind. It just makes Phil have to wait up longer. The funny part of it all is that it took Nat and Kat so long how to figure out how to put a rickshaw together that both U-Turned teams caught up with them at the Road Block; but had Nat and Kat not used the U-Turn, Chad and Stephanie most definitely would have beat them to the Pit Stop.
I’m actually going to miss Chad and Stephanie. After last week, he was finally starting to grow on me and even under some very stressful situations this week, he didn’t completely lose his cool. I can’t blame him for have a couple of brief outbursts, especially when no one would give them directions, but he was actually nice to Stephanie throughout the entire leg of the race so I’m going to chalk up all of his previous bad behavior to editing. That’s what everyone else does, right? I’m not happy that Nick and Vicki are still racing though. I’m not seeing any improvement in his behavior with Vicki and I hope that after the race she dumped him (or maybe she’ll do it during the next leg of the race).
“Just keep your extremities in.” – Thomas, as he almost loses an arm while riding a rickshaw
“My yelling, you mean?” – Jill having a blonde moment
“I’m not a very good team mate if I’m passed out.” – Claire in response to Brooke’s command to run after carrying dozens of bricks on her head
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Nov 21, 2010 @ 23:37 EST5EDT
