The Amazing Race – The saga of Mark and Bopper

The Amazing Race seemed to fly by this week as teams traveled to Cochin, India, probably because there was only a Road Block and a Detour and only five teams left. The Road Block required one team member to learn a Bollywood-style dance and perform it to perfection, and the Detour required teams to either hit a cricket ball to or past a boundary (as well as past a the pitcher and a few team members), or learn how to drive a motorized rickshaw with a manual transmission. We’ll get to the highlights of the show in a moment. What the main focus was on this ninth leg was the real underdog team of Mark & Bopper.

As the leg started, we got to see Bopper have his knee checked out to see if he could even continue in the race. It’s been bothering him for a while now and running has become nearly impossible. But the doctor gave him the go-ahead, with a leg brace, and off they went. Last week they finished in first place, and they began in first place with Rachel & Dave only a minute behind them. (The teams were spread out by four hours, but the airport equalizer took care of that disparity.) As we’ve seen, Mark does not do well in vehicles as a passenger, and the long bus ride from the airport to the Road Block did him no favors. Having to learn a dance routine in the heat with nausea was just not the best combination for him. I felt for him and for Bopper, who just was physically unable to perform the dance, but Mark’s perseverance and Bopper’s support were not only the bright spot of the episode, but have become the saving grace of the season with all of the childish bickering going on between the rest of the teams.

Drenched in sweat, and after having attempted the dance eleven times (and way, way behind the other teams at this point), Mark decided to call it quits before he killed himself. Even during attempts nine and ten, Bopper was trying to get him to quit and when he finally did, a pep talk from the choreographer and Bopper gave him the strength to go one more time. Did he succeed? Well … more or less. I think they finally took pity on the guy because there were a couple of obvious missteps in his final routine, but the director of the dance number gave him the thumbs up and the clue to the next location. The friends soldiered on, completing the Clutch It part of the Detour, checking in last at the Pit Stop. On the way, we got to see a nice montage of all of their accomplishments on the race (including being saved by a non-elimination leg, surviving the Speed Bump, and checking in first last week), but … there was a very pregnant pause as the men stood on the mat telling Phil what an amazing time they’ve had. Because Phil had more to tell them as they rambled on. Yes, Mark & Bopper have once again dodged a bullet by coming in last on a non-elimination leg! Can these guys get even luckier? Will they become the first team to survive two non-elimination legs and take home the prize? I was ready for them to be gone early in the race, but they certainly have endeared themselves to me and other viewers over the course of the last few weeks and now I am rooting for them to go all the way. How about you?

Other race highlights:

• Mark & Bopper started the leg at 9:06 PM. Vanessa & Ralph started at 1:31 AM. The first four teams were on one flight while Vanessa & Ralph found another connecting flight that arrived in India … about a minute before the other flight.
• Rachel & Dave were the first team out of the airport and onto a bus.
• Team members that attempted the Bollywood dance routine: Rachel, JJ, Big Brother Rachel, Vanessa and Mark. All of the women completed the task before either of the men.
• JJ took four tries to get the dance right. Mark attempted it twelve times.
• Brendon & Rachel and Art & JJ chose the Cricket part of the Detour, and Brendon & Rachel had the satisfaction of finishing before their nemeses.
• I loved the sitar version of the baseball park “Charge” music and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” that played during the Cricket challenge.
• Check-in order at the Pit Stop: Rachel & Dave, Brendon & Rachel, Art & JJ, Vanessa & Ralph, Mark & Bopper

And just for a little fun, I found this clip of a Bollywood number on YouTube with some hilariously inept translation of the lyrics:

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Apr 22, 2012 @ 23:12 EST5EDT