Photos
Video
The Amazing Race: Ron, reformed?
It's a miracle! It took nine weeks, but Daddy Dearest finally managed to visit a country without once blowing his top. He still made a spectacular ass of himself on the way out of India, though, so I still hate him.
"Dad! If you keep spoiling..." "I'm not spoiling!" "Yes you are!"
The teams went from the chaos of Mumbai, India to the completely different chaos of Osaka, Japan. Once there, they had to drive a cab, battle with robots (it is Japan, after all), find a flower, and make it to the park on time.
Team Daddy Dearest had a couple of advantages this week: First, Ron made an effort this leg to control his temper and not blow up at Christina, cab drivers, judges, random passers-by, stray pigeons, and the universe as a whole. Second, Christina actually speaks a fair bit of Japanese, which definitely helps. Still, they only beat Team Odious to the pitstop by a few minutes.
Speaking of Team Odious... all the negative energy Ron wasn't pumping out found another outlet in Nate and Jen. Jen complained how there were no street signs in English... which you'll have in Japan. Then she moans about how no one speaks English in Osaka (more on this later) and talks about her trials in the Roadblock -- and Nate completely ignores her. How dare he not hang on her every word? (Although come on, Nate, how hard is it to nod and smile and fake attention?) My favorite was the snit-fit Jen threw when she accused Nate of pushing her into a cab. Did he? Maybe, but at that point, I'm surprised he didn't push her under a speeding truck -- and I'd someone nearby would do the same thing to Nate himself.
Team Gramps and Skippy was consistently third this time out -- but they managed to keep their cool. Donald is definitely starting to show some wear from all the travels, but he's hanging in there. It was mostly up to Nicholas this week -- he tackled the cab-driving challenge, he coaxed Donald through the robots-playing-soccer challenge, and he carried Don's bag most of the time. "I'll be 69 in a few weeks, I'm 45 years older than just about everybody in the race, and yet I'm still hanging in there," Don says. Good job, Gramps -- you're pretty awesome.
Team Mellow made a strategic error this week: They were first to start, and went directly to a hotel to try to find a flight to Osaka. They asked to get to Osaka the fastest possible way, which the hotel travel guy interpreted as the first flight out. Alas, said flight had two stops, while the flight everyone else took, which left an hour and a half later, had only one stop. That means TK and Rachel arrived in Osaka hours after everyone else, and were pretty much out of the running the whole time. They got to the pitstop at the end of the day a full three hours after everyone else. The good news: It's a non-elimination round. The bad news: They'll be facing the dreaded Speed Bump in the next leg.
Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends:
- Quote of the week (and possibly of the year): Don describes how Nicholas is doing most of the heavy lifting: "He's like a bitch for me, it's perfect!" That, my friends, is awesome.
- Hallelujah! Christina finally snaps back at Ron for all his complaining. If only she did it with a little less of a whine in her voice. But hey, I'll take what I can get.
- Have any of you been to Japan? When I traveled there, I couldn't go three feet without tripping over someone who wanted to practice their English with me. Granted, I wasn't in Osaka, but it's a big city, and English is taught in just about all the schools. However, at that point, I'd perfected my "Hi, I'm a harmless, friendly and doubtless completely lost foreigner" look, which (along with the "exotic" blond hair and pasty skin) inclined people to want to talk to me. Jen radiated aggravation and hostility, which I'm betting made a bunch of people unwilling to test their English with her.
- I loved the robot-soccer challenge. Was I imagining things, or did one of the defender robots have swords? That's the way soccer should be played!
- Did anyone else fear for the poor Japanese taxi passengers our racers were ferrying around? I'd be surprised if Nicholas, Jen and Christina didn't learn a few Japanese swear words.
- Jen's first reaction on getting in the cab as driver -- check out how she looked in the hat. I loved the eye-roll that her passengers flung at each other. That's understood in any language.
- Was it just me, or did the "Welcome to Osaka!" lady seem distinctly sleepy by the time TK and Rachel got there?
- I loved that one of the clue-bearers was a cleaning guy -- that would be a heck of a lot harder to find in any American public transportation station...
Next week, Daniel gets back from his own transcontinental jaunt in time to guide you through the final episodes. I didn't even get a postcard -- did you?
Very good episode. Lots on tension and nail biting.
So glad TK and Rachel are still in it. Next week I hope Jen has a major meltdown and makes a BIG mistake and that even though TK & R are 3 hours behind that they will make the final 3.
Jen makes my blood boil. She is such a pain in the rear. Poor Nate has to put up with her B.S.
I am rooting for anyone BUT Jen and Nate.
Joanne | Jan 7, 2008 7:20:17 AM | #Man I was so glad to see it was a non-elimination round. TK and Rachel are awesome and it would have been a real shame to see them go like that. They are the most calm and perfect couple ever on Amazing Race. They make Jen and Nate look that much worse for how they handle things.
Go TK and Rachel. Defy the odds and get back in it, heck all they need is a long wait for a flight or shop to open and they are right back in it (much like "The Pinks" were before).
If they can't get back in and win it I want Don and Nicholas to win. Don is an awesome grandpa and Nicholas is some kind of kid. He's goofy as heck, but you can feel the love for his grandpa and how much he wants to win this with him. Regardless if they win the race or not, Nicholas and Don have won for getting to experience all this together as grandpa and grandson.
Josh | Jan 7, 2008 7:28:24 AM | #Never mind the "Welcome to Osaka Lady", did anyone notice how Phil looked like he was ready to keel over once TK and Rachel got to the pit stop. I was really nervous for him!
Ann | Jan 7, 2008 8:32:44 AM | #I really liked this leg, simply because TK and Rachel weren't around for much of it. They are so freakin' boring to watch. Don't get me wrong, I love nice teams as much as everyone does (Kris and Jon were the most calm and perfect team Josh, but they were still fun to watch). Watching TK and Rachel run the race is almost like watching paint dry for me. They bring absolutely no excitement.
That being said, I'm not sure if I'd rather have them or Nate and Jen in the finals. As much as Nate and Jen are fun to watch (I'm serious, they're hilarious at times), I really don't want them to win. Please let an underdog team win this year. Go Ron/Chris and Nick/Don
Nate | Jan 7, 2008 8:54:02 AM | #Yeah I've only seen, I think, 3 seasons of AR now so I don't know some of the other teams. And I agree with you Nate, part of me wants Nate and Jen in the final just because they are so annoying but the other part of me doesn't want them to win so I don't want them to even have a chance.
The way they keep setting it up with Nate and Jen whining about not winning a leg is really having me worried that they win the whole thing.
Josh | Jan 7, 2008 9:40:29 AM | #yes, i hate nate and jen too but they make the show fun to watch---i loved that they came in second again---but they probably will end up winning the million bucks.
tim | Jan 7, 2008 10:07:06 AM | #If Nate and Jen win, they shold give the Goths a nice reward so screwing up the U-Turn so badly last week. That's just the kind of stroke of luck that teams routinely ride to the winner's circle.
Tom | Jan 7, 2008 10:25:09 AM | #I loved the "Welcome to Osaka Lady", I bet she wanted to kick TK & Rachel's ass for making her wait 3 hours there!
JP | Jan 7, 2008 2:41:15 PM | #Any thoughts on why they had a 24-hour rest period before the leg instead of the usual 12 hours? (Teams arrived at midday, and left at midday.)
Jon88 | Jan 7, 2008 4:37:47 PM | #Here is my cracker-jack summary of the race this week:
The Grands: Obviously the underdog team, but one I am rooting for to win the whole thing. I agree with the blogger..the whole "bitch" line from Don is the line of the season. Besides, who ever thought the Grands would ever make it this far? Surely not me!
Frick and Frack: Due to the editing, I, too, am afraid that Nate and Jen will win the whole thing. Which is quite unfortunate because I want to slap Jen back to the 1870's with her incessant bitching and moaning. If it were not against the rules, I would leave Jen in the bowels of Mumbai if I were Nate.
TK and Rachel: Please be eliminated soon. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Ron and Chris: If she knew how to drive a car, she would have breezed thru the challenge. One has to wonder how many "Who's Your Daddy" shirts Ron has...kinda creepy.
As a general note, there cannot be too many episodes left. CBS certainly would not schedule the finale against the Super Bowl...would they?
djintheatl | Jan 7, 2008 7:42:51 PM | #I kinda want the older guy and his grandson to win? I don't know, it just seems right.
Oh, and 'Jen'...is that her name? She is a pain-in-the-ass, isn't she? As to why the boyfriend keeps taking her crap-po-la....I don't know. Maybe we'll get lucky and in a near-future-challenge....he'll leave her standed somewhere and come back to the pitstop with another girl (that looks like Jen, but sure doesn't act like her!). One can hope, right? (smile)
Cricket | Jan 8, 2008 6:41:22 PM | #djintheatl, with four teams remaining there should be three episodes left, which would put the finale on January 27. The Super Bowl is on February 3.
Beth | Jan 9, 2008 10:05:22 AM | #Why would not next week's episode drop it down to three teams, and then a two hour finale, as usual I think, on January 20?
Does anybody know for sure? Sarah, help us out here, please!
Mike | Jan 9, 2008 10:51:02 AM | #Mike, that's entirely possible. This is my first season watching TAR, so I don't know the finale protocol. I was just making the point that the finale would not be running up against the Super Bowl.
Beth | Jan 9, 2008 1:49:17 PM | #It looks like there are two episodes left -- and the finale will be a one-hour episode. Hmmm.
Sarah | Jan 10, 2008 5:18:51 PM | #i cannot stand JEN!!! I hope Nate is smart enough to drop her when this is all over ..don't even know how he managed to hold back from not punching her in the yap.
The other 3 teams still in the running...i'm game for any team to win. They're not quite as annoying as Jen and Nate.
jen hater | Jan 13, 2008 6:01:47 PM | #I'm SOO tired of hearing Ron talk about how he needs to become a better father. That team has the most one-note personality/backstory yet, and it get's very annoying hearing Ron blabber about it.
This is probably the most ambivalent I've been about who should win. I really could care less from the 4 remaining teams, but I guess I'd go with TK & Rachel if I had to pick someone.
Jason | Jan 14, 2008 11:14:17 AM | #
Zap2it Twitter Talk
