Photos
Video
RSS'The Amazing Race': Breaking rules and fitting dentures
I know that we only went without "The Amazing Race" for one week, but it felt like a whole lot longer than that. Without a weekly dose of Detours, Roadblocks, rule breaking, and just plain stupidity I don't know what to do with myself. At least there was enough breaking of rules and stupidity tonight to make up for the lack last week.
For our racers it was off to Bangkok first thing, and it was a classic bottleneck with the teams having to all wait until the morning to get a flight. While I often have problems with the bottlenecks, for some reason tonight a new thought on them struck me (fine, you probably got there years ago, but let me have my turn) -- when all the teams end up on the same plane you really do get to see who the best are, who repeatedly comes out on top despite starting at the same point
Well, that's how it could work, hypothetically. The whole theory gets destroyed when people like Lakisha & Jennifer have a taxi driver who gets them lost heading from the airport to the Roadblock. And, while we're on the Roadblock, let me ask you if it involved any sort of skill at all. It was a very simple-looking thing where one person just had to attach pieces of a propeller to a boat. Yes, Victor had some sort of issue with his propeller, but the show never really explained the nuts and bolts of the task so I can't judge what went wrong.
The only trick at all to the Roadblock appeared to be the teams having to remember to take their bags with them on the boat when they were done. More than one team forgot to do that, most notably Lakisha & Jennifer and Mark & Michael. Mark & Michael at least had their passports, but when they finished on the boat they went back to get the rest of their bags anyway. Lakisha & Jennifer didn't have their passports or other bags and didn't bother to do anything about that. I figure both teams did the wrong thing -- if you have your passports and money you move on, if you don't you go back.
As for what came next I can only say "yuck, blech, disgusting." It was the Detour and the first choice had teams sticking dentures into people and trying to find a good fit. The other choice was far more sensible, singing karaoke in the back of a taxi. The only issue with the second choice was traffic, teams could sing as badly as they wanted. Margie & Luke opted for disgusting (and Margie did all five denture fittings), while everyone else did the ridiculously hysterical singing. Even if the other task wasn't disgusting, I would have done the singing just because it seemed like so much fun.
Disgusting won out though, and Margie & Luke arrived at the Pit Stop first. I'm sorry, for me the first place finish would not have made up for the nastiness of the task.
Lakisha & Jennifer finished their singing but had no money to get a taxi to take them to the Pit Stop. Eventually they found someone to do it for free and were still ahead of Mark & Michael at that point. Of course, they didn't have their stuff and the way I saw it -- no passport no next leg of the race, no matter where they finished this leg. Phil saw it the same way, they finished third but he couldn't check them in without their travel documents.
Those two were so lucky that not only was their taxi with their bags still there by the docks, but that their passports -- which were sitting on the dock -- were there too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but fanny packs strap on, right? That's kind of the point to them, yes? Why wasn't their pack strapped on or at least over a shoulder? There's a million dollars at stake, one could afford to look like a goofball for a few weeks.
Mark & Michael made it to the Pit Stop with all their stuff first which had the potential to eliminate Lakisha & Jennifer this week. However, Mark & Michael broke the rules again... twice. They settled two taxi bills by giving drivers personal possessions, and thereby incurring a total penalty of four hours. Only about 45 minutes into that penalty Lakisha & Jennifer showed up with their stuff. Phil didn't make Mark & Michael wait out the last three-plus hours, instead he checked them in and informed them, wonder of wonders, that this wasn't an elimination leg. Next week the two will not only get a Speed Bump, but their penalty will delay their start time.
Odds and ends:
- Tammy referred to the people they went around singing with as "Mai Thai Trannies." Thoughts?
- Mark & Michael two are like cats, but they have to be running out of lives by now, don't they?
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - Your passport to good times.
Post a comment
Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Have Mark and Mike and Keisha and Jen never watched Amazing Race? Leaving your backpack is one thing, but your fanny pack? Stupid!
shouldn't it be muay thai? though they didn't look like kickboxers to me. but isn't thailand kinda famous for lady boys? are u implying that tammy is some kind of horrible person? or were u with mark and mike thinking they were hot chicks?
ah i just remembered mai thai is a drink
It was obvious those were trannies, I'm just surprise that Tammy was the only one that mention it. I can't believe Mark and Mike are still around after making so many huge mistakes. Hopefully they'll be gone next week so I look forward to that. Oh, and did anyone else think that Luke hasn't been pulling his own weight in the challenges lately, his mom practically did everything while he stand back and watches.
Why do Mark and Mike get penalized for giving the poor taxi driver possessions as payment when Jen and Keisha convince a taxi driver to do it for free? That is stupid, at least the brothers taxi driver got paid! I like Keisha and Jen way more then Mark and Mike but it is bs that they didn't incur a penalty as well.
Wow, lots of back and forth and fakeouts. First, Mark/Mike looked like they were done when they went back for their bags. Then L/J looked done when they had to go back (after beating Tam/Vic to the mat). Then M/M get penalized again...then saved by a non-philimination. So many fake-outs that really made this ep enjoyable.
I would have done the singing too because it looked fun. Yeah, I def. think those were boys. Mike and Mark are just very lucky, but haven't people in the past given possessions to settle a bill?
Mark and Mike were penalized for using personal possessions they brought with them at the beginning of the Race; it was therefore violating one of the central rules about what one can use during the Race.
I think the denture task was shocking to ultra-picky germphobic people (you know, the type who won't eat food if it touches the table or who use hand sanitizer constantly or who are afraid to touch something if it is even obliquely related to a bathroom) but nothing special to normal people, since they had gloves and other safety equipment. Problem is, those germ Nazis don't realize how weird they are. The most ironic part of the whole thing is that they are the ones who get sick all the time, because they have disinfected their way out of any kind of natural immunity.
Mark & Mike's penalty was that the drivers ACCEPTED the bribe -- go back to last race where shoes were offered in Russia to see it was common practice.
I was really bothered by the end of this episode. Why was there a penalty for making sure your driver got paid but no penalty for reaching the pit stop without your p***ports? The girls SHOULD have gotten one.
And there was no way Mark and Mike were going to be able to bat their eyes at a taxi driver and get a free ride back to their stuff like the girls -- especially after they'd already learned most taxis don't go there. They flirted their way back.
For me, what the guys did this time wasn't spiteful or a mistake from not reading the clue; but why did Phil give them a dirty look when they mention accepting it as karma?
Of course, you know how this will play out: the extra time will give them the slight chance they won't be on the same flight as everyone else next time.
As for mom taking charge over Luke, we've already seen that dynamic before and Luke gets frustrated easily. What we really have to look out for next week is the pushing match with the girls, because something is going to really push his buttons.
I tried to search the phrase - 'Mai Thai Trannies' - and nothing really came up. I thought at first she said My Thai Trannies, but yours makes more sense. Too bad the race doesn't have a recap show like Survivor. I'd love to find out what she meant when she said it.
I thought the penalty was kind of harsh for using your own stuff to settle a bill then again someone could pack a bag full of diamonds and use that to get a leg up so who knows. What would have happened if the guys had "given" the driver an item then saked him for a "free" lift. It seemed a little arbitrary. Rob and Amber in a previous years were allowed to trade on their celebrity for lots of ***istance. Maybe the race has learned.