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RSS'The Amazing Race': The game gets physical
By the end of "The Amazing Race" there's often animosity between teams, but rarely is it as overt as it was tonight. After this week's episode I think it's safe to say that Lakisha & Jennifer and Margie & Luke won't be on each other's Christmas card list.
This week's goings on took place in Guilin, China, a place Jen & Lakisha got to first because of some flight delays. Everyone else, except for Mark & Michael were right behind them though. Let's ignore those two for the rest of the episode because the cheaters were far enough behind that even their wicked, wicked, ways weren't going to help them, they were doomed to elimination from the beginning (and were eliminated at the end). Plus, we barely got to see them tonight, so let's talk about the fight, because I know that's what you want to talk about.
It all started with Luke and Jennifer having a literal run-in at the first clue box. The way I saw it, it began innocently enough -- neither team could find the clue, and then Jennifer and Luke both saw it at the same time. They ran, Luke made it first, and Jen ran into him. Luke took umbrage to being pushed from behind (even if it was by accident) and elbowed her, at which point she got mad, calling him a "bitch."
Obviously, Jennifer used the wrong terminology there, being the male of the species prevents Luke from being a bitch, but her upset was understandable -- this is a race for a million dollars and her adrenaline was pumping. Had it all ended at that point, I don't think anyone would have really blamed one team over the other. It didn't end there though, it replayed itself (but with Jen arriving first and Luke pushing her) at the Roadblock.
If I was forced to take sides, and I'm not, I'd say that Margie & Luke were less wrong than Lakisha & Jen. Early on, Margie tried to make the situation better, telling Luke not to play dirty, but Lakisha seemed perfectly happy to push the fight further, and egg Jen on.
It's not that Lakisha & Jen were just being mean, they honestly felt that Luke had wronged them, and I get where that was coming from, I just don't think it was accurate. Things look different in the heat of battle, and a race for a million dollars is certainly the heat of battle.
The ridiculous thing about it all was that a slight push at the clue box wasn't going to make any sort of difference in terms of the race. If Luke had in fact been pushing Jen out of some sort of attempt to get ahead, the action would have been incredibly foolish, but I just don't see Luke acting that way. He's no saint, but I think he's smarter than that.
Tammy & Victor, aided by their speaking Mandarin, led Jen & Lakisha and Margie & Luke through the Detour (which involved calligraphy, the other choice was dancing), but Jen & Lakisha reached the Pit Stop first. They were all running together though, so Phil checked them in at the same time and the fight continued on the mat.
At every turn, Phil tried to diffuse the situation. He tried to put forth the idea -- the right idea -- that it had all been a misunderstanding. Neither of the teams (including Margie) wanted to hear that, and, once Luke said it was his turn to "talk," Lakisha smiled and giggled a little. Margie lost it at that point, there was no more talk of detante from her, she was going to be damned sure that no one laughed at her son's disability.
If Lakisha was actually laughing at Luke, Margie was totally in the right there. Honestly though, I couldn't tell if Lakisha was just laughing to release tension, or because of Luke's disability or for some other reason. She apologized though, so for me, that's good enough.
Jen still owes an apology, as does Luke, and maybe Margie. Will we get one next week? I think Margie might, but I doubt we'll get one from Jen or Luke, it doesn't seem their style, and that's a little sad.
Odds and ends:
- Cara & Jaime did the dancing at the Detour, figuring that they were kind of professionals at dancing. They were horrible at it and couldn't figure out what they were doing wrong... I think not being able to dance had something to do with it.
- Tammy and Victor gave us a great quote tonight, it was said to one of the calligraphers -- "We are foreign born Chinese from America... if we don't win our parents will cry themselves to death."
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - It's okay, I can't dance either.
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I was waiting for Margie to smack the taste out of that ***** Jen's mouth. I deal with *****es like her all the time and I think she was trying to deliberately antagonize Luke. If I were Luke I'd have unleashed the inner Ike Turner on her ***.
It's unbelievable to me that Luke is an actual adult and not a child. He acts like a baby and is continually looking at his Mom to tell him what to do and how to do it. He's obviously been over-protected and it's not doing him any favors. He got so upset with the altercation with the sister team that it really WAS funny. They weren't laughing at his being deaf, they were laughing (or smirking is more like it) at his huge blow-up on the mat.
Does Luke have an actual job, or is he still in school? He just doesn't seem mature enough to hold down a full-time job, spending his days in a cubicle or something. Well, unless the cube has an extra chair for Margie, I guess.
He needs to grow up. Oh, he also didn't do himself any favors when he got into it with that bird. I was expecting him to ask Margie to kiss it and make it all better.
I'm sorry, but Luke started this at the first clue box with the elbow throw. In the slow mo replay, you can clearly see Jen doing her best to pull up and not hit Luke, he threw the elbow anyways. And at the second one, Jen beat him to the box and he did not give her the same consideration by pulling up and not running her over when it became apparent that Jen was in front of him at the box. Margie and Luke's reaction to the whole thing was babyish to me, and maybe a little hyper sensitive.
Let's be real here. If you couldn't hear ANYTHING and someone smashed into from behind you would push back as gut reaction. Luke was clearly reaching into the box when Jen ran into him, so it isn't like she was going to beat him there anyway.
Neither team was completely right, but ***** is about to drown next week so we might as well call that karma as well.
I disagree with Wilsonclan about Luke's behaviour at the 1st cluebox. Think about it. You can't hear - anything. Suddenly you feel someone bumping hard up against you. I don't know about you , but my first instinct would be to put an elbow out to push away whoever was on me. If Jen had taken a moment and not called him a *****, it would have been all over.
I have to support Kisha/Jen as well. Luke clearly threw the first 'bow, and then its not clear what happened at the second one, but I'm pretty sure I saw Luke trip Jen. Also, I thought it was really over the top how much the show reminded us that Luke was deaf tonight. I counted at least three confessionals from them about it, plus at least two conversations show during the race. I think the show knew that Jen was in the right but didn't want to paint the deaf kid as evil, since this season has been all about showing us how much Luke can function even though he's deaf....
The only person who was completely right in this whole incident was Phil. Jen not only caused the incident to escalate through her behavior (if she hadn't called Luke a *****, I think it would have been over at that point), but her refusal to apologize made Margie think she had no choice but to defend her son against what she clearly viewed as an attack. Anyone who's ever been in the wild can tell you that you never mess with an animal's young, which is especially true when the mother sees you do it.
It's anyone's game at this point. However, I don't see Cara and Jamie making it through the next leg. I'm amazed they've made it this far.
It's anyone's game at this point. However, I don't see Cara and Jamie making it through the next leg. I'm amazed they've made it this far.
Luke has acted like a child the entire race, leaving Maggie *literally* p***ing out after carrying him along the way (rickshaw scene). While one may be justified throwing a defensive elbow after an unheard advance, Luke wasn't rushing for fun: he knew who was coming, where she was coming from, and that he was going to get his first, civility be damned.
Later, he seals the case for his immaturity -- memorialized in delicious slow-motion -- when he deliberately pushes a woman against the clue box with such force that both slide across the road. Astoundingly, he whines about both incidents with the social charm of a school-yard bully. It is clear he has never been held accountable for his actions, especially by his mother, who instructed him to play "cleanly" just minutes earlier.
While it is easy to throw stones from afar, Luke has shown the worst of behavioral entitlement, fully-enabled by his over-protective mother. It would be enlightening to know how he spends his daily routine, or who pays his rent.
My favorite part was when Margie let fly, indicting Kisha/Jen for a lifetime of unfair treatment on behalf of Luke. I especially enjoyed her quip that they should understand Luke's difficulties because they were black, as if being racial minority in the US was tantamount to a profound, lifelong disability. Meanwhile, Luke childishly calls Jen the very word that started the rift, giving up any share of the moral high ground he had left. That Kisha/Jen only laughed, and apologized, during this amazes me -- especially when you consider *they* were the ones who were pushed ... twice.
If Luke grows up and sincerely apologies next week -- not Margie, Luke -- perhaps there is hope for the man. I, however, am skeptical.