'The Amazing Race': The Puerto Varas bus debacle

You would think that a leg of "The Amazing Race" which didn't require flights would be focused on the tasks instead of the travel. That isn't what we saw this episode - there were buses that had to be caught and that proved truly perplexing to some.

Our first team to head out, Jordan & Jeff, started off in the middle of the night and, as the teams that would follow them also had to do, needed to get a bus to Santiago so that they could get a different one to Puerto Varas. I'm going to say that Jordan & Jeff's complete inability to communicate in any way with the cab driver who was supposed to take them to the bus station was due to their being tired. I get that they don't speak the language, but they could have tried a bunch of different ways to explain the concept of a bus, they didn't. Their conversation with the cabbie was completely perplexing and I have no idea whatsoever how the cabbie knew where to take them.

Yes, I take the stance that Carol & Brandy had during the first leg about Jordan & Jeff - Team Big Brother simply isn't that bright. Carol & Brandy said they feel differently now, and maybe they have insider knowledge, you know with them being there and all, but maybe they're too close to the situation to actually see what's going on.

Jeff & Jordan may have moments of brilliance, but those moments are tempered by ones of sheer stupidity. Jeff did have the idea that they could probably connect through a different city from Santiago and get to Puerto Varas faster than the other teams who were all waiting hours on end for buses. They were right, and with Brent & Caite going with them and Jet & Cord figuring it out on their own, those three teams had a massive head start on the others.

For a minute there, Team Big Brother looked like geniuses. As it turned out, Brent & Caite and Jordan & Jeff didn't bother to figure out that they had to change bus terminals in order to make their connection. If they had bothered to check on their bus before 6:29 when their bus was leaving at 6:30 they would have had time to make the connection and get to Puerto Varas first. They didn't. Dumb. Completely dumb. They were saved this week because their connecting city was a lot closer to Puerto Varas than Santiago, but it was still dumb.

When teams finally made it to Puerto Varas, they hit the Detour and had to either dress a llama or dress like a bird and take a short flight into some cold water. Dressing a llama definitely seemed like the way to go, especially with it being rainy, and most teams opted for putting clothes on a four-legged animal. That Detour really just relied on picking llamas that looked calm (or herding anxious ones), and didn't require teams to get soaked.

Jet & Cord were still in first place when they hit the Road Block which only required collecting ingredients for a pastry. The hardest part of that was knowing how many eggs are in a baker's dozen. Cord not only knew that but also how to milk a cow and he and Jet were the first team to reach the Pit Stop this week. If Jordan of Jordan & Jeff had to do that task those two would have gone home this week - at least they both knew the task wouldn't be Jordan's strong suit and sent Jeff to get the ingredients.

Jody & Shannon, who ended up on the last bus all by themselves arrived in Puerto Varas last and only got back into the race because Louie & Michael got lost. It actually looked really bad for Louie & Michael for a moment, but the detectives were saved because poor Jody got hit in the head by a cow and lost all the milk she'd collected for the Road Block (she actually got hit twice, but it was the first one that emptied her nearly full cup).

So, it is with sadness that I bid adieu to Jody & Shannon, I didn't dislike you guys at all.

Odds and ends:

• Carol & Brandy's teaming up with Joe & Heidi - I can't say we really know enough about either group at this point to know whether that's a good plan. Those teams did come in second and third though.
• What was up with the slow-motion and the music when Brent & Caite went flying during the Detour?
• Neither Jordan nor Dan can drive stick - one actually had to get out and push the car backwards so they wouldn't have to go into reverse. Awesome.
• "San Jose, H-O-S-E."

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