THE AMAZING RACE Brings Us Phil in His Undies!

Russian brides, snow plows and Phil in his undies – ah, you gotta love THE AMAZING RACE.

The teams were once again traipsing through the Siberian cold on their way to one million dollars.  After spending the night on a train, the seven remaining twosomes encountered a detour which involved plowing a Russian bride.  Wait, that’s not right.  Actually the teams had the option of completing laps behind the wheel of a snow plow OR delivering a Russian bride to her would be groomsmen.  Despite trouble navigating a run down, stick shift car through the treacherous roads of Siberia, most teams complete their respective tasks with ease.

Tonight’s road block really turned the heat up.  One contestant from each team was required to strip down to their unmentionables and run a mile and a half race through the streets of Siberia.  Not an easy task when fully clothed never mind being near naked in 25 degrees. But it did allow us to see Phil dawning his boxer briefs. Not something you’re going to see Seacrest doing on IDOL anytime soon.

Luke and Margie arrived to the mat first and claimed a trip to St. Lucia.  Following in order were Victor & Tammy, Cara & Jamie (I still had to look up their names since I just call them the redheads), Mel & Mike, Michael & Mark, Kisha & Jen and finally, coming in last was Christie & Jodi.

…But the blonde flight attendants were spared by the might non-elimination leg.  The next round is going to be very difficult as Christie & Jodi will have to partake in a speed bump task in addition to completing all the other challenges in that leg of the race.

I’m glad the producers have moved to the speed bump task rather than taking the money away from the non-eliminated team.  I found it bothersome when they were required to beg for money in foreign countries, especially when they were forced to beg in countries less prosperous than ours.  It just felt wrong.  This is a smarter way to do it.

Still loving Luke & Margie. They’ve got some pretty strong team work going on despite the challenges they face. Mike & Mel are still up there at the top of my list too.  They bring a lot of humor to the tasks and I like that.  Growing on me this week were Cara & Jamie.  I like that they are sticking with their allegiance to Luke & Margie – I’m hoping it pays off in the end.  Mark & Michael are ok. I don’t find myself cheering for them or against them.  Same goes for Christie & Jodi.  Despite the fact that they are orange (clearly they get their self tanning tips from Lindsay Lohan), I don’t hate them.  That distinction lies with Victor and Tammy.  Ugh, Victor continues to be annoying and selfish.  And that voice?! And since Tammy sees no problem with her obviously annoying brother, I’m not cool with her either.

Next week on THE AMAZING RACE…

Luke gets emotional over the poverty in India.  Ugh, these are they eps that always get to me.  I love that the show brings us the viewers into countries and cultures that we might never otherwise see.  They always do it respectfully, but it’s often difficult to see firsthand how others live.  Then again, when we are all griping about our economy, it might not be the worst thing to see how people with next to nothing find contentment in their own lives.

Thoughts on tonight’s leg of the race? How are your favorites teams doing so far?