THE AMAZING RACE: ‘Run, Babushka, Run!’

The non-elimination leg is a crucial part of THE AMAZING RACE. It’s necessary for the show to have a full season, and it adds urgency and drama for the competitors and for the audience.  But sometimes…sometimes, its kind of lame. I’m not being fair, and I know that.  When this particular aspect of the game saves my favorites, such as it did a few weeks ago with Kevin & Michael, I’m all for it.  But this week, when you have a team as seemingly far behind as Nick and Vicki, and they are saved, well…I feel a bit cheated.  This team has made mistake after mistake and have proven themselves one of the most inept twosome in TAR history. It’s not like I hate Nick and Vicki (those dark feelings are reserved for Chad), but they didn’t seem worthy of getting the save. Again, this is me being biased and unfair, but I can’t be the only one feeling this way.  Am I?

The latest installment of TAR brought the teams to Russia. After navigating their way via taxi, they arrived at the first Detour.  Sadly my hopes of the teams having to choose between doing vodka shots and boxing Ivan Drago were dashed when the Detour clue mentioned music and cinema. Lame. Ok, not really.  This was actually a pretty decent Detour.

In ‘Classical Music’ teams had to listen closely to the three musical pieces playing on old gramophones.  They then had to enter a room full of pianists playing various pieces of music. When they found the three pianists playing the three pieces they heard, they were able to move on.  For some reason, almost all the teams thought it was a good strategy to tackle all three songs at once, rather than concentrate on one piece at a time. No wonder it took everyone so long and why everyone, with the exception of Chad and Stephanie quit.

I suppose this is when I should stop and tell you just how much I loathe Chad.  He’s right up there with Jonathan as one of my most hated racers of the entire series. This guy is a big bully with a massive ego. He berates Stephanie constantly and refuses to take any blame or responsibility for the events as they unfold. This is a guy that needs to be right all the time. He verbally beats his partner down, and then creepily kisses her and smiles when the task is said and done. All I can think of is how Chad said during the first episode that he was most likely going to propose to Stephanie during the race. No! Run away, Stephanie!  You are an adorable and sweet pixie of a girl. You can do better. Is this the guy you want to spend the rest of your life with? Please don’t be party to Chad procreating. Think of your future children. Think of society! Run…just run!

Whew. Clearly I had been bottling that up for a while.

Over at the ‘Classical Cinema’ task, teams had to sift through tons of film to find the strand that corresponded to the movie that was being projected on the screen in the room. There was no skill to this task, but patience was a must. I suppose decent eyesight didn’t hurt either.

Upon completing the Detour, teams encountered the Roadblock for this leg.  One person from each team had to dress as a Russian Babushka, retrieve a sack of potatoes and a wheelbarrow full of manure and then proceed to plant 50 potatoes. The real Babushka’s overseeing the task were hilarious and I was sad when the teams had to move on. Perhaps Kevin and his Babushka will become Facebook friends or something. The two really had a connection. None of the teams really struggled with the task, although Mallory had a slightly more nasty time of it after Stephanie purposely pushed the one shovel into the manure. Nasty and childish. Did she really think that was going to hold up Mallory? Come on now.

Jill and Thomas were the third team to arrive at the Roadblock and the first team to see Phil at the mat. Brook (who I’m actually warming up to) and Claire (whom I’ve had to like every since she was pelted with a watermelon) slid into second place. Kevin and Michael were in first place after planting potatoes, but per usual they seemed to lose steam right at the end.  Is it me or do these guys always struggle to find Phil? The came in third. Finishing 4th-6th were Nat & Kat, Stephanie & Chad (ugh) and Mallory & Gary.  As discussed, Vicki & Nick came in last but live to race another day.  That Phil…he’s a nice guy.

This far into the race and there are a few teams I’m rooting for.  Actually, there’s only one team I’m rooting against.  Kevin & Michael and Nat & Kat are my favorite teams, but I’m pretty much ok with anyone, whose name is not Chad, crossing the mat first.

Thoughts on last night’s leg? Which teams are you pulling for? Who would you like to see go home next?

BONUS: If you remember back to the first episode, it was mentioned that Kevin and his Dad were YouTube stars. If you haven’t yet checked out some of their videos, you should. I spent a good hour watching and laughing! (This is one of my favorite vids. Warning! It’s NSFW.) Oh and as an added bonus for TAR fans, Kevin brings us behind-the-scenes during various legs by editing together show footage and talking heads. Great stuff. More from Kevin and Michael at http://www.youtube.com/KevJumba