THE AMAZING RACE: Gorilla? Gorilla? Gorilla?

It was a bittersweet night for me and THE AMAZING RACE. The episode itself was high energy mixed with a lot of fun as the teams found themselves racing through Phuket, Thailand. But alas my favorite team, Mel & Mike, went home and the wind taken out of my sails a bit. Fear not, my #2 team just got a bump up in my heart and I’ll be recovered in time for next week’s race around the world.

The bad luck for Mel and Mike started when they chose the wrong taxi on their way to grab the first clue.  Armed only with a picture of a mechanical gorilla, their taxi driver assured them that the gorilla could be found on the beach. Despite all the other teams going to Phuket Zoo, Mel & Mike followed the advice of the cabbie and wasted a lot of time going in the wrong direction.

At the zoo, the teams picked up their clue from King Kong before heading off for some up close and personal interaction with the wildlife.  In one the most unintentionally hilarious visuals of the show, each of the teams went a little wide eyed when they saw that the handler for the tiger they had to take a picture with was missing a limb. Oops. After they took their picture it was off to the elephants.  The teams had to lie on the ground while an elephant walked over them, giving one teammate a butt bump with his foot, and squatting, in the most interesting of ways, over the other.

Next the teams were directed to a spice store where a man was guarding 99 different drawers.  In these drawers were the clues. Pick the right one and move on. There was no skill and strategy to this task – just had to pick the right drawer.  Most of the teams moved on with ease while a few got a little caught up.  Cara and Jamie exuded some particularly rude behavior on this leg of the race.  I understand the language barriers can be frustrating, but ladies, you are in THEIR country. There was some yelling at people on the street and then the cab driver, but the screaming at the shop keeper was just way out of line. I hope Cara and Jamie watch this episode and are embarrassed for their behavior.

For one of the teams, all hell broke loose at the Detour. The teams were given the choice to pull a rickshaw two miles or pile up/fill up barrels of water. All the teams with the exception of Kisha/Jen & Mel/Mike went of the rickshaw roll.

Mike and Mark found themselves with a healthy lead, but rather than concentrate on winning they made two major mistakes that could have cost them big time.  First, they tried to sabotage the other contestants by hiding the tire pump for the rickshaws.  That’s a no, no, boys. And then they paid their taxi driver to lead them to the clue…another bad move. I’ve never been a big fan of these two guys.  Despite not doing much to stand out in the race, they’ve been so cocky. Well last night their egos caught up with them and their two mistakes cost them an hour at the finish line…and a trip to Hawaii. Karma’s a bitch.

Here we are this far into the race and this is the first time ever that I remember Luke’s inability to hear playing into the game. Luke chose to pull his mother Margie in the rickshaw, thus being in front of her with his back to her. This left Margie with no way to communicate with her son.  She decided that she needed to be the one pulling him so he could at least get her attention if necessary.  In the end, pulling her grown son and the heat were too much for Margie and she collapsed on the mat. Luke was freaked out. I was freaked out. But Margie is fine.  Go Margie!!

One by one the teams met Phil at the mat.

1. Tammy & Victor (Boooo!!)
2. Cara & Jamie (Booo…for their behavior in Thailand)
3. Michael & Mark (Boooo…for being asshats)
4. Margie & Luke
5. Kisha and Jen
6. Mel and Mike (Boooo…for coming in last).

Yes, my favorite team, Mel & Mike have been eliminated.  They were a great twosome throughout the whole race. These guys were my faves as they truly wanted to take in the experience for what it was.  They didn’t argue or pester each other. They enjoyed the shared experience. I’ll miss them.

With M&M gone, my new number one team is Margie & Luke!!  Margie floors me every week with her strength and fortitude…keep on going Mommy!!

Anyone else sad to see Mel & Mike go?  What about the shannigans of Michael & Mark? How are you ranking your favorites this far into the race?