Amazing Race Week 2: The Blonde Wasn't Quite Dumb Enough

The episode started with what seemed like a death blow to two teams-- little stuntmen Mark and Michael, and flight attendants Christie and Jodi failed to get onto the earlier plane flight, meaning that they would land in Germany about an hour and a half behind the other teams.

In a normal season, this would mean that those two teams would automatically wind up battling for last place, but in this season of can't-do contestants, anything is possible for those who show some gumption.

The Roadblock proved to be a major team reshuffler. The roadblocking members needed to hang glide down a mountain, but strong winds prevented teams from taking off right away. So instead, the roadblockers had a choice: wait out the wind, or make the 60 minute hike back down the mountain. Everyone but Mel, the old activist, decided to hoof it down the mountain. Eventually, the wind died down, and Mel was able to leapfrog most of the other teams (despite his strained groin) and get out of there.

In other news, the backwoodsy Linda missed a directional sign on the way down the mountain, landing her at the back of the pack. She was terrified that this might cause her partner Steve to beat her or something, but he seemed to restrain himself in front of the cameras.

Young asian siblings Tammy and Victor raced through the roadblock and a pie-throwing detour choice to land on the mat first, and it's hard not to see them as the team to beat right now. Their main job is going to be avoiding a catastrophic error that will place them behind their slower competitors.

Margie and her non-hearing son, Luke, proved to be really unlucky at the pie-throwing detour option. Most other teams seemed to find the clue-triggering cherry filled pie within 10 pies or fewer, but they seemed to go through closer to 30 pies, if we're to believe the editing.

In the other detour option, teams had to navigate a Segway over a 2 mile obstacle course, which didn't seem to slow anyone down significantly. Segways look fun.

A simmering tension seems to be brewing between sisters Kisha and Jen. I think we can reasonably expect to see this boil over sometime in the next two weeks.

Leaving the mountain last, Steve and Linda plodded through the rest of the leg. They seemed to expect to lose, and Steve was more interested in reassuring Linda that he wouldn't be too mad at her than in hustling. This left them unable to capitalize on the mistakes of flight attendants Christie and Jodi, who made a really dumb mistake concerning a post-Detour clue. The clue directed them to a tourist attraction that involved two mechanical loggers sawing off a piece of wood. When they asked a local, they got a literal translation of the attraction name, and decided that they just had to find something that involved the cutting of wood.

They wound up figuring things out just minutes before Steve and Linda got the same clue. But Steve and Linda weren't geared up for a foot race, and so the twangy hillbillies were eliminated in second place, to the immense surprise of exactly none of us.

Finishing Order

1st: Tammy and Victor (+1)
2nd: Mel and Mike (+2 = most improved)
3rd: Amanda and Kris (+2 = most improved)
4th: Margie and Luke (-3)
5th: Brad and Victoria (+1)
6th: Jaime and Cara (+1)
7th: Kisha and Jen (+1)
8th: Mark and Michael (-5 = biggest slide)
9th: Christie and Jodi (+1)
10th: Steve and Linda (-1, Eliminated)

The Standings


First, I'll let you know that I changed the number of bonus points for picking the fastest team. As a result, Paul and Mom get a retroactive boost of 9 points apiece. Mom's score also reflects a 125 point penalty for submitting her picks after having seen the first episode.

1st: Kim 980 (+50 +10)
2nd: Dawn 975 (-10 +10)
3rd: Paul 936 (+9 FT adjustment, -10 +10)
4th: Carl: 920 (-10 +10)
5th: Mom 906 (-125 late pick penalty, +9 FT adjustment, +50 +0)
6th: Matt 900 (-10 +0)
6th: Experts 900 (-20 +0)

Kim surged into first, powered by a perfect elimination/FT pick that netted her 60 points. Last week's pool leader, Dawn, is close behind. Interestingly, no one lost more than 10 points on Steve and Linda's elimination, meaning that we all placed them in the bottom 3. Mom also hit the nail right on the head, erasing some of the deficit that she incurred with her penalty. I'm dragging ass in last place, tied only with the "experts," who, you'll recall, are kind of me as well. So, I suck twice.

Good luck, everyone, and please me sure to send me your FT picks for next week!