Amazing Race Season 14: "The Expensive Potty Break"

This was probably the most stressful leg ever for the contestants, and it showed in the form of lots of bad decisions and squabbling team members.

Margie and Luke got on each other's nerves, but not as much as Jaime and Cara. Jaime, who has been definitively identified as the much bitchier one, ripped on Cara throughout the leg, even managing to make the fact that they nearly lost the leg due to Jaime's bad decision Cara's fault.

The challenges were kind of hohum. The Detour had two options: teams had to paint each other's faces in the style of an opera performer, or successfully relay the entree orders of a few diners to the kitchen of a local restaurant. Tammy and Victor got through the translation challenge very quickly (helped once again by their fluency in Mandarin), and they decided to U-turn Jen and Kisha, who then had to complete both tasks.

This was balanced by the fact that Cara and Jaime got hopelessly lost in an attempt to find a cluebox that seemed to be in the same building as the opera house in which they started.

An "eat disgusting things" roadblock asked contestants to chow down on deep-fried starfish, scorpions, and a couple of other bugs. Jen barely got through it ahead of Cara, helped by the fact that she was drinking so much water.

This was a mixed blessing, because it made her choose to go to a port-a-potty on the way to the final elimination point in the race. She chose this even though she had to know that Jaime and Cara were hot on their heels. As a result, they got passed up, and were eliminated.

So THAT's what it feels like to piss away a million dollars.

Finishing Order

At the inter-leg fakeout mat:

1st: Jaime and Cara (+3 = most improved)
2nd: Tammy and Victor
3rd: Margie and Luke
4th: Kisha and Jen (almost certainly)

At the end of the leg:

1st: Tammy and Victor (+1)
2nd: Margie and Luke (+1)
3rd: Jaime and Cara (-2 = biggest slide)
4th: Kisha and Jen (eliminated)

The Standings

Huge point week! Since Kisha and Jen came in last in both halves of the leg, their elimination effectively counts for double what it otherwise would. Similarly, since Tammy and Victor came in first (among those chosen) in both halves of the leg, their FT points are awarded doubly. This resulted in some huge point swings, so hang onto you hat here:


1st: Matt 980 (+100 +0)
2nd: Carl: 874 (-40 +20)
3rd: Paul 860 (+100 +20)
4th: Kim 856 (-60 +20)
5th: Experts 792 (-40 +0)
6th: Dawn 789 (-120 +20)
7th: Mom 676 (-60 +0)

I shot into a clear first place (up from fifth), while Paul went from the cellar up to third. Our gain was the loss of Kim, who went from first place down to fourth. I'd feel a lot better about this if I hadn't picked Tammy and Victor to be eliminated in 10th place. That's just a 100 point anvil waiting to fall on my head.

We are now just a few days away from the finale, so please send me a final set of predictions on how you think the top three teams will fare in the finale. Each correct pick will result in a 75 point bonus, so you can pick up a cool 225 for being right here.

Good luck, everyone!