The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business post
Flight Time & Big Easy: Well, with the Cowboys gone, I guess I was going to have to find a new team to root against, and it looks like it's going to be these two. I get that Big Easy is all about talking up a game and using that to intimidate or weaken your opponents (see also: Mika and the water slide, Jaime and Cara after the W-Turn), but I thought he went too far tonight in basically accusing Vyxsin of cheating based on what seemed to be no evidence whatsoever. We saw Vyxsin put her mould in the freezer, we saw Flight Time take it out, we saw the lady supervising Vyxsin confirm that it was indeed Vyxsin's mould that Flight Time had, and yet somehow Big Easy is convinced that the reason Flight Time can't find his mould is Vyxsin's fault. Then he decides to compound on this by mocking the way Kent talks - and fair enough, Kent does have some irritating speech patterns, but to my mind, while the interaction with Jaime & Cara in China could've been perceived as friendly trash-talking banter, this just seemed too hostile for my taste. Especially all that stuff about how karma was going to get them - though after this result, I'm guessing he probably thinks he was right. So yeah, at this point, I'm officially off the Team Pees On Buildings train.
Kisha & Jen: I was really hoping they might be able to get a first-place finish in this leg, but sadly 'twas not to be. It's a shame for them that they hit a bunching point after a very successful Detour, because that basically burnt up all of their led and left them scrambling in a four-way tie. Jen did a good job on the Roadblock, and got the biggest laugh of the episode from me and Chris when she told Big Easy to shut the hell up (let's face it, someone needed to), and I still really enjoy their interaction, but I do wonder if they're just cut out to win this - they don't seem to be getting an edit that would reinforce that, and they seem to have some residual navigation issues.
Gary & Mallory: I don't think I'd want these guys rescuing me from an avalanche, considering they snapped their dummy in half. Though considering the same thing happened to Zev & Justin, perhaps the dummies were just awfully flimsy. Anyway, they did well to escape a poor choice of Detour and still make the first train back to Zermatt with the other teams, and Mallory seemed to be on fine form at the Roadblock. I did also enjoy seeing the signs of Mallory's cheery, I-love-everyone personality finally straining when she spotted that Kent & Vyxsin were going to get a penalty and seemed quite cheerful about it. I guess that's as close to a mean streak as she gets.
Zev & Justin: A really bad leg for these guys, almost entirely down to choosing the wrong Detour option - they started in first and finished in last, and seemed to have aged about three years by the time they finished. It looked like a poor operation in general - Zev wasn't doing very much to help out, and whenever he did try Justin yelled at him that he was doing it wrong, so I think they just didn't have a terribly effective approach. While Gary & Mallory had their issues with this task, they did at least seem to have a more functional team dynamic. Zev took his time on the Roadblock but didn't seem too fazed by it, although I was a bit dumbfounded by his "thank you, Captain Obvious" comment to the woman who was supervising him. I hope she wasn't too offended in light of the circumstances.
Kent & Vyxsin: I was so thrilled when they left the Roadblock in first place, thinking they might actually get a first place finish for the first time in their racing career, and then they're eliminated because they didn't read the clue properly. A silly mistake, but sadly all too indicative of their slightly blinkered, ramshackle approach to racing. Vyxsin was fretting that it "didn't feel good" when they were in the taxi, and Kent ignored her fears, so they were both to blame for not doing more to get themselves out of the mess, but I got pretty angry watching Kent attempt to blame Vyxsin for everything while they were waiting out their penalty, because Vyxsin's been pretty much carrying him for about half the race now and it was ungrateful, not to mention rude, of him to sneer at her "negative attitude" (especially seeing as on this occasion it was well-founded). I'll miss them, but I suspect it's the best outcome for their relationship that they're no longer racing together - they seemed almost relieved that it was over in their exit VT. As am I, a little bit. Still, they made it further than I thought they would, and they beat the Cowboys, which as we all know is truly the important thing.
Kisha & Jen: I was really hoping they might be able to get a first-place finish in this leg, but sadly 'twas not to be. It's a shame for them that they hit a bunching point after a very successful Detour, because that basically burnt up all of their led and left them scrambling in a four-way tie. Jen did a good job on the Roadblock, and got the biggest laugh of the episode from me and Chris when she told Big Easy to shut the hell up (let's face it, someone needed to), and I still really enjoy their interaction, but I do wonder if they're just cut out to win this - they don't seem to be getting an edit that would reinforce that, and they seem to have some residual navigation issues.
Gary & Mallory: I don't think I'd want these guys rescuing me from an avalanche, considering they snapped their dummy in half. Though considering the same thing happened to Zev & Justin, perhaps the dummies were just awfully flimsy. Anyway, they did well to escape a poor choice of Detour and still make the first train back to Zermatt with the other teams, and Mallory seemed to be on fine form at the Roadblock. I did also enjoy seeing the signs of Mallory's cheery, I-love-everyone personality finally straining when she spotted that Kent & Vyxsin were going to get a penalty and seemed quite cheerful about it. I guess that's as close to a mean streak as she gets.
Zev & Justin: A really bad leg for these guys, almost entirely down to choosing the wrong Detour option - they started in first and finished in last, and seemed to have aged about three years by the time they finished. It looked like a poor operation in general - Zev wasn't doing very much to help out, and whenever he did try Justin yelled at him that he was doing it wrong, so I think they just didn't have a terribly effective approach. While Gary & Mallory had their issues with this task, they did at least seem to have a more functional team dynamic. Zev took his time on the Roadblock but didn't seem too fazed by it, although I was a bit dumbfounded by his "thank you, Captain Obvious" comment to the woman who was supervising him. I hope she wasn't too offended in light of the circumstances.
Kent & Vyxsin: I was so thrilled when they left the Roadblock in first place, thinking they might actually get a first place finish for the first time in their racing career, and then they're eliminated because they didn't read the clue properly. A silly mistake, but sadly all too indicative of their slightly blinkered, ramshackle approach to racing. Vyxsin was fretting that it "didn't feel good" when they were in the taxi, and Kent ignored her fears, so they were both to blame for not doing more to get themselves out of the mess, but I got pretty angry watching Kent attempt to blame Vyxsin for everything while they were waiting out their penalty, because Vyxsin's been pretty much carrying him for about half the race now and it was ungrateful, not to mention rude, of him to sneer at her "negative attitude" (especially seeing as on this occasion it was well-founded). I'll miss them, but I suspect it's the best outcome for their relationship that they're no longer racing together - they seemed almost relieved that it was over in their exit VT. As am I, a little bit. Still, they made it further than I thought they would, and they beat the Cowboys, which as we all know is truly the important thing.