The Amazing Race
Okay, show, look. Yes, Charla is a little person. This does not actually mean you are obligated to haul another little person out to greet her. In fact, doing so is kind of creepy, like a person who's all "you should date my friend Brian! Because he is very like you! For instance, he, like you, is black!"
(And no points to you for "Charla's going to fall in love," either, Danny-or-Oswald.)
Also: What is it about the Andes? People are forever getting horribly lost down there. I will say, I am kind of enjoying this tour of the industrial sites of the world they've got going here. It's less about the physical beauty of the setting, yeah, but it does give you a sense of actual real-person culture--not "here is the tourist attraction version of our culture!" but the part where people, you know, live there and have real jobs and things. Usually we only get that if it's something that the locals still do charmingly by hand, or whatever.
Rob and Amber: See, the problem with them is that I dislike them for being so smug and full of themselves, but on the other hand, they're really very good at this. So... I'm never sure what to do with that.
I will say, like I said last time around: Rob seems to genuinely like Amber. I mean, they seem to genuinely like each other, and think well of each other, which is nice, but particularly given that Rob is That Guy, I really appreciate the affection and respect that he has for his wife.
Dustin and Kandice: "I guess there's no Detour!" Uh... guys? Guys? Does that... er, does that make sense? 'Cause, like, there's normally... a... oh, never mind, we'll see you on the flip side.
Much as it doesn't seem to have done them any good, I do think that the kind of mini-alliance they had with Teri and Ian in the beginning of the episode is the kind of thing that makes a lot of sense, so it's nice to see it happening without it turning into some whole big multi-episode thing. I also respected their ability to cope with being rejected from the mat in a calm and productive manner, though of course they knew there were, what, five teams behind them at that point, so they probably felt like they had some time to work with.
I was surprised that they were allowed to just go back and get the clue, though. I'd've thought they'd have had to redo the detour or take a penalty or something, but I guess not.
Charla and Mirna: Enough less irritating than last week that I was rooting for David and Mary to get eliminated instead of them! There was less hysteria, I guess. That helped.
I hope that guy didn't lose his job, though.
Oswald and Danny: Oh, dear. I've been attached to these guys, but that kind of physical collapse from Danny this early in the race does not bode well. I mean, I get that the fish task was actually quite physically demanding, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'd have done any better, just that they clearly lost ground on that task and it's a bad sign.
Teri and Ian: How much does Teri rock? Thiiiiiis much. Oh, she was NOT taking any crap from Mirna. Or from class IV rapids. Maybe a little bit from a fish, but. Seriously, how great was her grin when saying that falling out of the boat was exciting?
I understand that Ian was one of the Irritating Bossy Husbands in his first season, but he's been pretty supportive this time around. Who knows? Maybe he learned something. (Or maybe it's all going to go horribly, horribly wrong.)
Eric and Danielle: Complete lack of love. Not only did Danielle pull out every irritating "oh, I am a shrieky girl, and cannot possibly touch a fish!" stereotype in the book. Not only is she willing to be CAPTURED ON CAMERA being all "well, gosh, I'm just a girl, and I'm trying to keep up with a MAN!" Not only did Eric break out the boobs talk, which, wow, I'd kind of hoped we could skip that this time. Not only do they clearly not even LIKE each other very much. But--but!--they're racing well enough that we're likely to be stuck with them for weeks and weeks and weeks.
Sob.
Team Guido: Oh no! Get it together, guys! Especially leaving second--you have to take the couple of seconds it'll take to doublecheck. Maybe they'll have gotten that learning experience out of the way, and they'll get it back together now.
Also, you can stop playing the "we will be UNDERESTIMATED because we are GAY" card any day now, okay? A gay couple has won the race. If there's anything that's going to get you underestimated, it's your age.
David and Mary: See, if you're going to freak out about the fish, at least do it this way. I'm not sorry to see them gone. Hopefully they had a nice vacation in Acapulco.
Uchenna and Joyce: A strong leg for them, and points for being one of only two teams to think of going online to buy tickets. (Funny that the other team to do so was Rob and Amber, from the same season; I wonder if that group used the internet more for ticket-buying than others?) I can't remember--did they have the must-split-the-roadblocks rule in place yet their year?