'The Amazing Race 9' - Ep. 11 -or- "No Money, No Pants, No Mo' MoJo!"

Like deja vu all over again, due to last week's non-elimination leg...

Four teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?

We last left our teams in the Australian Outback with Ray and Yolanda arriving first at the Pit Stop and mandatory rest period. Teams depart twelve hours after their arrival time and I noticed that they're down to mere minutes betwixt first and last. Ray and Yolanda left at 1:13 AM while the last team (BJ/Tyler) left the Pit Stop at 1:22 AM. We're talking 9 minutes difference in a whirlwind race around the globe as we head into the next to last show of the season. At this time, any of the remaining teams could win the million dollars. The teams are toughening up and trying not to make errors. Ah, but we know some errors will be made. I just hope it's not on the part of my personal favorites, Tyler and BJ!

Speaking of BJ and Tyler, they lost all their clothes, money and possessions while being saved by the last leg's non-Philimination. BJ had no shoes, a t-shirt and boxer shorts. Yolanda left her purple running pants on their car and one of the Frats (Jeremy and Eric) left a pair of sandals. Oh, my...BJ looked very silly in Yolanda's pants! The clue the teams received upon leaving the Pit Stops directed them to drive to the airport and catch a plane to Bangkok, Thailand. Once there they had to take a taxi to a bus terminal, then a bus to the Three Spires Pagoda in Lopburi -- the sacred home of tons o' monkeys. The clue told the teams how much money they had for the leg and ended with "one team has no money...and no pants." Heh, poor BJ!

The BJ/Tyler and Monica/Joe rift is still going strong in the leg. As BJ says, "They have a date with not being in the race anymore." Was he right? Just wishful thinking?

At the Darwin Airport, three of the teams got on a flight expected to arrive in Bangkok at 11 PM. BJ and Tyler headed to downtown Darwin to hit up folks for money. Of course, they were successful. These guys have so much spirit and friendliness that I think it's hard to resist giving them something. BJ even flashed his chest at a couple. He finangled new shorts in addition to the money. When they hit the airport, although the other three teams hadn't left yet, the flight was full. They managed to find a flight expected to arrive fifteen minutes earlier than the other and all looked up for the hippies until...

Argh. The flight carrying the three teams arrived forty-five minutes early! Huh? What? How can that happen? Sigh. So, BJ and Tyler were behind once again. Team MoJo got into a taxi that Joe thought was "shady." He was right -- the driver wasn't the best, not at all. Ray/Yolanda and Eric/Jeremy were lucky to get on a midnight bus to Lopburi. Monica and Joe arrived before BJ and Tyler, but didn't get the right information about the next departing bus. It ended up that BJ/Tyler caught a bus leaving an hour before the one they took. Too bad, so sad for MoJo. Heehee!

The Three Spires Pagoda was a hoot with monkeys all over the place! The clue the teams received before the task was directing them to a Fast Forward -- the last of the two in the race. Eric and Jeremy couldn't do it as they already took the first one a few legs back. Both Ray/Yolanda and BJ/Tyler jumped on it. When it turned out to be eating a school's favorite dish of fried crickets and grasshoppers, Yolanda backed out even though she claimed people from the South can eat anything fried. They headed back to the sacred monkeys while BJ and Tyler struggled with huge bowls of crispy critters. Where was MoJo? Way behind, hooray!

After making an intricate feast table for the sacred (and not so well-behaved monkeys) in a Roadblock, the teams' next clue led them to a Detour. Unlike a Roadblock, a Detour is completed by both members of the team. In this one, teams had a choice between two Thai tasks -- Move It or Altar It. In Move It, teams had to carry 72 pots on their shoulders (supposedly) using a board. Once they delivered the pots to the marketplace, they'd receive the next clue. In Altar It, teams had to make a shrine to Buddha complete with gold paint and gold-leafing. Burnt on the last physical task, Jeremy and Eric chose Altar It, as did Yolanda and Ray. For some foolish reason, Monica and Joe went for Move It -- prompting Monica to fuss and whine that it was "the worst thing I ever had to do." Now, she said that about carrying the swordfish a few legs back. She said that about having to catch a crayfish. What's with that girl?

As the teams worked on the Detour, BJ and Tyler finally finished eating their bowls of ick. Er, crickets and grasshoppers. They got their clue directing them to the Pit Stop at the Marble Temple in Bangkok. Briefly changing their "TTOW" chant to "TTHAI," they were first on the mat. Now, they've been lucky in that both times they came in last, they were in non-elimination legs. However, they've both been unlucky in that both times they came in first, there was no really cool prize. No cruises for them! The last time, they won a digital imaging center or something to that effect. This time the prize was dependent on a clue to be brought with them from earlier in the leg. One clue would have a Golden Gnome (Travelocity), the others would have "gnormal" gnomes. Theirs wasn't the Golden Gnome. Ah, well...at least they're in first place. TTOW!

The arrival order of the other teams:
2. Jeremy and Eric
3. Ray and Yolanda - Golden Gnome clue in hand. They won a cruise around the Sidney (Australia) Harbor, a trip to the Barrier Reef and a hotel stay for the evening.
4. Monica and Joe - Philiminated!

I'm so not sorry to see those two go. I'm tired of her crying and fussing. If she thinks everything she's had to do is "the worst thing I've ever done," I'd hate to see her face a real crisis. Joe has his own bad points, but he didn't irk me as much as Monica. So long, MoJo, not sorry to see you go!

Next week is the two-hour finale show. My "hippies" are still in the race! Yay! At this time, I think any of the teams are deserving. All three left are very competive and it should be an exciting finish to the season. That said, this season has certainly redeemed the show from last season's family-safe version. That is a good thing indeed.