I never quite know how to number episodes such as this one - unfinished legs from the previous week. As you recall, the last clue we saw read, "Keep racing, this leg isn't over." But I'll call it episode ten anyway. I like to live dangerously.At the risk of sounding repetitive -Five teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?We last left the teams in Helsinki where they were rappelling face-first down the 236 foot high tower at the Olympic Stadium. Yipes! Most have a fear of heights, and we know from previous episodes that the Cho Brothers, Erwin and Godwin, both are afflicted with that fear. I was on the edge of my seat cheering them on as they struggled down the tower, but they made it!BoyToys James and Tyler had finished the rappel first, followed by Beauty Queens Dustin and Kandice. They only read the beginning of the clue last week. The end was that they had to fly to the capital city of the country where Chernobyl is located. Reading it prompted one of the Beauty Queens to comment, "That's where the atom bomb went off." A nice dunce-like sound effect was edited in. The BoyToys were a bit more on the money with one saying he didn't want to grow a third eye. For me, the problem was trying to remember whether it's in the Ukraine or Russia. It's the former. Make a dunce sound effect at me, please. Ah, but once I realized it was the Ukraine, I knew Kiev! Take away that dunce sound!The teams ended up on two different flights and it was the Beauty Queens and BoyToys arriving first due to a delay for the other teams. As the shots focused on the BoyToys, it finally dawned on me exactly who Tyler reminds me of... Bob Geldof in his younger days, the Boomtown Rats or even as he played Pink in The Wall. That's been bugging me all season.
In Kiev, teams faced a Roadblock, a task only one member of a team can complete. This one was one of the best I've ever seen on the series - "Who's ready to take command?" They got to drive an armored tank through a muddy training course at the Oster Tank School, a military training school. Because they had such a lead, it was Dustin and James competing against each other on the course. Dustin won, girls rule and all that stuff.The pace was already set at this point with the BoyToys and Beauty Queens apparently well in the lead as the clue received at the Roadblock merely told them to go to an apartment in Kiev to pick up their next clue. The ChoBros, 'Bama Moms, and Rob/Kimberly were woefully behind and it was obvious that one of them would finish last this leg, just not which of the three teams.After finishing the tank drive, Rob (who's nice again now) said that Kimberly is "a superhuman creature from outer space." Okay, that's nice. Creature, eh? Well, it's better than when he yells at her.And, while I love them dearly as much as one could love a team on TAR, the ChoBros are royally screwing themselves by waiting for the 'Bama Moms (Lyn and Karlyn) all the time. It's a RACE! Sheesh, Chos, you're real sweeties, but you're in a damn race. No other team would do for you with the exception of David and Mary who were eliminated already.
Rob and Kimberly had car troubles on their way to the apartment building in Kiev, but managed to make it there before the Chos and Moms. The Moms were following the Chos and fussing that they stopped too often for directions and were too indecisive. Yes, they're right. Argh, Chos! I like you so much, but you have to race in a race!The clue at the apartment led them to a Detour, a choice of two tasks, this time dealing with the musical heritage of the country. Gee, I didn't know rap was part of said musical heritage. The choices were Make Music or Find Music. In Make Music, teams had to write and perform a rap song incorporating all the countries through which they've traveled. In Find Music, teams had to go to the National Music Academy, find sheet music for Tchaikovsky's "Concert Fantasy," then find a pianist to play it, and watch the performance.Tyler and James surprised me by going for Find Music while Kandice and Dustin gave a memorable rap. When the other three teams made their lap through, they all wanted to do the rap. Alas, the 'Bama Moms blew off the ChoBros as the guys got lost once again. The alliance is over and, if you ask me, allia
nces do not work on The Amazing Race. So, the Moms did the rap while the ChoBros ended up going for Find Music as it was easier to find than the dive rap club. At least we got to see them wear tuxedos!From the Detour, it was a not-so-much of a race to the Pit Stop, the War Memorial at the Patriotic War Museum in Kiev.The Pit Stop arrival order:- Tyler and James - also won a trip for two to Mexico.
- Dustin and Kandice
- Rob and Kimberly
- Lyn and Karlyn
- Sigh... the ChoBros, last and Philiminated in the dark of night. They had been stopped by the police holding them up more.
Yes, the ChoBros were my favorite team, but I think it's more because they seem like such nice guys. And, we know the saying - "nice guys finish last." Well, they didn't finish last. They beat out many other teams, most more determined to win the race than they themselves were. They're probably very good p
eople, but being good people doesn't fare well when you're in a race for a million dollars. They made a lot of mistakes while being nice. As much as the 'Bama Moms can irk me at times, they were right. The ChoBros were too indecisive and too cautious.
Who am I cheering on now? Well, none of the teams left rock my world. I could go with the Evil Beauty Queens in hopes that a female team will win for the first time. I could go for the 'Bama Moms just for the fact that they're bound to be such unlikely winners as they're out of shape and not well-traveled. I don't know. I'll still watch, of course.
