Ten teams are left. Who will be eliminated next?
We last left the teams atop the Great Wall of China, and two teams were Philiminated in the season premiere. Both Bilal and Sa'eed and Vipul and Arti bit the dust, but the race goes on.
Since Tyler and James had been the first to arrive at the Pit Stop, they were the first to leave. The clue they received directed them to travel 963 miles by bus and train to Outer Mongolia. Now, that sounds cool, eh?
We encountered the first quasi-bunching-point of the season as the teams arrived to the bus station. They were split up in two buses, one departing two hours earlier than the other. Five teams on each bus, the first held the teams of Tyler/James, Duke/Lauren, Sarah/Peter, Dustin/Kandice, and Rob/Kimberly. The second group bonded while awaiting for their 2 AM departure. Then it was off for the Erlian Train Station in Inner Mongolia. The train will take them to their destination.
How are the teams getting on with each other? Well, while the "slower" group is bonding some and generally having fun on the race, Tyler and James spied on "the blondies" - Dustin and Kandice. They don't trust them. Hey, guys, it's a race. Everyone is trying to win. They're allowed to make a cell phone call and try to get information for themselves. Sheesh.
Now, this week, Peter did it again. Last week I was a bit miffed with his claim that they were "going to play the Disability Card" and now this week he said, "It's good to have a physical disability. We're going to use that to our advantage." Keep in mind, it's Peter... not Sarah, the one with the disability. I'm not liking what I see here. While Sarah is an incredible athlete, disability or not, I don't like this relationship. The more I see of Peter, the more I think he's using her for his own purposes. He's starting to creep me out. Yeah, she's whiney at times, but he's devious. Dump him, Sarah!
And, if I have to hear the rehab, life is so hard, it's a new life, we're sober, blah-blah-blah from James and Tyler again so much during a one-hour show, I'll...I'll... um... I'll say bad things about their hair! So there.
The taxi rides that the teams took once they hit Ulaanbaater were wild! It makes the slow cabs of past experiences horses of a different color. They collected their clues in a temple which grouped them a bit as they could only go in every ten minutes.
The clue directed them to some deathtrap Russian Jeeps which they had to drive to Terlej. Then they had to ride horses (while wearing spiffy Mongolian hats) two and a half miles to receive the next clue.
Surprisingly, David and
Off to the horses! Sarah changed for a prosthesis with an actual foot in case she had to use stirrups. Peter barely waited for her to do it. (Picture a sneer as I typed that. Did I mention the guy is creeping me out?) Kimberly is afraid of horses and asked, "Do you think they can smell fear?" Apparently, they can. She promptly got dumped while another racer (either Dustin or Kandice?) got dragged. A horse is a horse, of course. And, horses in Mongolia must smell fear. Leave it to the ChoBros to actually call out, "Rawhide!" I can't help but like those two. I hope their racing seriously improves, though.
After the horse ride, the teams were faced with a Detour. Their choices were Take It Down or Fill It Up. In Take It Down, the teams had to dismantle a traditional Mongolian nomadic camp, tie it according to specifications, and load it on a waiting camel. In Fill It Up, the teams had to guide an ox cart to the river, fill up buckets of water, bring them back and fill up a larger container to the specification of a Mongolian guide.
The knots involved in the Take It Down task presented problems for the teams choosing that one, while some of the oxen had minds of their own for the other task. Peter and Sarah first chose the Take It Down task, then flipped to the Fill It Up, got an ox with "fire in its eyes" (according to Peter) and flipped back. Sarah fussed that she didn't want to quit the first attempt and Peter did pretty much what he wanted to do. (Dump him, Sarah!) Kimberly and Rob bickered and he too barked out instructions. Dump him, Kimberly.
Although Team Barbie (Dustin and Kandice) finished their ox task first, they lost one of the Mongolian hats and had to go back to search for it. The teams had to ride the horses back to their Jeeps and had to have the spiffy hats. Mary and David gave Karlyn and Lyn their excess water they hauled in a nice gesture. They may be backwoods, but they seem genuinely nice folks.
As the teams took off for the next clue once they hit the Jeeps, a few wouldn't start. Both Lyn/Karlyn and Jamie/Kellie were stranded with dead batteries. (Others had issues, too. The ChoBros got stuck on the road and pushed to start theirs). The situation with the girls led to one of the most suggestive, yet totally innocent lines of the night - "He's got a long rod." Hey! It was a crank! The Russian Jeeps can be crank-started like a wind-up toy. Yes, I confess to a gutter-mind. But it was funny.
Once they hit the road, the next stop was a Roadblock. It was a tough one, too. One member oif each team had to shoot a flaming arrow 160 feet to light a target which was flat on the ground. Some teams did very well, but the last team to arrive worked into the darkness of night making the attempt, then finally gave up. They couldn't even see the target.
Here's the arrival order at the Hotel Mongolia, the Pit Stop for this leg of the race:
1. Peter/Sarah - Also won a trip for two to Mexico for first place.
2. Tyler/James
3. Duke/Lauren
4. Tom/Terry
5. Dustin/Kandice
6. Rob/Kimberly
7. David/Mary
8. Erwin/Godwin
9. Lyn/Karlyn
10. Kellie/Jamie - Philiminated.
At a confessional not on the mat, Sarah said she's noted some problems with Peter. Dump him, girl! He's using you!
And, that was the show. I sort of liked Kellie and Jamie and, though I hate to admit it, I'm liking Kandice and Dustin more. I'm usually the anti-beauty queen/model show watcher. Don't fear I've totally changed my ways. I still don't like James and Tyler. I wish they weren't such strong competitors.
I'd like to see Rob and Kimberly and Peter gone. Sarah can stay, maybe hook up with the ChoBros... or something.