Amazing Race Recap: "We Should Have Brought Gloves And Butt Pads"

This week’s episode of The Amazing Race was thankfully not prefaced with an exploding oven in our household, as was the case last week. As the teams parted after two weeks in lovely Ghana, they found themselves on the way to the Arctic, where they would encounter sled dogs, an ice hotel, and some awesome GT Snowracer/Snowmobile hybrids.

Would Nick continue his Race Rage, or would Vicki once again produce the Magic Puffer of Calm? Would the Glee singers keep up their trend of serenading cab drivers in every country they travel to? And would Team Jumba be able to overcome the Speed Bump?

My Random Thoughts:

- Mallory screamed at the beginning of the leg when she opened her clue to see they were going to Sweden. Well, let me clarify that…she didn’t actually scream when she found out she was going to Sweden…she screamed at the top of her lungs at simply ripping open the envelope. And I mean a “this is the most exciting moment of my life” sort of scream. Just when I think she can’t get any more animated, something proves me wrong. As I mentioned before, all I see is Cheri Oteri now when I see her. After actually reading the clue, she turned to the heavens once again, screaming “Thank you Jesus! We’re going to ice!"

- Nick showed once again that he may actually be the dumbest man on the planet when he got into his cab…in Ghana…and asked if the cab driver could take them to the Arctic Circle. Is this guy for real?

- Connor and Jonathan said that they thought that Gary and Mallory might have found an earlier flight out of Ghana because they were “smiley.” Have they met Mallory? I have a feeling that there isn’t anything on the planet that doesn’t make her “smiley.”

- I’m so sick of these Speed Bumps. At first, the idea of a task that only that team had to perform was good in principle, but when all you have to do is spend 5 minutes on a Sauna Bus (remember that one?), or 10 minutes in a chair made of ice, it’s just lame. Go back to taking their money, or their clothes, or their backpacks, but this is getting ridiculous. I would rather they not incur any penalty at all, and instead just be saved by the non-elimination leg, instead of a redundant token “task” that makes no difference whatsoever.

- Upon landing in Sweden and seeing that they were in last place in the convoy of cars leaving the airport, Rachel declared that “we are truly the caboose of this train right now.“ That was a pretty appropriate statement considering beach volleyball players are generally known for one thing, and that’s their caboose.

- When you’re racing down a hill on an awkward little Sno-Racing machine, and you happen to go off-course and plow through a snow fence, which you then get tied up in and can’t get yourself free from…let me ask you this question: When the Snow Patrol guy comes up—AS you’re tied up in the fence—and asks you “ Problems?”, are you a) just happy that he’s there, or b) incredibly insulted at how stupid a question that is?

- The music while Connor and Jonathan attempted the Sno-Racing task was pretty entertaining, but not nearly as entertaining as watching the two of them wipe out. I wanted to hear them singing “Faaaaaaace Plaaaaaant!”

- Thomas mentioned in the first few minutes of the episode that he didn’t think it would be smart to use the Express Pass this early in the race. It was obvious foreshadowing that they were going to have to use it later in this leg. I’m glad they chose to use it, I didn’t want to have to be as upset as I get when a contestant on Survivor gets voted out without using their Hidden Immunity Idol.
- Why did Chad carry the giant piece of ice to the Pit Stop for no reason at all? Did he think it was a Travelocity Gnome? Or did he just need to show that he was still a strong, tough man since he wasn’t able to complete the Sno-Racing challenge?

- 4 legs - 4 different winners. I’m liking the parity of this season so far. I’m not a big fan of when one team wins a bunch of legs and then ends up with 4 or 5 prizes.

- I can’t say that I’m disappointed that Team Glee was eliminated. I was getting really sick of the singing, and when they sang on their way up to the mat (and after elimination), I honestly wanted to punch both of them right in their graduating faces.

Next Week: Disgusting Food and Bungee Hijinks.

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As required reading for all Amazing Race fans, I suggest you head over to Josh Wolk’s blog (there is also a link on the sidebar) and read his recap of the episode. He is still the funniest man on the planet, and his recaps are without equal. Also make sure to go to EW.com and read Darren Franich’s recap. He’s a close second to Josh.

Thanks for reading.