'Amazing Race': When Karma Decides to Impeach the Bleach
Cardinal Rule of Reality TV: If you do dirt, karma will come back to bite you in the butt. Mind you, karma might not exact its revenge right away. It might wait until, say, the next episode. But when it strikes, its comeuppance is swift, and -- as was the case last night with the Bickering Blondes -- so very sweet.
Karma got Ari & Staella in the very first episode, when they did something antisocial to another team -- we're having trouble remembering exactly what amid all that flying back and forth to hither and yon. Of course, they came in last. In subsequent episodes, other teams exited stage left with tear-inducing good grace -- Kate and Pat, the middle-aged, married lesbian minister couple; Mariana and Julia, the Cubana sisters from Miami; Lorean and Jason, the cute couple with commitment issues. But not everyone can be nice -- they're racing for $1 million, after all -- so it was just a matter of time until someone brought the dysfunction.
Enter the Blondes -- aka Shana and Jennifer -- two bleached bimbettes who whined their way through their tour of Burkina Faso in West Africa, declaring that the locals were scaring them and they feared that they were going to be sold into slavery. By then, I was rooting for their speedy demise, but karma is far more patient than I am. Last week, they unnecessarily U-turned Lorena and Jason. But it wasn't until last night that they got booted off the show, in Lithuania. By then, they'd turned their venom on each other, with the Evil Blonde (Shana) and the Blonde with A Smidge of a Conscience sniping over who was the more methodical one. ("You are so flattering yourself.") Buh-bye
Karma doesn't play. Nicolas, grandson of The Donald, got his in the Air France office when he told the ticket agent to book everyone else on the much later flights to Lithuania. The ticket agent conveniently forgot to speak English and booked Nicolas and his grandfather on the last thing smoking while everyone else got the earlier flights out. ("Karma will get you," one of their teammates said, lest we forget this episode's lesson.)
As challenges went, this week was ho-hum: A trip delivering packages through Vilnius's twisty-turny streets; a scavenger hunt for the Travelocity gnome (way to keep the sponsors happy with product placement!); a choice between stilt-walking or fence-counting amid a Midsummer fair peopled by folks wearing trippy masks, the likes of what you'd see at Burning Man. The Goth dating couple felt at home, though.
The cute, crunchy granola couple, TK and Rachel, finished first this time, keeping brainy brother-and-sister duo Azaria and Hendekea from making a fourpeat. Meanwhile, Nathan and Jennifer, the Couple On the Verge Of an On-Air Breakup, served up some choice reality-TV moments, trying to outdo each other by saying the nastiest things. Nathan won. He called Jennifer the B-word. Karma's gonna get him. Soon. Bet on that.
--Teresa Wiltz
By Teresa Wiltz |
December 3, 2007; 10:22 AM ET
Amazing Race
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Posted by: Leya | December 3, 2007 11:53 AM
Nice Burning Man reference. I noted to myself last night that the Hippies and the Goths were doing well in Lithuania but, other than the "freaks like us" vibe, couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Posted by: VoR | December 3, 2007 02:39 PM
I really hope Nathan and Jennifer stick around a while. They are just so awesomely disfunctional. I absolutely love when they are doing a roadblock and Jennifer is screaming at the top of her lungs as she tries to finish, and Nathan is screaming at her that she needs to hurry up.
Posted by: jw | December 3, 2007 03:09 PM
I was glad to see the blondes go, but there was nothing at all wrong with them using the U-turn. They mistook TK and Rachel for Jason and Lorena, but otherwise, it is perfectly within the rules, and actually good strategy, to U-turn or Yield a team behind you in a leg that clearly was not going to involve air travel (taking that chicken to Lithuania, maybe?).
Posted by: mark | December 5, 2007 12:25 PM
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I enjoyed this episode. I was annoyed with the blondes & I'm glad that they're gone. It looked like they were close to hanging in there but they couldn't count - HA-HA!
Nicolas & his granddad seem like a very weak team. They don't have physical strength and little mental strength. I'm glad that the granddad let Nicolas lead the team so only Nicolas was to blame for their mistakes.
I thought it was really cool seeing that fair. I've never been to anything like that. It seemed like the locals were enjoying themselves.
So far TK & Rachel seem like a very nice couple to root for.
With Nathan & Jennifer I can't tell which one to hate more. Amazing Race wouldn't be the same without a self-destructing couple. I sort of want them to stay for the train wreck entertainment.