Watching Reality TV

It’s been a while since we had an episode to watch! If you need to catch up, go check this post right here.

We’re finally back to “Amazing Race”! I don’t know about you, but even with the “Survivor” finale last week, I still missed my “AR”. I must say, it’s good to see Phil’s face (when isn’t it??). A&H got screwed last episode, who will be screwed this time? I can’t believe there are only five teams left! This season is drawing to a close very rapidly. Thank goodness for the new shows starting up in January, or I would be totally high and dry here. Anyhow, tonight the teams are departing from the Stone Cross Overlook in Dubrovnik, Croatia which is amazingly gorgeous. They learn they are heading to Ancona, Italy, with Ron and Christina in the lead. Basically, it’s not as simple as just driving to the airport. It involves cab, bus, and ferry. Whew! Kynt and Vyksin are very excited to be going to Italy (though they do refer to themselves as the “Pink and Black Attack” and that’s pretty sad). Of course, there’s your usual bunching at the bus station. But the first three teams are the only ones to make the first bus, as the other teams are significantly behind them. TK and Rachel make the second bus though, which is nice because I enjoy them. Nick and Don leave last and get the last bus. On the ferry, Kynt and Vyksin touch up their makeup. You know, cuz that’s important. The teams finally make it to Ancona and they all seem to be together so I guess they got bunched on the ferry.

Now they most drive to Empoli to find the next clue. They also get a Blackberry, on which they’ll be getting a message and they can’t use it for anything else. BOO! Everyone struggles to find the way there, a problem compounded by the dark. Some use maps, some ask locals to help out. And they all seem to get pretty different directions (I would trust the ones that say Bologna and Florence instead of the route through Rome, but what do I know?). TK and Rachel misplaced their clue. Gah. They search the car and can’t find it. They have to go back to where they stopped for directions to look for it. Double Gah.

Nathan and Jennifer continue on to Rome, mentioning they haven’t seen any other teams. TK and Rachel get their clue, thank goodness! Everyone gets their Blackberry messages, which is a note from their families sending encouragement and love. Aww. Very sweet. Everyone feels bolstered. All the teams going through Bologna get stopped in major traffic. The road? Is closed. GAH! Turns out, going through Rome was the right thing to do. Luckily, TK and Rachel also go through Rome so they’re on Nathan and Jennifer’s heels. Speaking of whom, they arrive Empoli first and have to take a number (it opens at 7am) and are surprised to find they’re the first team there. TK and Rachel arrive as the sun comes up. The other teams are just now making it through Florence. Vyksin gets lost. N&J and TK&R arrive at the clue box and find it’s a Roadblock. One team member must go up in a tiny plane and look for the word for their next destination spelled out below them. They have 30 minutes to find it before landing for fuel. When they land, they tell the pilot the word they found in order to get the next clue. There is a Fast Forward, but the teams don’t realize until they get there that they will need to get a tattoo in order to get the Fast Forward. N&J and TK&R both decide to forgo the FF. Okay, to call this an airplane is pretty much a laugh. It’s basically a motorized glider. While Nathan and TK are up in the air, the other teams arrive. Nick and Don decide to go for the Fast Forward. Everyone is appalled by how Ron yells at Christina. Vyksin is in tears from driving around and Kynt takes the wheel though he’s not very good with a stick shift. Nathan spots the word and he lands and tells his pilot it was “Vinci”. They get the clue and move on. They need to find the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci to get their next clue. TK still can’t find his word so he has to land and then go up again. Nick and Don arrive at the studio to find out about the tattoo thing. Don is very reluctant to go through with it. It’d totally go for it.

Don finally agrees to go through with it and they both get inked up. Nathan and Jennifer stop for directions on their way to Vinci, so far far in the lead. Christina spots her word while TK is still at a loss. Nathan and Jennifer finally find their clue box. Christina and Ron move ahead to Vinci. The Goths are still looking for Empoli. Don and Nick finish their tattoos and move on to the pit stop which is in Boboli Gardens in Florence. N&J get a Detour. They have to chose between Invention and Tradition. The former involves assembling a crane and using a mirror to read a clue. In the latter, they have to learn a flag routine. They chose the flags. TK has to go up for a third time. The Goths finally catch up and TK and Rachel are nervous. Nick and Don arrive at the gardens in first place, a little sore but winners of a trip for 2 for a 5 nights to Cancun, Mexico. Nice! I’d love that trip. Vyksin finds her word. Nathan and Jennifer fail to do the flags on the first try. They complete it on the second try though and get to move on to the pit stop. Ron and Chris arrive and chose to do the flags as well. TK FINALLY spots his word and he and Rachel get to move on to Vinci. Ron and Chris complete the flag routine and move on to Florence. The Goths choose to do Invention, unlike everyone else. TK and Rachel also choose to do Invention. The Goths fight in the car, so obviously I’m confused about who is doing what here.

Vyksin accuses Kynt of breaking their car, but it is broken. Vyksin is worried about repairing it but the “AR” people will replace it so they shouldn’t sweat. They decide to run to the Detour which they should have done all along. Ron and Chris arrive at the pit stop in third place, very gratefully. TK and Rachel get their destination from the Invention task and hurry on to the pit stop. The Goths complete the flag routine (so they didn’t chose Invention. I lied) and hurry on to the pit stop. TK and Rachel have a flat, but change it quickly. So it’s a race to the finish. After suffering so much bad luck, TK and Rachel make it to the pit stop in fourth place. They are literally floored. Unfortunately, this means the Goths are in last place. However, they get good news that it is an non-elimination leg. They’re still in it! The bad news is that the next leg will have a “Speed Bump”. It’s a task that only they will have to complete while the other teams move on. That’s awesome. They know they made mistakes today, and that they didn’t enjoy each other like they should. They resolve to try harder in the next leg. You go, Goths!

It’s time for the finale! First, if you want to see what happened on last week’s show, check out this post right here.

9:00pm- Is it just me or is Allison REALLY excited about this finale? We are treated to a recap of the season and promises of some startling transformations awaiting us during the two hour episode. Between this and “Survivor:China”, I feel like I’m going to have carpal tunnel before the week it out. We can almost hear the recap voice-over over the din of cheering from the audience whenever one of their favorite contestants comes on screen. Oh, and it’s safe to say that everyone loves Jillian. WHY did they get rid of her last season? Anyone know? I can’t wait to see some of these people who were eliminated early on now. Gee, now I’m all excited too. I guess I can understand where Allison is at. We are then treated to a look at the eliminated players and it’s about as awesome as you’d expect it would be. God, everyone looks FANTASTIC. Well, maybe not Amber. Girl, you fell off the wagon, didn’t you? Anyhow, then Allison turns into a huge old tease and tells us we’ll see the rest of them later. BOO!

9:11pm- Later is now! We get to see the other half of the eliminated contestants and again… they look GOOD. Amy is just stunning. It’s a hottie contest between her and Kae. I’m just floored. A lot of these people look like they were never overweight. Allison asks them some questions about their experiences since being voted out and about controversies that came up during the show. You know, the predictable stuff. And then, of course, we get to see footage of each of the final four contestants arriving home. These homecoming videos are always awesome, especially when they arrive home as “champions” rather than “losers”. Though, everyone who was on this show was a champion, if they took proper advantage of it. Anyhow, it’s wonderful to watch. And Julie’s son is just adorable. Bill’s video gets huge applause, he has some serious audience out there. After the videos, we get the obligatory pimp for the next season. Which, can I just say, I’m so excited we’re getting another season again so soon (January!) and that it’s couples? PERFECT. I can’t wait.

9:28pm- We’re back and yet again, Allison is being drowned out by the crowd. We get to see the three trainers come out and I just love how they’re still showing their colors. Ha! I don’t know what I’d think if Kim wore blue. After much hugs, the contestants return to the scale in order of the elimination. Amber is up first and it wouldn’t appear that she lost much weight but she really has. She just didn’t lose it all. She started at 295 and she now weights 211 so she lost 84 pounds. That’s a 28.47% loss. Lezlye started out at 255 pounds and she now weighs 200 and she lost 55 pounds. That’s a 21.57% loss. Jerry hits the scale next and he started out at 297 and he now weighs 187 so he lost 110 pounds! That’s a 37.04% loss. Patty goes up (I miss Patty!) and she started out at 280 and she now weighs 216, that’s 64 pounds. And a 22.86% loss. Not too shabby!

9:39pm- The winner of the eliminated contestant weigh-off will win $100,000! Nice! Jim goes up and he’s an interesting story since his twin is in the final four. He started out at 361 pounds he now weighs 175 meaning he lost 186 pounds. HOLY $#!&! That’s a 51.52% loss. Phil goes up and he looks amazing. He started out at 403 pounds and he now weighs 258 pounds, so he lost 145 pounds. That’s a 35.98% loss. Jez goes up, enormous audience favorite, and he started out at 345 and he now weighs 195 and that’s a 150 pound loss! That equates to 43.48%. David is up and he started out at 368 and is now 228 and that’s a loss of 140. A 38.04% loss. Dang. These people have lost a LOT of weight. I’m still freaking out over Jim.

9:50pm- Wow, almost half over. I do wonder how we’ll fill up the last hour. Ryan hits the scales next and he started out weighing 374 and he now weighs 241 and he lost 133 pounds. That’s a 35.56% loss. Amy goes up and she started out weighing 297 and she now weighs 171 so she lost 126 pounds. That’s a 42.42% loss. Dang. Kae goes up and she blows my mind. She started out at 225 and now weighs 128 pounds for a total loss of 97 pounds. That is a 43.11% loss. Bryan hits the scales (B!) and he started out at 346 and he now weighs 224 so he lost 122 pounds. That is a 35.24% loss. Don’t you think he looks a lot like Wayne Brady now? I do.

10:02pm- Two more players left to weigh in! Jim is sitting pretty. Nicole goes up to the scale next and she started out at 279 and she now weighs 174 so she lost 105 pounds. That is a 37.64% loss. Last to go is Neil and he started out at 421 pounds and now weighs 210 pounds. That is a 211 loss and 50.12% loss. Jim NARROWLY beat him out, that’s an enormous amount of weight to lose! So he is the proud winner of the $100,000 prize! Go Jim!

Now we see Bill since he’s been home. He talks about his struggles since leaving campus and about working out with his brother. We also see Isabeau and she says it’s never “easy” to work out and lose weight. It’s like getting over an addiction. Looks like she’s working out HARD. Julie is working hard too. She’s having a hard time balancing being a mom and working out. Hollie talks about having to push herself every moment. She moved back to L.A. and worries about not being able to keep the weight off. She doesn’t want to lose focus. She worries she’ll disappoint people at the finale. Aww. She gets frustrated easily and she’s lonely. She wants it all. After the break? We’ll see the final four as they are today. Awesome!

10:14pm- We get some more footage of the final four working out. Isabeau loves Subway. Julie is learning how to cook healthy using products she learned about on the show. Jim is counting down the days on the calendar. Hollie is at the gym. They all worry about the other three contestants and that motivates them all to work harder. Bill is confident he’ll win. Julie wants it so bad. Isabeau wants to triumph. They’re all just short of killing themselves here. Allison promises we’ll see the final four when we come back from break. I’m starting to doubt her here.

10:20pm- I’m fading here. But we finally get to lay eyes on the final four. First up is Julie and she is adorable. Apparently she’s speaking in front of Congress next month about nutrition and that’s amazing. Next, we’ve got Hollie and she is STUNNING as I always knew she would be. Though I rather wish she’d left her hair long. Still, she looks awesome. Isabeau hits the stage next and I’m just flabbergasted. Look at the cleavage! LOL! She talks about how she has become a personal trainer. How cool! The last (and maybe least) is Bill and of course he is amazing. He and his brother, I tell ya. He is wearing a necklace and that’s just not right. He talks about a friend his age who died and he knew he had to get healthy, to make a change. He sure did! So there they are. Dayum.

10:32pm- The final four are in their “weigh-in outfits” and they chat with Allison a bit. We get to see the twins side by side and it’s hilarious. Julie is nervous about Bill, doesn’t know if she can beat him. Julie is just TINY. It’s nice to see that the four of them actually genuinely enjoy each other. Bill, since he was the last “Biggest Loser” on campus, he gets to decide the order they will weigh in. So he chose to go in age order, from youngest to oldest. He wants to go last, basically. Of course! We get a montage of the final four’s weigh ins and journey through the show. Aww. Isabeau hits the scale first and she started out weighing 298 pounds. Today, she weighs 185 pounds and has lost 113 pounds. That is a 37.92% loss. Good job, Isabeau!

10:41pm- Getting down to the wire. We get yet another sneak peek of the next “Biggest Loser”, staring January 1st. As if we could forget. I love that it’s couples. Have I said that already? Hollie goes up and I still think she looks fabulous. She started out at 255 and she now weighs 150 so she lost 105 pounds. Wow! That’s 41.18% and not bad at all. Julie is up next and after a brief montage, hits the scales. She started out weighing 218 pounds and she now weighs 121 pounds. She lost 97 pounds and that is an amazing 44.50% loss. Only Bill is next and which will win? Gee, let me guess.

10:53pm- We’re here!  The end!  Finite!  (Good thing, cuz I’m dying for sleep here)  At long last, Bill is up.  We see his montage and then he hits the scale.  He started out weighing 334 pounds now he weighs…  170 pounds!  He lost 164 pounds and he is the WINNER!  That is a 49.10% loss.  I doubt anyone is surprised.  I’m sure not.  WOW, that’s an incredible amount of weight lost.  Awesome.

So that’s it, people.  Join me back here January 1st to talk about the next season!

If you’d like to catch up on what happened on Thursday’s show, check out this post. If you want to look back at the entire last season, check here.

So here we are! Wow, I can’t believe it’s finale time already! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was marveling over the gorgeous China locale and getting confused over who everyone was. Ahh, good times. Good times. But now? We’re down to the finale four; Denise, Courtney, Amanda and Todd. Who will be the ultimate Survivor? In two hours time, we will know!

8:00pm- We start off with your typical recap, watching clips of the Survivors first coming to China, getting divided into tribes and struggling out in the wilds. Except, not so much for the red tribe (have I already forgot the names??). The recap is, as always, unnecessarily revealing. But, it is nice to see some of the moments relived because I had forgotten some of these. And I’m reminded of how awesome it was when James didn’t use his immunity idols to save himself. That goes in the books, ya’ll. That was fabulous. Amanda’s idea, too! So yeah, if you hadn’t been watching this season, you should be well caught up by now. And I just lost six minutes of my life that I’ll NEVER get back.

8:11pm- Everyone returns to camp from Tribal Council, congratulating themselves for making the final four JUST LIKE THEY PLANNED. I pretty much only like Denise at this point, but I realize that it’s unlikely that she’ll come close to winning this thing too. The next morning, everyone wakes up and Denise starts feeling worried about her future. Treemail arrives and they’re unsure whether it’s reward, immunity or what. Sounds like reward to me. The challenge features a miniature Great Wall and the castaways must finish an obstacle course of sorts that is rife with puzzles. Ooho, the one puzzle it’s TOTALLY Tetris! The prize is comfort food (pizza, brownies, beer, soda) that brings Amanda to tears. The food, of course, will also offer strength for the immunity challenge so there’s that as well. While watching, I’m amazed at how little clothes some of these gals end up wearing. Courtney and Amanda, I’m looking at you. Even Denise is quite a bit skimpier than she started out. And Amanda wins! I’m glad, because she sure wanted that food. Jeff then gives her the choice of keeping the food for herself or sharing it with one or two other people. It’s all up to her. She ultimately decides to share with Todd. Denise looks like she understands, Courtney just looks dejected.

8:26pm- Todd is incredibly appreciative of Amanda taking him along. She wanted to talk to him and pick his brain a little. Mostly because she doesn’t trust him. And then she makes the massive mistake of TELLING HIM she doesn’t trust him. Which of course makes him immediately paranoid. And a paranoid Todd is a shifty Todd. Gah. Back at camp, Denise strips down to her skivvies to swim in the water and she has lost a lot of weight, looking quite a bit saggy. She reflects on not ever being popular. She is feeling mighty vulnerable. Courtney asks Denise who she wants to vote off. Denise answers “Todd” with NO hesitation. Having returned to camp, Todd is still feeling paranoid. He calls them all “his girls” which kinda skeeves me out some. He admits to being worried about “girl power”. Can I say “Gah” again or is it too soon? Courtney correctly calls Todd a “slippery little sucker”. Courtney goes to Amanda and tells her that Todd is confiding in Denise and how he’s being so shifty right now. Todd is getting a little “big brother” and not liking seeing people go off and talk together. Dude, decaf. He tells the camera he hates being paranoid. Coulda fooled me.

8:37pm- More treemail! This is the “remembering the past tribe members” schtick that we go through each finale. And it’s pretty much as tedious as it every time they do this. Everyone has to pretend like they are happy these people were voted out when you KNOW they aren’t because, dude, now they’re in the finale four! How can you be sad about that? They end up with Jeff Probst and go right into the finale immunity challenge. Wee!

8:51pm- The challenge is pretty much an exercise in concentration and focus. Sort of like endurance, but with the added bonus of potential broken china. They have to balance a stack of plates on the end of a stick. One by one, they add to the stack. Everyone does a pretty good job of holding their cool. But the day is hot and the stack of plates is getting heavier. And more precarious. Todd has the most difficult time holding it steady and drops his stack first and is out of the challenge. Courtney wobbles a touch, but holds it together. Barely. And then her stack falls and she’s out as well. Denise is more wobbly than Amanda, I think and will be out next. Denise tries to interest Amanda in a deal but she won’t have it. And there goes Denise. Amanda wins immunity and has a guaranteed spot in the final tribal council. Nice! Who will be voted out tonight? Like it’s even a question at this point.

9:02pm- Amanda is feeling the pressure of her win, because so much rides on her shoulders. Denise feels pressure and thinks she might be able to sway Amanda. However, she is upsettingly vague. Denise tries to play to her sympathies, pointing out that she has to go back to her minimum wage job and she could really use the shot. And that’s something no one wants to be against in the final tribal council. Todd wants to vote out Denise. Courtney is for it and Amanda seems to be for it as well. They decide they’ll just brush Denise off which of course will signal Denise that she’s going. Gah. Not very dignified at ALL. Todd continues being paranoid. It’s not very becoming on him. Courtney makes some APPALLING comments about how “this isn’t welfare” and that Denise doesn’t deserve the chance just because she “sucks at life”. I’m still trying to pick my jaw up off the ground. WHO makes a comment like that? Who would say such a stupid, ignorant, and small-minded thing? Oh, Courtney. Courtney, Courtney, Courtney. Anyhow. I think Amanda is damned if she do, damned if she don’t. I don’t think she could win against Denise and I don’t think she could win against Todd. So her decision is probably more moot than they’re making it out to be. Amanda assures Denise she won’t write her name down, but Denise isn’t comforted. Gee, I wonder why? The tribal council begins and the jury files in. Jeff grills the castaways and the answers are pretty stock. The jury looks annoyed, as usual with the majority of the answers. Amanda backs right out of her “deal” with Denise when she brings it up. But not before Todd catches it and Jeff points it out. Amanda looks decidedly worried. WHY? She has the idol! Gah. This is a sham. Denise knows it, as she goes up to vote. Everyone else votes in kind and Jeff does his tally thing. And, with no surprise whatsoever, it is Denise. She is gone like there’s no tomorrow. Gah. Well, I knew it was coming. Amanda at least has the decency to look sorry as she hugs Denise. I just wish Amanda could have grown a backbone there. Either tell Denise she wasn’t voting for her and mean it (and back it up in front of Todd) or admit to her she’s voting her out. She did neither and she suffers in my view because of that. So yeah. I’m actually thinking I’m rooting for Todd now. Scary.

9:23pm- Back at camp, Amanda is WAY on the defensive. She feels horrible and she should. She thinks Todd made her look bad in front of the jury when she made herself look bad. I think she knows she screwed over Denise and that’s why she’s freaking out about it. So yeah, her stock is plummeting here, people. Todd is confused over Amanda’s reaction. Of course he is, because she’s wrestling her own little demons there. Dawn on day 39 and everyone awakes feeling groggy and less happy than they should. Well, at least Amanda does. They find their final feast and the girls lose their beans over it. It’s complete with pancake batter and bacon and everything else. Oooh, mimosas. Courtney reflects that she should get some respect for having made it this far. My answer? No. Not likely. They make the customary bonfire of remaining belongings and supplies. It’s a cathartic exercise and blah blah blah fishcakes. Just like that, the day is over. They are back at tribal council. This time, for the last time. This time, to get yelled at by the jury. Always fun! But first, they have to stand up and make a speech about why they deserve to win the game.

Amanda tells the jury she feels blessed to be in the final three. It’s been a hard 39 days. She followed her strategy from the beginning, by aligning with Todd. But she is not proud of some of the things she did. Like voting out people she promised she wouldn’t vote out. JR, James and Frosti. NO mention of Denise.

Todd lays it all out there. He knows he was a jerk to a lot of people, but he played a smart game and he hopes they take that into consideration. PG looks bored during his speech and won’t even make eye-contact. He thanks them for the experience.

Courtney admits to not knowing a thing about what she was doing from the beginning because she wasn’t a big “Survivor” fan. Is that a good thing? She points out that she won an immunity (gah) and she’s very proud of herself. Then she says, “you have to give me a little credit.” Uh, no they don’t.

9:39pm- James goes first and promises he’s not going to be bitter. He asks Courtney what her favorite moment was. She says it was when they won the first immunity challenge. JR goes up next and says he has a problem. He has never made it a secret that he doesn’t want Courtney to win. And he promised Amanda and Todd that if they backstabbed him, they would not get his vote. So he asks Courtney what she did to deserve it. Her answer: she won an immunity. Gah. As for Amanda, she promised not to write his name down and then she did, so what was up with that? Her answer: she didn’t want to vote for him, but everyone else did. GAH. And then basically JR goes off as being a “bitter Betty” (thanks, James) on Todd. So Todd explains why he wanted to vote out JR and it was because he was a huge strategic threat. The jury cracks up because Todd’s answer totally shut up JR and that has never happened before.

PG is up and she asks Todd to prove he didn’t just “slide” into the final three. So Todd gives examples of how he worked hard. She accuses Amanda of looking at her with doe eyes. Which she is (can I slap her?). What did she do that was better than Todd? She answers that she was a better physical competitor and she puts herself up as the orchestrator of James’ ouster. Oy. That’s not happy. Erik goes up (hey, he shaved!) and asked what everyone’s biggest risk was. Milking it again, Amanda says putting up James. Erik doesn’t think it was risky, but rather a no-brainer. Frosti goes up and grills Todd on lying so much. Todd apologizes. And then he lays into Courtney. I mean, LAYS INTO HER. And it’s awesome. He felt close to her and then she lied to him so he was surprised. She tries to wheedle her way out of it and I’m not buying it. Neither is Frosti. Jaime goes up and asks them what dirty laundry they have about the other players. Courtney admits that Todd’s dirty laundry is redundant because he’s laid it out for everyone to see. She pressures Courtney to give a reason NOT to give Todd a vote. Courtney can’t give her one, so she moves on to Todd. Todd has no problem airing Courtney’s dirty laundry. He tells Jaime that he deserves it more because Courtney didn’t want to be here in the first place. Ouch! Amanda says she thinks Courtney is ungrateful (yes, she is) and didn’t put her heart into anything (no, she didn’t). And Todd, if he was such a great player, why didn’t he play people better than lying to them? Todd says he deserves it more because he did her dirty work. Amen. I’m a believer.

Denise has the floor. She pulls a pretty good guilt trip on them. She calls Amanda out on lying to her, JR, James and Frosti. Todd is so deceptive, you never know when he’s telling you the truth. She finds his conscience to be alarming. Courtney, she finds her very honest and open and she respects that. Yow. Sounds like she’s rooting for Courtney (which she wouldn’t if she knew Courtney said she “sucks at life”). Up next? Votes!

9:59pm- Is this show over YET??  Good grief.  Everyone goes up to vote.  We only see a few, enough to know Jaime votes for Todd, Erik votes for Amanda, and Denise votes for Courtney.  Gah.  Several people look like they have a hard time deciding.  I hear ya, buddies.   Jeff retrieves the votes as usual.  But no tallying tonight!  Well, on that night at least.  We go to Hollywood and everyone looks VASTLY different.  Courtney has SCARY hair.  Actually, they ALL have scary hair.  What’s with the mullet, Todd??  Courtney looks like she may have actually had something to eat.  No one claps for Courtney’s vote.  No one claps for Amanda’s vote either.  Everyone cheers for Todd’s vote.  And that’s how it goes.  Courtney gets another vote, but Todd is far and away the winner.  Is anyone really surprised?  Naw.  I’m not.  He cries, predictably.  But you know, I’m glad it was him.  I didn’t like any of the three of them that well, but he deserved it the most.  We’re going right into the reunion which I am NOT liveblogging.  You’re on your own there, people.

Happy Survivor-ing, thanks for joining me!

Care to see what happened on last week’s show (and how poorly I recapped it?)? Check out this post over here then.

Will Todd truly be a target tonight? Only time will tell! And, further, did you realize we’re looking at the finale being THIS Sunday?? I know. Where has the season gone? Tune in Sunday night while I liveblog the excitement. Pacific time, of course.

The end of this game has really snuck up on me. Denise wonders if she did the right thing by voting Erik out instead of turning on her alliance. I think NO ONE could have won against Erik, so it probably was a good idea. PG reflects that she is not very popular around camp. She admits that it is hard being the outside. She retrieves treemail and shares it with the rest. The reward challenge sounds intriguing, as always. It’s a “shoot out your enemies” style challenge, except it’s more of a “shoot for your friends” deal. Anyhow. Reward is a trip to the Great Wall. Oooh. PG received one arrow, cementing her unpopularity. Denise had 2. Todd had 6. Courtney has 12 and Amanda got 4. PG misses. Denise gets one arrow in her name. Amanda accidentally gets 2 in Denise’s name. Todd gets 5 into his name, impressing everyone. Courtney gets five in Denise and one in Amanda and two in Todd and one in her own. Yay! She selects Courtney to go (obviously) and can pick one more. She has a hard choice between Todd and PG but goes with Todd. Poor PG. She feels Denise dissed her after she took Denise on her reward. Cuz, you know, that’s how it works. Whatever. Bittercakes.

Back at camp, PG and Amanda are feeling mighty sorry for themselves getting left behind. She wonders at the significance (Amanda does) at being left behind. She and PG start talking, bury some of the grievances they have with each other. They bond over hunting down food while the other three board their private jet which looks mighty posh indeed. They have snacks and sip champagne. When they get to the wall, they are all amazed. Right there on the wall they get a massive feast. They have a ton of raw food that they cook in the pot in front of them. Courtney reflects to the camera that Amanda is less likely to stir up trouble back at camp, hence bringing Todd on the reward. At camp, the ladies are having great luck finding food. That night, they start to talk some strategy. Denise doesn’t come off too well in their conversations. PG has hope that she can crack the alliance. Over on the wall, they enjoy iced coffee and talk some strategy. What to do if PG wins immunity again? Denise hits the hay (a bed, right there, ON THE WALL), but she’s worried about her status in the game.

The three return home the next day and PG and Amanda were gone. Todd got a little nervous, along with the others. But then they spotted the girls and they greeted them cordially enough. However, PG and Amanda were annoyed at how much Todd and Courtney were complaining about the food. Denise didn’t get a lot of flack, because she brought them back nuts from the plane. Smart move, Denise! Treemail arrives for the immunity challenge and it looks like one of those “repeat amalgam” challenges. And, that is exactly what it is. I’m not going to do a play by play here, because I suck at that sort of thing. The important thing to know is: Denise choked (literally) on eating the balut and Amanda narrowly beat out PG to win immunity! Wee! Everyone is pretty happy that PG didn’t win, except PG of course.

It looks like Amanda wants to vote out Todd, a plan that PG is all for. Todd starts feeling uber-paranoid about this potential ouster. Amanda works on Denise, trying to talk her in voting for Todd as well. However, in the end, both Amanda and Denise decide to remain with what is familiar and comfy and vote with the alliance. Which means that PG is sent home rather unanimously at Tribal Council. It was inevitable, once she lost immunity. So it looks like our final four will be Amanda, Denise, Courtney and Todd. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I could have seen this one coming from the very beginning of the season. I’m not sure which of them I would like to see win. I like Denise because she’s normal, but I think Todd played the best game of all four of them. We’ll see on Sunday! Join me here and we’ll all squee together.

Curious about last week’s episode? Check out this post right here for the details.

Here we are folks.  The last week before the finale.  I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about it.  For now, the blue team is down to one measly member and Bob is feeling the heat.  I have to admit, Neil is looking good.  He’s lost a TON of weight.  Out in the desert, Jillian is beating up the black team.  She’s so proud of her team, coming up from being outcasts to really dominating the game.  She walks them through a lot of the same exercises they did when they first encountered Jillian, and it’s amazing, they have no trouble with it now.  This is all really very inspiring.  Bob is also taking Neil back to day one and how far he has come.

We don’t waste any time, we get right to the final challenge.  It involves each contestant burying their weight that they lost.  They have to pick out how much weight they need to bury and then be the first to bury it all.  Winner wins $10,000.  Neil is determined to win at least one challenge in this game, but everyone else is just as determined to win as he is.  It involves a LOT of pulling weight around and dumping it in a pit.  Isabeau is a tank and pulls her 73 pounds lengths ahead of anyone else.  It’s incredible.  She wins the challenge easily and celebrates, everyone else buries their own weight as well.

We go right into the last last chance workout and Bob is determined to keep Neil in the game.  Jillian is just as aware of the importance of this weigh in.  She pushes everyone, especially Isabeau, to the point of breaking.  Everyone is feeling stressed out, but so appreciative of their trainer’s efforts.  And this is it.  We go right to weigh in.  I’m not used to these short episodes!  I’m not ready!  Heh.  Everyone looks absolutely amazing.  It makes my eyes tear up to look at them all.

Neil goes to the scale first and this week he lost 10 pounds which he’s very happy with.  That’s a 3.47% loss.  Hollie is up next and she lost 5 pounds this week.  She looks hopeful.  That’s a 2.55% loss.  Bill hits it next and he lost 9 pounds which is incredible.  That is a 4.23% loss.  Julie goes up she lost 8 pounds and dissolves into tears right away.  That is a 4.76% loss.  Hollie is officially below the line.  Isabeau hits the scales last and lost 8 pounds as well.  She cries too.  That is a 3.56% loss.

Neil is below the yellow line with Hollie and his departure is pretty much guaranteed.  Bill reflects on how crazy it is that Neil lost 10 pounds and it still wasn’t enough to save him.  That’s just nuts.  He’s a great competitor, but I just do not see the black team voting out their own.  They just won’t.  And Neil knows it.  He breaks the news to Bob the next day.  Neil is pragmatic about it.  Bob is upset, but he pumps Neil up instead of bringing him down (take notes, Kim).  It’s a tearful, emotional goodbye.  I’m sad Bob has no representation in the finale, but I’ve had beef with Neil since his whole water retention shenanigans.  So I can’t say I’m too upset that it’s him that is leaving.

The elimination is merely a formality and everyone knows it.   Everyone mentions Neil as a threat and that they feel loyalty to their team mates.   It is a backhanded insult to Hollie, in a way, that everyone would rather compete against her than Neil.  I mean, I would too.  Isabeau adds that her vote is for Jez.  HA!  That’s awesome.  I’m just amazed by how the black dominated the game.  No red team.  No blue team.  Just the “losers”.  That’s awesome.  Today Neil has lost a total of 165 since going on the show and looks absolutely incredible.  I cannot wait to see everyone at the finale.

We see each black team member meet with Jillian individually to say goodbye.  It’s pretty touching.  Jillian is obviously bursting with pride but something about her demeanor tells me she didn’t expect this to end any other way.   We get to see everyone travel home to their families.  Next week?  The homecomings and the live weigh in.  Squee!

To catch up on last week’s action, I suggest you read this post over here.

Can I just say how glad I am that Shana and Jennifer were eliminated?  The whining was legendary.  So we kick things off from the windmill in Lithuania.  Where will we go tonight?  TK and Rachel get to leave first (at 1am, ack) and they’re going to Croatia.  And I’m not spelling the city out either, so just use your imagination.  Kynt and Vyksin are right on their heels.  The other teams duly follow.   Some teams make reservations on the internet and others wait at the airport for the ticket agents to open up.  And some people choose to visit travel agents so they can check multiple agents at one time.  There’s much hubub about lines and losing places in lines and tempers are pretty much flaring.  It’s really hard to blog the ticket-furor, so just know that a bunch of teams are on the first flight.  And a few are not.  A&H accidentally purchase business class when that’s strictly verboten in the game.  Nathan and Jennifer sprint to the plane with Ron and Christina and Kynt and Vyksin and make it on board.  A&H get left behind.  Boo hoo.  Except they may be well and truly screwed this time.

They learn, however, from the travel agent that the teams flying through Prague will be delayed.  The teams flying through Frankfurt, however, don’t have totally smooth sailing.  They miss their connecting flight and have to get new tickets.  BAH!  TK and Rachel get on a flight but Nic and Don get on a slower flight.  Nathan and Jennifer, as it happens, get are in first place, closely followed by the Goths.  But Ron and Christina get to the clue first!  Wee!  They have a Road Block where they need to find a particular stone that fits in a particular wall.  Gah.  They finish, and now must make their way to the roof of the Fort of St. Lawrence.  The views are spectacular.  Ron and Christina do a zipline task that looks absolutely amazing.  How fun!  Now they have a Detour.  Short and Long or Long and Short.  Say what?  First they rapel and climbing a rope ladder, followed by some complication navigating.  The other is ziplining to the water and rowing a boat.  It basically depends on how much you want to get physical.  But Long and Short definitely sounds much better to me.  Most of the teams pick that particular Detour as well.  Ron and Christina have some difficulty rowing until Ron puts his foot down concerning rowing technique.  The Goths have trouble with their stone for a minute, before catching up with N&J.  Who, meanwhile, are bickering like it’s going out of style.  As usual.  Can these two agree on ANYTHING? The Goths choose the rapelling Detour because “it sounds faster”.  Gah.  At the same time, N&J hate each other.  There’s a news flash.  Ron and Chris make it to shore, closely followed by Team Dysfunction.  Somehow, N&J get the clue first and need to get to the pit stop at the “Stone Cross”.  However, they also must take a taxi.  Which they don’t.  They pay a local to drive them.  Ron and Chris get the pitstop clue and they do take a taxi.  (Of course, N&J tried to get in a taxi but the driver wouldn’t take them because they were wet from the boat.)  Jen freaks out.

She is extrapolating this difficulty into greater meaning about their deteriorating relationship.  WTF?  TK and Rachel FINALLY land in Croatia, they’re just WAY behind.  Ron and Chris make it to the pit stop FIRST and are completely blown away.  They’ve won a 12 1/2 foot catamaran.  Just what they always wanted!  N&J arrive, only to find out they get a penalty for not following the rules.  They have to go ALL the way back to the clue box and take a taxi back to the pit stop.  Jen sulks.  Meanwhile, the Goths take a taxi (imagine that) and get to the pit stop in second place.  Jen is practically in hysterics.  TK and Rachel are powering through the tasks with their usual grace.   N&J finally finish and you’d think they were just eliminated, the way they’re acting.  Nic and Don finally land and worry they’re at the back of the pack.  A&H land and hope they’re not at the back of the pack.

TK and Rachel take a cab to the pitstop while Nic and Don do their first zipline and see A&H getting their clue below.  Very close, this one!  But not that close.  I think A&H are screwed.  TK and Rachel check in fourth as A&H zipline.  Nic and Don are rowing their butts off (which is to say rather slowly).  A&H are right on their heels.  A is a much better rower than Nic.  But Nic makes it to shore first and they hurry to the clue box.  They rush to find a taxi and have a hard time finding one.  A&H are breathing down their necks.  Nic and Don get their taxi at last and are on their way.  A&H also get a taxi.  They run into some traffic so there are nails being bitten.  And?  It’s Nic and Don in fifth place at the mat.  They’re still in it.  A&H, however, are last and out of the race.  That’s too bad.  They were really good racers, but they just had some really bad luck with that whole business class fiasco.  BOO!

If you want to catch up on last week’s show, please read this post right here.

Everyone is reeling from sending James.  It was a singularly brilliant move that I still can’t believe they got away with.  The thing is, now Todd knows he’s a big target since he saw at least one vote against him.  PG is thrilled that she’s still in the game.   I’m rather amazed, to be frank.  She’s been doing better at challenges than I would have figured.  Todd wants Erik and PG gone, but he’s smart enough to know that he can’t trust anyone. And he admits that turning on him now would be a smart move on their part.

Time or the reward challenge!  It’s basically a giant maze, comprised of teams of two.  First team to make it through the maze (blindfolded!), will win.  And they’ll be paired with… loved ones!  Erik’s mom emerges and everyone gets really excited.  Amanda is joined by her sister.  PG gets to play with her dad.  Todd will be playing with his sister.  She tells him that their other sister miscarried her baby and OMG, how sad is that.  Courtney is joined by her father.  There isn’t a dry eye in the house.  Denise is greeted by her husband… awe.  Courtney’s dad is a little taken aback to learn he’ll be competing (he seems a little fancy).   Winner gets a boat trip and a call home.  I’m assuming the boat trip is with the loved one.  It’s an entertaining challenge.  And… Denise and her husband Robert win the reward!  I wish everyone could have won, spent more time with their loved ones.  But I’m glad she won.  Oh!  And she gets to pick two Survivors to come along with their loved ones!  She picks Todd (obvious choice) and Amanda.  They all bring their loved ones.  The remaining three look pretty beaten down to be saying goodbye to their loved ones.  The loved ones, after the boat ride, get to spend the night at camp!  Would be better if it were a resort or something. ;)  Just sayin’.

Everyone on the boat is just GORGING on their feast.  Denise is excited her husband came, since he’s afraid of flying.  Amanda loses her poop over the sight of chocolate cake.   Denise’s phone rang and it’s her daughter and she can barely understand her daughter for the crying.  It’s so sweet.  Back at camp, the mood is pretty somber.  PG is upset she wasn’t chosen.  Courtney and Erik both think that the story of the miscarriage was not true and was just played or sympathy.  Okay, bitter much?  It would suck if it weren’t true, but suck if it were true too.  Courtney better hope it’s not true, because she is looking like a MAJOR ass here.  Everyone returns to camp and the winners allow the losers to lick chocolate from their hands.  Okay, GROSS.  PG is still sulking and not wanting to talk to anyone.  She’s still upset that Denise didn’t pick her since she picked HER to go on her reward last week.  (insert much eyerolling here)  Todd admits he’s worried that people will think he’s lying about his sister.  He admits to the camera that it is true, every bit of it.  So yeah, Courtney is an ass.  I think Denise picking Amanda and Todd was SMART because they have more power in the game than Courtney and PG.

The next morning, the loved ones leave and it’s a tearful goodbye.  Todd comments that he can’t ever relax and trust people, he’s got to keep on his toes.  Denise tries to apologize to PG for not picking her for the reward.  PG isn’t entirely happy, but she appreciates Denise making the effort.  It’s time or another challenge!  It just never stops around here, does it?  It’s pretty much a puzzle type challenge.  Which isn’t to say it’s not physical at all, but it’s mostly mental.  If you’re good with the puzzles and trivia, you’re good to go.  First person to answer three questions correctly will win.  Woo hoo.  It’s neck and neck for a while, but PG manages to eke out a win and she is so happy that she cries.  She really needed it too.  I hope this stops her sulking about the reward challenge.

How does Todd get his hair to stand up like that without gel?  Todd is worrying about the vote that night.  Denise needs to put a top on or get a better bra.  That’s all I’m saying.  Anyhow, Todd wants to vote out Erik.  Erik, meanwhile, wants to vote out Todd.  Dilemma!  PG is with Erik and they plan to go to Denise and ask her to vote with them.  Denise finds herself in a very powerful position.  They give her a good argument, but as James said last week, it doesn’t make much sense to go with the minority over the majority, you know?  Todd still is stressing.  He asks Denise if they’re after her vote.  No pressure, of course. :P  She’s still unsure, as Tribal Council approaches.

Everyone marches in and takes their seats.  They get some hard looks from the jury, particularly James.  PG quasi-insults Denise by insinuating that she’s at the bottom of the pack, where she could really pull it out if she tried hard enough.   Anyhow, finally everyone gets down to voting and it goes pretty much as I expected it would.  Denise isn’t stupid and she votes with the group.  Todd gets 2 votes, Erik gets 4.  Erik gets sent to the jury.  Voila.

Now next week?  Amanda tries to unseat Todd.  Will she be successful?

To catch up on what all happened last week, check out this post.

It’s really getting down to the wire here, we only have a matter of two weeks left until this baby is finished.  Freaky!  And the black team is kinda taking over campus, which I sort of love.  I’ve been rooting for them from the get go.

Tonight we get to see a compilation of the best “Biggest Loser” transformations so far.  Should be inspiring. :)  I love seeing the transformations, I don’t know about you.

The remaining players meet up and they’re all astounded at how far they’ve made it.  Plus, they’re waxing poetic about the red team being demolished.  No more Kim.  I don’t see that as a bad thing, however.   The next day starts early.  Jillian charges into the black dormitory and starts jumping on everyone in bed and hollering.  Bob does essentially the same thing but is far kinder about it.  He does get in bed and snuggle with Nicole.  He’s taking them to work.  As is Jillian.  Where is work?  Good question.  First: a workout.  Then, packing a lunch for work.  It’s all about real-word preparedness.  Ah, we see Kim.  She isn’t surprised to find the red dorm empty.  But she is sad.  There’s a taped message for Kim from Bryan there and she gets pretty choked up.  It’s sad, I’ll admit.  But if it had to happen to one of the trainers, I was glad it was her.  Does that sound harsh?  We see a montage of the red team over the weeks and it’s sad that the whole team is gone.

Bob helps his team pack their lunches and they make marinated chicken breasts for dinner (?).  Jillian gives her team tips on how to work out when having a small amount of time.  Bob works his team out with cardio, running around campus.  Workouts done, time to go to work.  Jillian helps her team pack lunch and gives them suggestions on healthy choices.  They’re wondering, meanwhile, where they’re going to work.  And?  It’s a pizza restaurant!  Of course, right?  And damn, the pizzas look good.  They all commence the agonizing pretty much right away.

And I will admit, the pizzas look really good.  They get put to work right away and it’s not fun work.  They wash dishes (Neil is not good at this, apparently), clean bathrooms (ACK, that’s my nightmare), take trash out, and do food prep (including making the pizzas).  They even serve to the customers a little, sweep floors… it’s not glamorous work but they get it done.  They dig out lunch (which actually is dinner so there you go) and have at it.  Worked up a good appetite.

Back at campus that night, they find their trainers and they are raring to go.  Everyone would like nothing better to do than kick up their feet, but it’s time to go to the gym.  None of the teams are happy about this but they buck up and get to work.  Bob trains his team on boxing, as does Jillian.  Must have something to do with the challenge.  Bill complains of knee troubles and doesn’t have hope for the challenge.  Allison presents the challenge to the teams and it indeed related to boxing.  And trampolines.  They have to jump up to hit the bag as many times as they can in each 3 minute round until there is a winner.  Oh, and the bags will get higher each round.  The prize is a one pound pass at the weigh in.

The men struggle, especially Bill.  The winner of the first round was Julie.  Nicole is out.  The bag is raised for round two.  The winner of round two is Isabeau and Neil is out.  The bag is raised again.  The winner of round three is Hollie and Bill is out.   The women are knocking them out.  Hollie wins the next round and wins the one pound pass.  It’s good, she fell below the yellow line last week so hopefully this will help.   Afterward, the black team tells Jillian about the challenge, what they had to do, and that Hollie won the pass.  I’m thinking maybe the trainers should have been focusing on jumping more than boxing, no?  Anyhow, time for the last chance workout!  Yay!

At the weigh-in, everyone is just looking AMAZING.  It makes me really look forward to the finale, to see how everyone looks again all at once.  Hollie goes up first and loses a fantastic 5 pounds (6 with the pass!).  With the pass, her percentage is 2.99% lost.  Julie goes up next and this week she lost 3 pounds.  Hopefully it’s enough.  That’s 1.75% lost.  Bill hits the scale and he lost 9 pounds this week.  Nice!  That’s an incredible 4.05% lost!  Neil goes up right after him and HE lost 10 pounds!  His percentage is 3.36% lost which is definitely decent.  Isabeau has her turn next and this week she lost 5 pounds.  That puts her percentage lost at 2.17% and pushes Julie below the yellow line.  Nicole goes up last and she lost 1 pound.  Everyone is shocked and speechless.  Nicole looks devastated.   That makes her percentage lost .47% and she is in last place below the yellow line with Julie.

And it’s pretty obvious that Nicole is going home this week.  The black team wouldn’t vote out one of their own if they had a choice, right?  They break the news to Bob and he looks pretty upset.  Because like I said, everyone pretty much knows.   It’s like the red team all over again.  Though honestly, it’s unlikely that Neil will fall below the yellow line.  Not this week, but I think next week a black team member will go home.  Meanwhile, Julie is having a hard time trusting that her team won’t vote her out.  Which, come on, wake up and smell the coffee.  Nicole is toast.

Bob cheers Nicole up by having her put on the clothes she wore at the first elimination.   She’s able to see just how much weight she has lost.  He really works on building her up, telling her how amazing she is and how proud he is and that’s really nice of him.  It’s about her, not him (a problem I always had with Kim).  Elimination is here and everyone files in, looking rather morose. All dramatic pausing aside (damn you, NBC), Nicole is the one eliminated as was expected.  And hopefully this will teach Julie a lesson about trust.  That she CAN trust her teammates.

We see Nicole’s tearful reunion back at home and that’s always fun to watch.  Then, we see her now.  She has lost, since starting the game, 91 pounds.  She looks absolutely amazing.  Totally different and SO much better.  I’m impressed.

If you want to know what happened during last week’s show, check out this post.

Basically, it was a lot of drama. Nathan and Jennifer were bitter at A&H coming in first AGAIN (and not giving them a chance) and the Blondes were ostracized for U-Turning Lorena and Jason. Good times! This week, we start off with A&H leaving the pitstop, shortly followed by Nathan and Jennifer. They’re flying to Vilnius, Lithuania! They have to catch a cab (not so easy) and get to an airport. And they have to use an official ticketing office. The two teams get there at about the same time, but the airport is small and closed. They go a ticketing office and wait for it to open in an effort to get good tickets. The rest of teams slowly depart the pitstop as well. Everyone seems happy to be going someplace new after spending two legs in Africa. The other teams start catching up with the front-runners and several teams start to look online for tickets (NOOOO!!!). Ronald argues with Christina about their ticketing options. She’s very patient with him, but definitely getting frustrated. Meanwhile, Nick and Donald are still looking online, the fools. Kynt and Vyksin are making the same error. At least, I think they are. I’m getting mighty confused. Okay, maybe not. Nick angers the other teams by being sneaky about their flight information. However, A&H luck out by getting an English-speaking agent and getting a good flight while Nick and Don get a worse flight. To make matters worse, Nathan and Jennifer gets seats on A&H’s flight AFTER Nick and Don were told it was sold out. D’oh! Luckily, Nick and Don are able to switch for a better flight so they’re no so behind. The Blondes continue to be harped upon which causes them to argue amongst themselves.

The teams all fly to France and from there have three different connectors to Lithuania. Nathan and Jennifer, Shana and Jennifer and Azaria and Hendekea arrive first and start searcing for St. Anne’s Church. They’re closely followed by other teams, including Nick and Donald and TK and Rachel and Kynt and Vyksin. Ron and Christina are bringing up the rear from the last flight. Nick and Donald find the cluebox first. They find a Roadblock. It’s a “Deliver Items” type task that involves some difficult navigating. A&H find the box at the same time as Kynt and Vyksin. Jen and Nathan are arguing amongst themselves, they still haven’t found the church. Speaking of arguing, there are Shana and Jennifer and they’re nearly hit by a bus. Some teams rock this Roadblock, and others… don’t. Kynt and Vyksin finish first, and they must go to a new town (please don’t make me type the name), and find a museum. TK and Rachel get some help with their deliveries from a local so they’re able to finish very quickly. Ronald and Christina finish third and they’re on their way too. Hendekea and Nick continue to have troubles. H soon finds a local to help her as well though and then finishes. The Blondes show up and that makes everyone else nervous, especially Donald who is still looking for Nick to finish.

Kynt and Vyksin arrive at the next cluebox and they have to search for the Travelocity roaming gnome and bring him to the pitstop. There’s a TON of other gnomes though, so they have to look pretty hard. Shana and Jennifer finish ahead of Nick and Don but they’re right on their heels. Kynt and Vyksin find their gnome and the next clue is a Detour. Count Down or Step Up. They have to count pickets and write them down or walk on stilts. Oy. They chose stilts. Other teams are close on their heels, however. TK and Rachel choose stilts as well, as do most of the teams. Kynt and Vyksin get frustrated and decide to count instead. TK finishes the stilts and just has to wait for Rachel to finish it. Rachel finally finishes, just behind Christina (who still waits for Ronald to finish). TK and Rachel hoof it to the pitstop, at a nearby windmill. They’re rather closely followed by Kynt and Vyksin who finished their counting. TK and Rachel won a 10 day trip to Japan as a result of winning the leg! Jennifer and Nathan miscount their railings and are distracted by the villagers. Meanwhile, Ronald falls of his stilts.

Luckily, he’s okay and Christina urges him on. Jennifer and Nathan start recounting. Ronald and Christina are finally able to advance on to the pitstop. Yay! They’re in third place. Nick and Don beat Shana and Jennifer to the gnomes just barely. The villagers are totally distracting these people. Both the last teams choose counting. A&H come in fourth. Nathan calls Jennifer a bitch and they switch to stilts. He easily finishes, but she struggles. Finally she finishes. They arrive in fifth place which is better than they deserve. There is a lot of arguing amongst the Blondes. Nick and Don get to the pitstop in 6th place. Shana and Jennifer finally get their count right and arrive at the mat last. And? They’re eliminated. Aww. Except, not.