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!