RECAP: The Amazing Race - "Anonymous?"

I don't want to jinx it, but it seems like this season of The Amazing Race is gradually getting better. The challenges are creating a lot more drama, and appear to be slightly more difficult (or perhaps just more frustrating), thus causing more shuffling in the order of team check-ins (i.e., the teams aren't arriving in the same order every leg of the race; the challenges are allowing some teams to catch up, while putting others at the back of the pack). After the jump, I've got the full recap (spoilers).

Teams flew from France to the Seychelles Islands, and since the location was so remote, all of the teams got on the same flight. Once in Seychelles, they had to race to a clue box and take a number for a helicopter ride to the next clue. The Cowboys and Detectives decided to have lunch before getting their plane tickets in France, so they ended up being at the back of the plane, and were the last to get their numbers. The Lesbians rounded out the back three teams, who would be getting on their helicopters a full hour after the first three teams. After flying to another island (the Seychelles are absolutely gorgeous, by the way), teams hit a Detour where they had to choose between Turtle Toddle and Ox Trot.

In Turtle Toddle, teams had to use a banana to lure a 500-lb, 100-year-old tortoise (which I totally want as a pet) across a lawn, then carry a large bunch of bananas (which weighed about 20 lbs) a mile and a half to the fruit vendor. In Ox Trot, teams had to load a cart full of coconuts, making sure not to lose any, then attach an ox to the cart and drive the cart nearly 2 miles to the same fruit vendor. Steve and Allie and Carol and Brandy chose Turtle Toddle, although Carol and Brandy couldn't get their tortoise to go where they wanted it to, and ended up switching to the other Detour. Steve and Allie finished quickly, getting a pretty big lead on the other teams. Dan and Jordan named their ox Box, and spent the entire cart ride freaking out because their ox kept shitting right in front of them as it walked down the street. The Models, the Cowboys, and the Lesbians all dropped a single coconut while they were loading, and failed to notice it before they left, causing them to have to turn around when they got to the fruit vendor and drive all the way back to the start (which took forever, as the oxen were not moving very quickly). Brent and Caite flipped out when the fruit vendor, who looked like he was having a blast, told them they did not have enough coconuts. Brent initially threw his backpack down and said he was quitting, and Caite kept whining that it was "unfair." Yes, it's totally unfair that, after the clue explicitly told you to make sure you had every single one of your coconuts, you decided not to take a close look at the ground around and under your cart. The fact that the Cowboys and the Lesbians both dropped coconuts was absurd, because they had just watched the Models have to come back and get a single coconut. Even if you were positive that you had all of yours, wouldn't it make sense to make a full check before you left? Yet another example of how stupid all of these teams really are. Carol decided to be bitchy about it and placed the blame for their mistake fully on Brandy's shoulders.

After the Detour, teams had to take a boat out to just off of another island, where they hit the Roadblock. Steve and Allie were in first, and they realized they had left their backpacks at the start of the Turtle Toddle Detour. Although Allie was upset, they both agreed that they couldn't go back for them. They still had their money and passports, so they'll just continue the Race without their other possessions.

In the Roadblock, one team member had to swim out to a buoy, dive underwater and find a case of seven bottles. They had to untie one of the bottles, and get back on the boat and drive to shore. The bottle contained a map puzzle that teams had to assemble in order to find the Pit Stop. Phil's introduction to this challenge was hilarious, as he dove overboard and described half of the Roadblock underwater.

As expected from their great teamwork throughout the leg, Steve and Allie checked in first. This team is really growing on me, partly because the producers are finally giving them some camera time and they're turning out to be a pretty likable team. Their knuckle tape and flare when they checked in sealed the deal--I like this team now. 7-Up apparently sponsored this leg of the Race, and Steve and Allie won dinner, massages, and $7000 for checking in first.

The Models passed the Detectives, and helped them with the map (what?) because they wanted "some other teams kicked out." This makes no sense whatsoever, because why would you want to keep a team that has won 3 legs of the Race in a row? Even if you're friends with them, it still is a piss-poor strategic decision. Phil interviewed the two teams when they checked in, and both teams said they wanted the Lesbians eliminated next. Brent announced that it was pretty much "anonymous" among all the teams; Phil gave him the eyebrow, and Brent corrected himself--"unanimous." Good Lord, it's a wonder this guy remembers to breathe.

Jet and Cord got to the Pit Stop in fifth, but Phil announced that they were "the fifth team to arrive"--a surefire sign that you've done something wrong and are about to pay for it. They had forgotten their bottle on their boat, which was about 300 yards offshore. They had to swim back out to get it, thus allowing the Lesbians to pass them and check in fifth (goddammit). When the Cowboys got back to the Pit Stop, Jet threw the map down at Phil's feet, and Phil informed them that this was another non-elimination leg, and they'd have to do a Speed Bump at some point during the next leg.

There are two things that really bothered me during this episode. The first has to do with misleading promos. Last week we were given a promo for this week's episode indicating that Brent and Caite were going to have a full-blown meltdown. We saw Brent declaring that he was quitting, but it was edited in such a way that it looked like he was quitting because he couldn't get along with Caite. While they certainly bickered during this leg, it wasn't as extreme as their fighting in France, and the implosion shown during the promo was really just them venting their frustration over having to double back during the Detour. I understand that dramatic promos are better for drawing in viewers, but I just feel cheated when I see such a misleading advertisement.

The second issue is really more of a comment than a complaint. I've been watching some of the older seasons of TAR, and it's incredible how they've softened the blow of the non-elimination leg. I just finished season 7, and during that season, if a team checked in last in a non-elimination leg, they had all of their money taken from them, and they were stripped of every possession except for their passport and the clothes on their backs. They were not allowed to beg for money until the start of the next leg, which could cause huge delays. It created an incredibly stressful situation for the next leg, as they had to beg for money to take cabs and such (it actually created an awesomely tense finale, as Uchenna and Joyce got within spitting distance of the Finish Line and had to scramble around begging for money to pay their cab driver before they could cross it). This season the teams apparently get to keep their money and their possessions, and they just have to do an extra task during the next leg. The Speed Bump tasks never appear to be incredibly difficult, and probably only add 10 or 15 minutes to their racing time. I get that 10 or 15 minutes can mean the difference between elimination and survival, but it just doesn't seem as rough. It was really hard to watch a team like Gretchen and Meredith (the sweet old couple from season 7 who made it further than anyone ever expected them to) have all of their possessions and money taken away after an extremely rough leg of the race (in which Gretchen fell and split her forehead open), but it made for fantastic television. This season it just doesn't seem like a big deal when teams come in last during a non-elimination leg, because there just doesn't appear to be that much for them to overcome to get back into the Race.