Since I've been dismissive of their chances up to this point, let me bow down at the feet of Franimal for coming in first. I honestly hope they have a blast on that trip to Rome. I think they'll enjoy it more than the Frats will enjoy their upcoming African safari. If nothing else, our resident Inspirational Oldsters proved that good things happen if you can avoid screwing up royally while staying in the pack. Woo-hoo! I still don't see them in the final 3, but hey--they deserved this one. Also, bonus points for a tank-top-free episode, Barry!
Now that I have the kudos out of the way, I'll admit that I found myself wondering if the show's producers, recognizing the utter lack of drama that's developed so far, slipped a few bills to the Frats and suggested they drive around in circles for awhile and try to reach the Pit Stop via some crazy, off-the-map, dirt road "short cut" through the desert, just to spice things up a bit and give someone else a chance to win a prize. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain their boneheaded decision-making and worse navigating in this ep. Nevertheless, watching them stumble gave me some hope that things might get shaken up before the end of the season. But I knew the shakeup wasn't going to come last night, since we were way overdue for a non-elimination. Oh well.
Speaking of the non-elimination, what is up with the Hippies? Two crummy legs in a row. Are they losing it? Almost every season there's a "searching" Road Block that is completed without incident by most teams but completely stymies one team for reasons that are difficult to discern. (The worst was a few seasons back, when a team went from the front of the pack to dunzo because they couldn't find a clue hidden in one of the giant hay bales spread throughout a field. Other teams found clues way inside an hour, but this team spent over 8 hours looking and never did find one. Phil actually showed up at the field to tell them they were eliminated.) ANYWAY, what took BJ so long with the search for the buried oven? Maybe it was just bad luck, but it looked to me like he wasn't digging deep enough in each pile. Next week they better, you know, dig deeper if they want to stay in this thing. Har har har! But as bad as they were on this leg, BJ's spot-on impersonation of Lake and canny summaries of the other fallen teams earned the increasingly erratic Hippies a bit of affection in my heart, so keep your freak flag flying another day, boys.
This week's random observations:
- Rolanda aren't the world's most exciting people, are they? No, they are not. Even their fights are dull. I couldn't figure out what they were bickering about, beyond some garden-variety frayed nerves, or why they were still mad at each other hours later. Nor did I really care. If you're going to fight, let's see some fireworks, people!
- Also re: Rolanda. The worst possible combination in this contest has to be the person who can't read a map teamed with the person who can't or won't follow directions. Pretty much lose/lose. But good luck with that relationship thingy.
- I'm starting to wonder if their ability to stay with the pack consistently (see above) and a lucky break or two could lead to a MoJo victory in the final leg. Who knows--stranger things have happened.
- Was it just me, or did they keep showing the same building as each team remarked on the beauty of Oman?
No comments:
Post a Comment