Of the four remaining teams coming into this week’s installment, I had two that I could confidently support, one that’s really been disappointing me of late, and one that’s been playing a bit of a nasty game the whole time.
As I was going to bed last night, I started to wonder what kind of game I would play if I was on the race. Would I steal a cab, or would I do the honorable thing and get my own? It’s easy to armchair quarterback and say I’d take the high road, but this is a game for $1,000,000 and every second counts. I’m not sure my moral compass can handle all that pressure.
As we saw last week, the brothers couldn’t handle it, and they snatched a cab from Brian and Ericka while the latter pair were still on a challenge. It was an incredibly rude thing to do, and that kind of karma can bite you in the butt later on.
Speaking of karma, can we talk about the crazy luck of Brian and Ericka? Yes, she has a lot of attitude, but I find myself liking them anyway. Megan has a nasty streak in her, but I still respect the power couple she is in with Cheyne. Maybe I like Brian and Ericka because I really like Brian. He seems like such a kind and decent guy; without Ericka to “mean him up” a bit when necessary, they’d have been long gone.
Sam and Dan, however, have even surpassed the Globetrotters in dastardly behavior. Agreeing to work with Big Easy this week on the Kafka challenge was the final straw when Sam (or Dan, I can never remember) got the correct answer and then would only give Easy a hint, despite the fact that Easy had been giving him all his wrong answers as they worked together.
I know it’s a game, and again I can’t say for sure what I would do, but it’s the fact that he said he’d work with him, and then left him high and dry. As for Big Easy, I worried for him when he couldn’t get the combination lock, but this week I was flabbergasted.
Maybe it’s the English degree in me, but I could not believe that these teams — some of them — were struggling so hard to figure out F-R-A-N-Z. There’s only so many was those letter can combine into a single word, and are there really that many people out there unfamiliar even with the name Franz Kafka, so they could at least think of that letter combination?
I gave my wife the letters in random order and it took her about ten seconds.
In the end, the boys’ “betrayal” of their pact with the Globetrotters in this challenge helped seal the ‘Trotters’ fate. The biggest problem was Big Easy giving up. If all he has to do is sit there and fill out forms, then why not keep trying. He could probably go through every possible combination in four hours if he kept proper track of them.
As it stands now, I’ll be satisfied with either Megan and Cheyne or Brian and Ericka taking home the win. I think the brothers have shown poor sportsmanship, and awful teamwork throughout, so I’d hate to see that kind of behavior rewarded.
Clacked by Jason Hughes 
on Dec 01, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Never warmed up to Ericka, but when she said something like, “Touch me, and get punched in the face.” to those drunks, I started liking her.
I’m sure the Globetrotters feel terrible that they got knocked out that way. They were so much fun in the beginning and they made me want to see the Globetrotters with my kids, if they ever come to town.
Sam and Dan. Poster children for how NOT to behave on Amazing Race. Shameful bickering.
I am rooting for Brian and Ericka because they are the underdogs. But don’t be too hard on Sam and Dan because apparently they’re not as bad as the editing is making them out to be. Check out the interview with the Globetrotters over at realityblurred.com. They both say that there were no hard feelings and that the editing makes Sam and Dan seem more dastardly than they are. Heck, Big Easy even said not giving him the answer was a smart move on Dan/Sam’s part. They are trying to win a million bucks after all. But when you watch these shows, you always have to take into account the editing. Apparently they are extremely guilty of trying to manufacture conflict where there is none this season. The brotherly bickering though is a bit much and the main reason they got knocked down a few pegs on my list of who I want to win.
Im rooting for Brian and Ericka. Maybe its the fact that I’m also a brown girl married to a (very) white boy, but I really just hate those two brothers and the squeaky little girl. I’m fine with anyone except Sam & Dan winning. Generally, the show doesnt reward douches… but there’s a first for everything.