Amazing Race update – Laundry and Fiats and statues, oh my

Teams started out from Munich, Germany and had to make their way to Palermo, Italy. That’s “Pah-LAIR-Mo” not “Pahler-MO,” Monica. The first portion of tonight’s episode is mainly dedicated to airport skills as teams try to find the fastest flight to Sicily. Somehow Team Burning Man arrives first, with the Frat Boys close behind. By the way, the show was barely three minutes in before these two made a sexist remark. They’re such scamps (*cough* gay *cough*).

Once in Palermo, teams needed to find an opera house and the next clue. This one just told them to take a marked car and drive to a seaside town and the next clue. Dani & Dani violate one of the major rules of the Race by failing to learn how to drive a stick. (1. Learn to drive manual 2. Learn how to climb 3. Learn how to eat disgusting stuff.) They fall way behind as teams race for the box and the Detour: Foundry or Laundry. Teams may either go to a foundry and pick up a 110 lb. bell then deliver it to a church or search hundreds of pieces of laundry for one of sixteen with a yellow-and-red tag. Team MoJo and Team Volcano do the bell while everybody else searches through clothes. This task is physical but straightforward; both Joseph and Ray carry the bell up the steps on their individual shoulders. BJ & Tyler find their laundry right away and head to the next stop at the Teatro Disigesta (spelling probably very wrong).

Once they drive about 15 miles to the Teatro, it’s the Yield then the Roadblock: teams must put together a Greek statue which has two extra and unnecessary pieces. No matter: BJ finishes quickly and they head off a mile down a hill to the Pit Stop where Phil greets them as Team #1. It’s there I notice that they’re wearing T-shirts that read “Bowling” and “Moms” – a nice homage to a former team.

By this point all other teams are heading for the Roadblock. Ray & Yolanda get very lost on the Italian roads while Team Pink struggles with the stick shift. Team Nerd arrives only moments ahead of Team Ole Miss, who stupidly go in the wrong direction despite a TAR arrow pointing them to the next task. Lake is the Wrong Way Corrigan of this race, always heading in the wrong direction and then unleashing a string of “dang it”s while secretly blaming Michelle. After Lake & Michelle go a mile the wrong way, they head back to the Roadblock and see the girls arriving. In a panic, Lake decides to yield Team Pink, meaning that they must wait an hour before they can go on to the Roadblock task. The girls from New York get a little teary since the end looks near.

Meanwhile, in another dumb move, Lake is performing the Roadblock of assembling the statue. Did I miss something or did they rescind the “Chip and Kim” rule that no team member may do more than six Roadblocks? By my count, Lake has done every single Roadblock so far meaning that because of poor planning, Michelle will have to do nearly every Roadblock for the remainder of the race. Every time Lake puts one of the statue pieces together, he whoops like a cowboy. Dani & Dani are sulking outside.

Lori of Team Nerd puts her whole statue together but, before she can get an envelope, takes it apart again because of the two extra pieces. Finally, the hourglass runs out on Team Pink and Dani starts assembling the statue. But now Ray & Yolanda have just (finally) arrived and Ray starts in on his puzzle. Lori finishes hers and Team Nerd heads to the Pit Stop. So it’s between Team Volcano and Team Pink and I wouldn’t put a lot of money on Lucy and Ethel completing anything remotely analytical. Plus, I figure, even if Ray & Yolanda finish a couple minutes behind, they’re both runners who could easily pass the girls in a one-mile sprint. Sure enough, Dani gets something wrong on her statue while Ray finishes hers. Despite a little TAR headfake that Team Volcano is “lost”, they make it to the mat while the girls are eliminated.

Final standings:

#1 – Team Burning Man – BJ & Tyler – Prize: some electronic stuff
#2 – Team Frat Boys – Eric & Jeremy
#3 – Team MoJo – Monica & Joseph
#4 – Team Kukla – Fran & Barry
#5 – Team Ole Miss – Lake & Michelle
#6 – Team Nerd – David & Lori
#7 – Team Volcano – Ray & Yolanda
#8 – Team Pink – Dani & Dani – PHILIMINATED

Next week – Fish mongering in Sicily.

Extra – This space reserved for Kris at Dummocrats and Pat at Brainster. Check out their recaps.