My TV Musings

Christina and Ronald started out in first place, followed by Nate & Jen (the evil ones) and Don & Nick, each about 10 minutes apart, with TK & Rachel (the hippies) 3 hours behind.

First task is to taxi to a building in Osaka, Japan, and find the Floating Garden. Jen says we’re “not playing Mr. Nice,” and Don says “I wish I could do more.”

The building doesn’t open until 10 a.m. so the hippies are the only ones still behind when it opens. When they finally arrive, they spend time on the ground floor looking for the garden until they see the sign to take the elevator and even then Rachel feels that something is wrong. At the top they pass up the clue box on the first go-round.

Next task is to fly to Taipei, Taiwan. Christina gets the travel agent to tell the evil ones that there aren’t enough tickets for them to make the first flight. Nate & Jen start to argue. As the evil ones arrive at the immigration line they find TK & Rachel ahead of them! No telling how they were able to do it, but the hippies caught up and are AHEAD of Nate & Jen! Don & Christina get the clue first, followed by the evil ones who were able to barely pass the hippies, then Don & Nick at the back of the pack.

Clue says to take a train to the next clue. Though they are in 3rd place, TK & Rachel are able to get to 2nd by using a ticket machine instead of getting in line like the other teams. Of course, Christina & Don are far out in front.

Next task is a tricky ride: taken on a teeter-totter ride by car, followed by taking a jeep underwater with goggles for 17 seconds. Ron was frightened by the teeter-totter ride while Rachel loved it. The next task was to train back to Taipei to drink a big cup of tea for the next clue.

This is when the hippies were given their speedbump since they came in last place last week. They had to walk through fireworks and get doused with water. TK said at least they’ll be “going out with a bang!”

Christina & Ron are long gone when Nate & Jen and Don & Nick arrive at the train station in Taipei. They are waiting for the train, hoping TK & Rachel can’t catch up but, due to getting their tickets quickly via machine again, they waltz in at the last minute and the 3 teams take the train together.

Jen is so frustrated. It happens to be her birthday and she tells Nate “I can’t handle this again”, “we’re trying so hard and they’re so mellow.”

Christina & Ron drink their tea and find the clue at the bottom of the cup is in Chinese. All of the teams need help with that but there are plenty of English-speaking natives in the metropolitan city of Taipei who gladly translate the clue to send them to a nearby market and find the “happy clown” for your next clue. Don & Nick move ahead to 2nd place with the hippies close behind, followed by the evil ones in last. Jen is telling Nate they must take the subway but, when they get back to the street says he needs to “step up and make the decisions,” to which he counters “Honestly, Jen, I can’t stand you!” And they look like such a sweet couple!

Clue sends them on a detour where the choices are fire (launch 20 sky balloons) and earth (walk a 220-foot path of jagged stones and back). Christina & Ron choose earth and Ron swears having callouses helped him to walk the stones while Christina minced across them. They get their clue and it says to commence to the pitstop. As they head off to take first place, Christina says they started out as two individuals but now they are one team.

Nate & Jen finally decide to take a bus to the park. Christina and Ron arrive at the pitstop in first place and are told they will be one of the three teams to race for $1M.

As TK & Rachel arrive at the park to walk the stones, Don & Nick are already there so TK just starts running right past them while Rachel kind of race walks. The evil ones still haven’t arrive at the park yet. The two teams finish about the same time and start looking for taxis with English-speaking drivers. The hippies find one first as Don & Nick continue their search. Nate & Jen walk the stones and go looking for a taxi. How close behind Don & Nick are they?

TK & Rachel come in 2nd place! Even having the extra speed bump!

Don & Nick are held up by red lights all the way to their destination, but they prevail and arrive in 3rd place! So the evil ones, Nate & Jen, finally get their comeupance and are eliminated! I’m so excited until Jen says “It’s been a really big growing experience for us. I think we killed our relationship by paying more attention to winning the race.” And Nate sobs and lifts her off her feet as the scene fades.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Amazing Race, Reality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.