I ♥ you, Buck! I laughed all the way through this recap!

I was out last night and my Designated Watcher had a lesson plan to re-work (Teachers! Who can trust 'em!) so all I got was "It was a non-elimination round."

I'm still pulling for the Trotters although, if I could have a written guarantee that Cheyne (what backside spells his name like that?) gets not-one-penny of the prize money, I'd switch allegiance to Megan.

Again. We staggered the start times, and they race to the airport and then all sit and wait for the airline to open. Then, they all end up on the same plane. Way to CBS, this is really racing. I dont like Sam and Dan. I don't like Cheyne either. I don't think Brian and Erika have it in them to win this, especially with the speed bump penalty for coming in last. At this point in the race, I am with the Globetrotters!

Thank you, Eve. And glad to help.

Presumably his parents gave Cheyne that name, so I don't think we should hold that against him.

I'm with you concerning Sam and Dan and my favorite to win is Megan (forget Cheyne). But Megan did show an edge that you forgot to mention. When she discovered what a Praga was, she wanted to tell the other teams that it was a hat instead of a car to slow the other teams down. But they never actually did this.

And she was a bit annoying at the opera house by constantly repeating Cheyne's name. But I still prefer them to the others.

What is with Erika?
She complains about everything.
Has she ever watched the show?
I don't know how Brian does it.
She really is to much.

Dennis, you are right about Megan proposing the little ruse around the Praga. Good catch.

As a gay dude I am always interested whenever there is a gay dude on the show. The pair of cute gay brothers drew me in. I liked them for a long time. But last night they blew it. I am so sick of their arguing. Dan constantly shouts unhelpful things. If he's going to yell at his younger brother at least say something helpful, rather than "Sam!! Stop!!!" And Sam can only yell back pitifully "Shut up Dan!!" It was bad enough to be subjected to this in the hayfield last week. Having to endure it again this week was too much. It looks like from the previews that we will be subjected next show to another task that requires team cooperation, leading to another shouting match between the brothers.

I'm done with them. They cannot work together as a team. All they do is shout negative things. The other teams encourage each other while these two squabble.

They may be cute, but they've worked my last nerve. I am no longer rooting for Sam and Dan.I'd like to see them Philiminated next week, but unfortunately I know they'll make it into the final 3. It makes me happy knowing they will not win.

Loved your re-cap of the show! I am a little confused about something though. Didn't Phil say at the beginning fo the season that there would onyl be 2 non-elimination rounds? I was shocked last night when Brian and Erika were not eliminated.

As far as the teams, I wish Brian and Megan were paired up. I would be rooting for that team!

Globe trotters all the way

When was the first non-elimination leg? Was that supposed to be either Mika and Canaan and the waterslide or the Poker Chicks with wooden shoe golf? Maybe since they both failed to complete the task, that non-elimination could be used later? I know Pinky and the Brain were the other team that was saved to failed another day with a non-elimination leg. I just can't remember the first one.

I want Brian to win, so I guess I'm rooting for Team Americka, even if Brian does remind me of Peyton Manning.

Bucky, I don't know why you are so into Meghan. Are you straight and horny?

Meghan has whined all the way through this race--I can't do this--I'm quitting--blah blah blah.

She also told the taxi driver last week to forget about calling a cab for Sam & Dan, if you recall. Love is blind, I guess. Cheyne's the one who's been dragging "her" along. Look what happened when he let her do the hay bale task. Give me a break for your rooting HER on, not even the team.

To answer your question, there are still Sam & Dan rooters here, me. I'm rooting for the gay "team." The gay brothers. "Both" of them. The gay ones.

Martin Pal writes: Look what happened when [Cheyne] let [Megan] do the hay bale task.

What happened, if I remember correctly, is that Megan--performing the physically toughest task of the season--started after Sam started and finished before him. And Cheyne sat on the sidelines weakly cheering her along.

I'm for the globetrotters. They continue to work hard-and are not complainers. They put up with the others disliking them-although I can't find a reason for it. I am tired of the others complaining and back stabbing.

I know that it is a very slim chance for Brian and Ericka to make to final three but I really hope they could make it.

Go Brian and Ericka!!

Martin hit a slam dunk there! Cheyne has shown the patience of Job with the constantly whining Meghan. She is hot, so you got to give her a little break. But, her constant negative comments, and control issues could bring many a team-mate down. Meghan herding the chickens, Meghan with the bales of hay, Meghan putting the hooka together. But, hey, she looks fab in a swimsuit! Just don't ask her to hit a ball with a club that looks like a shoe!

I wish I could pull for the brothers, until they stole the taxi. Their bickering is getting tiresome!

Liked the Globetrotters until they started playing the victims, even though they tend to do more following other teams than being leaders. They support each other better than the other teams, which I do like. They're likeable... but would prefer that they blaze their own trail rather than following whoever is in front of them.

Brian, like Cheyne has shown great patience with a partner who always seems close to giving up. But, they seem to have the least competitive spirit.

Bucky says, re: the hale bale task: "What happened, if I remember correctly, is that Megan--performing the physically toughest task of the season--started after Sam started and finished before him. And Cheyne sat on the sidelines weakly cheering her along."

Finishing before Sam was just a matter of luck. And I'll take "weakly cheering her along" over Dan's screaming at Sam any day. (Of course, we only saw what the editors chose to show us, so "weakly" is a matter of opinion.)

Sorry, Bucky, just something about your post irked me; I suppose it was the fact that you are rooting for just one person and not the team, when I think Cheyne has been one of the most supporting people toward his partner ever. When every thing is going Meghan's way, she is fine, but those legs where they came in 5th and 6th--go back and look at those and tell me she is the epitome of, as you wrote, "her cute, determined and polite self."

There's always a team or two that bickers and of course the show editors point up those things. Big Brother and Survivor have their episodes of bickering, too. As for Sam & Dan taking the taxi, a move that is considered "strategy" on Big Brother or Survivor, what would you do if it meant the difference between possible elimination? For one thing, the taxi driver didn't have to give up the cab. Brian & Ericka didn't have to take the bus there and be behind and Sam & Dan would've already been out of there if they hadn't tried the kayaking task first. It was an opportunity and they took it. I'm not for creating negative energy, if possible, but I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing. I might have asked the driver to call another cab to come or something. And maybe the brothers figured it would be a non-elimination leg themselves (or a "keep-racing" leg) and it wouldn't matter.

But people's seeming insistence all the time that the Amazing Race teams should be "nice" always mystifies me when they watch the exact opposite on shows like Big Brother and Survivor. Race is just as much "outwit, outplay, outlast" as those other shows. I like all the remaining teams in one way or another and we'll see what happens!

P.S.: To Haven who wrote: "Dan constantly shouts unhelpful things. If he's going to yell at his younger brother at least say something helpful, rather than "Sam!! Stop!!!" And Sam can only yell back pitifully "Shut up Dan!!"

Actually, Dan is the younger brother. Sam, who is shorter, is the older one!

It's funny when people say "if the brothers had chose to do the lines, instead of the kayaks, they would have been out of there" way before Brian & Ericka. Obviously, the choices you make at Road Blocks are a huge part of the game... and always have been. Usually when given a choice of tasks, one ends up being easier. Making this choice on the fly... can be critical. The brothers choosing the kayaks was a poor choice that almost cost them.

Brian and Ericka made a critical error in taking public transportation from the airport. That's why they're in last place. It seems Cheyne and Meghan make their luck. Brian and Ericka get lucky on accident. How about not riding the bicycles...walking forever in clogs!! Reading the clues in mandatory....they should have been eliminated there...lucky!

Of course, TAR is a competition. And, sneaky things happen. The reason I watch TAR and NOT Survivor or Big Brother, is that the competition is usually fair play. I can't stand watching people sinking to low levels and justify it by saying "all's fair in competition"! Taking the taxi was wrong, and the brother know it. If this weren't true... why wouldn't they just look them in the eye and say something? Instead of looking like children who just stole some candy?

p.s. Survivor and Big Brother have always played to the sneaky, dirty dealing, and alliance crowds. TAR has generally not promoted these behaviors. Remember, the race used to include some detour type thing where one team could make another team do an extra task. I think most true TAR fans prefer fairly clean competition!

In some way I agree with you, but I don't think taking the taxi was any more wrong than Meghan telling her taxi driver last week NOT to call a cab for Sam & Dan. As for the why of avoiding the confrontation at the theatre? Have it later when you're not racing. No point in staying there and having an argument.
There are no penalties in Amazing Race for doing what they did. Also, do you fault the cab driver for taking them when he was there waiting for the other team? Do you fault last week's cab driver for NOT calling a cab for Sam & Dan on Meghan's request? What is exactly different from Sam & Dan taking the available taxi from Brian & Ericka, and Meghan and Cheyne agreeing to work with Nathaniel and Herbert and then leaving them without so much as a good-bye? Not much. Even Meghan thought so. And they got a trip to Hawaii out of it.

There's a lot of advantages and disadvantages to various teams all the way through it. I still don't know if I would've taken their cab myself or not. If I thought it was either my team or their team that would be eliminated, which was possible at that point, I very well might have. (Like I mentioned, I may also have asked the driver to call them a cab, too.) If there was no question my team wouldn't be eliminated, I would not have done it. Who's to say? In the end, I would not like it if someone did it to me, but the overall goal is to come in #1 in the final leg and not be eliminated in all the other legs. If that was the only thought in my mind, I would probably have taken that advantage if the cab driver had acquiesced. Which is a lesson for future race players. If you are in danger of being eliminated, and you have a cab waiting, make sure your driver has a reason to wait for "you" and not someone else.

I think the answers to Martin's questions are easily answered. Meghan saying she would call a cab, then not... that was wrong also. That's called lying...not deceiving, but lying. I would say one difference is that no team should rely on another team to get a cab for them. That would be naive on their part.

It's amusing that people keep saying, well the cab drivers could have done this or that... blah blah. Remember, the cab drivers are not contestants!!! It is not up to a cab driver to take the higher ground on an American TV show... that's just silly!

My point about fair play still stands. Of course, there are no penalties for stealing a cab. There are no penalties for Big Easy to play on Mika's fears and try and scare her at the slide. You can call it gamesmanship if you like. I just call it weak & poor sportsmanship! There are the rules to the game, then there are unwritten rules about fair play and treating people fairly.

If the Bros. took the taxi not knowing who's it was, but not theirs... then I could see your point. But, clearly Brian was telling them... don't take OUR taxi. That was just low. And, to me, what was even lower was that it was Brian. The one person who has been fair, nice, and helpful to everyone in the game. I think that sends the wrong message.

Why couldn't the Bros. do what Brian did to get a cab? They found some people and had them call on their cell phone for a cab. That was creative. The Bros. I like, but they used to depend on the Poker girls to help them out in spots, now they have to resort to "competitive gamesmanship".... or what I like to call, we have few skills, so let's forget about fair play, and do whatever it takes.

And, on the point of Cheyne "stranding the Globetrotters", that's laughable. Teams cooperate with the perception that cooperating will be mutually beneficial. You don't think the Globetrotters would grab a taxi if they saw it first??? Of course not! Like the way they tried to get that taxi bus away from the brothers on the previous episode!! Of course, the Globes would have taken a taxi. They have said as much themselves..."whatever it takes to win baby!"

p.s. Martin... I didn't say the Brothers should sit down, buy a cup of coffee and a donut... spend a little one--on-one time with Brian and Ericka when they saw them at the theater. What I was referring to....as they went running by, hold your head up high if you believe in what you did. Look them in the eye. Or, if they felt a twinge of regret (which they said they did) why not a quick "Sorry"? They wouldn't even need to break stride!!!

In fact, this is what Brian said. And, honestly, I think Brian... being Brian, would have forgiven them if they did that. Man up!! Be a mensch!
I don't think Brian and Ericka were looking for a kiss on the cheek, and a fruit cake every Christmas. Just own up to what you did!

In the extra scenes on the Internet. both the Brothers & the Globetrotters call Meghan and Cheyne "sneaky". I don't think either team has room to call out any other teams in this regard!!!

Down to the final 3, and that seemed about as fair as could be... to determine the finalists. Two tough tasks, one mental and one physically challenging. Two of the teams selected the optimal partner for the phone challenge. Meghan and Brian were solid choices.

The show does not like to clue the audience in on how they decide which partner does the Road Blocks. There must be some rules to split them between the partners. They edit it to look like the teams decide, and they probably do to some extent. However, it is obvious that having one team mate do all the Road Blocks is not allowed.

It just stuns me that Big Easy is often chosen to do the tasks that require patience. Flight Time is obviously much more patient. I'm also baffled they would take a 4 hour penalty half way through a challenge leg.

The Globes were the best at staying together and supporting each other. Hats off to them! All of the 3 teams remaining had to have one team mate calm the other down to complete the Detour. I think this is going to be key in the Final Episode.

Wouldn't it be amazing if Brian and Ericka won? Cheyne & Meghan look tough to beat! However, if the final leg has a Detour or Road Block that requires luck (Funny that... Las Vegas!!), almost any of the teams could win. I would like to see Cheyne and Meghan win because they've dominated the competition. Brian and Ericka would be my sentimental favorite. I still like the Brothers also, and wouldn't be surprised if they won. However, their relentless bickering gets to be soooo annoying!

SKK: At some point in past seasons, they made it clear that the Road Blocks had to be split up to a degree. I think it was the season after Uchenna and Joyce, where he did almost all of them, which was their strategy, so she could stay mentally fresh and on task. I recall teams sometimes talking through that if one did a particular Road Block, the other team member would have to do the next couple or something. I don't remember the details, though. Does anybody else?

I agree with SKK...they need to be divided. I think the Producers made a decision not to let the audience know the details. They want it to look like the teams are making all the decisions. But, countless times I've seen teams make a mind boggling choice on which partner does the Road Block. For instance...having Meghan do the Hay Bale Road Block. Surely, here you would choose your physically strongest team mate.

If this is a production decision, I disagree with the premise. I think if the audience knows that the Road Blocks have to be divided evenly, for example, it would be interesting for us to see the strategy used by the teams. I think the concern is that they want to keep the formula that works as simple as possible. Obviously, which team mate does a Road Block is of major importance. What do others think about this subject????