The Amazing Race kicked off last night with an even playing field – all the teams ended up on the same train and flight from Norway to the beautiful Saint Petersburg, Russia.The long train ride to Stockholm gave the teams a chance to relax. Team Home Shopping and Team Docs compared how stinky their shoes and socks were (gross!) and Thomas took yet another opportunity to rub his superiority in Jill’s face. “Have you ever slept on one of these?” she asked when they got to their sleeper car. “Yeah, of course!” Thomas replied. Man, that guy is arrogant! And you know what? Arrogant as he is, he’s still not the biggest jackass on the Race.
Once in Saint Petersburg (where, unlike Vegas, they do not blow up all their buildings – thanks for the comparison, Nick and Vicki) teams had to choose between “Classical Music” and “Classic Cinema”. I immediately declared “Cinema” as the easier choice – teams would have to sort through piles of old-school film strips looking for one containing images from a classic Russian film playing on a screen. It sounded tedious but achievable. “Music”, however, sounded like a nightmare. Teams would have to listen to three songs playing on gramophones and then enter another room where they would have to identify each pieces as it was being played from one of many pianos.
“Classic Cinema” seemed like such an obvious choice to me, so I was shocked when only three teams originally chose to go for it. Michael and Kevin arrived first, followed by Jill and Thomas and eventually Brook and Claire, who had gotten stuck with a lousy cab driver. Thomas quickly realized the key to locating the correct film strip – look for the Russians words – and he and Jill were quickly on their way. Next to leave were Brook and Claire, who made up a lot of time after their cab mishap. Then Kevin and Michael left, proving that “Cinema” really had been the best choice.
Things were not going that well at “Classical Music”. None of the teams could find the correct combination of tunes, and as they got more frustrated the pieces started to sound more and more alike. Poor Mallory started to get really frustrated, telling her dad “I wanted you to have a good ear, but…” and soon all the teams but Stephanie and Chad had left for the other task.
Meanwhile, the three teams who’d left “Classic Cinema” first were making their way to the Roadblock. Brook and Claire arrived first and Michael and Kevin arrived second, since Jill and Thomas lost their lead by getting lost in the Russian countryside. The Roadblock, “Russian Drag Race”, called for one team member to dress up as a Babushka and plant 50 potatoes – using manure. This was probably the funniest challenge so far this season. Brook, of course, couldn’t shut up during the task, and Kevin charmed the real Babushkas by greeting them with “Hello, beautiful ladies! I had your poop and your potatoes!” The Babushkas ate it up, saying what an excellent farmhand Kevin would make. Apparently the feeling was mutual, since Kevin later said “I think I fell in love a little bit.” Once Jill arrived at the challenge she breezed through it, inspiring the Babushkas to say “These skinny girls can do everything.”
Back at “Classical Music”, Chad managed to grab the title of Biggest Douche on the Race by making the task hell for Stephanie. Did he want to stay? No. Did he want to leave? Also no – apparently he thought they should have left a long time ago and now had no chance in winning. Stephanie kept her cool though and actually managed to complete the task before any of the teams who’d left had a chance to complete the “Cinema” task. Chad couldn’t believe that he’d managed to take a back seat to his girlfriend of all people, and I couldn’t believe that Stephanie hadn’t punched him in the face yet.
Over at “Cinema”, Nat and Kat left first out of their pack, followed by Gary and Mallory. Then Nick, whose middle name is “Quitter”, decided that he and Vicki should switch back to music. BIG mistake.
Michael and Kevin left the Babushka challenge first, followed closely by Brook and Claire and Jill and Thomas. But Michael and Kevin made an error when they arrived at the Pit Stop, running around the cathedral in search of Phil instead of checking the gardens, as Michael suggested. That gave Jill and Thomas the chance to score another first place finish, and then Brook and Claire grabbed second place. Michael and Kevin still finished in third, which is good, but they could have been first.
Nat, Stephanie and Mallory tackled the Babushka challenge with varying degrees of difficulty. Nat finished rather quickly, helping her and Kat make it to the pit stop in fourth place. Stephanie managed to overtake Mallory, who accidentally got kidnapped, putting her and Chad in fifth place.
Poor little Mallory. First she got lost. Then when she thought some locals were helping her with directions by pulling her over a fence, she realized they were actually inviting her in for some vodka. Then she arrived at the manure to find that Stephanie had gone hardcore and thrown the shovel far into the pile, so poor little Mallory would have to get all pooey trying to reach it. Mallory had a rough leg this week, but she powered through things and she and her dad ended up in 6th place.
Nick and Vicki did better with the “Classical Music” challenge in their second attempt by tackling the compositions one at a time – something that my mom and I had been yelling at the TV much earlier in the episode. Nick tackled the Babushka challenge because he likes drag racing, but as he pointed out, it was actually “Just more queen than cars.” There was no avoiding the truth, though. The tattooed pair was doomed for last place. I don’t know about you, but I was ready to see them eliminated. They seem to lack any sort of talent or common sense, and Nick is just another unlikable boyfriend of a generally good-natured hairstylist. So I can’t say I’m glad they were saved by a non-elimination round, but perhaps it will quiet the viewers who think these rounds are saved for when the most likable teams end up in last place.
What did you think of the episode, Race watchers? Can Nick and Vicki make a comeback? Will Gary and Mallory find their way back to the top of the pack? Is Chad the biggest douche on the race, or do you hate Thomas’s condescending ‘tude or Nick’s quitter mentality more frustrating?
