The Amazing Race 1/13/08

Wowee!  That was a good episode of the Amazing Race.  When last we saw our athletes TK and Rachel were 3 hours behind the rest of the teams.  The three teams ahead of them had to wait for an observatory to open and TK and Rachel were able to catch up.  I think the producers plan this since it seems that whenever a team isn't eliminated there is always a challenge that allows the last place team catch up.  TK and Rachel had trouble finding the marker but weren't far behind.  Just knowing that they were back there, somewhere, made the other team Jen and Nate freak out.  Remember in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when they are being trailed by the tracker and the law men?  No matter what they do they always look back and there they are.  Jen and Nate are going insane in the same way.

So imagine how Nate and Jen feel when they stop to exchange money and see that TK and Rachel are ahead of them in line at Immigration!!!  There's Rachel smiling her cute little smile right back at you, while fidgeting with her back pack.  I would swoon, but Jen was furious!

Meanwhile, Jen just complained how everything was supposed to go perfect for her since it was her birthday!  I'm not sure how the whining and expecting everybody to help was different then any other day.  Maybe everyday is her birthday?

Next CBS shows us how dumb Nate is by saying he doesn't know anything about Taipei but that he loves Thai Food.

Then the teams all meet up at the Jeep Challenge.  They take a ride in jeep that goes back and forth on a huge teeter totter.  Then they get in a jeep that drives underwater and they have to hold their breath for a whole 17 seconds.  Everybody accomplishes the tasks.  Some viewers are happy just to see Rachel in a wet tank top, while others wish that Jen would have competed so she could have a wet tank top too.  This is a race, we can't worry about those things people!

TK and Rachel are in third place out of four teams but must perform a "speed bump" as punishment for being last in last weeks episode.  They must run through fireworks being shot directly at them.  They of course think it's awesome and agree that even if they lose they had fun.  This infuriates Nate and Jen even more.  Why must they be so mellow and happy when they find themselves so miserable!?

Next they take a train ride and have to drink some hot tea that has a clue at the bottom of the cup.  The clue tells them to find a clown in some busy plaza.  None of the teams have too much trouble but at this point Asian Father and Daughter are pretty far ahead.  The rest of the teams meet at a stone path which they must walk on barefoot.  Teams bitch and complain about the painful walk while TK and Rachel run past them practically skipping with delight.

From this point they rush to the pit stop.  TK and Rachel somehow finish second even though they started 3 hours behind.  This truly is an Amazing Race!

Nate and Jen lose and are eliminated.  They now wish they hadn't focused so much on winning and would have worked more on their relationship.  Nate weeps gently and Jen takes forever to comfort him.