We're seeing some interesting trends this season with "The Amazing Race" -- intersections, ridiculously short legs, and a decision to blind U-Turn a guy with a bum knee. However, the majority of this leg in France helped us to forget most of them. Sure, we're still seeing a bunch of cost-cutting measures, but at least producers managed to come up with some good tasks.
Let's start with the theme this week: champagne! Bubbly was to be found just about everywhere, from the route markers to the detour to the roadblock. It made for some fun moments, mainly because some teams (here's to looking at Jeff) decided that they were just as interested in drinking the stuff.
The legend of Noah Joan of Arc
Louie & Michael started the leg in first place, and they immediately were sent off to find a statue of Joan of Arc located outside a cathedral in Reins.
Once again, we had here an example of something very simple made complicated by someone saying something very dumb.
Both Jordan (of Jeff & Jordan) and Caite (of Brent & Caite) both thought that Joan was a man -- and that he might have built an ark during the Old Testament. Thank goodness for directions.
Steve & Allie were actually the first team to arrive at the cathedral, but after making a mistake in directions Louie & Michael and Dan & Jordan managed to jump ahead for the lead.
The champagne shaft
Repel challenges are generally fun, mainly because we have the opportunity to watch someone scale down the side of building. Therefore, I guess it's not nearly as cool when it's a tiny mineshaft.
The roadblock this week was pretty simple: go down the shaft into a giant wine cellar, and find a bottle marked with a clue. Then, they had to go back outside and uncork the champagne to find their clue.
Suffice it to say, no one actually had any sort of trouble with this challenge since really all people had to do in order to succeed was wander around until they saw a flag. Dan & Jordan started first, and so they actually ended up finishing the roadblock at the top (a rarity for this "Race" so far).
It's all about getting there
Then, we had one of the most catastrophic instances of bad directions in the show's history. Teams were told to go following a roadblock to a mansion owned by a company, but unfortunately almost all of the locals sent the teams to the headquarters in the city instead.
The primary exception? Michael & Louie, who are either extremely skilled on this show or extremely lucky. They got to the detour first, and were given a choice between finding grapes in a field or stacking up champagne. Next to last week's choice between Morse code and crawling, this was the second-easiest choice I've seen in years. Why on earth would you choose to build a tower? The cops knew better, and their decision to quickly seek out the grapes helped them snag a third straight leg in first place.
Steve & Allie -- who suffered early on thanks to Steve getting a little too crazy behind the wheel of his car -- pulled it together to finish third. Carol & Brandy made up some time thanks to good directions and leapfrogged into second place.
Jet & Cord, meanwhile, had an opposite situation -- they were lost almost the entirety of the leg, but their ability to actually complete the tasks fast got them fourth.
The leaning tower
If there's one thing the top four teams have in common, it's that none of them tried to build the ever-so-intimidating tower. Dan & Jordan actually arrived before some of the other teams, but it took them forever to get all of the glass stacked up.
Brent & Caite had a case of "Caite wants to do whatever she wants." She threw a fit about doing the grapes, so they switched over the glasses only to have it crash and burn. Then Caite apologized, and they switched back to the other task.
Jeff & Jordan saw the dating couple out searching in the fields, so they thought it would be a better idea to try the glasses. Really, Jeff? Team "Big Brother" were totally undone in this race by bad decisions -- they were clearly athletic enough, but they didn't really seem to have the competitive edge.
Because of this, they ended up switching back to the grape search and finishing hours behind all the other teams. Not only was there no non-elimination leg, but Jeff joked that Phil was probably furious at them for taking so long.
The latest "eviction"
Jeff & Jordan were a gimmick of sorts on this season, but they were at least a funny team who wasn't afraid to entertain. I would have loved to see them stick around longer than Brent & Caite, but it just wasn't meant to be.
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Who are you rooting for to win "The Amazing Race?" Let me know your thoughts with a comment below.
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Comments
Jeff and Jordan were my faveorite just for the reason you said, Jeff is just funny and they are fun to watch although your right they didn't have that killer instict or sense of urgency to win.
You are also so right about this season being weak.
i loved when phil told jeff they were last and he said "WHAAAAT" like he was shocked.. funny and i will miss him .. you could tell jordan was ready to go home.. get them on another show and i will watch for sure
Really sick of Brent and Caite whining through ever challenge. If we were gonna have the beautiful but dim-witted couple, at least let them be entertaining and willing to laugh at themselves. Love the cowboys, hope they pick up the pace!
Jeff and Jordan were my favorite. They were hilarious and fun to watch. I would watch anything they are on. Now I am rooting for Cord and Jett
I really enjoyed Jeff and Jordan, I was ROFL when he said, they should not reproduce. I actually stopped watching this show and went back to watching it this season because of Jeff and Jordan. I did like the models, but she was so damm nasty last night that I immediately stopped liking her. I do like Jet and Cord, and I do hope they beat the detectives for the simple reason that they are way too cocky and they think they are above everyone else. I also like the father daughter team. They seem to get along really well, and work well together.
I am sooo disappointed that Jeff and jordan are gone. I have never watched amazing race before but tuned in to see them. There's really no one I like but think i will root for Dan and Jordan......Keeping my eye out for J&J to returm to tv....
I won't be watching anymore now that Jeff and Jordan are gone. They were the only reson I tuned in. I didn't even get to see it because me DVR didn't tape long enough because of the NCAA Basketball. Stinks.
I really enjoyed Jeff and Jordan, I was ROFL when he said, they should not reproduce. I actually stopped watching this show and went back to watching it this season because of Jeff and Jordan. I did like the models, but she was so damm nasty last night that I immediately stopped liking her. I do like Jet and Cord, and I do hope they beat the detectives for the simple reason that they are way too cocky and they think they are above everyone else. I also like the father daughter team. They seem to get along really well, and work well together.
i was really sad to see jeff and jordan get eliminated.they are so sweet together, and were absolutely hilarious.every week we could expect another sarcastic remark from jeff, but always seem to be in fun rather than mean spirited. bet they had fun at the elimination station though. saw a video after their arrival, and i bet they really enjoyed it. they don't take themselves too seriously and that's rare on these reality shows.
I miss seeing jeff and jordan. I hope that they are on another show together soon but I remember that Jeff is an actor and I wouldn't be upset to see him without jordan. He really cracks me up.
wish jordan and jeff would have stayed longer.....rooting for their almost best friends on the show.....brent and caite
I was really hoping that Jeff and Jordan would pull through. Oh well. I still love the show.
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