Simply Amazing: Pack and forth
By Wade Kwon
Half the teams are gone, and half the remaining teams are in a shaky alliance. And all are stranded on a tiny island smaller than Birmingham’s Jefferson County.
Welcome to the second half of “The Amazing Race.” Karlyn Harris and Lyn Turk, best friends from Birmingham, stuck it out (more or less) with two other teams as they headed for Africa. It’s sink or swim time for the 12 contestants as they snipe and snarl their way to the mat.
Plus, the controversial missing Roadblock.
Highlights from the seventh leg of the series …
Route: Kuwait City to Mauritius.
Counter insurgency: At the Kuwait City airport, beauty queens Dustin and Kandice ask the ticket agent for seats for junkie models Tyler and James. This leads to heated words between the blondies and the pair behind them, Team Birmingham.
And then, Tyler and Karlyn square off. Gentlemen (and ladies), you can’t fight in here. This is the Middle East.
Despite the drama, all six teams end up on the same backwards flight from Kuwait City through London to the island of Mauritius.
Axis of waffle: The Back Pack has renamed itself the Six Pack, in honor of its six members: Team Birmingham, the Cho brothers Erwin and Godwin, and Team Kentucky’s David and Mary. Great, new possibilities for cra-a-azay nicknames, like the Wack Pack, or the Sux Pack.
On the island, teams race to find the boat called the Isla Mauritia. Lyn and Karlyn drive off without waiting for their alliance, which catches up at the harbor. They swim out (slowly) to the sailboat for their next clue.
The Six Pack isn’t going to muscle its way to the front, as they drive off together to the next challenge.
Wheels of fortune: Mauritius is backwards land, and drivers sit on the right and drive on the left. Maybe that’s why Dustin rams their car into a bus, denting the front passenger side. Or why Rob loses it when his car conks out in traffic, as Kimberly unhelpfully orders him to “just do this.”
The Six Pack drives by Rob and Kimberly, who eventually receive a replacement car and fall to fifth place. Somehow, the blondies remain in first after possibly the fastest accident report ever.
Mountains of indecision: The Detour choice (no Roadblock! gyp!!) is “salt” or “sea.” Salt means digging through huge mounds of salt for a salt shaker with a clue (decoy salt shakers have only pepper). Sea means hunting for sails on foot on an island using a crude map.
The Six Pack, along with the junkie models and loudmouth couple Rob and Kimberly, all choose salt. But team after team quickly abandons the challenge, losing time in the process. Eventually, the Six Pack ends up as the back pack again, motoring to the island as the first three teams jump ahead.
This alliance is going to stick together, all the way to the Pit Stop of Shame.
Pit check: Karlyn and Lyn finish fifth out of six teams remaining. The beauty queens are first, making them the sixth team in seven Pit Stops to take the lead. And David and Mary are last … again. And spared … again.
As in the previous pre-determined non-elimination spectacular, Team Kentucky must finish the next leg in first place or receive an automatic 30-minute penalty.
“The Amazing Race” airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on CBS 42.
Next episode: It’s not a Yield, it’s not a Fast Forward. It’s an Intersection! Um, in which the blondies must work with a Six Pack team. What’s next, a Merge? A One-Way? A Severe Tire Damage?!
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Pit stop: more “Amazing Race” coverage.
