The Amazing Race 6: Episode 5

To begin: I know I said I would not blog on the abusive asshole that is Jonathan until he got booted from the race, but I cannot NOT comment on this evening's episode. Here is the scenario: They are in a footrace with another team (the other team I actively dislike, for what that's worth) to make it to the pit stop first and win a cool trip. They are in the middle of Berlin on their way to the Brandenburg Gate. Jonathan decides to drop his backpack on the side of the street so they can run faster. Victoria, realizing that the backpack will be stolen in about 2 seconds if they do that picks up his backpack and continues to run with BOTH of their backpacks in tow. This significantly slows Victoria down, to the point where the other team is able to get ahead and beat them to the pit stop. Once Jonathan has collected Victoria and the backpacks he HITS HER. He is standing about 10 yards away from the pit stop and the host and he SMACKS HER IN THE ARM. Victoria is in tears at the pit stop. She is cracking. Phil, the host, is completely disarmed and you can tell by his expression doesn't really know how to handle this, but does suggest to Jonathan that he go talk to Victoria. As in, "Your wife has had an emotionally and physically difficult day, you should go cheer her up a bit and help calm her down." Jonathan does, indeed, go to talk to Victoria. And yells at her for daring to pick up his backpack to prevent it from being stolen. Seriously, when is someone going to lock this guy up and throw away the key?

Here is how much I hate this guy. The team that ended up coming in first place today was Freddy and Kendra. Kendra's the woman who made the comment last week about whether or not a lake was sanitary. This week she one-upped herself while they were still in Africa. They recognize the fact that they are in a poverty stricken land, and Kendra waxes on about how they just keep BREEDING. I was actually glad that this team won the trip, because they are better than the abusive asshole. But if I had the power to eliminate two teams from the competition right now it would be these two without a doubt.

Major props to the sacrifical lambs that finally did get eliminated. They began the leg without any money, as a sacrifice for coming in last on the last episode and being allowed to stay in the game. Last season when faced with this issue teams would beg local for money. Don and Mary Jean, recognizing that they come from an affluent background and that they were in a poverty stricken land could not bring themselves to beg locals for money. So they begged off the other teams. And the other teams came through.

That may have had something to do with the fact that this episode was a tour through the unfortunate side of human existence. They began the episode in Africa at the Arch of No Return (I think that's the right name) where Africans passed through on their way to becoming slaves. It really was a touching moment, because each of the teams was given the opportunity to lay a rose down and reflect on it all. From there they flew to the Berlin Wall, and a reminder of the atrocities of World War II.

So is it any wonder that after these two escapades when several of the teams found themselves in a local pub carting around steins of beer that Gus was trying to sneak as many sips off the top as he could. This is why I'm rooting for him. He began the episode in tears contemplating a bit of his history, and ended it wanting to stick around the pub for a pint before they continued on with the race. Because even if you don't win the $1,000,000 this is a kick-ass experience that you want to get as much out of as you can.

Today's moral: Play nice with others, and sometimes you've got to stop and take a sip off the beer.