The Amazing Race Season 10: Episode 6
Maybe Steven Segal Will See Me and Want Me to Be in One of His Movies
By Stephanie DeGateo
October 26, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Peter and Sarah leave first at 12:54 p.m., and as they open their envelope they find a video phone. Phil, via video, informs the teams to head to Kuwait City where they need to find the structures pictured on the screen. Teams need to purchase tickets to Kuwait through a travel agency. The last teams, David and Mary, leave at 6:04 a.m. What is clear from all these early scenes is that the Back Pack Alliance, now down to the Cho Brothers, the Lyns and Team Kentucky, are sticking together, with the Wins and the Lyns indicating they are going to try to make sure David and Mary avoid elimination despite the penalty they can suffer if they don't come in first. Of course, all the teams end up on the same plane to Kuwait. Also, most of the teams figure out that the structures in the picture are the Kuwait Towers.
The teams land and head for marked cars to find the Kuwait Towers. Teams go up an elevator, take numbers, and wait as the landing upon which they are to get their clue does not open until 11 a.m. While the teams wait, the Chos share that they are both scared of heights - given where they are, it seems like someone is going to be facing their fears. Anyway, the landing opens and they all get their next clue, which luckily for Team Kentucky contains a Fast Forward. Phil lets us know this the first of two Fast Forwards in the Race – the team that completes this task first can head directly to the pit stop. This Fast Forward consists of putting out a simulated oil fire. Amazingly, most of the teams determine that they don't need the Fast Forward and decide to do the Roadblock task presented to them at the Towers. From a strategy standpoint, I'm not sure passing on a Fast Forward because you are already ahead is such a great idea, considering how tightly bunched all the teams are at this point. Be that as it may, the only team that considers the Fast Forward is Dustin and Kandice. In a completely magnanimous move, but an incredibly stupid one considering the Chos are destined to perform the Road Block task last, due to their numbers drawn, the Chos pass on the Fast Forward but pretend to be taking it. They actually dissuade the beauty queens from going for the Fast Forward, thus leaving the Fast Forward for Team Kentucky. Whether they did this out of sheer kindness or because David and Mary would be easy pickings as the Race progresses is never made clear (and it seems more the former than the latter). Regardless, David and Mary owe the Chos, because they complete the task, get to the pit stop, win a luxury vacation and are free from their non-elimination penalty.
But back to the Road Block - this one consists of one team member climbing a curved ladder, outside the tower, 610 feet above the ground. At the top, the team member gets a satchel that has puzzle pieces. On the ground, the team member then must put the puzzle together to get an idea of where to go next. I love the tasks this season...I especially love the puzzle tasks. Kimberly and Tyler take the task for their teams and do the climbing without much difficulty. For whatever reason, Peter decides that Sarah should do this Road Block, and as Karlyn and Kandice recognize, she shouldn't be the team member doing this, Peter should be. Of the Road Blocks tackled by this team, he did the eating, archery and flower selling tasks - all which do not require much lower body strength. Sarah took all the climbing tasks. This seems like really poor task division. Regardless, Sarah completes the task and gets her puzzle pieces. Kandice and Lyn climb and get their satchels. Finally, Erwin confronts his fears and does the climb.
The puzzle is giving Kimberly some trouble. Tyler and James finish first and by bringing the puzzle to a guard at the tower, learn they must travel to Street Al Gharabally. At a bead shop, they will find their next clue. Peter and Sarah finish next. Kimberly finally finishes, and in getting directions, she is told to head to the Grand Mosque. She thinks the guard is saying "mask" instead of "mosque" and Rob corrects her, explaining that a mosque is a temple. As she tells Rob that she doesn't know what a mosque is, the Amazing sound editors thrown in the greatest "boing" sound, just to emphasize the stupidity. I love the sound editors. The Lyns finish, and get a local to write down where they are to go. As the beauty queens approach the same person, AFTER the Lyns have gotten the information, Karlyn attempts to stop the beauty queens from talking to him. To the point where she pushes both the man and Dustin. Finally, one of the men in the group helps Dustin and Kandice, which leads Karlyn to complain that it wasn't fair that they got help and that they need to learn to run their own race. First, I'm not sure what was unfair about getting help from the same group of locals. Second, considering the Lyns have been coasting along with their alliance, I'm not sure they should be critical of teams not "running their own race." None of Karlyn's behavior really justifies Dustin's use of the word "sistas" when referring to the Lyns, however. Finally, the Wins are done and get a police escort to the Street.
The models find the shop first and get their detour clue. They have a choice of manual or automatic. In manual, the teams drive to Sulaibiya, where they have to fill ten 110-pound bags of camel feed and transport them 100 yards to a palette, where they are to be stacked. In Automatic, teams drive to the Kuwait Camel Racing Club, where they are to use a walkie talkie to direct a robotic jockey, via voice commands, to whip a camel through a race. Camels! Robots!! I love it!!! The models chose Manual. Rob and Kimberly, Sarah and Peter, and the Chos find the stall too. Meanwhile, the Lyns and the beauty queens are not having luck finding their clue. And as if to prove my point above, the Lyns find the stall because Godwin tells them where to go. The beauty queens get there before them, however, on their own. Sarah and Peter head off to do automatic. Rob and Kimberly and the beauty queens are trying to find Sulaibiya, and they get there before Rob and Tyler, who are lost. The beauty queens don't fill their bags up to the right point and stack up their bags without the required amount of feed. Tyler and James, still lost, decide to change plans and race camels. Sarah and Peter are lost too.
The Lyns and the Wins, who leave the market place together to find the camel racing, get separated and neither is sure where they are going. The Wins find the Manual task site and start filling bags. The beauty queens finish filling the bags, but are told they need to fill the bags more. Kimberly and Rob actually finish first and are sent to the pit stop. Dustin and Kandice finally finish and they get their clue to go to the pit stop. The Lyns finally find the racing club and we are met with great shots of angry looking camels. Karlyn also states that the camel needs to "stop with the attitude." Perhaps she should take her own advice.
Sarah and Peter stumble across an Amazing Race arrow, leading them to believe they have found one of the road block sites. It turns out they actually found the site of the Fast Forward, which is some 18 miles outside of the City. That's got to hurt. They actually drive back to the Kuwait Towers to get directions...but then get lost again. The models are also still lost, driving in circles around Kuwait City. However, they finally find the Camel Racing Club. The Cho brothers finish the manual task and are off to the pit stop. The Lyns start the camel race, and the robotic jockey is just as awesome as I thought it would be. Tyler and James have a great time directing their camel.
Peter has managed to convince himself that Sarah is fully at fault for them getting lost and after he has the directions from the Kuwait Towers stop, he claims he's now in control. Of course, they get even more lost. In the meantime, Dustin and Kandice check in as Team #2. Rob and Kimberly are Team #3. The Lyns are Team #4. The Cho brothers are Team #5. Peter and Sarah get directions to a supermarket and are now completely lost. Tyler and James check in as Team #6. Sarah and Peter, in the dark, finally find the Camel Racing Club, only to get a pity clue telling them to go directly to the pit stop. Phil tells them they are eliminated. Awesomely, they admit that they are not a couple...with Sarah saying, to Phil, in front of Peter, on the mat, that he's driven, but not "nurturing" or "kind." Amen and good for her. They walk off, separately.
And now, the payoff to the bet...
Ode to the Cardinals
On a rainy night at Shea
The Cards shut down my Mets
And because I'm a stand up gal
I shall honor my BOP bets
The Cards have power in Pujols
A lucky bastard in Eckstein
A catcher who can actually throw runners out
And a Cy Young pitcher that's mighty fine
The Redbirds boast the best fans in the game
And that new ballpark -- a beauty to behold
The most annoying thing about them
Is the chin hair on Scott Spiezio
If my team had to lose
I'm glad it's to the Cards
And that they won it on one swing
A ball that went yard
I respect St. Louies' history
It has baseball tradition in spades
I only wish someone would tell LaRussa
To lose the fucking shades