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Last week's Amazing Race brought us our typical dysfunctional couples soon to break up, but also a father whose daughter just couldn't please him, a heavy dose of freaks and a disoriented, nearly naked man covered in mud. And I was worried about the writer's strike affecting the quality of TV.

There's a medical note at the start of this episode, which is a rarity for the show. At the end of the previous leg, Ronald (who apparently has all his shirts labeled so as to question the patrelineal descent of everyone he meets) pulled a hernia – so now he's annoying and useless.

Lorena & Jason are first to leave at 4:19 a.m. on this leg, with the clue being the start of the annual third-world trip, where at least one team is guaranteed to embarrass their country. The destination is Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Naturally this team butchers the name of the city – and while I'll admit it's kind of a funny name, it's pretty straight forward, no? I mean, it's not like it's Albuquerque or Puyallup or something. Both they and the second team out, Nathan & Jennifer, stress just how much they drive their teammates crazy, which is why I'm sure a race around the world sounded like a good idea to them, so they could spread their crazy to the world!

Shana & Jennifer are closest to pronouncing their destination correctly, though they make up for that cultural savvy by complaining about how the race is affecting their beauty regimen. Meanwhile, Kynt & Vyxsin are turning into real-life Todd McFarlane dolls.

Azaria and Hendekea feel they'll be at home in Burkina Faso since they're from Ethiopia.... Which is like saying I'll feel at home in Spain since I'm from Poland. Big advantage you'll have there, I'm sure.

This leaves us with the trailing three teams to catch up, though this feels like one of those situations where everyone gets to catch up at the airport. I doubt there're five flights daily from Amsterdam to Burkina Faso.

My suspicions prove largely correct, as there's just one real flight a day from this part of the world, connecting through Paris. Nathan & Jennifer make a stab at an earlier flight to Paris, although since they're all connecting on the same flight, I'm not too sure of the point.

Every other team does get to the later flight to Paris, but with just a few minutes to spare for Ronald & Christina, who are hamstrung by starting an hour later, and Ronald's physical ailment. As it happens, there is a delay on the second flight due to mechanical issues, which could give Nathan & Jennifer as much as a day lead. I'd expect to see the producers out breaking the next plane in that eventuality, so it's good the second plane arrive just in time. Once again, airport drama amounts to nothing, though it's a tighter call than usual.

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