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I do appreciate that Bopper does try to defend Border Patrol as good guys when Brendon starts to bad mouth them. Speaking of teams that Big Brother hates, Vanessa & Ralph show up. Bad Rachel tries to unconvincingly throw off their enemies by saying, “Man, I really wish there was a flight earlier than 10 a.m.” To which Vanessa sums up as Rachel being in a bad acting class. Maybe that’s what the ‘Bad’ in ‘Bad Rachel’ stands for.

Anyway, all the teams are ready to sit and wait in the airport for their connecting flight in Nairobi, which will be the scene for more airport hijinks. I think that the next two minutes of the show offered more tension and anger than ever seen on the Amazing Race. And who is in the middle of it all? Literally, it is Team Big Brother, who is sandwiched between Border Patrol and Vanessa & Ralph waiting for the connection.

The instigation was a classy middle finger from Brendon to Ralph as Brendon pushed Ralph aside while rushing to the line. In this instance, it’s more than a case of “he said, he said” because Art & JJ saw it go down. So when Ralph tries to simply and maturely point out that it was uncalled for, Bad Rachel unsuccessfully defends her man by saying it didn’t happen. Our Border Patrol fellows chime in that they saw it as it happened, which also allows Border Patrol to call them out on their poor racing ability. Brendon justifies his douchey-ness by saying, “We are here to play.” JJ clarifies that they haven’t played the game yet but just followed and that this game isn’t “Follow the Leader.” Brendon retorts with a well-thought out comeback of a smug head nod.

Border Patrol’s defense of Ralph shuts Bad Rachel down from defending Brendon’s bird-flipping but she then (and once again incorrectly) tells Ralph to stop yelling. He points out that he is just talking to Brendon. I have to give Ralph credit for mature conflict resolution here because he never swears or loses his cool. Too bad the same can’t be said for Vanessa and Bad Rachel.

Here’s a transcript of their childish, yet humorous (because Rachel clearly loses the petty argument) exchange:

Bad Rachel: “You guys are crazy.”
Vanessa: “Just put on more sparkles.”
Bad Rachel: “I hope insulting people makes you feel better about yourself.”
Vanessa: “I hope that running your mouth makes you feel better about yourself.”
Bad Rachel: “How old are you? What are you like 38? Grow up.”
Vanessa: “Yeah, I’m 38 and somehow, I still look younger than you. Honey, get your nose done before you get your boobs done, do everybody a favor.”

This whole exchange paints both women in a very unfavorable light but is a great way to segue into a commercial break. Based upon the reactions of all the other teams listening, they’re either a) enjoying the meltdown; b) love seeing Bad Rachel be called out; c) that they believe, as I do, that these two teams will now be too focused on just beating one another and lose sight of the bigger Amazing Race picture; or d) a combination of all of the above. All of them that is except Bopper & Mark who sum up the exchange as a couple kids going at in the lunch line.

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