I wonder if they thought it was shady because both of their candidates (though wrong) for who did it were teams in the first group who had no real reason to use it. So since it would have given them no advantage it must have been for personal reasons.
But yeah, I don’t understand why people always bitch about it (beyond the fact that it is $1 million at risk so I’d get irrationally grumpy too).
Yay for bare minimums next week.
Well, I can’t argue about preferences. Everyone’s got 'em and they’re rarely rational. But I adore Luke & Margie…Luke’s a real cutie and Margie seems really nice. They’re my second favorite team, right after Mel & Mike.
It has to come after the Detour. The question isn’t really where in the leg you put the U-Turn, but in which leg you put it. For it not to be a death sentence, the Detour must be easy (so it doesn’t eat up too much time) and/or the Roadblock has to be hard (so you have a chance to make up time on another team). This one didn’t seem to be either. Although, when Margie & Luke used the U-Turn, did they know how the other teams were doing? For all they knew, Amanda & Kris could have had enough cushion to absorb the U-Turn.
Did anyone else think the whole “Chekhov” thing was a bit weird? I mean, one second someone is arranging the tiles in random order to spell complete gibberish, then after the commercial they get it right by a lucky guess. That seems like you’d either know it or you wouldn’t.
How does one team run out of money when no one else does? All I can think of is that the stuntmen kept their cab waiting so long that it cost a fortune.
I’m looking forward to the Taxi Assessment. The teams just seem to be all over the map, so to speak. Maybe the top two teams this week look better than they should because of airplane luck. I’ll pick Tammy & Victor and Margie & Luke for two of the final three. Although T & V are still just one false step from sequesterville.
Strange. This series had just four m/f romantic and/or married couples…and they go out 1-2-3-4.
I’d have to assume that to be the case. They were part of the first pack and ended up at the end of the second pack. I’d assume there was at least a couple hours of extra wait time.
Though if players are allowed to attempt to use personal possessions to pay for stuff (remembering as well the attempt to use shoes to pay for a cab last season) then if I ever get on the show I am wearing a very expensive watch, a bit old diamond stud ear-ring or maybe I’ll stretch my lobes so I can wear Krugerrands in them.
Umm…was Christie really wearing a hat that said ASSLOCH???
My guess is they starting choosing random names they recognized as Russian, and luckily all the teams had seen Star Trek. 
I like Margie & Luke but I bet they feel really bad about killing the last team. They hit them because they are strong, and thought they’d stay in anyway. Oops.
Is this the fourth leg in a row where the locals gather to eat, drink, sing, and laugh at the teams as they struggle with some arduous task? I have to admit I rather like the contrast between the laid-back booze-swilling local citizens and the uptight Racers. Makes me want to volunteer to be an extra on the Race.
Anyway, time for the…
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Jennifer and Preston - Working out their relationship in Sequesterville.
Linda and Steve - Probably secretly glad they’re not Racing any more.
Brad and Victoria - Taking the long way around to Sequesterville.
Amanda and Kris (down from “Rapido!”) - It sucks to be U-turned, for sure, but this team was already in last place when the U-turn hit. It’s possible they could have overtaken Mark & Michael, but they had missed the best flight and hemorrhaged time on the Detour, falling to a last place position that would have been difficult to crawl out of. The U-turn made it certain, but they really had themselves to blame for being in that position anyway. To their credit, their grumbling about being U-turned was minimal, and they got back to work and finished off the tasks, but no one really expected them to pull it off sans the saving grace of a non-elim leg. Alas, Phil lives to disappoint, and Amanda & Kris are on their way to Sequesterville. I don’t think this was the weakest team left, but they were the unluckiest this episode, and that’s all that matters.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Mark and Michael (down from “Rapido!”) - Oh, come on, I had this team ranked higher because they’ve been consistently middle-of-the-pack and hadn’t shown me anything different. But they sure showed something different this episode: embarassing ineptitude. Despite being safely on the first flight to Siberia, they frittered away their entire lead, winding up the lucky beneficiary of Amanda & Kris’s U-turn to slide into second-to-last place. (And they’re out of maney! How did that happen?) I had thought this team might be a good candidate for final three, because they ought to be able to handle the physical tasks, but they seem to be NOT handling the mental tasks. Like finding a house.
Cara and Jaime (holding steady) - Yay for them, completing a task without any icky boys helping. They exceeded all expactations, as Phil likes to say. However, they’re now the only team without a top-three finish, so despite their best-ever placement this week (fifth! wow!), I’m leaving them here at the bottom of the rankings.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Christie and Jodi (up from “Flat Tire”) - Wow. A first place from what, up until now, has been clearly the weakest team. Now, realistically, their first place only entailed beating LaKisha & Jennifer (who were mere seconds behind), as Mark & Mike took themselves out of the race, and the rest of the teams were a chunk of time behind. But Christie & Jodi did win, and they didn’t do anything stupid. And, most importantly, they were on the best flight to Siberia, quite possibly because they knew how best to work flights and connections. That’s what I was hoping to see from this team. On the strength of their performace this ep, I’m moving them up a notch. But only one. Now, let’s see what they do next week.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
LaKisha and Jennifer (up from “Stopping”) - LaKisha & Jennifer also made the best flight to Siberia. However, I suspect their placement was just luck, whereas Christie & Jodi put some skill into play. I’m duly impressed with their Roadblock performance, as I think logicking out a reasonable Russian name from random letters is more impressive than simply having heard of Chekhov. Bottom line: this is their second top-three placement in as many weeks, so I’m moving them up a notch, but I’m still uncomfortable with the intra-team dynamics here. We’ll see as the season progresses.
Mel and Mike (down from “Rapido!”) - Mel’s still old and fragile, and this team can’t afford to be lollygagging at the back of the pack. Their worst performance so far (sixth!) earns them a trip downward in the rankings, because I think this team needs a time cushion, and their’s is slim.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Tammy and Victor (up from “Rapido!”) - A credible save this week from their disastrous performance last week. Third place is pretty good, considering three teams had a jump of a few hours on them. Last week’s meltdown makes me leery about this team’s reactions to stress as the competition gets tighter, but they’re back for now. And, heh… “who doesn’t know Chekhov?” Who, indeed?
Margie and Luke (holding steady) - Kudos to them for using the U-turn pretty much for what it was intended. You might argue they were still a healthy distance in front of the teams trailing them, and thus didn’t especially need the insurance, but they were in the trailing pack, and I’m sure Margie was happy with the decision while waiting for Luke to calm down and spell “Chekhov.” Not only that, but trying to preserve a team (Cara & Jaime) at the expense of another (Amanda & Kris) is perfectly legit. I’m not a fan of the U-turn, but this is a fine rationale for using it.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Still no one in this topsy-turvy season. I might lift Tammy & Victor up to here if they have another good leg, but every single team has looked vulnerable in some way, and no one’s really kicking butt.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
I agree, but I’m puzzled as to why the producers designed the leg this way. It just kills any suspense as to who’s last on the leg, and an elimination prevents any inter-team grudges that (presumably) the producers are trying to create. Seems counter-intuitive to design a leg where the U-turn is a death sentence.
I suspect most teams logicked out a Russian-sounding name. Once you hit on OV as the obvious ending, it would just take a few iterations to get it right–I think I saw Luke spell out KHECHOV just before he got the right answer.
That’s pretty much my thought right now, but as you say, every team seems to have feet of clay (and no one left is *completely *incompetant), so it’s hard to pick an obvious final three, much less a winner.
I almost forgot! What was going on with the whole phone thing? Did the Stunt Brothers’ cabbie just call another cabbie (who happened to be Team Redheads’ cabbie) to get airport information for them?
And I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Team Redheads answering them as if they were Lufthansa. It doesn’t seem to have affected the outcome much, but it really feels a little too much like interference with another team outside of the rules (unlike Yields or U-Turns).
Yeah, that was weird. I kept waiting for Karma to strike. Atleast the Redheads couldn’t think of anything damaging to say.
To whoever decided to pixellate Jaime’s butt in the preview: go back to Saudi Arabia, you damned prude! 
I dunno. If they were actively trying to interfere with another team (a la Rob and the door-closing stunt), then I’d be a little peeved. And if they really followed through and confirmed a fake booking, I’d think that was pretty unsporting. But since Mark & Mike called them, and they just fucked around a bit before hanging up (the effect being not much different than if they had hung up right away), I think it’s no harm, no foul.
It would be fascinating to see what goes in to the making of a leg of the Race. They can plan it as carefully as they want, but give some average Americans a fanny pack, a map, and a CBS credit card and who knows what you’re going to get. I mean, when you put up your little red-and-yellow arrow signs, who bothers to look and see if there are red-and-white markers leading to nowhere.
They have to plan the legs pretty far in advance; do they even know for sure what time of day the racers will show up. Maybe they thought these tasks would be easier than they turned out to be. Maybe they thought one of the leading group would use the U-Turn on a close competitor to give them a shot at winning the leg. If we saw how much goes into it, we’d probably be amazed that they keep it as interesting as they do.
I doubt they’re all that upset. What would be the point of using the U-Turn if they didn’t want a team to be eliminated? As we’ve seen, it’s easy for a team to go from last to first (& vice versa) on a following leg, so slowing down a team just to mess with them doesn’t make sense when next time the leg could start with a flight and suddenly everyone’s equal again.
You’ve got to figure that sometimes the producers get cabs to hang out at the beginning of a leg, especially if it’s in the middle of the night in a place with no nightlife. I assumed the cabbie misunderstood what they asked and thought they wanted to talk to another team, not the airline. Didn’t appear to hurt them though.
And I’m so glad they made the U-turn “blind”, so teams would actually use it. Not that I ever got the thought that using it would come back to bite you later, since this isn’t Survivor.
ETA: I loved the bit where the blondes had no idea who Lenin was. Especially after last season, where being able to identify Lenin & Stalin was really, really important.
I don’t think this U-turn was an obvious last place. It ended up being one, because Amanda and Kris had blown a ton of time on stacking and then wandered around in the idiot caravan before finally finishing one leg of the detour. But a team that was more together could have been U-turned and not ended up last, especially seeing how mixed up other teams were at that detour.
I was surprised at how many teams started with stacking. Building seemed like the better detour option to me.
Oh, and I forgot to mention.
Lurchovitch at the shutter shop gets my vote for “Best Non-Speaking Role” this season. He had the long-suffering Slav look down pat.
Yeah, we really haven’t had a Marketplace Tailor or a Floursack Mistress this season. I hope the producers don’t think the generic “horde of drunken locals” can replace that kind of supporting casting… 
I applaud Christie & Jodi for switching from Dandrew-style survival to demonstrating actual competence on the leg.
Cara and Jamie, despite their eye candy appeal, have done nothing noteworthy to date. They have consistently placed in the middle of the pack; I expect them to be eliminated the first time nobody (else) does anything disastrous.
As for using the blind U-Turn – if the team gets eliminated, they can’t retaliate. Always eliminate strong teams early. The U-Turn was well used, IMnshO.