"Amazing Race" 7/17

Here’s my latest theory:

There was a rumor when the season started that Chip and Reichen had since broken up. Maybe it’s because Reichen – who was the one who got Chip to acknowledge his sexual preference, according to that weepy testimony on this week’s show – has performed the same service for Chuck, and Reichen and Chuck are now an item.

Just a WAG.

I like your idea, Twickster, but I have a more fundamental idea of why they broke up: Because the lose the race and each blames the other for being a dunderhead! (And there goes my chance of winning the office pool! Fooey!)

It’s weird. When the race started, I didn’t mind Millie and Chuck (I despised Kelly and Jon from the start, though). But as the race has gone along, Chuck’s whiney passive-agressive snivelling and Millie’s grotesque incompetence and whiney pushiness (plus the obvious bigotry*) have dropped them lower and lower on my list.

I’m actually sorry to hear that Reichien and Chip have apparently broke up. They seemed like a solid couple. Waaaaaaay rotten sports and poor gameplayers (Hint: it pays to give information that won’t cost you anything (in terms of time or advantage) to other players…'cause most of 'em will repay you. Didja see where someone…Millie and Chuck? asked the clowns what flight they were getting on and the clowns just told 'em? If the clowns hadn’t, they’d have only gained bad will and gained a 2-3 minute advantage…which, in an airport, is meaningless. Compare that to everything that Reichien and Chip do. They’ll hold on to every! single! advantage! even when it’ll cost 'em more in goodwill (which, at this stage, still matters) than the few seconds will gain 'em.

And looking over my previous post, I don’t think the level of disgust that Kelly and Jon inspire in me. Does anyone need more clarification? :wink:

Fenris

*It woulda been fine for her to say “I’m a Christian and I’m uncomfortable getting blessings from someone outside my faith.” IMO a bit provincial, but at least civil…but “voodoo”? That’s offensively ignorant on at least two obvious counts, and maybe three.

Erm…that middle sentence about the gay guys shoulda read “Rotten sports and poor game players…etc…but a caring, supportive, mature couple.”

Interesting how unlike previous seasons, at this point in the race, there are no teams that are universally loved (the frat boys, Oswald & Danny, Ken & Gerard) or hated (the Evil Guidos, Tarawil, and She-Who-Will-Not-Be-Named). Some people have strong opinions, but they’re all over the place.

About Chuck: I wonder if he had no idea (unlike everyone else) that Reichen & Chip were a hot item, and being raised with Christian morals and all, didn’t know how to react. So he did nothing. Hmm, now that I think about it, “doing nothing” is a perfect description of Chuck’s psychology. :smiley: But it’s not like he called them names or walked away from the table or anything.

And I fail to see how the “voodoo curse” comment is offensive. Ignorant perhaps, but offensive? Well, maybe if you’re a Voodoo Priest or something. Are you, Fenris? :wink:

Oh dear, I just realized this was my 777th post. Uh-oh. God really IS trying to tell me something…
:smiley:

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I think just about everyone likes the clowns, tho’ not to the degree that the Ken and Gerard were.

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I disagree. Lookit his face: he was scowling and (IIRC) had his arms crossed while slouched back in his chair. The expression plus body language was pretty apparent.

Nah, but one doesn’t have to be a Vodun believer to be offended/annoyed. Voodoo is a legit religion…and if they were in Haiti, I wouldn’t have been as concerned about whether she was being accurate or not…but since they’re on the opposite side of the world from Haiti/West Africa, there’s this subtext that I got that from her that “little brown savages, who aren’t good Christians, all believe the same thing”. IMO, she wasn’t using the name of a real belief system as anything but derogatory and dismissive.

Fenris

Yep, this episode sealed it for me - I do NOT like Millie and Chuck. Partly because of the voodoo comment but also because of the way that they don’t seem to be playing their own game. They didn’t want to figure out, on their own, which flight to take - they just wanted to follow someone else around and get the information that way. Yeah, it didn’t hurt the clowns to just tell them, but I can’t really blame Reichen and Chip for wanting them to find their own information. They never do things on their own - they always ask someone else or listen in.

I am also thoroughly sick of John and Kelly. Ugh. At this point, I think I’d be happy with any of the other three teams winning. I do like Chip and Reichen more than I did in the begininning. Twickster this Web site has a bunch of stories, interviews and recaps of AR4 - scroll about 3/4 of the way down and there’s a story about the rumors of a possible break-up of Reichen and Chip.

Is there anyone here who disagrees with this statement??
No??
Well, then. . . Looks like we’ve got our Team That Is Universally Disliked!!!
(And I do hate clowns, but I don’t mind the AR4 clowns so much. Maybe it’s because they’re not wearing their clown costumes and makeup. But I definitely don’t LOVE them.)

Still pulling for Chip and Reichen because of the Office Pool.

I like Jon and Kelly, they have good chemistry together, can be funny and are having fun and trying to win. They don’t seem to be assholes like Chip and Reichen.

my order of preference is:

clowns
not gay guys
jon and kelly
millie and chuck
gay guys

although, none of these teams really have me rooting for them, i do want chip and reichen to lose bad… they’re such a bunch of pricks to me.

My prediction for Millie and Chuck:

By the last episode they will either be ****ing like drunk monkeys for two weeks straight or they’ll break up in a blaze of Seinfeldian relationship snark.

Either way is goooooooooood television.

Yup, mcms_cricket – I shoulda guessed RealtityNewsOnline was my source for that tidbit. That was the exact article I’d read. Thanks for finding it.

I’m gonna agree with KGS on the “no one everyone loves/no one everyone hates” observation. The clowns are popular – but in a kind of “what’s not to like?” sort of way. They’re definitely not as delightful as the Frat boys, Cha Cha Cha, or the Oppisibs, all of which were teams that were pretty universally adored.

And despite the fact that most people don’t like the two hetero teams, they’re not loathed with the same passion as the teams KGS mentioned – and let’s not forget the loathsome Ian and Terri.

Damn, I hope this isn’t the last season – what a letdown that would be, to have such a lukewarm sort of thing be the finale.

Quibble: Ian was loathesome (Terry was mostly harmless) but they had some redeming qualities. He was able to unf*ck the car after he put deisel (or not-deisel) in it, he was willing to do a lot of the harder tasks to spare Terry (even ones he hated). He was a dick, but he was a competent dick and by the end I had some grudging admiration from him.

Flo-the-bitch and Zach, however had no redeeming qualities. None. They didn’t even have entertaining fights.

I repeat: I’d happily pay $100 to see Flo from AR3 team up with Chuck from AR4 for a team to despise in AR5. :smiley:

I, too, like Jon and Kelly. They’re the only team that has any guts; any edge to their game.

I still don’t really like them though. The Clowns are my favourite. My list goes much like Madawc’s.

  1. The Clowns
  2. The Not Gay Gay guys
  3. Jon & Kelly
  4. The Gay guys
  5. Millie Mole and Werewolf Chuck

Trigonal Planar maybe cuz we’re both from Ontario, Canada that we have a list that is similar hehe. They might be showing a Canadian version of amazing race or something, who knows.

and Fenris is correct with the assessment on Ian and Terri. I liked them a lot last season and was rooting for them to win. Ian was abrasive and an ass, but he was a good player. Their team was underestimated and they proved to be strong when things didn’t go their way, or when people treated them with contempt. That roadblock bike making thing was a challenge set up for him and he passed it with flying colors. I was impressed with his hands-on fix it and not whine type attitude as well. The diesel f*ck up was rectified nicely by Ian, he didn’t sit on the side of the road like other teams and cry and call for help, he did it himself. Now, Flo… don’t get me started…