No thread yet?
15 minutes left.
The Cowboys (predictably) owned this leg.
Is everyone directionally challenged?
Rule #1 of the Amazing Race: Read the fucking clue!
Rule #2 of the Amazing Race: READ THE FUCKING CLUE!
Can somebody tell me who got Philliminated? My frelling TV died with 10 minutes to go.
“That gnome has poker face that is out of this world. I can never tell if he was bluffing. He should go to Vegas.” I heart the cowboys. But sooner or later they’re going to have a task that isn’t ranching-oriented.
StG
brownie - The Moms were last and were eliminated from the Race.
StG
Lawyer moms
Thanks to the both of you. I have not liked them since they pronounced themselves “momapreneurs.”
The cowboys are starting to grow on me, though. Finding someone who spoke English and knew their destination seemed like a good move to me. I don’t think the models will last much longer, though. In addition to their other problem, having someone who can neither drive a stick nor navigate very well seems like a bad idea to me.
To me, the lesbian team seems destined to crash and burn in a legendary, epic Amazing Race flameout—You just know that when a team talks about up and quitting, in only the mollyfocking second leg of the Race, during a task that is not even physically challenging (the buried treasure hunt) that when the shit actually gets hardcore (think haystacks) it’s not gonna be pretty…
I think the cowboys might just be a little more surprising that you are giving them credit for. Finding the best bus is not a ranching skill, yet the were hours ahead of the competition last week. They listen to people that know the local ways. I think they are final three material, and now I have jinxed them for sure.
I’ve decided to root for the other brother team because I don’t want the Cowbros to end up in 4th place. 
For the second week in a row, Steve & Allison got barely any screen time. Are the editors saving them for a spectacular leg later?
My god, that was some awful polo playing by the lagging teams. Also, what is the line on how many hours behind the 8th place team the lawyer moms finished? Three?
I don’t think it was too horribly long. You could tell the sun wasn’t too far from setting when the last few continuing teams were finishing and the moms seemed to check in not too long after sunset and it wasn’t completely dark yet.
“We’re so stupid. We definitely shouldn’t reproduce.”
hehheh.
I agree that the Cowboys look stronger and stronger every leg. They have to be the odds on favorite to win it all. And as an added bonus they’re quite likable.
I don’t think the detectives are long for this race. As for the lesbians, as dysfunctional as they are they did quite well this leg. And agreed about the models. The guy can’t drive and can’t navigate? Recipe for disaster even without spontaneous hospitalization.
I found it curious that teams carried their gnomes all over the place - yet no one presented them to Phil at the welcome mat. Did I miss something?
Maybe Phil didn’t want the ugly little things.
Even better was their acceptance speech for the polo trophy. Granted, they are waaaay out in front of the pack but they are making jokes and keeping their wits about them at that point. It seems that the cowboys are not concerned with winning, they are enjoying the moment. Which keeps them unflustered enough to do smart things, like read the clue and talk to locals. Notice that in the roping task the one not doing the task reminded the other to pull the hay bale all the way across the line as it said in the clue. No way was anybody going to get penalized for not doing that, but that attention to detail will be huge later down the road.
Also, “Aren’t those buckles slowing you down?” “No, they keep our pants up.” 
Why is it that people do not understand orienteering? I mean, everyone uses maps and understands directions like “go three blocks east, two blocks north, and one block back west and you’re there.” How on Earth does that turn into something like “go east however far you feel like and then sort of wander around aimlessly”? I’d understand if it was hard to pipoint the exact right spot, given the inherent inaccuracies in pace length and ordinal directions, but the complete randomness of most teams’ searches is just puzzling.
Also: five card stud? Lame. At least make it draw poker, so there’s some vague component of skill involved. Forcing teams to make choices = good. Watching teams sit in one place while other people do things = boring.
Taxi Assessment:
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Dana & Adrian and Jody & Shannon - Still eliminated.
Monique & Shawne (down from “Passing”) - Ooooo. Last week I was “cautiously optimistic” about this team. Turns out that optimism wasn’t warranted at all. It’s kind of a shame when a team’s elimination is directly tied to one team member’s inability to perform a Roadblock (cf. Adrian in episode 1). In this case, it’s not like Monique & Shawne wound up an insurmountable distance behind, and it’s not like the lassoing Roadblock was horribly unfair, except perhaps to the uncoordinated. But they got behind, couldn’t make up time, and were eliminated. Kudos for pushing through and actually finishing (although I’m sure they were hoping for a non-elim). See you in the last episode.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
Louie & Michael (holding steady) - Louie & Michael are really lucky Shawne had problems roping her haybale. In fact, it’s important to note here that, despite the bunching on the bus, Louie & Michael fell behind almost all of the other teams pretty quickly. I’m not quite sure exactly what they’re doing wrong, but they seem to be doing it pretty consistently. The point of a Race is to be ahead of other people, and although it technically doesn’t matter here at the beginning of the Race, so long as you’re not eiliminated, Louie & Michael aren’t demonstrating that they have the ability to do anything other than bring up the rear.
Dan & Jordan (holding steady) - You’re going to push the car, Jordan? OK, not this team’s worst leg (it was, in fact, theur best), but Dan & Jordan have never seriously competed for the top spots. They might not be eliminated next week, but it’s unlikely they’ll get very far.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Brent & Caite (holding steady) - I’ve wondered why we don’t see more teams coming down with stomach ailments. Seems like the combination of being in a hurry and being unfamiliar with local cuisine and water sources would make for more teams eating or drinking something they shouldn’t. This week, Brent & Caite get lucky that there were seven hours of slack time built into the front of the leg, so they wind up no further back than they would have been had they made their correct start time. And, despite their navigational troubles, they catch a little luck with Brent’s lariat work and beat out both Monique & Shawne and the hapless Louie & Michael at the mat. I’m still not bullish on this team, especially now that they’ve both gotten ill (that takes a lot out of you, and they’ve got to get up in the morning for the next leg), but things definitely worked out for them this leg.
Carol & Brandy (holding steady) - So maybe I underestimated Carol & Brandy in the same way I overestimated Monique & Shawne. Carol & Brandy pulled into the Pit Stop in third place again. Their placement was helped some by the extra time afforded by making the first bus, but only by twenty minutes or so. They stayed in front by making relatively few mistakes, but… But c’mon. Everyone knows that newly dating couples + The Amazing Race is a bad mix, and I think that applies just as well to lesbian couples as anyone else. Let’s see what this team’s performance is like next week.
"Rapido! Por Favor?" - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Jordan & Jeff (holding steady) - Heh. Jordan’s mat comments on Phil’s poker face amused me. More importantly, though: clue-reading. See, this is why I’m probably never ranking Jordan & Jeff any higher than they are right now. There’s a built-in disadvantage to having only one brain per team: although two brains aren’t strictly necessary, the second allows a system of checks and balances when the first goes awry. That’s why NASA puts three redundant computers aboard their spaceships. Jordan & Jeff? Not rocket scientists, for certain. Jeff’s got a streak of cunning that’s actually useful on the Race, but without a second brain on the team, his errors go unchecked, and we see the complete breakdown of the clue-reading subprogram. Jeff eventually recognized his error, but the time they bled, although not critical on this leg, might be critical the next time they make a mistake.
In the Passing Lane - or, ahead of the pack, but not quite comfortably.
Steve & Allie (up from “Rapido!”) - Steve & Allie still don’t get much screen time, but they roar into a second-place finish. Their placement reflects that they were one of the few teams that neither had navigational/car problems nor switched Detour tasks. So their placement may be due partly to chance, but this might still be a team to watch. Let’s see waht they do next week when they start out ahead of most of the other teams.
Joe & Heidi (holding steady) - Joe’s not quite as smart as I thought he was, but this team makes it to the finish line without too much drama, or screen time.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
Jet & Cord (holding steady) - I’m more than a little amused that this episode’s tasks were all cowboy-related. Maybe next week there’ll be a beauty pageant task? Sports trivia? Mirandizing a local? Seems only fair. Anyway, the fact that Jet & Cord did well this week really doesn’t tell us anything about them that we didn’t already know. But they were first this week, first last week, and still look like the team to beat.
[sub]Props to Mullinator and his Raj Ratings.[/sub]
I suspect the gnomes only come into play if a team forgets theirs, and has to go back looking for it. Which, despite the product placement aspect, I actually like: forcing teams to remember one more detail all though the leg is good, even if we never see anyone screw it up.
I thought the cowboys forgot their trophy after the polo. They showed a pan to the table and I thought they might be in trouble. I thought the cops were the only ones that started to think about the directional task with making a map. That task was probably harder then it looked, especially going northwest, then east.