This one was hysterical. I just loved it. Nick and Starr going bonkers over taxis. Dallas and Starr cannoodling in the airport to Amazing Editor-picked sappy music. Dandrew too uncoordinated to walk OR put on socks… and then being made fun of by 75 Russian soldiers without realizing it, and then trying to sell their shoes to the cabbie. (What was it they ended up giving him anyway? A wallet?)
Was I the only one who thought I saw a lingering shot at the monastery of something left on the table when Dandrew left? At the time, I thought they left their money behind but now I wonder if it was somebody’s passport. Also, is there another U-turn on this leg or did the Amazing Editors skip it?
Like I said… beet water! Not proper borscht. (Course I’m of German descent… and to be honest I don’t like borscht that much, though I love beets…)
It was amusing to see Dan trying to march. I can’t wait to watch him try to dance!
I wonder who lost their passport? Hmm…
My brother went to Arizona State. All those times I teased him that you could graduate from there without knowing how to read have been vindicated. 
Has there ever been a season where so many teams screwed up so many times because they didn’t read the clue properly?
What did the frat boys finally give the cab driver to make him leave?
I saw that and my first thought was to wonder if they would have a penalty for not wearing the right uniform. I’m glad they didn’t.
Did anyone else notice that Phil actually said to Dandrew, “I’m sorry to tell you…you are still in the race.”? I think he actually meant that.
It appeared to me that he held up all of the money that the had and basically said/implied, “This is all I got, and all you’re going to get out of me - so take it or leave it.” I think the driver realized that it was a losing effort and not worth standing around arguing about when he could be out getting other fares.
They’re incredibly lucky he didn’t get the law involved.
Yeah, well…we’ve got better teeth than them Russkies!
Dan was waaaay overthinking the march. It was like he’d deconstructed the arm movements, and the leg movements, and tried to re-assemble them in 12 easy steps. Dude: it’s just walking, with slightly exaggerated leg & arm motions. Right leg, left arm…left leg, right arm. Which is what your body wants to do anyway.
Tina, on the other hand, looks like a closet fascist. And I mean that with all the love & affection in the world.
I thought Dandrew had emptied their wallets as a first step, before they resorted to selling shoes. So maybe Dan went for his secret personal stash of his own personal money?
I think as soon as they got out of the cab they emptied their wallets, much to the disapproval of the cabbie. Then they tried to offer him shoes and what not. Then Dan opened his wallet and appeared to offer his last emergency $20 or something, because he sort of had a resigned look as he held it out to the cabbie. It was the first real cash the cabbie had seen since they first emptied their wallets, and I think he realized it was either that or call the cops, fill out paperwork, etc. Or maybe he was expecting the camera crew to pony up.
I watched the marching sequence again; it was even funnier the second time around. I noticed that Dan was raising his right arm with his right leg and his left arm with his left leg, so whatever he did was out of step. I couldn’t tell whether this bizarre method of ambulation was his normal procedure for getting from point A to point B.
[Left, right, left, right - makes sense that left arm moves with left leg, right? No, left!]
It does if you’re a camel. That’s how camels normally walk.
It’s not that uncommon in humans, either. Everyone who’s been through boot camp will probably have encountered one or two unfortunate recruits whose natural instinct is to march that way. It’s usually resolved by the time-tested remedy of Big People With Stripes Yelling Loudly.
Did Dandrew say something about having some sort of condition that made this so difficult?
Not that I heard. He only mentioned having lousy coordination.
And I loved Dan’s confessional bit: “I don’t’ do that marching stuff. If it’s about TV or sports, I’m on it.” Yeah…maybe WATCHING sports. He’d be lucky to actually get football pads on without strangling or castrating himself with the grace and coordination he showed last night.
Another good confessional by Dan: “I’m great at the nitty-gritty Neanderthal stuff.”
It did seem that he did pretty well at the heavy lifting.
I was amused by the real pride Andrew had in his own marching skills. I’m a late convert to the sheer beauty that is Dandrew, but the late converts are the really gung-ho ones. 
It really wasn’t a difficult march to do (although in the interests of full disclosure I was a band geek in high school). It’s not like they were doing figures or anything. They were just marching the parade route…a rhythm march with rhythm arm movements.
Heh. Yeah, right after that bit, my wife turned to me and said, “but you need coordination to play sports!” And, by golly, I believe she’s onto something there. I suspect Dan meant sports trivia–although I suspect Russian sports trivia might be a bit more difficult for Americans than Russian marching.
[Total WAG]You don’t suppose the little wallet Dan gave the cabbie also included his passport, do you?[/Total WAG]
I thought of that, too.
My husband tried to excuse Dan’s performance by saying, “Well, some people are more sheltered from experiences than others.” Sheltered from walking??! Seriously, is there a child alive who hasn’t played soldier, marching band, or something similar with their friends? (Sayeth my husband, “Maybe he didn’t have friends!”)
My 8-year-old nephew was watching, and nailed the march on the 1st try.
The open question from the teaser is whether a team loses The Amazing Fanny-pack due to a momentary stupidity or due to gross incompetence.
Momentary stupidity can happen to anybody. In fact, most of the appeal of reality TV is watching for an attack of Teh Stupidz.
Incompetence, on the other hand, is a character trait. Here’s my assessment of the teams’ competence, in the order they finished leg 9.
Toni & Dallas have raced a competent Race, and are finally the first team to break the lock on first place. Their average placement is 3; their worst was 6 on the first leg, which is a hard place to evaluate teams. I’m not immediately aware of any particular issues with this team.
Ken & Tina have done well when they were doing well, and have shown stress fractures when they stopped doing well – which is par for the course on the Race. Their average placement is 2.67; their worst was 6 (last) on leg 6, where they were saved by the NEL. They’re doing much better at working together than when the Race started, though they both still have control issues.
Nick & Starr have also done superbly, though Starr has freaked out pretty badly when their taxi driver got lost, and not just on this leg (IIRC). Their average placement is 2.78; their worst is 6 on legs 2 and 3. If they do well in the next leg, look for them to beat Ken & Tina to the finish line.
Dan & Andrew have gotten this far on dumb luck, and that’s the best I can say for them. Their average placement is 5.78; their BEST is 4th on legs 8 and 9. They have been steadily getting closer to the last place on each leg: In order, they beat 4 teams, then 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, and finally came in last only to be saved by the other NEL. They have been consistently weak, only to have some other team be spectacularly weak, bad, or plain unlucky on that leg. If the big screw-up next week is due to incompetence, Dan & Andrew will suffer the indignity of not being present at the finish line.