Yep, I was going to mention that, but forgot. If it was an instant-disqualification move, Phil would have eliminated them right on the spot. Hell, it happened right in front of him!
Something tells me Jonathan got a BIG talking-to by the producers after this leg, though I’m not sure what good it will do.
Has there ever been such an emotional extended sequence as the Ile de Goree rose-laying tribute? Followed immediately by the Berlin Wall … I swear, if this show gets all political on me, I’m outta here.
Poor Don and MJ. Is that the first time the other teams have collectively financed a broke team? That was sweet.
Adam and Rebecca would have gotten through with the sausage-stuffing much faster if it was Adam who’d handled the seven-inch monsters. Best line of the night: “I want to see more than seven!” He is so gay. 
Oh, and Bolo licking raw sausage off his fingers? Yuk, and seriously, dude, danger. If steroids didn’t damage his brain, something must have.
Not only has Jonathan been trolling under several aliases, he posted as himself in this thread, and even talked smack to another poster who didn’t like him (scroll to the bottom.)
I’ve seen all of these past three seasons, a good portion of the two before that, and two episodes of the first race and I have never, ever gotten an impression that Phil was pissed off at a racer. He’s been miffed, he’s been put out, he’s been thrown off-guard by their leaping assaults/hugs, but tonight I thought that we would see our first ever host breakdown. I don’t know how much of it was editting since they put in an extremely long pause after Jonathan and Victoria hit the mat but I was waiting for Phil to put Jonathan in his place.
I do think that the contact at the end was just barely on the “acceptable” side of physical contact; it was a shove and a snatch to my eyes and not an actual hit (despite the definition presented earlier in the thread I think you can apply force throughout the entire motion and still be a shove). He is perilously close to that line and the context of that sequence made it so much worse. His will be the greatest philimination in AR history and if he ever comes in last in a non-elimination leg Phil better just lie and tell him he’s been eliminated.
As for the other racers, Don and MJ are just kind of sad. It’s possible to do well in the race without being physically fit but it takes some very good skills in other areas and some weak teams to do that. They couldn’t navigate, they couldn’t manage the complicated tasks more efficiently, and they just couldn’t race well. Nice people, but they were doomed.
Lori and Bolo is the only other completely hopeless team when it comes to racing skills so they’re gone next. They have the exact same problems with racing that Don and MJ have except that they are fit enough to do some of the physical tasks well.
I liked seeing Hera take on Gus finally even if it was when Gus was being playful. I get the impression Gus is doing this on a lark (which is why he’s got this layed back attitude about everything) while Hera wants to race. In the past few weeks I’ve gotten the feeling that Gus was too much the in charge guy but Hera pushed him around tonight. Good for her. They could be the stealth team for finals.
I’d like to say that I’m looking forward to Kendra’s next visit to a third world country, but that’s too harsh on the citizens of the country she visits.
Like everybody else, I’d be happy to see Jonathan booted out. But whatever their domestic situation is like, presumably Victoria is there to win a million dollars. (Maybe her plan/dream is to win the race and dump Jonathan with half a mill in her pocket.) If Jonathan is kicked out for breaking the no-hitting rule (and it’s really not certain that he did), she loses her big chance, too.
Unless there’s some provision for disqualifying one racer for gross misconduct, and letting the other go on alone? Has that ever happened?
I believe you’re mistaken—It looked to me like he hit her upper shoulder, right on the ‘corner’ where it turns into the arm and the friend I saw it with said he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh.
But if Colin’s fate was up in the air while they reviewed the tapes to see if he tripped the old military guy (I read this in an interview with…someone…it wasn’t the C&C interview I linked to earlier) then this should certainly be covered–he made her fall through physical violence (even if he did only hit her backpack).
Finally, apparently Phil doesn’t have the authority (per TWoP (great site and thanks for the link!)) to insta-philiminate people even in blatent rules violations. It goes through a committee of producers. So the fact that Phil didn’t eliminate him on the spot doesn’t prove anything.
Oops–mistype–I meant “stumble” not “fall”.
Time to rip off Mullinator again and post this week’s
Taxi Assessment
Stuck in the Desert and Officially Detained - or, Philiminated with extreme prejudice.
Avi/Joe - Philiminated for not believing the CIA guy. There’s probably a political analogy to be drawn here, but I’ll let it lie.
Meredith/Maria - Philiminated for not having the necessary stick-to-itiveness. (Ha! Get it? Stick-to-itiveness? Sometimes I slay me.)
Lena/Kristy - Philiminated for beating the crap out of the odds, and not in a good way.
Don/MJ (downgraded from Flat Tire) - Was there any real doubt that this team was next on the chopping block? They were a little too fatigued, both mentally and physically, to keep up with the youngsters, and only a major error by another team, or a second NEL, would have kept them in it. But neither happened this week, and they’re on their way home.
Flat Tire - or, not likely to get anywhere soon.
With the departure of Don and MJ this week, and no other team willing to look quite so hopeless, this category is empty.
Stopping for Gas - or, not broken-down, exactly, but not a good sign.
Lori/Bolo (downgraded from Fahrvergnugen) - Oh, Bolo, ya big lug. I was so excited by your third place last week that I forgot about your problems with decision-making. Specifically, trouble making the right decision. You were lucky this week that dead-meat Don and MJ took the elimination heat. Can’t plan on that next week.
Adam/Rebecca (holding steady) - Not a bad leg by this team, but only because the tasks were easy and low-stress. I doubt the rest of the race will be easy and low-stress, and this team doesn’t react well to stress.
Fahrvergnugen - or, making meaningless ineffectual comments from the back seat, but in no immediate danger.
Gus/Hera (holding steady) - Still a mixed bag of good decisions but poor racing. Beer or race, beer or race? Hmmm; quite the decision there, Gus. A mixed-bag team can stay in contention against weak teams, but soon there won’t be any waek teams left. Expect a downgrade in the future.
Freddy/Kendra (holding steady) - OK, so they won a leg. That’s enough to stop their slide in the ratings, but not enough to upgrade them just yet. I suspect that luck played a role in their first-place finish; we’ll see how they do next week.
In the Passing Lane - or, not too bad, just not top-speed.
Hayden/Aaron (holding steady) - A good leg by this team, and I suspect in a time not far behind the top two.
Johnathon/Victoria (holding steady) - Y’know, if any other team had such a meltdown at the Pit Stop, I’d downgrade them, on the principle that such a horrid squabble would have repercussions in the next leg, hampering teamwork and hurting the team. But since this is John and Victoria, I imagine John makes a point of humiliating Victoria at least once a day and twice on Sundays. So she’s used to it by now. Which… is pretty depressing. 
Kris/Jon (downgraded from Cruisin’) - On this leg, the Roadblock and both Detour options seemed to take a minimum amount of time – and so no team was able to build a lead by cruising through the tasks, which has been Kris and Jon’s modus operandi in the past. With greater reliance on driving and navigation, as opposed to task completion, this team drops to fourth. Has a weakness been exposed? We’ll find out next week.
Cruisin’ with Earl - or, drivin’ on the shoulder, takin’ shortcuts, and generally kickin’ butt.
The three teams In the Passing Lane look to have the best shot for the final three, but it’s unclear which is the strongest contender. The Cruisin’ category winds up empty this week, but is up for grabs next week.
From Assathan’s blog:
Exactly, you evil POS – it’s a game.
And you’re illiterate.
And John Travolta looks scared of you.
And zut – you didn’t rip off mullinator, you picked up his torch. Nice job.
Time out for an email to my Amazing Race group, during which it occured to me – Victoria couldn’t race alone, so maybe they could bring back someone from an already-eliminated team to be her partner. They keep the booted teams at a resort somewhere until the race is over, so maybe Lena or Kirsty (or whoever Victoria picked) could get back in it.
I think you’re reading too much into this here. Since none of the edited sequences really show the time when things are happening (until it becomes obviously, like in the episode when Lena and Kristy got eliminated and you could tell it was way later than when everyone else was there), most people just sort of assume that things are happening simultaneously. Clearly, they are not. “Editing the sequence of events” would mean that they showed Don and MJ arriving before Gus and Hera, which they clearly did not.
So…what do you think Phil would have done if Assathan and Victoria had made it to the mat in first place? Pretty tough to reward that behavior with a nice little trip, especially while Victoria’s having hysterics.
Egad.
I also have to say that I think this leg showed Assathan’s complete lack of understanding of the whole race concept. Was it really that important to get to the mat in first place at the expense of jettisoning all of your personal possessions? They were in no danger of being eliminated, yet he was willing to risk the rest of their run in order to be first instead of second, by a matter of minutes. How far did he think he was going to get without money/maps/clothes??
Dumping your stuff is a potential strategy when you’re racing for the finish line, or possibly racing to avoid Philimination, but it’s definitely a bad, bad, bad plan when you’re doing it out of greed and/or complete hysteria.
Such a totally unnecessary spectacle.
I was really confused about why he thought it was SOOOOO important to be FIRST when they were clearly ahead of everyone else, except Kendra/Freddy. And, if he hadn’t freaked out on her in the car, they probably would have been first anyway.
But her running down the road sobbing hysterically just threw me for a loop. If I were that upset, and my SO was just yelling at me over something that freakin’ dumb, I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. It almost seemed like she was on the verge of a breakdown for some reason. Seriously bizarre.
The difference is that Jim was seriously injured while Victoria just fell. I know that everyone is looking for a good reason to boot Jonathan but we’ve seen other team members shove each other like that before with no consequences. Hey, that even seems to be Lori and Bolo’s primary mode of communication. I don’t remotely get the impression that with Lori and Bolo that their relationship is abusive and I don’t think they should be eliminated because they act like that, but to keep them means (for the moment) keeping Jonathan and Victoria. The twit is already ruining this race, I don’t want him to ruin it more by getting another team eliminated at the same time as him.
You’ve reminded me how last season there was a lot of speculation if Collin and Christie had an abusive relationship and then the broken ox incident happened and people realized they were both awful. I don’t think we’re going to get that kind of shift with Victoria…
I wish they hadn’t spoiled Gus’ breakdown at the slave house - it was one of the most human and genuine moments on the show.
The beer thing was also hilarious. I think Gus knows, in his heart of hearts, that they’re probably not going to win this, so why not enjoy the experience?
We all knew it was coming. Regardless of where the contact was made (it happened too quick for him to care about his aim anyway), it was poor behavior.
And though I too wish CBS could jail Ass, BluMan, I don’t know if they have the police power! 
A few random thoughts:
Beyond the abuse, let’s look at the Ass/Victoria division of roadblocks: Ass= Fun cable ride and super fun soapbox derby. Victoria- Salt mining and hay rolling. What an asshat.
Second me for the “jeers” of Kendra and Rebecca (not Hayden). Sometimes, you should keep some thoughts in your head. (And what about Kendra’s airy line about going back to Paris to have a croissant?) Yes. People normally “escape” in chains.
While I don’t like Kendra, and can’t root for her, I do have a positive opinion about Freddy. Look at the difference in behavior between Freddy and Ass. Ass makes his wife carry the heavy bag and then berates her for saving his stuff. Freddy takes both bags and tells Kendra to run. Supportive instead of abusive is always better.
Fenris is dead on. If you abandon your bag, and can’t get it back, you will not win. You will not make the next pit stop. And if you are Ass, you can be quite sure the producers will go and hide it. For what? A negligible lead and a vacation to Mexico? You live in Southern California! You could drive to Mexico.
On a positive note, I was pleasantly surprised with the rose ceremony. I thought it was going to be fake drama, but I don’t believe it was. I REALLY think Gus was overwhelmed. I liked the moment between Gus and Hera after. This show has a lot of manufactured drama, most reality tv does, but it has so much sincere drama. Sincere drama is what wins Emmys!
Don and MJ. You provided a few great laughs. You warmed our hearts with your strong love for each other. But you were terrible racers. And it wasn’t age that killed your chances. You were just not good at the race. But, I do hope you had a good time. You seem like good people. I wonder would any other team have gotten so much cash “Don’t tell the others how much we have!”
I like Bolo. He is so childlike in many ways (including intelligence). I liked his makeup with Hayden. He was right. It was BS for her to buy Freddy/Kendra’s tix. Of course the flight had plenty of seats for all.
I like Hayden better than most here. Though it was bush league, I understand the deal she made. She seems ok. Why the hatred?
Masonite- Adam’s “I want bigger” was the line of the night! Cracked me up!
Tangent- Don’t feel bad. Don also laughed.
I see a Yield in Ass’s future
That beer even looked excellent - and Gus looks like he knows beer, too.
Jonathan has been amusing until now, but I’d lay odds he and Miss Vicki get the ol’ thumb from Phil before the end. It’s fun to watch people make asses of themselves, but that went beyond the limits of good TV and neared criminal assault. Colin had been easily the biggest jerk the show had ever had, but we’re onto a whole new plane now - I wonder what else in the Brandenburg Gate scene had been edited out? And did any of them have a clue that if they’d run the same path twenty years ago they’d have been machine-gunned down?
I like Lolo and Bobo; they like their relationship that way, and if either one hits the other they’ll get bodyslammed right back. Too bad they’re just too stupid to last another leg.
Kris and Jon are the winners; they’re moving fast and easy and smooth. Bad TV, but it’s worth a million bucks. We’ll see more of them as the entertainment-value-only teams drop out (or get DQ’d).
What got me most about this leg was the contrasts. Between Africa and Europe. Between racing styles. But mostly, between marriages. Seeing how kind, patient, and loving Don & MJ ** are to each other. Married forever and still in love is the sweetest thing I’ve seen. Then seeing *** & Victim, such Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. They show no love to each other. It’s all about * and making him happy. This marriage will only last until * decides he can find a “better” victim.
And I don’t care if ***** hit her shoulder or the backpack, he struck out in anger, intending to cause her pain. A tiny woman, a heavy pack, a blow that leaves her stumbling and twisted. I’m amazed her back didn’t give out.
If anyone finds a way to complain to CBS, please post how. This reality show was a little too real for me.
Lori and Bolo are equal parts giver and takers in their relationship, though, each giving almost as good as they get. There is absolutely no parity with Jonathan and Victoria that we have seen. There is him screaming at her and hitting her, and her cringing, apologizing, and crying.
And I don’t know that any speculation about Colin and Christie arose until the stiffing the cabbie incident. Quite frankly, that was the first time my opinion started to turn against Colin and Christie. In the broken ox incident, he was clearly talking to the ox, not Christie. And we didn’t see her cringing in fear or showing any of the other signs of being an abuse victim. So, I think those kids will be alright, but Jonathan and Victoria have a flagrantly dysfunctional relationship.