The Ninth Leg

The Last Non-Elimination Leg - Ron & Kelly are last, but they certainly won quite a reward!

For coming in last place and losing all your belongings and cash because they were last place, Ron & Kelly sure did make out like bandits with winning $20K to spend on Travelocity.com and then getting a deluxe suite to stay in during the pit stop, along with internet connectivity. If they're smart, they'd research the heck out of Istanbul and try to identify all popular tourist locations that may be the next destination.

Jodhpur, India to Istanbul, Turkey

Another good episode plus some surprising mistakes made by a team that really should have known better (Rob & Amber).

- So, Rob & Amber were certain their flight was the best. They were so certain that they felt justified in belittling Meredith & Gretchen and Uchenna & Joyce. While I understand the need to feel competitive, you really haven't seen the other teams go out of their way to be mean to Rob & Amber (except for Lynn & Alex, obviously, but they're gone anyways). It is just annoying to see Rob be like this. Oh well, it's a damn game show, and Uchenna & Joyce are currently having the last laugh.

- It was impressive to see Uchenna & Joyce race a perfect leg. Except for not finding the gnome immediately or the key on the tower immediately, they made no mistakes (hello, Meredith & Gretchen, I'm talking to you - Ron & Kelly, you too), worked well with each other at the challenges, and earned first place. I'm just bummed it wasn't them who won the Travelocity prize.

- Meredith & Gretchen surprised me by doing well, but if they had not had the two hour lead over the other teams, I know they wouldn't be in this race still. They made some seriously bad moves (how many times up and down that tower?) and some of these final challenges are destined to be as physical as that rope ladder was, if not moreso. All previous seasons have had some pretty intense challenges at the end, and I can't see this one being any different. They may be edged out purely on physical means and not only their ineptitude.

It doesn't seem like next week's episode will be the Season Finale, and based on what others have said, the finale should be May 10, which means that either next week is a regular episode or they're splitting the finale into two episodes OR the season finale will only have three teams in it and there will be an elimination round next week. Should be interesting. I'm pulling for Uchenna & Joyce to win it, but Rob & Amber are newly reinvigorated after their humiliating mistake, so I think they are back in this to win. The final leg should be good.

Others' Thoughts:

Robbie Returns to Hobiespace!

Linus watches The Amazing Race too!

Links:

Official CBS Amazing Race Website: Episode 9(CBS.com)

The Amazing Race Episode 9: The Earlier Flight (RNO)