Episode Recap: Amazing Race 10, Week 10

Episode: Lookin' Like a Blue-Haired Lady on a Sunday Drive Original Air Date: November 19, 2006 As we left the racers last time, Pretty Boys Tyler and James had just repelled down the side of the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, thinking they were about to win another leg of the race. Once they reach the bottom they receive their clue only to find out they are just half-way through this leg of the race. I think the clue said something like "Psych! Ha ha, you losers!" Or maybe it was more like, "Keep racing!" Six of one, half-dozen of another. The clue also tells the racers to fly to the capital city of the country where Chernobyl is located. The racers are supposed to figure out that the name of that country is Ukraine and the capital city is Kiev. It turns out that task is as simple as asking a ticketing agent, which is a good thing for the Doublemint Twins, Dustin and Kandice. One of them admits that the only thing she knows about Chernobyl is that it's "where the atom bomb went off". Now would be a good time to rewind a little bit and relate some of the highlights of the teams repelling down the tower. The teams are basically supposed to walk down the side of the wall, but one of the Doublemint Twins slips and slaps the wall with her butt. It looks painful. Poor Erwin and Godwin. They're both incredibly afraid of heights. It doesn't make the experience any more pleasant for them when Erwin flips around and starts repelling with his head instead of his feet. Seriously, his helmet can be heard scraping the wall the entire way down. Several of the racers start praying, like God is going to waste his time helping someone who purposely does something crazy. "Well, I think I'll help those starving orphan children... Oh, wait! Kimberly is walking down a skyscraper face first! I better help her out!" All of the teams make their way to the airport, with the Doublemint Twins and the Pretty Boys arriving first. They are the only two teams to make a flight which leaves at 8:25 the next morning, connects through Warsaw, and arrives at 1:35 pm. The other teams must take a flight that leaves an hour later, connects through Vienna, but arrives at exactly the same time. At least, it's supposed to arrive at the same time. The flight connecting through Vienna ends up being delayed by a half-hour, giving the Doublemint Twins and the Pretty Boys a lead over the other teams. Once in Kiev, the teams are to drive a marked car to a tank driving school for their next challenge. The Doublemint Twins do the smart thing and hire a taxi driver to lead them there. The Pretty Boys see this and offer to split the fee with the girls if they can follow. A little later, Rob and Kimberly arrive in Kiev and also hire a cab driver to lead them to the tank school. Brainiacs Erwin and Godwin and Single Moms from Alabama Lyn and Karlyn are last to leave the airport (big surprise). The Brainiacs see Rob and Kimberly hire the cab driver, but decide instead to get a map and some directions and find the place themselves. Since the Single Moms don't have a map, they decide to follow the Brainac Cho Brothers. This plan turns out about as well as expected. It's not long before Erwin is lost and makes Godwin pull over so they can ask for directions. No wonder these two teams are always in last place! ... And that was all before the first commercial break. The Doublemint Twins and the Pretty Boys arrive at the tank school and find they have a Roadblock (a task that only one team member may perform). For this Roadblock, they actually get to drive the tank through a muddy obstacle course! As if that weren't cool enough, explosions are going off all through the obstacle course, very close to the tanks. This is maybe the most awesome any racer has ever gotten to do on this show. They are so fortunate. Darn them! At first, James pulls ahead of Dustin and her tank, but starts to stall out his tank at one point. Tyler, watching on the sidelines with Kandice, is embarrassed at James "driving like a girl". It doesn't make Tyler feel any better when James crashes his tank into Kandice's tank. Once they finish this challenge, they find out they are to drive back to Kiev and find a specific apartment in a specific apartment building, where they will be handed their next clue. The Pretty Boys decide to follow the Doublemint Twins again, but stop briefly to point Rob and Kimberly (who have just arrived near the tank school) in the right direction. One of the Doublemint Twins ask the other why the Pretty Boys would do that. "Because they're friends with them," the other answers. "We don't have any friends," the first Twin says. What a shock. Rob and Kimberly arrive at the tank school and wisely ask the taxi driver they were following to stay so he can lead them back. The first two teams neglected to do this. Kimberly hops into the tank and finishes the course. Rob tells us that Kimberly is "superhuman" and that she "can do anything". These two aren't so bad. They just need to stop griping at each other. I think I might take them off the "Evil Racers" list. Meanwhile, the Brainiacs have managed to get lost a second time, but somehow find their way to the tank school. Erwin finishes well ahead of Lyn (who admits she was "lookin' like a blue-haired lady on a Sunday drive"), but the Brainiacs inexplicably decide to wait for the Single Moms before leaving for Kiev. Even the Single Moms don't know why the guys waited for them. The Doublemint Twins and the Pretty Boys are well on their way to Kiev when the girls try to lose the boys by running a red light. Undaunted, the boys run the red light too. In the mean time, the car Rob and Kimberly are driving breaks down. Another car is eventually provided for them, but the clutch keeps sticking. Do The Amazing Race producers look for cars with mechanical defects, or what? This little delay would usually knock a team down to last place. But fortunately for Rob and Kimberly, they're being followed by the Single Moms and the Brainiacs, who feel compelled to stop and ask for directions every five minutes. Evidently, Erwin and Godwin couldn't find their way out of a paper bag, even if it were open at both ends and someone was pointing them in the right direction. The girls get fed up and leave the boys, causing the Cho Brothers to feel betrayed. It's hard to feel sorry for these guys, even though they've been loyal to their alliance since the beginning. But there's a line where being loyal turns into being a sap. The boys crossed that line about three episodes ago. The Doublemint Twins and the Pretty Boys arrive in Kiev and discover their next task is a Detour (a choice between two tasks). The choices for this detour are "Make the Music" and "Find the Music". In "Make the Music", the teams are to find a dance club, compose a rap containing the names of all the countries they've visited, and perform that rap in front of the crowd in the club. In "Find the Music", the teams are to find the local music conservatory and search through several stacks of sheet music to find a specific piece. The Doublemint Twins choose "Make the Music", while the Pretty Boys choose "Find the Music". Rob and Kimberly arrive in Kiev and choose "Make the Music". The Doublemint Twins arrive at the club and compose what has to be the Whitest rap in history. You can always tell a rap has been composed by a un-hip person when it begins, "My name is [insert name], and I'm here to say..." The Pretty Boys finish their challenge at about the same time. Both teams head towards the Pit Stop, which is located at a Ukrainian war memorial. Tyler and James are the first to arrive and win a trip to a resort in Mexico where they will get to swim with dolphins. Poor dolphins. Rob and Kimberly have convinced a young couple to guide them all around Kiev. This couple even waits for them outside of the club. Kimberly has done an uncharacteristically smart thing and composed her rap in the car on the way to the club. Her rap doesn't sound too bad, either. Once they are done performing they run out of the club, where their newly acquired friends tell them they'll be happy to guide them to the war memorial, too. Try to find two Americans who will do that for somebody they don't know. In fact, try to find two Americans with enough free time to do that. In the mean time, the Brainiacs spot the Single Moms and decide to follow them. They get to the apartment building at about the same time and receive their clues. The Brainiacs choose "Find the Music", while the Single Moms choose "Make the Music". Like Kimberly, Karlyn also composes her rap during the ride to the club (Where did these people find all of this common sense all of the sudden?). The Single Moms are ready to perform as soon as they get to the club. I give them a C- for the rap, but an A for Spunk and Attitude while on stage. Both of the last place teams finish and head for the Pit Stop. Erwin is about ready to stop for directions again when he and Godwin are pulled over by the cops. It turns out Godwin unknowingly turned down a closed street. Not satisfied with letting the boys turn around, the cop makes them get out of the car and show him all of their documents. As a result, they don't reach the Pit Stop until after dark. Erwin and Godwin are eliminated. Next week - A chariot ride for the Pretty Boys becomes out of control, a Yield comes into play.