Episode Recap: Amazing Race 10, Week 8

Episode: He Can't Swim But He Can Eat Cow Lips! Original Air Date: November 5, 2006 It's 3am in Mauritius and the Doublemint Twins, Dustin and Kandice, are the first to leave the Pit Stop since they won the last leg of the race. Their next task is to drive to the airport and catch a flight to Madagascar. But wait! The girls' car looks all ugly now since they wrecked it the day before. No problem! They decide just to take one of the other teams' cars. An actual human being would feel guilt at this point, but not the Doublemint Twins. "That's what you get for showing up at the Pit Stop last!" one of them giggles. Apparently, their cosmetic surgeons drained them of their humanity to make room for the silicon, collagen, and Botox. Rob and Kimberly and the Pretty Boys Tyler and James are the second and third teams to leave, and have formed an alliance. "We weren't looking to make an alliance," James says, "The Six Pack forced us to form an alliance." Yeah, like the Kentucky Couple is such a threat to them. Those two couldn't cross the street without help, let alone win a race around the world. The other two teams in the Six Pack alliance (the Single Moms from Alabama, and the Brainac Cho Brothers) aren't much better. Speaking of the Six Pack, the Brainiacs wait for the Single Moms and the Kentucky Couple before leaving. But the Single Moms decide to take a different route to the airport. On the way, Mary from Kentucky tells us that everything she knows about Madagascar she learned from the "cartoon with the animals". I wonder if she thinks the animals in Madagascar really talk. Once again, all the teams rush frantically to the airport only to find themselves all on the same flight. Once on the plane, Kentucky Couple David and Mary argue about who gets to sit by the window. "I never get to sit by the window," David says, "It's my turn!" I will really, really, miss these two once their eliminated. The teams arrive in Madagascar and run to catch cabs to their next destination - a statue called "The Black Angel", which, unbeknownst to the racers, has recently been painted white. The Kentucky Couple is the first team to catch a cab, followed by the other two teams in their alliance. During the cab ride, Kimberly notices the local pollution problem. "Breathing in exhaust is really bad for you, right?" she asks her boyfriend Rob. "Yeah" "So how do these people like..." "Babe, they die a lot younger than we do. That's what happens. Most of them don't get enough protein, so their brains don't develop as much. The brain needs protein." With that kind of knowledge, Rob should get a job as a Social Studies teacher. All three teams in the Six Pack alliance lose their lead as their cabbies get lost en route to the Black Angel. The other teams arrive at about the same time and discover a new type of task for The Amazing Race, called an "Intersection". When a team comes upon an Intersection, it must combine forces with one of the other teams in the race and perform all tasks and make all decisions with that other team until further notice. If a team arrives at the intersection and no other team is there at the moment, they must wait until the next team arrives. In this instance, the Bickering Couple Rob and Kimberly and the Pretty Boys are the first two teams to arrive. Since they don't trust the Doublemint Twins and have already formed an alliance together anyway, they decide to join forces. The Doublemint Twins, on the other hand, have to wait for the Six Pack to arrive. The Bickering Couple and the Pretty Boys open their envelope and discover that a Fast Forward is available. A "Fast Forward" is a task that allows the first team (in this case teams) who accomplishes it to go straight to the Pit Stop without performing any other tasks. "You know," Kimberly says, "we could do the Fast Forward and take the easy win here, but David and Mary from Kentucky need this much more than we do. We should let them have it." "You're right," James replies, "they've played much more honorably than we have. They deserve it more than we do." Rob hugs Kimberly. "I'm so proud of you, Honey," he gushes, "What a selfless gesture. Once again, you are the Voice of Reason." Yeah, right. In reality, the two teams decide right away to perform the Fast Forward. In this instance, the Fast Forward entails finding a certain stand in a meat market, then eating a plate of cow lips. This is even more disgusting than it sounds. When the teams arrive at the stand, they find that the lips still have hair and even some teeth attached. Rob and Kimberly have to hold their noses to keep from tossing their cookies. Meanwhile, the Kentucky Couple and the Single Moms arrive at the Intersection. The Doublemint Twins know exactly how loved they are by these two teams and don't even bother trying to partner with either of them. The Brainiacs are the last to arrive and find they have no choice but to partner with the Doublemint Twins. The racers find themselves presented with a Detour (a choice between two tasks). They can either choose "Long Sleep", which involves assembling eight foam mattresses, then delivering them to a specific address, or they can choose "Short Letter", which involves hand-producing then decorating 28 sheets of hand-crafted paper. All of the teams choose "Long Sleep". Kentucky Mary once again displays her complete absense of good judgement and objects to this choice. She believes her teams should've chosen the Fast Forward, even though the first two teams have already gone there and are way ahead. This discussion delays their departure for their task, giving the Doublemint Twins and the Brainiacs the chance to pull ahead. The Brainiacs and Doublemint Twins work together efficiently and assemble the mattresses quickly. They find someone to lead them to the delivery address and leave. In the meantime, the Kentucky Couple and Single Moms are doing their impersonations of The Three Stooges. After bickering their way through assembling the mattresses, they fall all over each other trying to figure out how to carry them. They finally come up with the bright idea of using their fanny packs to bind together all eight mattresses. This doesn't make the job any easier, but it does make it funnier to watch. Even though all four of them are helping to carry the mattresses, none of them can see where they are going on this busy crowded street and wind up steering the mattresses into passing cars and almost knocking a rider off of his motorcycle. Unable to control a stack of eight mattresses, they wind up having to set their load down several times. As the streets get narrower, they have to break their bundle up into fewer mattresses. But instead of breaking it down into two loads of mattresses, they decide that they will each individually carry two mattresses apiece. Eventually, all four racers start yelling at each other. "Come on, Mary!" "Wait, Karlyn!" "Dave, come help Mary! Don't just stand right there!" The other two teams find the delivery address, finish the task, and discover that they are now no longer bound together and can seperate. They leave in seperate taxis for their next task. The Brainiacs' taxi runs out of gas on the way and ends up being pushed by some of the locals. Meanwhile, Bickering Couple Rob and Kimberly and the Pretty Boys are still struggling with the cow lips. Rob, Kimberly, and Tyler are fighting nausea between bites (Kimberly loses that fight more than once), but James is just chowing down like he's working on a box of McNuggets. "Dude, he's chewing!" Tyler points out, "He can't swim, but he can eat cow lips!" The Doublemint Twins arrive to find their clue for the next task, which is a "Roadblock" (a task that only one team member can perform). In this instance, the Roadblock has one of them searching through town for four seperate vendors who sell rubber stamps. That team member must find the rubber stamps that match each of the four stamps found on the written instructions. The other team member must go straight to the Pit Stop and wait for his/her companion to arrive. Dustin takes this challenge while Kandice goes to the Pit Stop. The Brainiacs' taxi finally has gas and they arrive to see Dustin searching for the stamps. It takes them a while to find the clue. Godwin takes the challenge and Erwin heads to the Pit Stop. Dustin, who has a lead on Godwin, finishes first and heads towards the Pit Stop. At this point, the Kentucky Couple and the Single Moms are just now finishing the mattress challenge and have to go back to where they put the mattresses together, since they chose to leave their backpacks there. I don't think you'll see any of these four contestants on Jeopardy any time soon. Erwin finds his fourth stamp and heads towards the Pit Stop around the same time the teams eating the cow lips finish and also head to the Pit Stop. It looks like an easy win for the Doublemint Twins when suddenly Dustin's cabby stops for gas. Unbelievably, Godwin's cab also has to stop for gas. Dustin reaches the cathedral first and the Doublemint Twins win a trip to Hawaii. They excitedly hug Phil in a fit of gratitude. Phil looks a little frightened. Tyler and James, then Rob and Kimberly, then Erwin and Godwin are the next to finish this leg of the race. It has come down to the Kentucky Couple and the Single Moms. One of them will be eliminated. Even so, Mary is determined not to 'change who she is' and helps Lyn find one of the stamp vendors. Mary finishes well ahead of Lyn and steps on to the mat in front of Phil with her husband David. But Phil reminds them that they are under a 30 minute penalty since they were last on the previous leg of the race. The only way they can avoid elimination is if Lyn arrives over 30 minutes after Mary. Lyn finishes the challenges and finds a taxi. Incredibly, her taxi also has to stop for gas. Lyn still manages to arrive within the 30 minute window. Kentucky Couple David and Mary are eliminated. The two teams hug and express their feelings of friendship for one another. David and Mary reflect on the race. Mary said the race has made her appreciate that she doesn't "have to be stuck in one place, that I need to get out and take my kids to see the world... I want my kids to... experience life." Take it from someone who's grown up in the sticks, that is a lesson most rednecks live their whole lives without learning. Good for David and Mary. Next week - Single Moms Lyn and Karlyn receive a message from home, lots of rolling around in the mud.