Keep on racing!

Okay - a day late, but here is my TAR recap!

The teams' first task was to fly to Helsinki, Finland. They were given tickets but told they didn't have to use them. This didn't add too much to the drama since all the teams ended up on an earlier flight. The only question was if Bama would make it. I'm glad they did because I've seen teams in earlier seasons lose the whole leg on that one element - you get one late flight and it's over. But everyone caught up and started even in Helsinki.

The Blondes' idiot quote of this episode happened here in the first sequence when one of the morons asked if Finland was where people wore wooden shoes. That was followed by one of them pronouncing the city "Helinski."

Once in HelSINKi, the teams went to an Internet cafe where not only did they get their next clue, but they also got video messages from their families. Bama cried - it was sweet.

The next task was to go to a school in...Soap and Car Lou? I don't know - it was something Finnish and unpronounceable. The teams took cabs, and we saw a bit of why the Bama girls aren't really as nice and good as the Cho's and KY. They cut in front of a whole line of people for a cab - just shoved aside a guy who was at the front of the line after he told them everyone was in line. And we wonder why people call us "Rude Americans"? Not good karma, Bama. And you need it - you're just hangin' in there.

Detour: Swamp This or Swamp That.
I would've done Swamp This. Not much to say here.

Next they took a train to Turku and went down into a mine for their next clue. The models took time to change after the swamp Detour before getting into their cab and heading to the train station. That was stupid. Just change in the cab or on the train. They lost time, and the Blondies got out ahead of them. Unfortunately, my least favorite teams, the models and Blondies, got the first train. At least Rob and Kim got stuck on the second one with the Chos and Bama.

[There was a commercial break before they got to the mine, and I must take time here to comment on two of the commercials. The first had Ron Livingston doing a Sprint commercial. Really, Ron? A commercial? Those cell phone companies must pay a fortune. First Catherine Zeta-Jones and now Ron Livingston.

The second was a Hallmark commercial. A bunch of people are stranded in an aiport - possibly for hours - and a woman and her kids bust out a singing snowman noisemaker statue thing. Everyone gathers around and just smiles and laughs - everybody is happy now! They don't even listen to the ticket agent when he says they can board now! Let me tell you how that would go if it were me stuck at the airport and that tinny singing started. "Lady, if you don't turn that thing off right now, I'm not going to be held responsible for what happens." "My KIDS want to hear it!" "And I want to be on a plane right now, and I'm not. Life is full of disappointment. I still hear that thing bleating out a cheery tune, so now this is happening." I pick up said singing statue, bust it on the floor, and end up in airport jail. Thank you, Hallmark, for ruining my holiday.]

Back to the action. The teams each have to wait their turns to enter the mine. The Blondies, while waiting their turn, employ their usual 12-year-old personas to comment about the models, who have gotten there first: "Darn it. Those stupid boys." And then when they had to chisel open the piece of limestone for their clue, one pointed the chisel out to the other and says, "Grab this pokey thing." Good lord, get out of 7th grade. Rob was some kind of weirdo as he tried to catch up to the Chos and Bama in the mine. He was whooping and hollering, "I'm comin' for ya!!" Try decaf next time, kay Rob?

Last task of this episode was to drive to the Olympic stadium. When the teams got there, they had to rapel down a tower face first. I would *really* hate that! And it looked like models were doing it in their socks! Did anyone else see that?

I said this was the last task of the episode, not the leg, because at the end of the tower rapelling, the models found out that...they're still racing! The leg ain't over. Yay! Next Sunday I guess we'll see the other teams rapel down and then pick things up from there. I'm rooting specifically for the Chos to win everything now, but they're going to have to pick it up. No more waiting around for Bama or any of that crap. Get to it, Chos!