The Amazing Race 5, Episode 6 MVPs and LVPs: Can You Dig It?

It’s time for another round of Amazing Race First Class and Cargo Class awards. Several teams continue to race with intelligence and class, and several teams continue to do the exact opposite. Who were the very best and who were the very worst in this episode? It’s time to award the First Class and Cargo Class awards.

First of all, I have to give an honorable mention for the First Class award to Colin and Christie. The two of them lost their substantial lead, but they really couldn’t have done anything differently. Much of their lead was eaten up by the hours of operation at the Great Pyramid, and what they had left was used up when they couldn’t find an earlier flight than the charter. Still, they made all the right moves. They used their time at the pyramid wisely by grabbing a nap. They chose the faster detour. They were nice enough to show the other teams what a scarab is. And finally, on the way to the pit stop, they were smart enough to use binoculars to spot the flags before they got off the boat. If Colin and Christie keep racing the way they have been, they’re going to be tough to beat.

But the First Class award this week belongs to a team that’s been First Class all the way: Chip and Kim. The two of them made some very smart moves along the way as well. They came up with the smart plan of having Kim keep the goats on the boat (sounds like a Dr. Seuss task) while Chip herded them. Sure, the other teams did it too, but Chip and Kim thought of it first. And Kim did the scarab hunting as effectively as possible, using the blade of her shovel to poke the sand looking for a hard object. And through it all, they showed that they’re truly good people. On the way out of the pyramid, Chip expressed genuine concern for how Marshall would complete the task with his hurt knees. And Kim was determined to make sure she pulled her own weight in the challenges. And the two of them never lost sight of the amazing part of The Amazing Race. They always seem to appreciate just how darned cool the things they’re seeing and doing are. Of all of the teams in the race, wouldn’t you most like to go on vacation with Chip and Kim? To me, that’s First Class.

Do Marshall and Lance automatically get the Cargo Class award for quitting the race? I say no. They were way behind when they got to the final task and they knew it. Marshall was moving very slowly throughout this leg of the race, and I suspect he was in quite a lot of pain. Even if they had finished this leg of the race and had, by some miracle (the moms getting hopelessly lost, another team facing a time penalty, or a non-elimination leg) stayed in the race, Marshall might not have been able to complete the next leg of the race. On Survivor: Pearl Islands, Osten quit, saying that his health was more important to him that winning the game. I thought that was pretty ridiculous coming from a strong, fit, young man like Osten. But Marshall truly was in pain, and if he’d kept running the race, it only would have been worse. I can understand why the brothers quit. That said, I do still think they’re jerks. Can we compromise and give them a Cargo Class Lifetime Achievement Award for generally being obnoxious?

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Cargo Class award this week belongs to Mirna. Not Charla and Mirna - just Mirna. Mirna continues to be as obnoxious as possible in just about every task she attempts. She whined through the pyramid task, a task she really had no difficulty completing. She whined through the goat herding task, insisting that she was dying. If only we should be so lucky. And she whined through the scarab-hunting task. Any chance she had to be unpleasant, she took. I can’t imagine how Charla, who seems like a generally positive person, can stand spending all this time with her.

Then there’s her lousy attitude towards the other teams, particularly Colin and Christie. At the airport, she and Charla planned on taking another team’s cab when they left it – good idea. But the one they tried to take was Colin and Christie’s cab. When Colin explained to her – without raising his voice, I might add – that he and Christie were still using the cab, and that their bags were still in the back. If I had been in her shoes, I would have said, “Oh, sorry.” Instead, Mirna argued with them, called them maniacs, and spit on the ground. If that’s not Cargo Class, I don’t know what is. Later, when the teams were lined up to get tickets at the temple, Mirna blocked the exit line, and Colin jostled her slightly to get out. She was the one standing in the wrong place, but in her usual dramatic fashion, Mirna completely wigged out, said he assaulted her, accused him of having a Napoleon complex (he’s not that short), and said nasty things about Colin and Christie’s relationship.

In this episode of The Amazing Race, Mirna proved one of Betsy’s Rules About Reality TV Personalities: If you claim that everyone is jealous of you, that means you’re a jerk. Mirna claimed at the beginning of the leg of the race that all of the other teams were jealous of her and Charla, then asserted again that Colin and Christie were jealous of them. Why would the other teams be jealous of Charla and Mirna? They’re racing smart in many cases, and it looks like most of the teams have a grudging respect for that. But they have yet to finish any leg of the race in first place. If I were going to be jealous of any team, it would be Colin and Christie. All in all, Mirna had better make room on her mantle for yet another Cargo Class award.

That’s it for another week of Amazing Race awards. See you here after the next episode!

Betsy is the Associate Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached with any comments at betsyw42@hotmail.com.