The Amazing Race 10, Episode 8 First Class and Cargo Class Awards: Would You Like Some Teeth With Your Lips?

The latest leg of The Amazing Race was full of interesting events, wasn’t it? The Intersection made for a nice new twist, as teams were given no choice but to work together for a portion of the leg. By now you’ve surely read Jenn’s excellent-as-usual recap, so it’s time to move on to the awards!

I had a hard time deciding who to seat in First Class this week. I don’t know if it was the added dynamic of the Intersection, or if no one team really stood out. However, I finally decided to be a bit unconventional and award First Class to Rob & Kimberly. Weren’t expecting that, were you?

I’ve made no secret about the fact that up to this point, Kimberly & Rob have been a completely annoying team. Which, of course, is typical of the “Let’s go on the race to figure out our relationship status” teams. As a sidenote, how annoying is it that those teams have usually made it deep into the race? Not only do we have to listen to them bicker, but we often have to listen to it until the bitter end of the race.

On this leg, however, Rob & Kimberly miraculously put their bickering aside. They had already teamed up with Tyler & James before the Intersection, and arrived together at the Intersection clue box. They chose to complete the Fast Forward task, and didn’t waste any time heading over there. I was waiting for Kimberly & Rob to start arguing about whether to attempt it, but to their credit they did not.

Even more remarkable than their easy agreement to attempt the Fast Forward was their behavior once they started chowing down on their big ol’ plate of cow lips, complete with teeth and hair. It was clearly a very difficult task, and Kimberly even threw up. But she never gave up, and eventually ate everything that was on her plate. She could very well have refused to finish eating, and since another team would have to return to the Detour/Roadblock tasks with them, there was a good chance Kimberly & Rob would have been able to avoid Philimination had she done so.

Rob’s behavior on this leg deserves even more praise than Kimberly’s, however. I’ve come to expect Rob to react to an adverse situation by becoming critical of his partner. I fully expected that, when he realized that Kimberly was having trouble finishing her cow lips, he would start yelling at her. However, Rob realized that this was the time he needed to back off and let Kimberly work through the task on her own. Even though they didn’t finish in first or second place, they showed a lot of heart and determination in completing the Fast Forward.

So, for finally acting like a pair instead of bickering through the whole leg, Rob & Kimberly, take your places in the comfort of First Class. Kick back, relax, and enjoy the in-flight treats. Hopefully you’ve learned something on this leg that will last throughout the rest of the race.

Cargo Class this week seems like piling on, but I have to award it to the Philiminated team of David & Mary. While I do like them as people, and I think they added a lot to the season, they just weren’t cut out for this race. They admitted several times that they would gladly give up the money for the friends they made on the race. While extremely admirable in real life, it’s not good race behavior.

Whenever I see a “We’re just on this for the experience and don’t want the money” team it drives me crazy. I know several people who have applied to be on The Amazing Race who would have both enjoyed the experience and remembered the purpose of being there. I don’t like to see a team who doesn’t have the money as their ultimate goal take the spot of any number of other teams who understand the purpose of the race.

Although Mary & David were a likeable team, they also had their moments of bickering far too often on the race. I realize they were experiencing things they never imagined they would, but there were many times along the way that they could have worked together better. This continued right down to their last Detour task.

David & Mary (along with Lyn & Karlyn, of course) used very poor strategy during the Long Sleep task. In fact, they reversed the strategy they should have used by covering the mattresses in pairs and then trying to carry them as a foursome. The smarter way to proceed would have been to have everyone assist in covering the mattresses, and then have each pair carry four to the house. (This was the strategy employed effectively by Dustin & Kandice and Erwin & Godwin.) Trying to carry all eight mattresses at the same time was a recipe for disaster from the start.

Mary & David lasted far longer on the race than I expected but they really didn’t use good strategy along the way. They were obviously aided in their journey by the two non-Philimination legs, but their time had definitely come by this week. So, even though I’ll miss them, I can’t really say it’s a bad outcome.

Unfortunately, David & Mary, you’ll have to take your places under the plane. I heard you received some pretty nice gifts from the ladies at The View, so you’ll be just fine. I’ll miss you on the race!

Next week, Lyn & Karlyn get messages from home, and teams get stuck in the mud. Sounds like lotsa fun! I’ll be back with more First and Cargo Class awards, and make sure you stick with Reality News Online for full coverage of The Amazing Race 10!

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Amazing Race 10 articles:

Sandy Lamparello is an Assistant Editor for Reality News Online a Legal Editor for a publishing company in Washington, DC. You may reach her at realitytvjunkie@gmail.com. Ciao!

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