The Amazing Race 8 Insiders, Mat Chats and Phil’s Diary, Episode 3: Migraines Suck

No, no one on AR8 had a migraine that I know of, but I was struck down by a horrid one earlier this week. Utterly incapacitated me. I felt like such a wuss! So that’s my title for the week: Migraines Suck.

I wanted to wax on (and wax off?) about my thoughts on the teams before I jumped into the pit of insider clips, but now, I feel obligated to merely recap and get this article turned in before someone spanks me. Wait, will someone spank me? [Associate Editor’s Note: Pardon me while I check my contract to see if that falls under my official duties… hmm, perhaps I can call that “ensuring content is posted in a timely manner.”] That might not be a bad thing ya know! Pardon me while I ponder the merits of spanking versus my insatiable desire for timeliness.

Cough. So, um, anyway. Insider clips. Let’s get right to them!

Phil’s Diary once again wouldn’t play more than the first three seconds. I’ve yet to figure out if this is CBS’s error or user-error, but I’m leaning towards the latter.

Is God Silent but Deadly Too?: The Schroeder family wanders the airport and discusses the Weavers. They feel the Weavers are playing mind games (because they aren’t talking about why they were at the ticket counter. If only people knew it’s because the mom was so clueless, she didn’t know what to do in an airport!). Stassi complains that it pisses her off, but Char rightly mentions that it is part of the game. Of course, she then states that the Weavers might be good at Survivor. Stassi quickly corrects her stepmom, hypothesizing that they’d be voted off right away. Char calls them SBD—Silent But Deadly, and Stassi amuses me by quipping that their silent is ten times louder than anyone else’s and that no one else likes the Weavers either. Heh.

If It Has A Head, Squeeze It: The Bransen ladies and their dad are busily squeezing shrimp heads, while discussing the relative merits of each task. They wonder what Bill & Tammy (Gaghan) did and whether or not they should have done the 4x4. One of the girls mentions they very likely will never get the opportunity again to pop the heads off little crustaceans. Someone says “if it has a head, squeeze it,” and Wally quips that he’s going to get a shirt with that on it. Wonder if Mrs. Wally will let him out in public with it on though.

I’m Totally Jealous: Why this got cut from the episode I have no idea, but I must take the editors to task for leaving this out. Apparently, the shrimp-beheading ceremonies also entailed dolphins! One of the Linz men is pointing dolphins out to Megan. She can’t see them, so climbs up on the prow of the boat. Finally, she catches a glimpse of the dolphins and gets very excited. Can you blame her? Dolphins totally rock. They’re bringing all the people on the boat over to look at the dolphins. Even the brothers are enthralled by the myriad dolphins darting around the prow of the boat.

Sunday, Muddy Sunday: Mom Weaver explains to the camera why they will be great in the mud-driving segment. I just love irony, don’t you? In this case, it’s because as a kid somewhere, they used to get horrible mud, and, as she tells us, they had to plow through the mud to get to church. They always made it. She proclaims they will try their best.

One More Reason I Didn’t Want Sisters: I knew it was inevitable. Sexist it may sound, but it seems like you cannot get a group of 3 or more women together without SOMEONE falling apart. Make the women related, and the odds decrease rapidly. The Godlewski sisters are driving and screaming at each other. The one driving stops the car, yells at the others, then starts to back up and stops. Another one starts to get out of the car as the driver starts to move forward. Another spate of yelling ensues. The driver stops, the anxious sister gets out and asks a garbage man directions to Wando’s Shrimp. The other sisters yell at her to write it down. She doesn’t. She comes back, and yet another sister gets out, asks the poor man again, and writes it down. The car moves out, hitting potholes left and right. Rawr!

Yikes!: Tammy Gaghan and Carissa look frantically for the family’s pack that contains all of their money for the trip. Apparently, Carissa put it down at some point in the airport. Fortunately, Bill & Tammy were inventorying and realized it was missing. Now, the mom and tot dart about searching for it, while Tammy firmly but remarkably calmly queries the child about where she last had it. They pop into Borders, and voila, there it is. Talk about lucky! Tammy takes the bag, explaining that it’s Mommy’s responsibility now. She explains why it was so important, and I am quite impressed with her skills. She doesn’t just brush it off like too many parents do (not enough parenting), and she doesn’t go too overboard like most the remaining parents do (not enough patience). At the risk of sounding like Goldilocks, she was just right.

Get Four Women To Agree? Dream On: This brief clip shows the Godlewski sisters post-leg discussing their declining placement in the race. As per usual, they are speaking over one another. One says they do not have to be in first, but second would be good. Another says third or fourth would be a good strategy. The others just look at her as the clip ends.

Damned Shrimp Heads: The Weavers discuss switching to the shrimp. Linda claims she knew they were last, but the kids disagree with her. They weren’t sure, apparently. Rebecca says the shrimp task was frustrating, because they finished fast and had to wait a while for the boat to get back to shore. Ick, that would be totally irritating. On the plus side, some people got dolphins, so it wouldn’t be a complete loss. Anyway, for a change, the Weavers are relaxed and almost acting like normal people.

Trapped With Lunatics: The Paolos are glad the bus ride is over. They say it was difficult not knowing how long it would be, that it was tough. Apparently, they finished at 1:15 p.m. and had to wait until 5 p.m. to leave on the bus. Yuck. Anyway, per the Paolos, people on the bus started getting antsy and upset. Can you say the Weavers? One of the kids says the Weavers just snapped. Mom Paolo says the Weavers were bouncing off the walls. Their eyes just lost it, chimes in the son. While Mom Paolo feels badly for them, the son doesn’t. He says that is what you sign up for. I’m inclined to agree with the disrespectful little git for a change. He says he told the Weavers he was trying to sleep. Heh, that’s nothing compared to what I would have said.