The Amazing Race 8: The Finish Line, Episode 9

First I’d like to give a great big thank you to my colleague Brian Towers for covering for me with last week’s Finish Line recap while I was off enjoying an extended Thanksgiving holiday in California. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, so I’m back to a regular, non-vacation schedule.

Sarah welcomes us to the show and notes that she and Jon are in matching outfits today, clear down to their shoes. I have to admit I like the orange; they both look good in it! Sarah reminds us that last night’s episode was the dreaded cliffhanger episode, and Jon says he hates those. Instead of a Philiminated family, there are some special clips that didn’t make it into the show. And, as always, Sarah and Jon will be taking viewer calls.

Sarah says last night’s episode was a strange one; two teams got to the mat and found out that they were not Philiminated. Jon says it is extremely frustrating when that happens, you are all geared up for the end of the leg and then you find out you have to keep racing. You’re exhausted and ready for rest but you can’t let down yet. Sarah points out that the Linz family was finally triumphant in the 7th episode, but last night they were nowhere near the front of the pack. So they are really up in the air and where they will finish is anyone’s guess.

Jon says the race is still up in the air and anything can happen on any leg. He doesn’t like that the hot air balloons were staggered, so no matter how close a team was, they were automatically put behind by 10, 20, or 30 minutes. Sarah asks why he doesn’t like it, and Jon says he understands that sometimes they have to work with operating hours, but making a team wait 10 minutes can erase a lot of errors that the teams behind them made. It can give teams a chance to catch up that they wouldn’t ordinarily have if the task started right away. Jon likes more action and competition.

Today’s first caller is Mark from Washington. He has a question about the Weavers, which is Sarah’s favorite topic. Mark says “Go Weavers” and Sarah sounds a little surprised by this sentiment. Mark thinks they are his favorite racers to watch this season and thinks they have a good chance to win it all. The reason he feels this way is because the mother is such a hard driver and she’s really stepped up when needed. He thinks their team works together the closest and gets along the best. Mark thinks that may be what bothers the other families, that the Weavers are having fun on the race and poking fun at themselves and everyone else. (I have to disagree on that one Mark, they don’t seem to be having fun, and they aren’t poking fun at the other teams, they are being downright mean and nasty towards them.)

Sarah asks Mark why he thinks the other teams are having such a hard time dealing with the Weavers, and Mark says he isn’t sure, but maybe after going through the tragic loss of their husband and father, anything in life might seem easy after that. So perhaps they take life not so seriously, plus they are the youngest team left in the race. He thinks it’s funny when they call the Godlewskis the “Desperate Housewives.” Mark ends by wishing the Weavers well in the race. Sarah says Mark had some good points; the Weavers do seem to overcome their bad luck and have been doing well. Jon says the thing about them that is different from the other teams who are left is the Weavers have a clearly defined leader. Linda makes the decisions and her kids follow them. Jon is not sure among the other teams who the leader would be, Wally may be the leader of his team but among the Linzes and the Godlewskis he is not sure if they can say there is one leader. Sarah says there could be something to that.

It’s time for the Linz-Weaver Conflict Montage, complete with clips from last night’s show, and some bonus exclusive footage that we didn’t see in the episode! The Weavers mock the Linzes, the Linzes call the Weavers freaks, and the Weavers ask if the Linzes are sorry they wasted their yield, telling them they will be. The Linzes call the Weavers psycho, then tell them they thought they were right behind them and they are not sorry for using it. The Weavers gloat that even if they don’t win they got to say what they wanted to say. (And they do look quite psycho as they say it.) Next is a clip of the Linzes in their car, pointing out that all the teams slept the same amount of time, they just got there earlier. So the Weavers didn’t get any kind of advantage. The Weavers were driving around for three hours frustrated while the Linzes were at the library with their feet up resting. There was a five hour difference in the times that they arrived so the Weavers didn’t have an advantage. The Linzes will let them have all the sleep they want as long as they are behind.

Sarah says the Linz family is “so chill,” and Jon says he likes them. They are having a good time and they are nice to other teams, regardless of what the Weavers say to them they are still very nice. Most of all though, Jon wants to know why the Linzes always have coffee. He says on his race they never had a chance to eat or drink and he doesn’t understand how the Linzes always have coffee. Sarah says they decided that’s how they want to spend their money. Jon says he is jealous and Sarah says maybe they decided that was what was critical to their strategy. Jon says he will have to ask them when he sees them.