The Amazing Race 8, Episode 5: We Might Get a Home Run

Like last week, Phil starts us off with a message that part of this episode was filmed in New Orleans before Katrina.

Previously on The Pelican (State) Brief: Seven families traveled from Huntsville, Alabama to Talladega’s International Motor Sports Hall of Fame. They rode party bikes around a race track, and the Weavers rocked at putting aside their grief.. Stassi and Mark fought, which made both them and the audience miserable. The Schroeders got lost near New Orleans, even though they lived there. One of the Bransen girls mooned the Linz boys. The Gaghans had trouble with the detour but the Paolos managed to do pretty well on the leg. The Bransens came in first for the second leg in a row, and the Schroeders were sent home, which was only a few blocks away. Six families remain:

The Bransens: Wally, Lindsay, Lauren, and Elizabeth - Father and daughters/Turning into tough contenders

The Paolos: Tony, Marion, D.J., and Brian - Parents and kids/No, really, they came in second

The Linzes: Nick, Alex, Tommy, and Megan - Brothers and sister/Keep getting stuck in second and third place

The Godlewskis (Pink Ladies): Tricia, Christine, Sharon, and Michelle - Sisters/Starting to have problems

The Weavers: Linda, Rebecca, Rolly, and Rachel - Mom and kids/Probably this season’s most polarizing team

The Gaghans: Bill, Tammy, Carissa, and Billy - Parents and kids/If they lose, I’ll cry

We’re still in New Orleans, specifically the French Quarter. Will the Gaghans get themselves out of last place? (Please, please, please.) Will the Weavers continue to draw strength as a family?

The Bransens are the first to leave at 12:40 a.m. Their clue tells them to fly to Panama City, Panama, which is more than 2,000 miles away. There, they will take boats across the Panama Canal to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where they will get their next clue from a scientist named Ricardo Diaz. The Bransens are excited to leave the country. Wally says that he’s used to the girls asking him for help, but in this race, they’re equals. In fact, the girls are carrying him rather than him having to carry them.

The Paolos are the second to leave. Marion is also happy to leave the country. She says that she just has to take punches, which… no, you don’t. You don’t have to take disrespect, especially from your kids. Marion says that her ideal situation would be D.J. telling her that he loves her at the end of the race.

The Linzes leave third. Megan says that her biggest weakness is her physical fitness (or lack thereof). She thinks she’s slowing down the team. One of her brothers says that she does her best and that’s all they can ask of her. In their cab, one of the brothers says that he hopes they see some hot 16-year-old girls in Panama. Megan tells him he’s thinking of the wrong Panama City.

The Bransens call for flight information from their cab. They discover that the best flight arrives in Panama at 6:40 p.m. D.J. takes responsibility for his family’s route info in the Paolos’ cab. I was so wishing he would lose everything so Marion would have a reason to rag on him like he constantly does to her. And also so they would get lost and turn up in Texas or something three days later and completely be out of the race. The Linzes reach the airport before the other teams and have to wait for the ticket counters to open. The Bransens arrive next and tell the Linzes which flight to get on. This is the best kind of alliance to have - one where they share information but don’t depend on each other for help all the time, so no one is slowing anyone down.

The Pink Ladies leave. Christine says that she has to convince her sisters to listen to her. She can be bossy, but her ideas are the best. She’s also very humble, if you couldn’t tell. The Weavers leave. Rebecca says that they’re their own team and that alliances are stupid. Of course, she might just feel that way because everyone hates them (though no one will tell me why). The Gaghans leave last (sniff). Bill says that they’re confident. They’re definitely more confident than I am. He continues that their strategy is basically to not be last. Carissa says that it’s better to be second to last than last. Exactly.

The Pink Ladies and Weavers arrive at the airport. As the Gaghans head over, Billy is excited to be going to Panama and Carissa is excited to be leaving the country. The Linzes get tickets while Michelle Godlewski worries that she and her sisters won’t make the flight. D.J. tells his family that he’s booking the tickets. The Bransens get tickets. Sharon jokingly tells the bickering Paolos that if they’re going to fight, they should step out of line. She tells D.J. that he should be nice to his mother. The Paolos get the last tickets on the first flight to Panama, so the Weavers and Pink Ladies run to get on the next flight, which arrives about three hours later. They and the Gaghans get on the second flight. Rolly sarcastically revels in the fact that his family is last again.