The Amazing Race 9, Episode 6: One Fish, Two Fish, Big Fish, Little Fish

Previously on Clothes Call: 11 teams left Colorado for Brazil. Wait. This isn’t from last week, this is the whole season. I guess they’re trying to catch up any new viewers making the switch to Wednesday. If you want all the details, you’ll have to read the recaps, but I’ll tell you that last week, BJ & Tyler raced to the head of the pack while Lori had a meltdown. Lake & Michelle yielded the Ds, who were eliminated. There are seven teams left:

BJ & Tyler - Friends/Sentimental favorites/A force to be reckoned with

Eric & Jeremy - Friends/Another force to be reckoned with

Monica & Joseph (Mojo) - Dating/The requisite she’s-pretty-he’s-intense team

Fran & Barry (Frankenberry) - Married/Sentimental favorites/Fourth? Really?

Lake & Michelle - Married/Don’t ask her to think; she might get a headache

Dave & Lori (Frink) - Dating/Sentimental favorites/Even when they fight, they’re cute

Ray & Yolanda - Dating/Fewer mistakes would help them move up a lot

We’re in Segesta, Sicily, and get used to the country because we’re going to see a lot of it. Will Lake & Michelle stop fighting and start racing better? Will Yolanda & Ray’s good relationship give them an advantage? First to leave are BJ & Tyler, at 2:29 a.m. The clue tells them to drive to an amphitheater in Catania, which is about 135 miles away. The guys think it’s pronounced Catalina. Get used to the mispronunciations, too. Tyler says that this game is more theirs than Eric & Jeremy. Not by much, though. BJ says that the frat guys are dumb, but they’re having a lot of luck. It’ll have to run out sooner or later. The hippies find a dog and ask him to take him to Catania. The dog would prefer a belly rub, so the guys look at a map and pick out a route. BJ still can’t pronounce Catania, so he says they’re going to the Star Wars cantina.

Eric & Jeremy leave next, noting that they haven’t traveled as much as Tyler & BJ, but it’s not hurting them too badly. They also have a map and think it will give them an advantage. Mojo leave third and Monica murders some Italian. Joseph is proud of the way she’s handling herself on the race. Monica says that she’s learning what her strengths are. The two ask for directions. Interestingly, Monica can pronounce Catania. Mojo get a map from someone. Joseph notes that people in foreign countries will stop and help with directions in the middle of the night, but in the U.S., if someone were trying to get him to help, he would keep driving.

Frankenberry leave next. They talk about how Barry went to Vietnam right after they got married, but instead of growing apart, they grew closer. They think their friendship helps provide a good foundation for their relationship. They get on their way and are glad they know where they’re going.

Tyler & BJ find a taxi to follow to the amphitheater. It doesn’t open until 8:30. They decide to make a sign-in sheet for the other teams that says that they have to enter in the order they arrived. They make it, then go to sleep in their car. Lake & Michelle leave and at first think they’re missing two dollars from their envelope. They only get $63 on this leg anyway, so those two probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. Lake admits that they’ve made some big mistakes (must resist joke about Michelle marrying Lake being the biggest mistake of all… oh, look at that). Michelle says that they can’t get caught up in the bickering. Lake wishes that they could have slept more and Michelle literally tells him to get over it. He says he’s okay with it and she sarcastically says that she can tell.

Frink are the next to depart. They seem to have recovered a lot from the last leg, and Dave says that they’re approaching this leg optimistically. Ray & Yolanda are the last to leave. Yolanda says that she already knew she loved Ray, but now she understands more why. He’s not doing anything heroic like saving children’s lives, but she still admires his strength of character. I love them more every week. It’s nice to see such a stable, functional relationship. The two get directions (of course) and a quick pronunciation lesson.

Jeremy & Eric arrive at the amphitheater and BJ & Tyler wake up and watch them sign in. The frats slowly realize that the sign-in sheet is fake. It was fun while it lasted. Mojo follow a guy to the amphitheater while Frankenberry admire the city. They think they might be lost. Sigh. Here we go again. Tyler, BJ, Jeremy, and Eric (hereafter known collectively as the Dudes, as they’re always together and it’s just shorter) all enter the amphitheater, and Eric & Jeremy reach the clue box first. The clue tells them to count the heads on the fence posts around them, then tell the groundskeeper the total to get the next clue. I’d call the groundskeeper Willie, but judging from the amount of people who didn’t get that Frink is a character from Simpsons, I think it’ll go over a lot of heads.