Sort of a thrilla in Manilla

By Jim Memmott

Amazing Race, Season 25, Episode 10

Singapore/Manila.

I know, I know. No one was sent packing in last Friday’s smelly, sweaty non-elimination leg. Why bother summing things up?

Robbie and Brooke 

Well, even though it didn’t really count, the episode which played out in the Philippines was a lot of fun and down-right exciting at the end, one of the best legs of the season.

And it nicely set up this Friday’s penultimate showdown, a contest that has to see one of four teams dropped.

So what happened?

The Dentists, Jim and Misti, edged out the Soul Surfers, Adam and Bethany, for first place. And yes, Jim was smug, talking about getting their fifth first place, the thumb on his ringed fingers.

Misti and Jim

Will the man never learn to dial it back?

Earlier he and Misti faced yet another one of those all-too-familiar put-it-back-together challenges that are driving me nuts  

Whatever. This time it wasn’t rearranging furniture; it was Zen and the art of attaching a sidecar to a motocycle.

“Between kids' toys and tools, putting things together is kind of natural,” Jim said, totally forgetting he hasn’t been able to assemble anything on the race.

Shocker, he didn't connect a shock and kept getting the thumbs down sign from the judge.

It was only a bit of good luck in the subsequent finding-the-clue-in-a-manure-soaked-rice-paddy challenge that got the dentists back on track.

Pause for a mea culpa: I called last week for a return to some disgusting tests of character, but the rice paddy caper defied all laws of sanitation and sanity. Really, Amazing Race directors, have you no shame?

Adam and Bethany

The exciting finish for first and second place was echoed by a nail-biter for third and fourth with the Sweet Scientists, Amy and Maya, hopping on the mat just ahead of the Wrestlers, Brooke and Robbie. (For ending last, the grapplers will face an extra challenge next time up.)

As always, Brooke and Robbie were given the most airtime. And why not? They were on fire with the quotes, many reflecting their strange tendency to define themselves by their role in life.

‘You’re talking about two people who really aren’t the smartest in the whole group,” Brooke noted early on. “We’re directionally challenged… We’re kind of confused as to what continent we’re in most of the time.”

That aside, what are they? Well, they’re wrestlers. And because they’re wrestlers, they are strong and invincible and, in Brooke’s terms, “vicious.” Just have to be.

Amy and Maya

But, of course, they’re not the only team that’s occupationally defined. The Sweet Scientists are, well, sweet scientists. They make ice cream, or something. That’s what they do. That’s who they are. They may have lives outside the lab, but so far they haven’t been described.

And, by the way, I was a little harsh on the scientists last week by asking why there were still on the Amazing Race. I believe now that they had earned survival fair and square. I wish Maya weren’t quite so upbeat, but that says more about me than them.

Speaking of upbeat. I’m beginning to think that Misti is one of the kindest people ever to compete on the Amazing Race. She never yells at her husband/partner, Jim, though she has every right to. Beyond that, she seemed genuinely affected by the child poverty in Manila.

The odds are that Jim and Misti will make it to the finals, as will Bethany and Adam, who had another good outing. (Really, they are a great team). The third spot is up for grabs. For the sake of their one-liners, I’d like to see Brooke and Robbie make it, but I wouldn’t feel bad if the Scientists beat them out. We’ll see tomorrow, or Saturday, or whenever people actually watch The Amazing Race.

Overheard

Brooke: Our confidence is a little low in booking flights.

Jim: Legs 10 and 11 we break everyone else’s spirit.

Maya: We look like peewees.

Robbie: It kind of smells like dirty tube socks.

Jim: First person to finish eats that rooster for lunch

Bethany: We did not want to get anywhere near Phillipine water.

Brooke: It was tough; it’s supposed to be. It’s the Amazing Race.

Robbie (on fish): I know they’re dead, but they’re happy the way I’m throwing them into this bucket.

Jim: I missed the giant glaring defect staring at me.

Robbie: We’re the pro wrestlers; we’re never in the lead.

Brooke: I’m awesome with animals…Rob’s just not an animal person.

Robbie: Oh my god, what did that thing eat? There was a lot more than mud and clues in that water.

Adam: That stuff is gnarly.

Order of finish:

1) Jim and Misti

2) Amy and Maya

3) Adam and Bethany

4) Brooke and Robbie