By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race All
Stars, Season 24, Episode 9
Italy/Switzerland – Five
teams started, five teams finished, five teams remain.
Along the way on what was yet-again another non-elimination
leg – really Race producers, are you getting soft? – the episode showcased the
emergence of newlyweds Brendon and Rachel as this
 |
| Julian Assange |
And, strangely unnoticed by the CBS News division, the
episode also featured a guest appearance by non other than Julian Assange of
Wikileaks.
For sure, that was Assange in drag playing the part of Helga,
a no-nonsense Swiss hotel matron, the judge on a challenge that asked the teams
to restore to “Swiss standards of cleanliness" some rooms trashed by rock stars.
(I know, an earlier episode asked the racers to work a
sewing machine. This one forced them to use a vacuum cleaner. Is this the most
domestic season ever?)
 |
| Swiss soap |
By the time they got to Assange’s hotel, three of the teams
(the Afghanimals, the Country Singers and Dave and Connor) had formed what they
began to refer to as the Accidental Alliance.
The group was unified by its hatred of the newlyweds
Brendon and Rachel. Presumably, the fifth remaining duo, the Cowboys, would
have also joined the alliance had they been asked.
What had Brenchel done to inspire such loathing?
In the
previous episode they U-turned Dave and Connor, the wholesome father-and-son
duo, forcing them to do an extra challenge
As country's Caroline and Jennifer noted, that was beyond the pale, as Connor
is a cancer survivor and both he and his father have nice hair.
“Why would you
U-turn someone with great hair?” Jennifer asked.
 |
| Rachel on Big Brother |
Brendon and
Rachel, of course, found the other team’s contempt to be inspiring.
“I won Big Brother without any friends,” Rachel
noted. “Who needs friends?”
Friends can
help along the way, though, as the alliance members made sure to assist each
other in this episode.
Caroline and Jennifer would not have gotten as far as
they did had not the Afghanimals shown them how to solve a math/signage
challenge (I can’t really explain it.)
 |
| Caroline and Jennifer |
Unfortunately,
no one could help Caroline lug two 30-pound cans of milk down a snow-covered
trail, a challenge that favored the male contestants.
Whatever, the
women got a reprieve in an episode that also featured:
Great language: Caroline correctly used the phrase “au
contraire.”
Great scenery: There were two, yes two, up-and-down gondola rides
above the Swiss Alps. It you dared look out the window, it was gorgeous.
 |
| Dave and Connor |
A great finish: Dave and Connor edged out the Cowboys and
Afghanimals by smartly taking an elevator to the top of the mountain while the
other teams seem to have gone for the stairs.
For their victory, the two guys
with great hair won a 2015 Ford Mustang.
Overheard:
Cord: They’re only going to pay one team $1 million dollars.
Caroline: We’re lifers with Dave and Connor.
Brendon: We’re here to kick some butt; we’re here to take some names; we’re
here to win a million bucks. That’s all she wrote.
Caroline: I love cleaning. It’s actually very relaxing
for me.
Dave: Helga was ready to fire us.
Brendon: Those girls are really going to struggle, and Dave is old and slow.
Cord: I was glad I picked a big, stout dog.
Jamal: Boys, it’s game on. We just flew in here on a magic carpet.
Rachel: Now they’re all, like, anti-Brenchel.
Order of finish:
1) Dave and
Connor
2) Cord and Jet
3) Jamal and
Leo
4) Brendon and
Rachel
5) Caroline and
Jennifer
