Gone by popular demand, but...

Amazing Race, 31, Episode 8

Switzerland – Be careful what you wish for.

With the departure of the sisters Elissa Slater and Rachel

The winners of Episode 8

Reilly, all the teams are likable, perhaps especially Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley, who finished first for the third episode in a row.

The bad news for reality TV, a genre that loves conflict, is that all the teams are likeable.

We’ll see whether the race can survive a villain gap, but just as a reminder of the bad/good old days, click here for scenes of pre-Zen Colin struggling with a broken ox in

Season 5 of the Race.

The bad old days

By the numbers:

Rachel appeared in her 32^nd episode of the Race, more than any previous competitor.

The record is a tribute to her skills, skills that were sometime masked by her meltdowns.

And credit the producers who keep asking her back. I assume we’ll see her again.

Cast your ballot

There was cow decorating, hay cutting and bow shooting, but the best moment in the episode was the tribal council sort of gathering where host Phil Keoghan got the racers together and had them choose – “Out Loud!” – two of the teams to take on an extra challenge, a dreaded double U-Turn.

“Not since 2016 has there been such a big vote,” Korey

Rachel and Elissa at the end

noted, shrugging off the importance of the 2018 midterms.

The electoral process left the team of Colin Guinn and Christie Woods and the duo of Rachel and Elissa facing an extra challenge. 

Colin and Christie were chosen because they’re good and a threat to the other teams. Rachel and Elissa were chosen, because, well, they weren’t well-liked.

“They’re the ones we’re least closest to,” explained Chris Hammons, who referred to Rachel and Elissa as the O’Reillys even though that isn’t quite their name.

Show downs

For those of you keeping score at home, four of the six

Floyd, Becca, Colin Chrisie

remaining duos are Amazing Race alums (Korey and Tyler; Colin and Christie; Leo Temory and Jamal Zadran, and Becca Droz and Floyd Pierce).

One Big Brother team (Victor Arroyo and Nicole Franzel) is still racing, as is one Survivor team (Bret and Chris.)

Survivor reps have had the worst survival rate; only one of their original four teams continues.

Misdirection

Even though they had to do an extra challenge, the O’Reillys came close to surviving because the Afghanimals, Leo and Jamal, got lost.

“Probably the other teams got maps and we didn’t,” Jamal theorized.

Still, he proved to be marginally better with a crossbow than Rachel, hitting the apple before she did. Thus the O'Reillys departed, taking Allison Chanler from the pool along with them.

No more second chances

Before the episode ended, Phil announced that there would be no more non-elimination episodes. I can’t remember him ever closing the door in this fashion. Tough love, I guess.

Overheard:

Tyler:  We don’t get distracted whether it’s drama from other teams...or people hating each other.

Chris: We’re used to this being excluded by the O’Reillys….Bret and I don’t have enough Instagram followers.

Bret:  I couldn’t tell you anything about the O’Reillys except that they have long eyelashes and they like to fix them every five minutes.

Christie: I understand what people are doing, what they got to do to stay in the race.

Floyd:  Becca is crushing this. She’s a farmer. Old McBecca had a farm.

Rachel: We learned a little secret about how you control your cow;  you grab its tail, and you steer it.

Colin: There were definitely thoughts that my cow was broken.

Christie: This is a roadblock made for Colin.

Floyd: Every roadblock is made for Colin.

Tyler: You really stirred the pot, Phil.

Jamal: Game on, gloves are off, let’s go ahead and battle it out, may the best team win.

Elissa:  We have healthy babies; we got to do the race together.

Rachel:  I’ve done so many things on 32 legs of the Amazing Race.