Amazing Race
Season 33, Episode 9
By Jim Memmott
Greece – The big takeaway from another non-elimination episode: Socrates is a ham.
At one point the Racers approached the Greek philosopher. His only job was to hand them a clue. But backed up by acolytes, the Socrates leaned in and imparted some wisdom.
Socrates imparts wisdom
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance,” he told the racers, citing one of his more famous maxims.
The racers squinted, making sure to remember the lesson, knowing that it would be recalled later in the day.
It wasn’t. Socrates was just showing off. Diogenes, on the other hand, didn’t try to upstage the racers when he got a cameo at the pit stop. The famed cynic just smiled, amused by all that was going on.
What was going on?
No need really to go into a lengthy recap. The highlight, or the lowlight, depending on your point of view, was when one racer from each team had to find one of four coins attached to the underside of a rock that was one of hundreds of other rocks.
“Is this an actual task or a nightmare?” Kim Holderness asked as she put in her time on the rocks.
To me, it was a nightmare, one of those mind-numbing needle-in-the haystack Race challenges that reward luck over skill. And it was surely a nightmare for Dusty Harris (left), Ryan Ferguson's buddy. Dusty turned over rock after rock, all the while fighting off anger issues.
That fight was won after Ryan put Dusty in timeout, having him take a break and regroup. (Dusty has anger issues; Kim, we learn, has anxiety issues. Everyone on the Race carries some baggage.)
Dusty and Ryan were the last of the duos to arrive at the finish line. Phil gave them a reprieve, as, I suspect, they knew he would. (History indicates that the producers needed four race teams going into the next-to-last episode, thus the non-elimination Episode 9.)
Other highlights from Episode 9.
Raquel Moore and Cayla Pratt, (right) the flight attendants, won, the first time they’ve taken a leg. They’re hoping to be only the fourth all-female team to win the Race.
Arun and Natalia Kumar, weren’t last, their third place being their best since a third in Episode 2. They did get a little lost along the way, as is their wont, and Arun seemed a little snippy. Dads do that on the Race.
Kim and Penn did well, as always. Penn was even more upbeat than usual, when he got to smash some plates.
Not sure what the oddsmakers, or even Socrates and Diogenes, are predicting about which team will prevail in next week’s two-hour, two episode finale. (I assume one team will be eliminated after the first hour.)
If you add up their finishes, Kim/Penn and Dusty/Ryan are in a dead heat, so that makes them co-favorites followed by Raquel and Cayla, and, way in the back, Arun and Natalia (left).
Perhaps the real winner will be the Amazing Race itself. Ask Socrates: Just finishing a race that was interrupted for so many months was a challenge even harder than finding a coin hidden in a sea of rocks.
Overheard:
Raquel: We’re learning from our mistakes.
Kim: “Doing the best I can,” is sort of our family’s motto.
Arun: We want to make sure we’re not getting lost.
Kim (to Socrates): I’m a big fan of your work.
Dusty: I just kept thinking, "I don’t want my son to see my acting like this."
Order of Finish
Raquel and Cayla
Kim and Penn
Arun and Natalia
Ryan and Dusty
