Amazing Race 36...Episode 5...For Want of a Nut

 Amazing Race Season 36 Episode 5

By Jim Memmott

 

Santiago, Chili – He lost his nut.

 

More precisely, Rod Gardner couldn’t find the nut to a skateboard wheel that he needed to finish a challenge.

He narrated his own search for the nut, at length, thus giving Race producers one of those truly memorable moments: A large former NFL player poking about in the grass for his nut.

Rod found the nut, completed the board assembly, and he and his wife Leticia went on to finish fifth out of nine teams. Though, it wasn’t just the nut that sent them back. They also got lost, finding themselves almost in the mountains. Luckily, they turned around.

 

Ricky Rotandi and Cesar Aldrete won again. That makes three in a row. Cesar’s fluency in Spanish helped again, but let’s give them credit. Could be they’re just plain good, strategic and relatively unflappable.

 

Which the cousins weren’t. Kishori

Turner and Karishma Cordero were sent home after another ragged showing. I knew they were doomed when Karishma was having trouble with a stick shift. (Not that much, to be fair, but it was an omen.) The cousins’ departure also kicked this blogster out of the pool. Life isn’t fair.

 

Military pilots Juan Villa and Shane Bilek took second place validating the early bettors who had them doing well.

 

Right behind them were the dating nurse anesthesiologists Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun. Could be they’re learning to get along, or, at least he’s easing up on the coaching and lowering the number of times he calls her “Babe.”

 

One plot line that’s beginning to gather momentum is Danny Butler’s crazed need to form alliances.

 

Danny has watched a lot of Amazing Race. He knows that alliances can be helpful.

But I think he’s formed an alliance with just about every team. Mom Angie wants him to calm down his inner Kissinger. We’ll see.

 

Other news: Firefighters Sunny Pulver and Bizzy Smith continue to rescue themselves. Used to saving others on the job, they’re saving themselves on the Race. Yvonne Chavez and Melissa Main continued to struggle, but there were signs of promise.

Retired cops Derek and Shelisa Williams had a rough go of it. Still, they survived.

 

Overheard:

 

Danny: I shouldn’t be working with other teams.

 

Angie: Danny just gets caught with team playing

 

Ricky: I’m a little stressed.

 

Cesar: Save the stress for later.

 

Rod: I got to find a nut for a nut case.

 

Karishma: Righty means tighty. I know that.

 

Angie: This was the first day I had fun.

 

Rod (To Leticia): You got all the hips, and you weren’t shaking.

 

Bizzy: Everyone loves a good comeback story and, right now, we’re the comeback kids.

 

Rod: This is the Super Bowl of my life.

 

Karishma: This stupid little bolt is stuck in this stupid little thing.

 

Derek: The mistakes we made today, I thought they would kill us.

 

Order of finish:

 

Ricky and Cesar

Juan and Shane

Amber and Vinny

Angie and Danny

Leticia and Rod

Yvonne and Melissa

Bizzy and Sunny

Derek and Shelisa

 

Eliminated

 

Kishori and Karishma

 

 

 

A Double-Dutch departure, and a shakeup in the Amazing Race standings

Amazing Race Season 36 Episode 4

By Jim Memmott

 

Medellin, Colombia – The Amazing Race doesn’t need a narrator. Until it does.

 

The reality show lets the action speak for itself, except for the times when the contestants comment on what happened.

This week, Michelle and Sean Clark were eliminated. She was confused, pretty much frozen, during one challenge. So was I.

 

There was no Jim Nantz giving a play-by-play or Tony Romo (not my favorites) offering color commentary when Michelle couldn't place on a map the locations of some large statues.

It certainly would have helped to have Nantz telling me what she was doing wrong.

 

Whatever. Phil Keoghan sent her and Sean home, taking the Seneca River Crew out of the pool. Sad to see Michelle and Sean go, but, at the end, there was a nice moment as they taught Phil how to do Double Dutch. Tony Romo would have approved.

 

So where do things stand?

 

Revised Power Rankings

 

Favorites

 

1) Ricky Rotandi (far left) and Cesar Aldrete. They picked up their second win in a row. They may not be bigger or stronger than some of the other teams, but they are Amazing Race savvy. And the fact that Cesar speaks Spanish continues to give them an advantage.

 

2) Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun. They’ve moved way up in the rankings based on two straight second-place finishes. He’s bossy; she’s sensitive. But they seem to have resolved their differences. At least for now.

 

3) Rod and Leticia Gardner. They had an OK outing, nothing great, but they’re strong and enthusiastic and fun to watch.

4) Juan Villa and Shane Bilek. Dropped some, but still seem focused and fit. And Juan does speak Spanish. 

Possibles

5) Angie and Danny Butler.

It's time to take the mother/son duo seriously. They have a strange dynamic, but he's cut his teeth on Race challenges since he was a kid eating "Rebus puzzles for breakfast."

 

6) Derek and Shelisa Williams. I still think they have the right temperaments (relatively calm) and stamina to do well, though this was a somewhat shaky outing.

 

7) Sunny Pulver and Elizabeth “Bizzy” Smith. Good heavens, they just couldn’t put together the encrypted message on the wall. However, they switched and proved to be great dancers. A worrisome outing, but they proved they’re resilient

Unlikelies

8) Yvonne Chavez (far lef) and Melissa Main. They remain a mystery team. It may just be that they’re not getting a lot of air time. We’ll see.

 

9) Kishori Turner and Karishma Cordero, No mystery here. They just aren’t having that great a Race. Their luck has to run out.

 

Overheard

 

Derek: We’re not as fast, we’re not as smart: we’re not as cute.

 

Shelesia: Speak for yourself.

 

Amber: I need you to slow down.

 

Vinny: I need you to speed up, you’re super slow.

 

Sean: On the other side of fear is life.

 

Order of Finish

 

Ricky and Cesar

Amber and Vinny

Angie and Danny

Rod and Leticia

Juan and Shane

Derek and Shelesia

Yvonne and Melissa

Sunny and Bizzy

Kishori and Karishma

Eliminated

 

Michelle and Sean