WWTBAM Bored

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES...bu-bye Whinifer andGnat!!!

At this point, I will be absolutely totally pleased with who so ever wins. Ron and Christine have worked on their father-daughter relationship and are a well oiled machine.

TK and Rachel have remained calm and smooth, handling every little bumb, including the speed bumb.

Nicholas and Don have shown what a huge generational gap can be overcome by sharing the load and respect.

Happy Birthday Jennifer and bye bye! So Ron and Christine had to play dirty at the airlines for an edge? Karma will probably nail them next week, but it led to a very pleasant outcome tonight.

It's a good feeling going into the finale without having to worry about rooting against a team. This season was good with the non-elimination legs cut down and zero mega legs.

1. HOORAY!!!! At last the whiners got what was coming to them! Their arguing finally caught up to them - although it's impossible to know for sure because of the editing, I suspect the argument on the streets of Taipei cost them badly-needed time.

2. HOORAY!!!! TK and Rachel overcame a three-hour delay AND a Speed Bump to finish second. I'd really like to see them win because they've been the most consistent, even-tempered team the whole way through.

3. Good for Ron! He seems to have put his temper behind him and he and his daughter Christine are getting their act together. Of course he could revert at any time so it's by no means a sure thing that they'll keep going this way.

4. It's nice to see two older people (Ron and Don) still in the race even though they're on different teams. Don and Nick have done well, especially after Nick started handling his grandfather's backpack.

So the final is next week and there are actually three teams to cheer for, rather than having any to root against. But if I had my druthers, TK and Rachel would win.

Miscellaneous notes:
1. I know that Christine tried to get the ticket agent to tell the others that the flight was sold out, and the agent did. But was that because of Christine's request or was the flight actually full? Couldn't the agent get into trouble for deceiving customers?

2. The Speed Bumps have not been particularly difficult, merely time-consuming.

3. The Road Block was not particularly difficult this time, either. It would have been much more of a challenge if the contestant had had to drive the car on that teetering ramp.

Did the instructions for the last leg specifically tell them to take a taxi to the check-in spot? I kept thinking the Whiners were going to get nailed for taking the subway and bus, and even if they hadn't been last to arrive they might have had a time penalty.

I could be completely wrong about the above, but I am definitely glad to see the last of those two!

The clue just said "make their way" to either of the detour sites, so they could take any means of transportation they chose. The final clue did specify to take a taxi to the Pit Stop.

I too was delighted to finally see the Bickersons leave.

I do hate the at least seemingly artificial bunching that occurs in the game which in this case allowed the couple in last to catch up. But I suppose they want to keep it dramatic to the end as much as possible.

Don't really have a particular favorite in this final group but as has been noted by others at least I won't be having to root against anyone.