IMHO "The Amazing Race" (14.06) Caravan of Fools 2: The Search for Curly's Red Courtesy Phone

Mike White once again declared himself and the other racers a "caravan of fools" this week on The Amazing Race. It was the other half of Team Supergay, Mel White, who got a nice spotlight on this leg, however. One aspect of The Amazing Race that appeals to me is the drama of brawn versus brains (i.e., can smart choices beat physical speed?) and that was at the core of the episode.

But for the details on why I'm giving this episode the up-arrow, you'll have to wade into the SPOILERS below:

Mel was definitely the hero of this episode, something that started when the teams went looking for a taxi out of the Jaipur airport and Team Supergay found a driver who didn't know how to get to their destination but had locked up Mel and Mike's bags in the trunk they couldn't find another taxi. Mel is initially snapish with the driver when he returns. During the ride, however, Mel regrets yelling at his driver: "This race certainly isn't important enough to dehumanize someone by yelling and screaming at them. So I'm going to feel bad about that for the rest of the day." After giving up on the Race many seasons ago for its stresspot jerks, it's nice to see someone who is the complete opposite of a stresspot jerk get so much screen time.

Considering some of the great t-shirts Mike has worn, I wouldn't leave behind those bags, either

While Mel and Mike's issues with their taxi driver put them in last place in leaving the airport, the other teams quickly give them a chance to catch up. At the sacred tree Peepi Ka Pedh, the racers are supposed to find a red phone (instead of the usual clue box). While Team Asian, the first team to arrive at the tree, are quick to find the phone, just about every other team gets stuck wandering around the tree, missing the phone.

The red phone sends the teams to the Roadblock where they have to carry food and water for camels, which turns out to be a pretty exhausting task. For Team Supergay, Mel takes on the endurance task and things turn out similarly to the paragliding challenge: after watching Mike fret about finishing this challenge long after the other teams, a last-minute twist pushes them ahead. Ever other team uses their water buckets to carry the camels' hay, but Mel instantly notices that there are larger baskets available. Thus, while the stronger teams finish the water portion of the Roadblock first, Mel's ability to spot the better tools has them jumping ahead into second place.

Mel finds following the directions to be the key to jumping ahead of the other teams

Meanwhile, I'm starting to suspect a future schism between Team Deaf(gay) and their allies Team Doublemint (Ginger). At the least, the show certainly seems to be reminding us who we should be cheering on if the two teams are to become rivals. Overall, we've been starting to see that Team Doublemint (Ginger)'s Jamie certainly has her "ugly American" side. Last week, she was getting grumpy that she couldn't find someone at her Detour task who spoke English (a complaint she repeats this week when trying to find a taxi driver). This week, Jamie is given an unflattering juxtaposition as the racers are exposed to the sight of poverty in the slums. Seconds after we see her cry at the sight of stray animals eating trash in the street, we see Luke weeping at the realization that children live that way, too. I wonder how Jamie feels about the poor raccoons who I'd sometimes see at the dumpster of my old apartment building.

I guess showing more concern for animals than humans is better than the way we see Victor cheerfully waving afterwards.

Please tell me that wave was taken out of context

Speaking of poverty, I have to admit I'm not sure what to think about the "shakers" Detour task, where racers dress up in costume and dance on the street for tips. While the task was fun to watch, after seing poverty highlighted, I wasn't sure what to think about watching people collect money on the street for a game. During the task, we hear Mel say that the money will be given to the Red Cross. I hope that was the case. I guess I should be glad the Race no longer makes teams spared elimination spend the next leg begging for money to pay for their transportation from checkpoint to checkpoint.

But back to Jamie: remember how we thought we were free of the stresspot jerk when the first Team Breeder was eliminated? It looks like Jamie is a stealth stresspot jerk. After finishing the Detour, Team Doublemint (Ginger) has a hard time finding their taxi (who, apparently, had to park pretty far from the task). Jamie reacts to this by accusing the driver of driving off and stealing their bags. When they do find their driver she even hits him before yelling at him for not being easier to find. Considering the number of times we've seen Jamie treat drivers this way, I'd like to think there's a global support group forming for cab drivers who have been yelled at by her.

Jamie yells at another cab driver

Overall, this turns out to be a pretty good leg for the Race's gays as Team Supergay finishes second and Team Deaf (gay) comes in fourth. Last place (as it is often the case) turns out to be between the team that got slowed-down versus the team that made bad choices. Between having to do a Speed Bump and having to wait as their driver filled the gas tank, Team Doublemint (Fight Attendant) had a lot of catching up to accomplish. Fortunately for them, Team Nugget was the only team who chose to do the "movers" task which involved hauling barrels of hay through Jaipur and then finding an  elephant figure amid the hay. I'm not sure why they picked searching for a needle (almost) in a hay stack barrel, except maybe they thought it would be harder to earn tips with so many other teams performing. Still, in a very close finish, it was the flight attendants that came in last place.

I have to admit, I'm going to miss Team Doublemint (Flight Attendant), at least in comparison to the way Team Nugget keep getting lost and block people from getting cabs. Making me miss them more is their exit comments, where Jodi remarks that a million dollars would buy an experience like being on The Amazing Race. I'll say, a million will buy you a trip around the world, but I doubt that kind of money will get people to arrange for silly games for you to play at each stop.

Next week, tiger portraits! 

Next week: The remaining teams have to work with animals in Thailand and Margie passes out from heat exhaustion. Thankfully, Margie has plenty of people around her so she should be okay, but does it affect their race?

What did you think? I have to admit, while Jamie is working my nerves, she's no Myrna or Colin and there's plenty of people who are still taking this Race as the adventure it is, so it's still a solid season, especially with Team Supergay maintaining the right spirit throughout the game.