IMHO "The Amazing Race" (14.08): The leg when Mel's fluency in "Mai Tai" would have come in handy

When I saw the previews for this week's Amazing Race I was sure the karaoke taxicab would be full of awesomeness. Indeed, that particular challenge managed to exceed my expectations. But that wasn't the only bit of greatness in this week's leg, which included increasingly cutthroat competition, severe time penalties and an ultimate disappointment.

So despite the lack of Team Supergay, this leg gets a definite up-arrow ... but for the details why, you've got to watch out for SPOILERS below.

This week's Road Block turned out to be a pretty interesting test of the various teams' racing skills. Teams were required to put together a propeller for a Thai long tail boat, which would then take them away to their next task.

Victor: Good at naming Russian playwrights, not so good at assembling propellers

The real test, however, turned out to be about which teams were smart enough to make sure they had their bags before departing. Team Deaf (gay) was the only one to take their bags with them to the task, while Team Doublemint (Ginger) and Team Asian stopped their boats to get their stuff. Team Nugget and Team Doublemint (Red), meanwhile, held out hope that they'd return to the harbor and their stuff eventually. I always like it when the little things like making sure you have all your stuff turn out to be important to the race. Little things like tickets, money, passport...

The karaoke taxi came at as part of the Detour, where racers had to choose between "broken teeth" or "broken record". The first task involved matching people with the right set of dentures, which totally reminded me why I was never meant to be a dentist ... and that was before I started thinking about being one of the people who had various sets of mystery dentures stuck in their mouths.

I wasn't alone in that sentiment. Team Deaf (gay) was the only one to pick the task and Luke totally fumbled the denture fitting. Fortunately, Margie made up for Luke's fumbling, brushing him aside at the end to make all five matches herself. Margie lived up to the Bionic Woman nickname given to her earlier by showing her mechanical and nursing skills this week. I'm starting to wonder if Luke needs to step up his game to keep up with his own teammate.

And while we're comparing Amazing Race competitors to TV characters, we (once again) get to see more ugly American behavior from Jamie, but this time it's broken up with a confessional where Cara gives a look that says plenty about their relationship.

Am I the only one seeing more than a little bit of Pam Beesley in Cara's embarrassed, semi-apologetic smile? Or maybe Jamie's behavior has made me cringe enough times that I see Team Doublemint (Ginger) as having stepped straight out of a cringe comedy.

Despite all the drama about lost baggage, I spent much of the episode worrying about Team Asian, who started the episode with the "Look how far we've come!" interview that usually heralds a team's doom. In this episode, they really started bringing the sense of fun that used to be the turf of Team Supergay. The highlight came when Tammy saw the ladyboys who would be joining the racers on the karaoke taxi ride and Tammy adorably squealed, "My Thai trannies!"

Still, Tammy's enthusiasm is a consolation prize. I was disappointed that Team Supergay got eliminated before the karaoke taxi, but that disappointment was worse when I realized that the detour involved partying with a trio of Thai ladyboys.

Thankfully, the lost baggage turned out to be a big deal and Team Asian was pretty safe this week. Team Doublemint (Red) made it to the Pit Stop before they were sent back to retrieve their passports. Team Nugget, meanwhile, decided to backtrack and double up their cab fares. The extra trip ate up their money until they were bartering their own things to pay off their fare, something that turned out to be a violation of the rules worth a four-hour penalty ... wow. The penalty would have gotten them eliminated except that this turned out to be a non-elimination leg.

Nooooo! Couldn't the non-elimination leg have come last week, when we needed it?

Three time winners

Team Deaf (gay) ended up winning the race thanks to a competitive streak that we're starting to see. Now, if you spent the last couple weeks turning to Terry Gross or other media outlets for a Team Supergay fix, this wouldn't be the first you heard of Luke's cutthroat tendencies. Mike White told TV Guide that Luke played mind games on him, leading to their elimination. Thus, seeing Team Deaf (gay) sabotage Team Doublemint (Red) by taking the opportunity to give their cab driver bad directions wasn't a surprise. It was a bit of a disappointment, though. Considering how well they perform the Race's tasks, playing dirty doesn't really help them.

Next week, accusatory fingers and thumbs

Next week, the tension between Team Doublemint (Red) and Team Deaf (gay) turns physical when Luke and Jen try to body-block each other at the clue boxes. It all leads to a confrontation at the pit stop where Margie calls out Jen for calling Luke a "bitch". Meanwhile, I'll be reminding myself that none of this behavior compares to refusing to pay your driver because he didn't drive fast enough.