'The Amazing Race': Leave no coconut behind

Who knew that coconuts could prove to be such a large stumbling block for so many teams?

This week's episode of "The Amazing Race" found the teams saying au revoir to the Champagne region of France to travel to the Seychelles, which many of the teams had never heard of and couldn't pronounce to save their lives. My favorite pronunciation was something along the lines of "say chilies." 

But this leg of the race wasn't really about soaking in the tropical splendor of these African islands. I don't know that I could have pulled my gaze away from the majestic beauty of La Digue in order to focus on the race at hand. But then again, I don't have a $1 million carrot dangling on a stick in front me, either.

Sadly, this was also one of those legs where everything seemed to go wrong for several teams, from bad seats on an airplane to ending up an hour behind the three front teams. And, oh, those accursed coconuts.

With only six teams left in the race, the pressure was on for the remaining players to get to the front of the pack and stay there, but upon arriving on La Digue, some of the strongest teams ended up right at the bottom of the pile, with the detectives and the cowboys stuck--along with Carol and Brandy--behind Brent and Caite. Yes, the air-headed models managed, by self-selecting seats on the plane, to walk off with the early lead.

Fortunately, these two blew their lead almost as soon as they attempted to grab it. Arriving at the detour and choosing Ox Trot as their designated stop, they loaded a cart with coconuts and then proceeded to molest a slow-moving ox to a fruit merchant, all while calling each other names. (Best playground insult: "You're a dummy!") But the real problem was that Brent and Caite had left a coconut behind, a fact they discovered when they finally arrived at the fruit merchant. 

Their reactions? Brent threatened to quit the race altogether, rather than ride the ox back and locate the errant coconut. Caite, meanwhile, whined like a 6-year-old who lost a game of Candyland: "I don't want to play anymore. This is so stupid!" I half-expected her to turn beet-red and stomp her feet in frustration.

But it wasn't just Brent and Caite who failed to check the area around their cart for missing coconuts. Jet and Cord and Brandy and Carol both made the same mistake, costing them significant time in having to turn around and retrieve the coconuts, placing both teams dead last. 

Yet the mistakes just kept on coming: first-place finishers Steve and Allie left their packs--containing all of their clothes--at the Turtle Toddle detour. Fortunately, they held onto their passport and cash but, come on, what made you think you'd be heading back there later on, guys? While Allie was upset about the loss of her makeup and clothes (other than the banana-stained ones on her back), Steve looked at it as an opportunity to shed unwanted baggage. They can run faster, after all, with less to carry. True, I suppose.

The Road Block involved taking a boat out to a buoy (or, as Brent called it, a "dingy"), diving down and untying a bottle. Arriving back at shore, the bottle would reveal a treasure map, which--once assembled--pointed the route to the pit stop, Phil Keoghan, and, hopefully, a raised eyebrow or two. Kudos to Steve and Allie for managing to breeze through this leg, with brothers Dan and Jordan right behind them. (Loved their "Box the Ox" humor this week.)

Next up: Brent and Caite and the detectives, who each told Phil that they wanted Brandy and Carol eliminated from the race. After all, they had made fun of Caite and asked where her tiara was, even though she had only been in a few pageants! But, the very best line of the episode--or quite possibly the entire season--came from Brent in regard to loathed lesbians Carol and Brandy as he said, "It's pretty anonymous among the teams."

Brent, I think you'll find the word you're searching for is "unanimous." And, yes, Caite, it's abundantly clear now who the bad kids in school were. Wow.

But it was Carol and Brandy who managed to get ahead of the cowboys when Jet and Cord made another blunder, leaving behind the crucial bottle on their boat and wandering up to the pit stop. Swimming over 300 yards out to the boat and then back, they managed to check in last. But fortunately this was a non-elimination leg, leaving the cowboys still in the race, yet at a huge disadvantage. Can they manage to overcome last place and a speed bump? One has to hope there are no coconuts involved next week...

What did you think of this week's episode? Glad to see the cowboys sticking around for another leg? Sad that Brent didn't actually quit? Who are you rooting for to win this and who will be the next team to be eliminated? Head to the comments section to discuss.

-- Jace Lacob (Follow my musings on television, food and more television on Twitter at @televisionary)

Photo: Brothers Jet and Cord seem beset by mistakes this week on "The Amazing Race." Credit: CBS / Monty Brinton.

Related:
'The Amazing Race': Champagne wishes
'The Amazing Race': Baguettes and doughboys 
'The Amazing Race': Zeroes to heroes
Complete 'Amazing Race' coverage on Showtracker

Comments

[PR]

What happened to everyone else's backpack? It looked like some took them on the boat, but had to leave them there to swim to the shore. Couldn't Steve and Allie go back and get theirs?

Steve seems to be doing all the work, keeping his calm, and thinking things through. Allie is starting to sound like Caite.

I am surprised the cowboys didn't take a final look around the cart for any coconuts.

[Letscheck]

Brent and Caite were "surprised" to find out that lesbians were allowed on the show? They thought the two women had a chip on their shoulder?

Maybe it was because they have spent a lifetime of living about idiots like Brent and Caite.

Heads up to Brent and Caite and every other person who wants to be on the Amazing Race....there have always been gay people on every AR.

Try to keep up, get informed, figure out what you are signing up for, or learn to be tolerant. If you cannot do it with the people you race with, how in the world can you manage among people who live in other cultures.

Do you not get that the whole point of the race is Other Cultures?

Brent and Caite could not be more .....fill in the blank.

[Samlata]

It's anonymous!

[savvydude]

First, those models are hate-able (that is a word, right?). The way she pouts when looking at the camera is almost sickening.

The cowboys need to step it up. I love their lack of angst, but sometimes they seem to take everything was too casually. I really hope they win.

[John]

I love the new improved sound effects. They play over two hundred 1/2 second symbol sounds throughout the show. Now that makes it fun AND interesting! The sound engineers who came up with those annoyances, well, they deserve an Emmy!

[G.Patton]

I agree with the other posters here Brent & Caite (the wanna be models) are hate-able, I guess that makes for "good TV"? I am surprised they didn't quit, they come across as spoiled brats (which I am sure they are) and MAN are they ever stupid. I think Amazing Race needs a Rule, If a team does not know what continent the country is in (1 in 7 chance of getting it right) or what Ocean the Island is on (1 in 5). You should be penalized or eliminated.

[Observer98]

What looked like a routine no-trouble coconut loading challenge certainly turned out to be the opposite, as Jace says.

I was disappointed in the cowboys making such a stupid error with the bottle; expect that from lesser teams, not them. Very glad they're still in it, despite two major errors.

Steve and Allie will have their backpacks by next week, I bet... they're only a couple of miles away, and they have 12 hours to go and find them. I bet they weren't stolen, but set aside carefully.

If the teams hadn't made so many errors, though, it would have been a drama-free week - boring challenges (dive 10 feet, make a 5-piece puzzle, load some coconuts, lead a turtle - yawn).

We missed how the teams got from the airport in the Seychelles to the first clue, and how the good teams ended up last there... was there an editing error, or did we blink? Was it taxi, bus, walking? If anyone knows, please tell me.

[jtbwriter]

I love the way Jet and Cord refuse to blame anyone else but themselves when they make a mistake-but what a doozy-forgetting the bottle on the boat! I'm glad this was a non-elim...but I hope they get it together and manage to stay on despite the speed bump they'll have! As for Steve and Allie, I don't think she whined too much-it was disappointing to leave their backpacks with some clean clothes. At least Steve was smart enough to keep their money/passports with him! Hopefully they were able to buy some clothes before the next departure or AR was kind enough to get their backpacks for them! I just hope Brent/Caite actually quit the next time they say they will-they are too obnoxious!

[wayne]

I don't know where to begin on Brent and Caite! There so busy trying to disprove how dumb they are but it is so futile because they are really clueless and such children! I hope they stick around for a couple more shows because I love to watch them behave like idiots. As for the rest of the teams, I am shocked at how geographically and culturally clueless they are. One of the questions on the AR application must be 'Must not have traveled anywhere and no much about anything outside of your own town'. Egads!

My money is on the detectives.

[Rolise]

I don't think you can go back and retrieve something you left behind like a backpack on the off hours. You have to go back during the race leg before you check in. Didn't racers in an earlier show leave their shoes behind? I seem to remember them trying to buy new shoes at the airport. AR probably retrieves it but does not give it back, until the end of the race.

[Tee]

I tuned in during commercial breaks of LIFE on Discovery - but what I saw was pretty entertaining.

Why in the world would ANYONE pull away in their cart without looking back to see is the ground is clear of coconuts? Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Anyone who talks smack about others on television deserves what they have coming. Both the Brent/Caite and Brandy/Carol teams have done it to each other - so they can keep their whining and self righteous attitudes to themselves as far as I'm concerned. Boo Hoo.

I hope Steve/Allie or Jet/Cord or the detectives win.

[Parag Shah]

Seychelles is made up of over 115 different islands and each is unique in its own right.The Seychelles airport is the home base of Air Seychelles, as well as serving aircraft from other local and international airlines.
http://www.airports360.net/astonishing-tourist-attractions-at-seychelles-international-airport.html