You know you have another great episode when you’ve got quotes like these:
I personally don’t want to see you in a unitard. That’s just not sexy.
I’m not wearing that girl’s leotard.
I don’t want to stay here tonight. It’s kind of freaky.
I want my frickin’ medal.
I think your brain just froze.
Gotta keep our eye out for Dracula.
Why are we driving on the sidewalk?
Look, we’re doing so great.
Tell me when we’re going to stop.
My Superwoman leotard is full of poop.
Go ahead. Scare me. I don’t even care.
We’re alive and that’s what matters.
You know that feeling you get when you’re being chased in a dream and you can’t seem to run fast enough? Well it’s a feeling many of us in production get during the Race. The reality is it’s not a dream, we are being chased…all the time. I’m constantly getting calls from my colleagues making sure I’m heading to the next location to stay slightly ahead of the teams at each event. The challenge is maximizing my time so I can shoot something for my behind-the-scenes diaries. There’s nothing worse than rushing away from a great location and missing out on sharing something cool. Check out my second diary and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I really wanted to hang with those paragliders, but we got word teams were arriving at the bottom of the mountain. As a matter of fact, when I got down to my car I saw a couple of teams running up to the gondola. I always keep myself out of sight just so they don’t get the feeling they are on the right track.
The one spot I was really keen to hang at during last night’s leg was Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci’s old gym. Looks like we’ve all been saying Nadia’s last name incorrectly. Coman-nich, not Coman-nichi. Grown men in tights, mmmm, there is something very wrong with that. Clearly some of the racers agreed "…I personally don’t want to see you in a unitard. That’s just not sexy." "…I’m not wearing that girl’s leotard."
Of course, we would never let a piece of Lycra get in the way of good television. Naturally we got a few raised eyebrows from the locals, a good indication we are creating some water-cooler moments. Reminds me of a great Robin Williams quote, "…so tight you can tell what religion they are." I think he said it at one of his "Live at the Met" concerts.
Golden rule on the Race: Be very careful about isolating yourself from other teams when booking flights…especially flights with tight connections. Tammy and Victor were far enough ahead that they could fall back with the other teams on a later flight but Brad and Victoria let everyone get away from them while they stressed out in another country.
Another good rule of thumb: Listen to your teammate. On paper, Tammy and Victor are one of the smartest teams we’ve had on the race, and yet they made a huge blunder by aimlessly climbing a mountain while following the wrong markers. Victor simply refused to listen to Tammy. He’ll have to change his approach pretty quickly if they want to stay in this race.
More ‘Amazing Race’:
‘The Amazing Race’ recap: episode 3
I’ve seen every single episode of TAR since the show began, and I have to say that this might be the best season yet! The tasks are HARD and I couldn’t stop yelling at the screen as Victor as he took Tammy up that mountain. I liked Brad & Victoria and were sorry to see them go. Wish they’d taken the 9:30 flight along with the other racers.
Great episode, horrible blog. Phil – you’re going to have to step up your game, dude. Probst has you beat by a mile.
Great episode! Sorry to see Brad and Victoria go. Though I guess if you’re gonna go, getting splattered with “blood” in Transylvania is certainly a pretty awesome way to go out. As for Victor, he could use a massive thump to the head. The gymnastics challenge was hilarious, but you really do just have to love a challenge that involves impaling. Loving this season!
Great episode; I’m really liking this season. Jaime is still an absolute goddess <3
Phil, please do what you can to get TPTB to release every season on DVD!!! And make sure when the season is over that you do a ranking of all 14 seasons for the blog.
So, Phil, did Tammy and Victor catch up with the vonTrapp family before they made it to Moldova?
I need to watch this ep again for the leotard/poop comment.
Wouldn’t you have LOVED to see the frat boys do the gymnastics? That would have been CLASSIC!
Thank goodness also you weren’t in East Germany. Their judges are harsher than the Romanians. No one would have left that gymnastics hall.
This weeks cutaway to the laughing gypsy lady fell flat, sorry. Just random.
But I loved the “Survivor: Transylvania” Detour with the coffin. “There’s just too many instructions!”
Great season!
Hey Phil – the blogs good – maybe not as punchy as Jeff, but I like the behind the scenes information.
Another great episode in what is shaping up to to be the best ever Amazing Race.
Question from last week actually – if Linda and Steve had arrived at the Pit Stop ahead of other teams, would they have received a penalty for Linda taking a ride in a private car when she had not technically finished the roadblock?
Hey Phil! Great recap as usual! You had me actually laughing out loud with that Robin Williams quote. I completely agree with the analysis on Tammy and Victor. It always seems the really intelligent teams make these silly blunders.
No complaints about the repeated use of the word “gypsy”? That’s surprising! In Canada, that’s practically like using the “N”-word. I think radio station don’t even play Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” any more. People have been accused of using hate speech for using the word. The politically correct term is “Roma”.
Hey, Phil!
What do the camera crews think about having to follow contestants down the obviously wrong path; especially when that path is up/down a mountain? And do the camera crews ever switch teams on the next leg?
Thank you, ‘Phone It in Phil’, for adding absolutely no insights into the episode other than that you got raised eyebrows from the locals (do you ever not as you have camera crews following frantic Americans?). I think its awesome that EW is doing these host blogs, but not if the host basically recaps what we already saw. Fans are looking for insights, not rehashing. We can read Josh Wolk’s blog for that.
this blog is useless, you added absolutely nothing, nada, no insight whatsoever into what transpired
rockgolf – I live in Canada, and the word gypsy definitely does not have the same connotation as the N word. No clue where you are getting that from.
@Phil: You should mention that the Amazing Race already had a deaf contestant, that actually WON TAR Asia season 2. I’m sure the producers included a deaf contestant for that same reason. And TAR Asia didn’t make all the disgusting fuzz around him like you guys. Knock it off please, it is becoming extremely annoying.
@ rockgolf = you’re full of it.
It’s nice to read a blog by a CBS reality-show host who is intelligent enought to write a coherent sentence and give you some insight into the show, rather than the ramblings of an egomaniac
Phil… I especially want to read about how some stuff works on the show. How do you get the camera crew on the flights? The teams book 2 tickets… how does the camera crew get on? If the flight has 2 seats open… you really need more seats for the crew. Thanks!