The Amazing Race: Should've Dug the Ditch Deeper

The teams are sent to Mauritius this week, but first they have to find it. Even though Mauritius is off the east coast of Africa, near enough to Kuwait, the teams are still sent through London, that being the quickest way to get there. Well, that's air travel for you. Dustin and Kandice insist that the ticketing guys are idiots for trying to send them on this route, even pulling out a map and showing them how silly it is. This tactic would be a lot more effective (but still annoying) if they hadn't just had to ask where London is. I weep for the state of education in this country. If any of you reading this can't find London on a map, please don't tell me, I don't want to know.

Once they get to Mauritius, the Chos insist on keeping their six-pack alliance. It seems like they spend half the episode waiting for the others, and they end up in fourth place when they could easily have been higher. Like I said last week, I don't think this alliance helps them at all, even though they claim that they're banking on the others' help down the line. This won't happen, because Lyn and Karlyn are far more opportunistic than the other two teams, and Mary and David just aren't going to last long enough, unless they throw themselves on Phil's mercy again (more on that later).

And now, my favorite part of the episode. When the teams get to the Detour, one that involves searching an island for a mast, the producers display a fiendish – and awesome – sense of humor. They've set a trap for the racers, a thick mat of straw covering a ditch, and half the teams fall into it before they reach the masts. Sadly, they all escape, meaning that CBS will have to get its CSI corpses somewhere else.

Dustin and Kandice, despite having hit a bus, hit the mat first and hit on Phil. Phil's only response is "Um," because he's married, and his wife knows where London is. Mary and David are last, and sad music plays, but it's all a psych-out, because it's another non-elimination leg. Yes, again. I'm telling you, Phil doesn't have the heart to eliminate them. Every time they come in last, he's just going to keep claiming it's non-elimination. It could get awkward after the fourth or fifth of those, but what do you want, people? Phil's not made of stone! I like them too, but they're working their third chance now, and I find myself thinking that eliminating them would be a mercy at this point. They're outgunned, and if the Chos weren't such nice guys, they would have no chance at all.