The Amazing Race 20

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Brendan Frasier team

You call him by name. Say Joey "Fitness"!

[Calvin]

Haha, actually I'd forgotten about them. :) I was talking about the couple that had so much trouble with the watermelons. The guy kind of has the same cute doofus face that Brendan Frasier used to have.

[Mister Matt]

I'm just glad the Ambassadors of Happiness are gone, or whatever the clowns called themselves.

Calvin - Rachel wasn't too bad the first time around on Big Brother. She was sort of oddly fascinating and the relationship that formed between her and Brendan was one of the most bizarre scenarios that ever played out on Big Brother. There was a sick sort of glee in seeing this guy turn on everyone for the sake of awkward and wildly inappropriate "chivalry". Like a more intense and cartoonish version of Dani and Nick (oh, dear sweet pretty Nick...sigh...saw those pics as well). The second season, they were just raging monsters desperate for attention and we really saw the worst of their hypocrisy and superiority. Even worse than Jeff's homophobic rants. Rachel is freaking out because this is the first time they have to rely on actual skills to survive in the game rather than manipulating people and creating drama for votes. Personality and lies have nothing to do with Amazing Race, so I have no idea why she thought it was be "easy" and "fun".

[Calvin]

OK, that background helps. But just to be clear, those advanced degrees he was talking about -- they were from that correspondance school Sally Struthers used to shill for, right?

And ohh, those clowns. I wanted to like them. Really, I did. But Male Clown should realize there's a difference between being not too strong at math and being such an idiot you don't know how to count. If anyone watching the show is ever in a position where tehy have to give him change, at least they'll be going home with a slightly bigger paycheck that day.

[doodlenyc]

Matt, you're being too kind to Rachel from the first season, imo. She's always been heinous...and I love her compared to her neanderthal. They are clearly both insane and I hope each week is a meltdown and they come in second place.

BTW, this is the umpteenth time she's threatened to quit, break up and pout because he said the wrong word on National TV. Imagine what she's like at home!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Watching Brandon slip on cow poo and land hard on his ass ... PRICELESS!

[doodlenyc]

That was pretty awesome!

Does that girl have to wear that spangly green top every day?!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

She wore it in the Big Brother house also. Damn thing must stink!

[StockardFan]

Yeah, she wears that top way too often.

[beautywickedlover]

Ratings have been tumbling lately.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/04/30/tv-ratings-sunday-gcb-rises-the-good-wife-falls-to-lows-nyc-22-falls-too-harrys-law-steady/131325/

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/tag/the-amazing-race-ratings/

I don't think this has been one of the best seasons because the cast is not as likeable. Also, the show does well when NFL Football airs before it and that happens in the fall and winter. Also I've just been watching it on and off this season because I've getting more and more homework and Sunday is usually the best night to do it. The only show I have time for now on Sundays is 'Once Upon a Time'. I do not even have time for 'The Celebrity Apprentice'. I might watch this show on 'The Celebrity Apprentice' online this summer. Who do you all want to win?

[~FloweryFriend~]

I have been rooting hard for Bopper and Mark since episode 1.

Bopper's 8-year-old daughter is ill. She has severe respiratory problems as a result of living close to a coal processing plant (from the coal dust), but Bopper can't afford to move. He has been hoping to raise awareness about his daughter's condition.

[Mister Matt]

I assume Dave and Rachel will win. They's won over half the legs thus far. Unless they get lost or have a taxi break down, they are the team to beat. That being said, I don't like them. They should not be together for more than 30 minutes at a time. Brenchal will whine their way to second of third place, probably. Especially if they keep making stupid decisions like skipping a Fast Forward because of HAIR. Vanessa is as much a sh*t-stirrer as Brenchal, so I'm not a fan of her, either. So I guess my vote goes to Art and JJ, whoever they are. I keep forgetting they are on the show.

[Calvin]

Wow, somehow Brenchal has become not my least favorite team. Dave is a misogynistic ass and Art & JJ are just loathsome. Why, pray tell, while they were berating the other teams for being lazy and not playing the game for skipping the fast forward didn't they just go back and do the damn thing themselves?

So I guess I'm rooting for, uh, steroid Brendan Frasier and what's-her-face.

[clever name]

I thought Rachel was very honest about her insecurities and why she wouldn't shave her hair off. She said she wasn't skinny and has a big nose and she feels she needs her hair to feel pretty. I personally like her nose. I don't think it's big.

I would have loved to be in the room when Dave and Rachel saw Art and J.J's impression of them. Ouch!!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Bitch won half a mil on Big Brother and she was crying about $500 extensions. Shave your damn head whiney and buy some Eva Gabors.

[Mister Matt]

Seriously, shaving your head is not new to the show. Why go on if you're not prepared to do the stuff the show has done before?

I kept wondering if there was some sort of rule that if they decline the Fast Forward when it is offered, they can't go back and try it? I did think it was weird Art and JJ didn't take off for the Fast Forward unless they thought it might put them farther behind and they didn't know if Bopper and Mark were already on their way to the Fast Forward. It was rather odd. I guess I don't find them loathsome since my mind wanders every time they are on the screen.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I'm pretty sure I've had every thought that's been expressed in this thread about the last episode, so thank you everyone for sparing me the trouble.

But yeah, this season has been killing me. There have been so few people to genuinely root for. I'm not gonna lie, but I want Ralph to **** me so hard I can feel it just thinking about it, so I want them to win. Even though they're not perfect, I really do find them the most palatable of the remaining teams.

I was kind of sorry to Bopper and Mark go. I had a narrative in my head that they were actually lovers, but because they lived in Kentucky and were interracial and all sorts of other stuff they keep that very very stealth. They really did seem like nice people and I sincerely found their devotion as friends very touching.

Dave and Rachel are just awful. I usually think he's slightly worse than her, but she's a very close second. It can just turn so nasty so quickly.

Why, pray tell, while they were berating the other teams for being lazy and not playing the game for skipping the fast forward didn't they just go back and do the damn thing themselves?

OMG, this. I am so sick of them. And that nonsense from a few weeks ago with the fast forward and Dave and Rachel? It was just so childish and crazy. Same with their crusade to out those (admittedly idiotic) federal agents posing as teachers. They are sh*t-stirrers as much as anyone else, but always step back and then try to take some kind of high road after they start it.

I admit that once in a blue moon I can moved to sympathy with Big Brother Rachel, but those moments are always fast and fleeting. Also, in a season full of homoerotic tension, I can't be the only one who thinks that Brendan has gayface? I never watched Big Brother, so this is really my only exposure to them, except from my mother - who did watch Big Brother - tell me all about them and how much she hates them. "That goddammn fake crying!" she always says.

Also, Calvin mentioned misogyny - I am so sick of any time a man or woman says a variation of "He was beat by a girl!" And both genders are really bad about doing it. There so much stupid and casual misogyny this season I can't even get into it.

[Mister Matt]

Also, in a season full of homoerotic tension, I can't be the only one who thinks that Brendan has gayface?

Oh, no. Everyone got that vibe his first time around on Big Brother. He always looked like he'd rather dress Rachel than pork her. And his...controversial photos...only added fuel to the fire. They are overtly homo or anything, but they do reek of Manhunt.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Photo's? Share!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Kind of beady eyes, too, right? I

[Calvin]

Bopper and Mark annoyed me at first, as I found their accents kind of put-on, Paula Deen-style, but they grew on me and I was certainly rooting for them to beat Art & JJ. I think my initial dislike was because they reminded me of the cowboys at first in how they were being presented, but they had no trace of the self-entitlement that made me root against the cowboys so.

Plus, I'll really miss hearing Bopper try to read the city/place names at the beginning of each leg. It reminded me of this lady I knew growing up who could never, no matter how many we tried to explain the pronunciation, say "Les Miserables." It always came out as "Las Mazarati."

[Mister Matt]

Bopper and Mark are the best example of a bromance I've ever seen. I found their friendship truly touching. I just wanted them to marry each other.

[Elphaba]

Brendan and Rachel all the way! Yes, she was whiney about not cutting her hair, BUT....they are team #2, so it didn't hurt them.

[Mister Matt]

She's been whiney about absolutely everything. The whole saga about how their communication problems was analogous to their marriage illustrated how melodramatic she is. And Brendan is an ass. The way he refers to anyone he doesn't like as "trash" just reinforces my will for them to lose. And if she was so concerned about her hair, she could always compensate with an oversized beret.

[Elphaba]

there have been much whinier teams on this show...and she's a lot less whiney then she was on either Big Brother. Don;t get me wrong, I would not want them as neighbors....but they know what they are doing....and they are a formidable team. And there's no one left that I like, so for me they are the lesser or the remaining Evils.

[~FloweryFriend~]

1. Art & JJ couldn't do the Fast Forward. You can only do one in the entirety of the race, and they did the one with landing the helicopter on the helmet. Dave and Rachel have already done one as well (with the hay). Only the other three teams were able to: Rachel & Brendan, Vanessa & Ralph, and Bopper & Mark.

2. I like Rachel just fine, but Dave is a misogynistic jerk. I wish she were her own team, so that I could root for her without having to root for him. (Although I did think it was awesome that he bribed the ferry worker to leave early in order to ditch the two teams that were about to catch up. Very canny move.)

3. I really love Bopper & Mark.After being eliminated from the race and returning home, Mark lost his job. He's raising three children as a single parent, and is now jobless. Bopper has two daughters (one extremely ill) and his wife at home.

They decided to try to auction off the trip they won in order to raise money to donate towards anti-bullying campaigns in Kentucky. Clearly, the two men and their families could really benefit from the money on their own, but instead, they want to pay it forward.

Today, they went on The Talk, and the ladies on the show presented them with a novelty check for $10,000. I teared up, I was so happy for them.