"The Internet Buffet": A Smorgasbord of Laughter and Recriminations on "The Amazing Race"

Oh. My. God. This was hands-down the single most hysterical episode of The Amazing Race in recent memory. I am not sure if the editors were given the brief of injecting some much needed humor (typically along the painful lines) into the show, but it has proven to be chockablock with hilarity so far this season.

What other reality series would have a contestant reverse their car into the path of an oncoming bus as Jennifer did so nonchalantly last night... and have a cameraman as savvy as theirs to pull out in order to frame a way-too-calm Jennifer, a freaking out Shana, and the behemoth of a bus bearing down on them? I also couldn't help but replay the scene of Jennifer falling off of her stilts as she screamed "No!" at the top of her lungs. Seriously. I replayed that clip about five or six times as I rolled on the floor with laughter.

On last night's installment of The Amazing Race ("We've Really Burned Bridges, For Sure"), the teams made their way to Vilnius, Lithuania after encountering an Air France ticketing agent who wins the award for being most passive aggressive and mercurial airline employee ever seen on the series to date. She seemed nice enough but I am still not sure that (A) her English was better than she let on and (B) that she seemed to be playing favorites with the teams. Sometimes seats on that early flight to Vilnius were available, sometimes they were not, sometimes ghastly flights were offered. Somehow Ron and Christina were given a later flight to Lithuania than the other teams even though they were first at the ticketing office and insisted on an earlier flight than the one this agent originally offered. It was mind-baffling to me. Then again, Ron is so completely overbearing and irritating (and his attempts to speak native languages so weird and off) that maybe it wasn't a mistake at all... As for Nick and Don, I really do think that this woman hated them as Nick was being so aggressive so bumped them from that 1:25 flight in order to give the seats to Jennifer and Nathan.

I was so glad that Shana and Jennifer got axed this week... and that it wasn't a non-elimination leg (which was my greatest fear at seeing them check in last). These two have proved to be some of the most irritating and shrill contestants since the Weavers and their constant bickering this week made me want them gone all the more. That said, they did offer up that hilarious clip of them reversing into oncoming traffic, so I will be thankful for that. It was, from my POV anyway, pretty damn sweet.

Runners-up for the Most Irritating prize this week goes to warring lovebirds Jennifer and Nathan who need to get a grip and break up as soon as this is all over. It's clear that they really can't stand one another and their relationship, already fractured before the race, doesn't seem like it can withstand any more injury. I could not believe the things that they said from one another, from Jennifer's shrill "count in your mouth" (!) comment to Nate or his calling her a bitch, or their mutual comments that this race had changed them and not for the better, which culminated in Nate saying that Jennifer's transformation was "the ugliest thing he had ever seen." Um, wow. Not sure why they leave their car to find St. Anne's Church on foot. To me, that was a moronic move of global proportions. There was no guarantee that they would remain on foot for the rest of the leg (in fact, I hoped that they'd get so turned around that they would be unable to find their car afterwards), the clue said that they had to "drive themselves" to the church, and I was praying that there would be a final locale-change before the pit stop. Sigh.

Loved this week's roadblock, in which members from each team received packages to deliver to specific people in specific places around the city's complicated network of streets. Perhaps I found it so enjoyable because the Goths did so well without trying. (Especially loved Kynt's comment to his recipient: "Enjoy your fruit and bread, dear.") Interesting too that TK managed to find the only hippie-types in the entire city of Vilnius to help him locate his quarries. Nick, of course, proved that he would blow his team's lead by wandering around the city aimlessly, unable to find the hair salon for several hours. Thus, it was pretty neck and neck to the pit stop with Nick and Donald just a hair's breadth behind Jennifer and Shana, who managed to pass them while Nick stumbled around looking for his starting point at the church.

It was brilliant to see Kynt and Vyxsin in their element at the costumed fair but I had wanted them to do better on the stilts. After encountering difficulties they switched to the counting challenge, allowing TK and Rachel to slip into first place and walk away with a ten-day vacation to Japan. Still, the Goths came in second, proving once again that they are indeed fierce competitors. Loved that Nate and Jen couldn't even get along long enough to count the pickets on the fences during a Detour and instead kept messing each other up. Still, they came in fifth place, after Christina and Ron and Azaria and Hendekea. Drat.

Thankfully, it was Shana and Jennifer who got the boot. I don't think even Phil was sad to see them go. And Shana had to say something foolish about their pampered existence outside of the race: "We come from a comfortable life. We get manicures and pedicures and facials and you come here and all of that goes out the window. I'm just amazed about what we've accomplished."

Sayonara, ladies.

Next week on The Amazing Race ("Cherry on Top of the Sundae That's Already Melted"), two teams put their relationships to the test during a white-water rafting challenge in Croatia, Nate and Jennifer's relationship hits the skids, an oversight causes problems for a strong team, and one team gets some unexpected news at the Pit Stop.