This episode watched the demise of one alliance and the birth of another, but I thought the real stars of the show were Dustin and Kandice and Erwin and Godwin and how the intersection divided the groups.

Dustin and Kandice were portrayed well again, although a little bit cocky. The recap pointed out that they made a smart decision at the detour and surged ahead. Their first confessional talked about wanting to work alone which was key since Rob and Kim and Tyler and James officially declared themselves an alliance. “We’re not in this to have friends. We’re in it to win. We know that we probably turn people off. We’re going to be as kind as we can to everyone in the process of being competitive and running our best race. We can break free from these teams and run. We can go much faster if we don’t have an alliance.” I thought that was a great quote. Dustin and Kandice just summed up the spirit of The Amazing Race. Later, the models called them “the damn Blondes,” and that they don’t trust them. But I viewed that as said in the spirit of competition; they respect them as racers. It wasn’t negative because D/K weren’t even at the intersection then. They were a little sneaky at the beginning of the race when they left the car that they’d banged up, but we heard them checking that it was okay to take another car. Then Kandice laughing was spliced in between Karlyn complaining about it, but I had pretty much forgotten about the incident by the end of the hour. Dustin and Kandice made a very smart decision at the intersection to wait for the Chos and then approach them quickly before the brothers had a chance to take David and Mary under their wing. The Blondes were very happy with their partners, and a little love fest ensued. Godwin: “If you make it up in the mattresses, all is forgotten.” (A little unintentional double entendre there!!) Kandice: “You’re going to be happy to be on our side and we’re going to be happy to be on your side. We’re all happy.” Erwin: “You guys are tough.” Erwin alludes to the fact that the Blondes have an edge because of their looks and Kandice, in a confessional, acknowledges that it helps. This is a positive sign if someone else is talking about their looks as a strategy as opposed to if they were sitting there saying we’re going to use our looks to get ahead. Dustin and Kandice were complimentary to the “Cho Bros” during the task. Dustin was grinning in the taxi cab, “This was so much fun. I really enjoyed this challenge.” Kandice ended with “We feel like we’re on a roll, we’re gaining momentum.” (This echoes their quotes at the beginning of the race when they say they want to run free and to last episode when they said “do you have your run on?”) All in all, it was a very good episode for Dustin and Kandice.

This week Erwin and Godwin worked outside their alliance – and still arrived in 4th place! They talk about wanting to stay with their alliance for as long as possible, but they also acknowledge that they want to stay in the race as long as possible. They received a nice quote from Dustin and Kandice, “We have always respected the Cho Brothers. They work like we do. They get the job done plus they have some beef, some muscles.” It’s too bad their taxi ran out of gas twice because it would have been fun to see if they could have beaten the fast forward racers too! Nice guys to the end, Erwin commented, “Working with the Blondes was efficient, but it was tough competing against our friends.” I also liked that their competitive juices were kicked up when they wanted to beat the Blondes to the pit stop.

I wasn’t too impressed with Tyler and James’s edit this week. Their beginning clip was in regards to James being too passive (a nice way of saying he’s not pulling his weight in the race and is a really poor navigator!). It showed a few cracks in their teamwork. James really wanted to prove himself hence the title, “He can’t swim, but he can eat cow’s lips.” “At least I can do one thing well in this damn game.” (But how far is your ability to eat gross food going to get you in TAR?!) Except for the navigating, I hadn’t noticed that James wasn’t as talented as Tyler, so it was pointed out for a reason. James and Tyler officially threw their towel in with Rob and Kim. James said, “We weren’t looking to form an alliance. The six pack forced us to.” (Rob and Kim were suspiciously quiet about their part in the alliance.) At the fast forward Tyler went on and on about how far ahead they were going to be (I think I counted five mentions). In the taxi, they said they were looking forward to picking off the six pack and the dwindled down four pack. A little irony, perhaps, that that won’t happen! And Phil didn’t even ask them how they felt about being beaten to the pit stop. I keep expecting them to kick it back up, but they haven’t, and their story hasn’t really kicked into gear either.

Rob and Kim were portrayed mostly positive this week. Their opening segment was about their teamwork and how they’re still learning to communicate without arguing. And Rob added, with a big hug, “but we’re getting better.” During the fast forward Rob comments that the race is good for them because he is learning to gage when to push and when to ease up in dealing with Kim. That’s a very positive step after what we watched earlier in the race! However they still had their requisite stupid comment. This time it was about breathing in all the exhaust and Rob talking about how they die younger and the brain needs protein. Whatever, he didn’t make much sense. Kim was a trouper at the fast forward; she definitely tossed her cows lips more than anyone else! The editing is starting to focus on her strength. Rob says, “Is my chick awesome or what?” The models comment, “She’s ruthless; she’s a machine. She’s the only one who could to it.” Too bad Kim couldn’t enjoy the moment! Kim has been singled out for kudos from two all male teams now.

Lyn and Karlyn were heard about from Erwin and Godwin, “’Bama broke off. Team Alabama is independent-minded and we know that.” Lyn says we all know we’re in a race, regardless of the outcome. We’re all friends; we all know what you gotta do. Lyn and Karlyn didn’t do too well without help from the Chos. Even Mary helped them, and they would have been last except for David and Mary’s penalty. Karlyn had a cute confessional about her being the black angel, but the producers ruined our impression of it by making it appear that the cab driver turned around and made a face at her! I am really hoping that the videos from home signal the end of their story, but that may be wishful thinking.

Michel, last week you pointed out that Rob and Kim were the only ones who didn’t comment on or were involved with the six pack alliance. This week they were in an alliance with the models. Dustin and Kandice were the ones on their own. I think it is looking very good for Dustin and Kandice. However, Rob and Kim were never heard talking about an alliance with Tyler and James. They were also never heard talking about how far ahead of the other teams they were at the fast forward, that was all Tyler and James. Add in the focus on Kim, and I’d say it is looking pretty good for them. The third team in the final three is up for grabs.