LAST EDITED ON 04-10-07 AT 04:57 PM (EST)

I’m glad to read your views, Beau. Everyone is welcomed to post, first or otherwise, since it’s always nice to read how people see the players.

We are down to the final 4 and, except for Romber, the teams we expected to be there have made it. Even Charla and Mirna’s big story had attracted our attention as far back as episode #2. Who will win? That is still tough to determine although we did get a few nice clues.
This is what I saw in this episode:

Not everything is at it seems

Totally ignored from the recap, Dustin talked for the Beauty Queens at the start: “Sometimes, it feels like we’re holding on for dear life. Sometimes, it feels like we’re charging ahead and we’re on the offense. I really hope that we can be consistent and continue to be positive.” Dustin always talks about the team’s strategy, Kandice usually talks about the team’s emotions. Last season, they ran in trouble when we stopped hearing from Kandice. Does the same apply this season? They went to the airport and booked directly the flight through Paris even though they learned of Uchenna and Joyce’s flight to Frankfurt. Seeing them spy on the married couple was the first hint we had that the competitive (mean?) Blondes were really back.

Once in Kuala Lumpur, the girls had a local guide giving them directions for the train and the bus to the Batu Caves. It enabled them to leave the airport ahead of the other two teams…again. Both teams were worried when they couldn’t see the Blondes. After getting the clue and a warning about the upcoming yield, the girls considered their options while riding in a taxi to the Mosque:
- “Oswald and Danny have done better consistently than Danielle and Eric” said Kandice.
-“Who’s the bigger threat?” objected Dustin.
-“Physically, Danielle and Eric” answered Kandice.

Kandice confided: “This is a game, we could very well be fighting for last right now.” “They’re gonna hate us forever” she told her partner. Many fans will see the return of the mean Blondes or will say that it is dumb to use the first Yield of the season if you aren’t close to last place. On the other hand, it would have been terrible if they hadn’t yielded Eric and Danielle only to be eliminated by them. Using the yield is always risky; for the safety it gave them, it did create enemies. Enemies in the game and in the editing, because we heard every team react negatively to the Blondes’ strategy. We didn’t hear anyone say that they understood it was part of the game. With the right confessional question, getting some understanding would’ve been easy…if it was needed.

At the Mosque, the girls first saw Oswald and Danny wandering the streets. The Blondes spotted the clue immediately from the taxi and got to it before the guys. Yielding E/D, Kandice said: “It is pure strategy, nothing personal.” Eric and Danielle wouldn’t agree. Reading the Detour clue, the girls decide; 600 boxes of cookies was way too much. The Blondes jogged directly to the “Artistic Expression” detour, the only team to do so. “It’s pretty, it’s cool” they said doing the batik as they do for every task.

Kandice did the Recycling Roadblock. Like a local said “You should have no problem getting free newspapers…The way you look” Kandice finished the task quickly and the girls found the Pit Stop. “I smell Phil” said Kandice. After a pause and a smile, Phil gave them the good news and remarked how they are beating some tough teams.
Dustin remarked: “We don’t want to be overconfident.”
Kandice said: “If we can stay on this pace, it’s looking good.”

Charla and Mirna started off with Mirna saying: “People copy each other…We don’t resort to dirty game play like that. We really depend on our own skills to get us through.” Monopolizing the hotel’s computers, they were the only team to book a flight to Kuala Lumpur on the Internet. It gave them an arrival time of 4:45AM in Malaysia. “OH! Cool” said Charla. Mirna was pleased that they did their research. They were “Smart little girls” remarked Kandice even if Dustin found them annoying.

The cousins were first to the Batu Caves and to the clue at the Kampung Baru Mosque. “When we were on the airline, we talked to the locals. They told us the best routes to get to the caves” said Charla. Another example of the cousins doing well with locals as other teams have recognized. Being in first, it enabled them to enjoy the sights on the way to Putra. For once, Mirna encouraged Charla to run faster instead of yelling at her: “You can do it” she cheered. They debated whether to yield but Mirna told us: “We are not going to yield anybody. We want to win this race playing it clean and playing with our own efforts, not trying to hold people back.” “I wouldn’t want to see my face yielded” agreed Charla. Knowing they were first helps to be magnanimous! As it was shown, it tied in with their opening remarks and made the Blondes look meaner.

The choice of the “Cookie Confection” detour wasn’t smart. “Cookie with licorice, can’t get better than this” rejoiced Mirna in the cab ride to the location. Did they incur a penalty for going by taxi when Phil had specified “teams must make their way on foot half a mile”? Maybe a penalty had no effect on the result and was simply edited out. Despite the encouragement from their many fans, (!) there were too many cookie boxes. It cost them their lead. Finally switching to the “Artistic Expression” detour, an hour too late according to Mirna, they arrived when the Blondes had already finished applying their motifs. Mirna complained again that she had to do all the work.

The cousins arrived at the Roadblock as Kandice was finishing. “This is one ultra phoney team” said Mirna. How did you react to that comment? Did you agree with Mirna or did that make her appear bad? It seemed totally unnecessary to leave that remark there. Mirna had to ride the bike: “This is gonna be a tough one” she said. Mirna criticized a woman who had many newspapers in her house: “You don’t need so many newspapers. It clutters your house, then you become a clutterbug.” Later she even tried to proselytize the youngsters who had helped her: “These are the Charla and Mirna’s of the future…Remember; stay out of drugs. Go to school, be a professional and you’re in good shape.” Isn’t one of each enough?!

Eric and Danielle talked about their relationship problems. Eric said: “Danielle and I have our little tiffs here and there. When you’re with somebody and you spend time together all the time, that’s the person you pick on. In good relations, you get passed those things. We’re taking it step by step but we have potential for growth in the future.” This episode gave them a chance to focus their anger on other people, starting with the cousins who kept both available computer terminals. Erica mocked Mirna: “I don’t know why people don’t like us?” “Because you’re rude” answered Danielle. Eric quickly spread the news of the cousins’ rudeness to the other teams at the airport. Learning how tight the connection was going to be for the married couple, Eric told Uchenna: “You are braver than us.” After their problems in Africa, E/D have learned that staying with the pack was the thing to do.

On the train to the Batu Caves, Eric realized: “What we gathered from the people we talked to is that the Batu Caves are closer to the terminal we’re going. The Cha-Chas have gone out at the Central bus terminal. Travel by bus will take longer to get there.” It didn’t pay off since they were 4th at the clue while O/D arrived second.

Seeing they were yielded by the ones Eric called “Dirty Pirate Hookers”, Danielle reacted by saying that “the little b*tches” had made enemies. As part of the only team ever eliminated directly after being yielded, we can understand her reaction. “We were just really shocked that the Blondes did it to us because we had gotten along with them. It reveals their character a little bit and maybe the Blondes are a little fake and phoney.” The maybe seemed to indicate the Blondes’ character had been discussed by other teams. While Danielle may not have agreed before, now maybe, the others were right. At least, Eric remained calm and realized they could catch up with a detour and a roadblock to do. It let Danielle vent and then enjoy the tan she was getting.

Choosing the Cookie detour, they were encouraged to see Oswald and Danny still wandering the streets. It told them they weren’t out of it. Totally out of place, we heard Eric saying: “If any team has to win besides us, I’d like to see Danny and Oswald.” Stranger still, we had a confessional by Oswald telling us that: “Eric and Danielle, they are good competitors. They are very cunning.” Eric’s confessional could be understood; after being yielded by the Blondes, they realized which team was the more likeable one. Oswald’s confessional was clearly out of place. Even more importantly, we haven’t seen E/D being cunning. We can expect to see some cunning moves by the dating couple in the future.

They got to the roadblock in third place and Danielle took on the ‘paper lama’ job. After a first run that only netted half the required amount, Danielle crashed into the curb, ruining one of her rear wheels. Asking for a favor and giving a hug, Danielle got help from a boy to get her newspapers back to the truck in third place. “Every roadblock that is designed for a guy, I end up doing, and every roadblock for a girl, Eric does. He’s a woman” she complained. On cue, we saw Eric laughing with Oswald and saying ironically: “I do all the easy challenges!! I feel so bad.” What I saw is that, having a lead, it was wise to have Danielle do the task now. Eric will be able to do some later on when it really counts. Is that where their cunning play makes a difference?

“I’m glad I beat Danny” Danielle said in the cab to the pit stop. Phil noted how third place was good after being yielded. “You can’t be happy about that” our host said (was that an imitation of Probst at TC?) “I can’t feel happy about that” pointed out Danielle. “I got yielded on the first season and I got out because of that. There was no reason for it so I’m a little pissed.” The gauntlet has been thrown.

Oswald and Danny left Krakow with Oswald telling us that: “Danny and I have gone through 13 years of ups and down…It’s how you resolve those disagreements in the end that sets the strength of the relation.” This leg would give us our first chance to evaluate how they respond to a personal conflict. They were wise to decline the tight connection through Frankfurt. “7:25 Am versus 6:40AM is not going to kill us” said Oswald wisely. Taking the risk cost Uchenna and Joyce the race. The Cha-Chas took the connection through Paris with two other teams.

Second at the Batu Caves, Oswald and Danny couldn’t find the clue on the bridge near the Mosque, letting the Blondes pass them. Finally spotting the box, they ran up the stairs to the yield sign where they said: “Eric and Danielle will be pissed.” Reading the clue, Danny immediately determined that finding the cookie would be faster. Oswald didn’t agree but relunctantly went along: “I’m trusting you.”

An argument ensued as to whether they had to bite in one cookie per box or every cookie in each box. Oswald read the clue again and they decided to change detour. With Danny still complaining, they went back to the cookie table for a few more bites before finally changing. Making a mistake at the artistic detour just added to their frustration. “They screwed up real bad” said Mirna. Often, remarks like that don’t apply only for the moment but have foreshadowing significance. The images showed us the Cha-Chas completing the task before Danielle found the right cookie, but then the guys couldn’t get a taxi. Finally getting in one, Oswald tried to make peace:
-“Do we love each other again?” he asked.
-“Lets not go there yet. Just let me have my space” warned Danny.

Arriving immediately behind Eric and Danielle at the roadblock, Oswald, who hates to ride a bike asked Danny to do the challenge. Danny didn’t enjoy the job. He only had half the needed quantity on his first run and he told Oswald: “I am hating you right now...Hating you.” His second run was very trying: First, he tried to get newspapers from someone whose job is to collect them. Then, was told by a family that the girl had taken them all already. Next, he looked in a garbage can with no luck. Finally, he went into a shop, bought a lemonade and paid for as many papers as he needed for his second run. When they arrived at the mat, Oswald was afraid to hear they were last, so getting the news they were 4th came as some relief.

Uchenna and Joyce were shown to go directly to the Pit stop after reaching the Batu Caves. We know from their interview, that they did both tasks and the clue box they reached in wasn’t the one on the steps but it didn’t matter: After getting on a plane at the last moment to win one race, not being allowed to board another plane was their undoing. Karma works slowly sometimes but it can get even the “Good” teams.

What do I make of all this?

This is the beginning of the end for the Cha-Chas. If they can edit out a complete roadblock, the editors could’ve cut some of the angry moments these two shared. Their story went from too good to be true to a team that couldn’t stop arguing. It wouldn’t be bad in of itself. It could even be considered making them have a more complete edit but it seems more than that. They started the episode by saying they knew how to resolve their arguments yet, when they had their first bad one, they couldn’t put it to rest. We also heard the Blondes say that Eric and Danielle were bigger competition. While Eric expressed the fans view that “they” would like to see Oswald and Danny win, we heard the Cha-Chas say Eric and Danielle were strong competitors. Add Mirna’s remark that they screwed up big time and Oswald and Danny’s exit has been prepared. After Uchenna and Joyce, we would see our second “Good” team from last week exit.

Dustin and Kandice have found their stride but as we saw last season, the return of the competitive Blondes is accompanied by a touch of meanness in their portrayal. It wasn’t that they yielded E/D that makes them portrayed as mean. That action had to be shown. What didn’t need to be shown was how all the other teams agreed it was mean. Couple that with Dustin doing most of their confessionals and it isn’t a good sign. With Oswald and Danny’s exit being set up, they still have the most positive edit of the possible final three, but it could change. They still have a much better portrayal than Eric and Danielle and the cousins but it is slipping. Is it open season on last week’s “Good” teams, or do the girls come through? I’d be more inclined to say the former.

Charla and Mirna still cannot be taken seriously thus having them as the winners of the All-Star Amazing Race seems extremely unlikely. However, they are the team that has most often done what they tell us they will do or what others say they are good at. Once more, they did it on their own and not only are they good with locals, they now have fans!! They will be in the finals but, as last week’s “Ugly” team, they should fall short.

In the pre-season, I wrote that it would be a bad sign if Eric and Danielle’s story was about testing their relation. It started well when they didn’t even discuss questionning how they would react to the stress of the race. That changed after a few episodes and they soon began being portrayed as a typical Amazing Race dysfunctional couple. They were the “Bad” team last week, bickering over the smallest thing. Did last week’s emotional stopover really open their eyes to the futility of their fights? Do they have room to grow? It would be a nice story arc. This week may have gotten it started; they turned their attention to the other teams, even speaking for us when they talked of wanting Oswald and Danny to win if they cannot. They have been wronged by the other two teams. They are strong competitors as both D/K and O/D noted. When CTGirl wrote that their story could be that Danielle needs to learn to respect Eric, I wanted to object that we should be given reason why Eric deserves respect. But if the team we have related to the most, the Cha-Chas, say they see Eric and Danielle as worthy racers, shouldn’t we agree? Eric and Danielle have started to look like our All-Star winners.