Official Summary TAR 15.9:
It's Hard to Find Something When You Don't Know What It Is Greetings TAR fans! Another week, another episode of the Amazing Race that begins on time in Canada. First up: a recap of last week's episode. I will not be recapping the recap here, however. So if it's a recap you want, please go now and peruse Molaholic's excellent summary here. Who, Phil asks us, will be eliminated next? *I* think it will be no-one, and so I have voted in the vote thread in Spoilers. Meghan and Cheyne are the first team to depart, at 12:00 am. They read their clue, but it's Phil's voice that tells us teams will now head to Prague where they will go to the city centre and search for a man in a vintage Praga. Teams will have to figure out that a Praga is a car. They will have $0.00 for this leg. Meghan and Cheyne humbly say that they have not been thinking about winning the whole thing, only on getting into the Final 3. Uh-huh. The other teams leave: 12:19 - Sam and Dan, who are going to the Spanish-speaking country of Prague, which is likely in the same area as the culturally and historically significant capital city of the Czech Republic. We'll see. 12:20 - Flight Time and Big Easy, who say nice things about Sam and Dan, presumably because they would like to try to erase the memory of the last leg with the poor sportsmanship and such. 12:22 - Brian and Ericka, who "will just continue being nice". They're not *actually* nice, they're just *acting* nice. I suppose Brian might be sincere, but I kind of doubt it. Anyway, teams all rush to the airport, but the only flight worth taking leaves in a few hours. They all end up on that flight, which takes them into Prague via Riga, Latvia. While booking tickets online, Meghan and Cheyne learn that a Praga is a car. Meghan attempts to convince Cheyne that they should lie to the other teams about what a Praga is. Cut to Brian, who is telling the others that he thinks Meghan is sneaky. So he can sense fakeness in Meghan, but not Ericka? So blah blah blah and all the teams are now in Prague and making the obligatory mad dash for the taxis. All the teams except Brian and Ericka, who have opted for the bus. Someone has told them that it will be faster that way. Who told them? Meghan? Ah, but no, Brian is on to her, so it couldn't be. Sam and Dan ask their cabbie if a Praga is a robe or coat. Luckily for them, their ignorance doesn't hinder them too greatly and they find the car and the clue-bearer shortly after Meghan and Cheyne. Now both teams are headed for the Kayaky Troja. Sam and Dan are shown in confessional. Sam appreciates the scenery and can imagine how wonderful it would be to live in each of the locations they have visited so far. He loves Prague. Dan thinks that if Sam loves Prague so much, he should marry it and that Sam is a stupid boogerface who should act his age not his shoe size. Brian and Ericka and their bus are stuck in traffic. Brian doesn't blame Ericka, but she's pretty sure he did anyway. They get the "bad thing has happened" music. Meghan and Cheyne and Sam and Dan have arrived at the Kayaky to discover a Detour, which as we all know, is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. Phil tells us that Prague has a cultural history that goes back a thousand years. Nowadays people can go kayaking in the middle of the city. These two facts don't go together well, but Phil’s an attractive man I don’t mind listening to whatever nonsense he’s spouting. The choices are:  Fast and Furious: take a kayak down a man-made whitewater rafting course, grabbing a ribbon along the way. The ribbon will have the next clue on it. If they capsize before getting their ribbon, they have to start again.
Slow and Steady: teams must cross the water by pulling themselves over ropes suspended above it. Sam and Dan have chosen the kayak course. We see them in their kayak, with the words “Sam and Dan - First Attempt” in the lower left corner. This does not bode well. But they can’t what’s on the screen and are filled with confidence. “We’re gonna beatcha!” they call to Meghan and Cheyne and the Globetrotters. They immediately follow this up with poor teamwork and some squabbling. Brian and Ericka are still searching for a Praga, not having looked it up or asked anyone on the bus they were stuck on for so long. Finally, they figure out it is a car. More brotherly squabbling is followed by the capsizing of the brothers’ raft. Meghan and Cheyne and the Globetrotters struggle to pull themselves along the ropes in the pulley-harnesses so thoughtfully provided by TAR’s producers. Oh look, it’s Sam and Dan’s second attempt:
“Shut up!”
“You’re supposed to guide it!”
“Keep paddling!”
“Shut up!”
The raft shuts them both up by flipping over again. Big Easy continues to struggle with the ropes. Meghan and Cheyne have made it to the platform, as has Flight Time, who inexplicably goes down first, blocking Meghan and Cheyne. Flight Time deliberately slows them down. The brothers squabble. Meghan and Cheyne look at their clue. Phil explains that teams must now figure out that they must go to the Estates Theatre, where Mozart’s Don Giovanni was premiered. We see the guy playing Don Giovanni singing. He is theatrical. The brothers nearly show teamwork and so nearly complete the course. When Brian and Ericka arrive, Sam and Dan switch to Slow and Steady. Meghan calls to the Globetrotters: “Big Easy, wait for us, we know what we’re doing.” So the Globetrotters follow them to the train platform. Then Cheyne decides that he and Meghan will get in a cab, leaving the Globetrotters behind. Meghan thinks this will make the Globetrotters seek revenge and harps on this for miles and miles and miles. Meghan and Cheyne arrive at the Estates Theatre to discover a Roadblock, a task which only one team member may perform. The clue reads: Who can remain composed under pressure? Seana thinks: Cool! They’re in a historically and culturally significant city at a location with strong association to classical music and opera! What wonderful and inventive task will they be performing? *excitement* The task is: "Find Mandolin" – Search the theatre to find a tiny mandolin in its case. Oh. My. Gawd. Seriously? A search task? Any of you kind readers who have visited my Roadblock Tally thread in the Fanatics forum over the last few seasons know my dislike of disdain for contempt for! search tasks. The only good part about this stupid task is that the Racer must present the tiny mandolin to Don Giovanni there. By the way, that’s a mandolin:
 Not a mandolin:
 Sorry, Tummy. If it’s not the right kind of instrument, Don Gio laughs “HA HA HA HA! No.” Which is pretty funny, actually. And here's the thing: both Cheyne and Big Easy bring things which are not mandolins and which are not tiny. Between this and the whole Praga-is-a-car thing, you can understand the title of this summary. Back at the Detour, Brian and Ericka are struggling to finish. The brothers finish and promptly steal Brian and Ericka's cab. I don't feel like describing the Roadblock, which is freaking dull, no matter how much tense and/or dramatic music the producers slap on in the editting. Especially with Meghan yelling "Cheyne! Cheyne! Cheyne! Search the rooms! Cheyne! Cheyne! Cheyne! Search under the chairs!" Oh, Cheyne, Big Easy, Dan and eventually Ericka did the task. Cheyne finishes first and gets the clue. He and Meghan head for the Pit Stop at the Prague Castle. They are first to the Pit Stop again and win a trip for 2 to Hawaii, courtesy of foonermints Travelocity. The other teams arrive at the Pit Stop in the order they finished the Roadblock: 2. Sam and Dan
3. Flight Time and Big Easy
4. Brian and Ericka Oh no! Will Brian and Ericka be eliminated? No, they will not. I was wrong about the Superleg, oh well. It is a non-elimination leg, so they will have at least one more leg to wreak their revenge on Sam and Dan for taking their cab. Next week on The Amazing Race: well, my tape cut off so I couldn't see the previews, but dajaki will be here to tell you all about it! 
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