<< I don't really care very much who wins but again Rob and Amber won a trip for coming in first >>

The show apparently recognizes the contestants 9Rob, Amber) that brings in the high ratings for this show , which reached a low point with dumb, boring and robotic ones the last season.

Giovanna, actually Gretchen's voice annoys me - obviously not a serious thing, but I know I'm not alone - and their poor game-playing skills, but I'm still hoping they are at least in the final three - precisely for the reasons you note. I think they've been incredibly lucky so far.

Cassandra "litmus test"?? I think you're taking this much too seriously.

Gretchen, assuming she is the female of the 2 elders with female-sounding names, is also starting to annoy the male partner with her annoying whining and pessimism. Especially since she really doesn't do anything.

lynn and alex did not get any prize for being first in one of the pit stops as well as ron and kelly. good for ray and deana, although they were eliminated, they went home with 2 toyota rav4s.

this season is so much better than the last. It's kind of sad that I finally talked my parents into watching the show last time. This time around, they didn't start watching it because of all the yelling and screaming last time and now, they've missed it a good one. I wonder how many other people AR7 lost because of AR6? BTW, I can't help myself, Boston Rob is becoming more and more endearing...have you all noticed that he had never once screamed or gotten impatient with Amber or vice versa? Actually, I think one time he looked a little impatient when he told her to make a decision as to whether they should do the fast forward, but it was so minor, especially compared to the lunatics of last season!

Tonight was -- how can I put this? -- BORING! DISAPPOINTING! ANTICLIMACTIC!

They better have a really good show next week to make up for it. :D

Gretchen's moan/whine "Ahaaa..." is beginning to grow on me. I look forward to it. And I don't know what anyone is watching who says she doesn't do anything. She was the one who was the goat milker. She had the hardest time finding the clue in the boxes because she was last and only had one to find. odds were against her.

Yes even Bob is beginning to grow on men - he's very sweet to Amber.

Ron and Kelly were stupid stupid stupid not to yield Ron and Amber.

I like them all now. And I don't hold it agains Lynn and Alex that they said Gretchen & Meredith were stupid enough to get lost. Number 1, it's true, they have made stupid mistakes. Number 2 it was in the heat of the moment of competition, they were trying to give themselves hope to catch up and anyone who claims they never ever said anything unkind toward someone else - even your own friends - well you are a saint or a liar and there are more liars in the world :-)

Joelle

Yes, last night was definitely anti-climactic. Did anyone notice those black travel bags with the yellow and red stripes the teams all seemed to have? I never noticed those on previous shows. Didn't find them at the store on the CBS website or on ebay- wonder how I could get one......

I don't recall Meredith doing any of the individual tasks. Despite all the whining and moaning, Gretchen does everything. She even did the shopping task in Africa after hitting her head - with the bloody bandages and everything. I was amazed that Meredith didn't even offer or consider that he should do the task...
And why on earth did Gretchen decide to buy a backpack at the airport of all places??? I thought they had very limited money to spend.

Joelle,

Actually I think at the beginning of the Roadblock, the instructions stated that there were 10 clues hidden in the steel boxes, so Gretchen had more of a chance than you thought. I don't know if it was the editing, but it seemed as if she wasn't searching very systematically--didn't look in every box in a pile before moving to the next pile.

Waiting for the outcome...

I don't remember there being 10 clues, but she did seem a little lost with that task. But to say she does nothing is a little harsh.

Oh and I thought of another point in Rob's favor. He did not yield Lynn & Alex out of revenge which they assumed he would. There was no advantage to him in the game so he didn't So he does what he does to win the game, not out of spite. Can't blame him for that.

Joelle

Well they all ended up on the same South African flight from Jo'burg! I agree was quite a boring episode really, the Camels next week should be fun.

"Meet Phil on the mat" wasn't a good sign for me. I think there are 3 more non-elimantion rounds so I guess the finale will happen towards the end of May.

Loved Alex's dance after finding the clue in the box. He's starting to come out of his shell and not just let Lynn make all the comments.

Liked Boston Rob's comment about if he built Amber a palace it would be nicer than the one in India. Ahhh. Don't watch Survivor so I'm not familiar with him before the race, but I'd want to keep him on a short leash. Amber doesn't seem to say much, but Rob says more than enough.

I was thinking the the winners are usually life partners. Season 6, annoying dating models Freddy and Kendra. Season 5, married couple Chip and ??? Season 4, married Chip and Reicen. Didn't watch before then.

I think Ron and Kelly were smart not to use the yield. It seems to me that the only advantageous time to use the yield is if you are second to last - in other words, if you are in immediate danger of being eliminated. Using it would have pushed Rob and Amber down a little bit, but probably not enough to change the outcome of that leg. And it might have made Ron and Kelly a target of revenge for Rob and Amber.

I wish they'd do away with the yield and bring back the fast forward on every leg. I like it better when the teams can do something to get themselves ahead rather than force another team back.

Oh, and I really miss the brothers!

I agree that not using the yield was a good idea. There was no need for Ron & Kelly to use it on R&A since there's plenty of time to take them on later. No need to annoy them right now.

And why would R&A use it on Lynn & Alex? They are no threat to them.

I was amused that Lynn thinks that Rob is as obsessed with "getting" them as they are with "getting" R&A. He was really surprised that they hadn't used the yeild on them. My, my aren't WE full of ourselves.

If I were L&A, I'd be more worried about catching up since clearly the more agressive teams are starting to pull away from the pack.

The scene of Francistown Airport shows what 'stress free' travel is all about, small, relaxed, what a 'great' airport.

L&A are so consumed by beating rob/amber that they are not playing the game. R&A are going to be tough to beat period.

did you see that devilish look on Phil's face...gotta love that. after a grueling trek through india, keep going...ha.

and meredith...how could you name your son meredith???

I thought Bangkok was pretty hectic until I saw Lucknow (spell?), India. What a chaotic city!

My apologies if this has already been discussed (I'm fairly sure I've read all the posts but I could have missed something). We just started watching AR during the last race so we don't have a lot of experience with the show.

My pet peeve is that everyone seems to be described by their relationship status with the exception of the beauty queen/ex-POW. They aren't described like that on the CBS website. Is CBS trying to milk the POW thing? Have other racers been described in non-relationship ways?