They haven't necesarily been by their relationship. For example: The Bowling Moms.

Keith

Two things on last night's episode were excruciating:

1) To Be Continued!
2) Having to hear the older lady call her husband "Meredeth"!!

there are only 2 non-elimination rounds left-they start with 3 predetermined non-eliminations and have used 1 so far with meredith and gretchen. has anyone else noticed that at the beginning of this season, when it came time for the task, Phil would state that no more than 1 team member could do more than 6, but has stopped saying that now - yet - on the show last night, both Amber & Kelly said 'they had' to do the task - confused about that one. and where are meredith and gretchen getting the clothes they're wearing since everything except their passports were taken at the non-elim round a couple weeks ago.

They were given some clothes by Joyce and Uchenna (it was mentioned on the show) and apparently also by Ron and Kelly (not featured on show). Once they got money for the next round, they could use some of it to buy clothing. (We saw Gretchen buying a backpack in this week's episode.)

My favorite scene in this last episode was when Gretchen and Meredith were given a huge welcome as they arrived at one of the destinations in India. Obviously the village was well aware of the race and cheered on the couple at the end of the pack.

sorriso,

Yes, they very often define teams by their relationship ---- my favorite was "Dating Virgins"

Does anyone know when this one was filmed?

Lucknow may have seemed chaotic but at the same time full of 'life', I don't think Bangkok is that chaotic at all, some of the gretest places are those where people are out and about 'living', they are full of rich and rewarding experiences.

There should be four more nights of shows (assuming there are no more like this week where they showed only half of a race segment.

2 non-elimination, one elimination taking it down to 4 teams, and a double final in which one team is eliminatied in the first hour.

Then no more AR until sometime in the Fall.

Keith

Debs - yes they have stopped mentioning about each member only doing 6 roadblocks (didn't notice till you said so), but that doesn't mean the rule isn't still in place. If they started the race like that they're not just going to throw the rule out the window. They're probably just cutting it for time/editing purposes.

I suspect the big reception for Gretchen and Meredith is the producers' foreshadowing of losing them at the end of this leg. I can't see them hanging on much longer, although it's possible the gay brothers will go first.

I'm guessing it will finally be Ron and Kelly, Uchenna and Joyce, and of course, Romber at the end. Put the odds at close to 50-50 between Romber and either one of the other two. I'm not rooting for Romber at all, but I'm afraid only luck can offset their gamesmanship. Pffft.

Our theory is the ending for the past eipsode is leading to a twist to the game that will pit the 1st-place (Rob/Amber) and last-place (Mer/Gretch)teams against each other to determine who gets eliminated this time.

I think you might be right, travelnut. And, um, Casssandra, the gay guys aren't brothers....

A couple of observations on Romber and why they are playing the game so well:

1. Due to their Survivor experience, they are much more media savvy than the other teams. Rob realizes that with a camera team in tow, he can get away with a lot. He can, for example, grab someone who speaks English and command "Come with me." Then there is the help they have gotten from people who recognize them from Survivor.

2. Rob and Amber don't waste any time bickering and always work together as a team, a skill they honed on the last Survivor where their teamwork worked so well that they both made it to the final two. But just as importantly, they seem to strategize a bit more than most other teams. I know that my inclination, on some of these tasks, would be to take 2-3 minutes to figure out the best way of doing them.

I still don't like them, but I'll be the first to agree that they are playing very intelligently and that they have the skills that seem likely to make them the winners.

On the other hand, since they keep winning legs, there's not much suspense to the whole race if they win at the end. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Uchenna and Joyce, my current faves.

My favorite moment on the April 12th episode comes from Team Romber of course: Rob asking a guy in the office building if he spoke English and when he said "Yes," Rob ordering, "Come with me!" HELLOOOO: Kidnapping.... hehe Incorrigible!

And I no longer call them Meredith and Gretchen, it's instead, Meredith and Aaaaaaaaah! I think if you go to Webster's Dictionary and look up the word "wailing" there's a picture of Gretchen next to it; I think she INVENTED it!

And did you like how judgmental Lynn and Alexis got at the airport about Romber and Ronelly obviously arranging and hiding flights inside the terminal when L&A were pulling their own Machiavellian plot. Hypocrites!

And yes, I was quite disappointed about the ending. Actually I wish they'd leave Africa and India and get to some jeweled European cities with a little gleam, y'know? With the exception of a smattering of scenery and a zebra or two, this AR7 smacks of Survivor's dreary Africa episodes. Ugh.

There were ten of the clues hidden last night and it apperaed to me too that Gretchen wasn't being systematic on her search.

I have to hand it to the old folks for lasting this long (didn't think that they would) but I don't think that they will be there much longer.... they are sweet, but not all that bright sometimes!

I HATED Rob and Amber both on Survivor, but am actually rooting for them this time! I was pretty sceptical about it all (thought it was a publicity stunt) but I have to say they are some of the best players I've seen in a long time if not ever!!! Barring bad luck I think that they may win it - they don't fight with each other, they work well together, and they are SMART and crafty. Good for them!!

I really don't like Ron and Kelly. She whines and bi$%hes all the time and if he "accidently" drops it one more time that he was a POW and that he is donating their winnings to POW groups I think I will scream. What a couple of phoneys!

I think it will come down to the gay guys, Rob and Amber, and Uchenya and Joyce.

I REALLY MISS the "Southern Boys" though - how FUNNY were they!!! LOL!!!! Wish they had made it longer!

I thought the "To Be Continued" was also very disappointing. I think this will be a non elimination round and Meredith and Gretchen will come in last place and lose everything again. They seemed to spend alot of time showing the search for the new backpack. My guess is it will be taken soon.
I agree that Rob and Amber are a strong team. They really don't care who they tick off either. Uchenna and Joyce are still my favorites. I'm growing so tired of Kelly's constant jabs at Ron. They seem to always have a team like that on the race.
Lynn and Alex have done much better than I expected. They seem to whine about the others and the places they are in, but at least not at each other. There is an interesting video clip on the AR site where Lynn and Alex called Amber names. It's quite funny.

Travelatte

O-) Funny! Of course I know they're not brothers, but have you ever seen a more Campbell-kids matched set? ;-) Like the theory about the backpack. When it comes right down to it, I'm rooting quietly, on principle, for Gretchedith but more sincerely for Joychenna (this is silly fun). No one's going to get me to root for Romber; they are clearly the wrestlers in the black cape with the evil make-up >:-) !

I'm a newby to this thread, but I've read all 350-odd posts!

I initially did not like Rob and Amber, at first because I thought it was unfair they were even on the show, since they've already won a reality contest. Once I started watching it, I disliked their playing style.

HOWEVER, I have to say that now the ones who annoy me the most are the ones who don't get along. Ray and Deanna drove me nuts, and beauty queen/POW are really working on my nerves now too... Rob and Amber really are sweet together. But Uchenna and Joyce are the ones who have stolen my heart. They're SO positive, and I find it interesting that one of their reasons for entering AR was because their marriage was suffering due to the inability to have children. They seem to me to be nothing but supportive of each other. I found their reactions is the orphanage episode to be very touching.

My judgment of the couples also hinges on how they're reacting to the experiences. Although I initially thought it unfair that Rob and Amber were provided with another chance at winning a large sum of money, I feel they and Joyce/Uchenna are the only ones who are really APPRECIATING their travels. Rob and Amber seem to be very grateful for these experiences, in spite of their previously won money.

Finally, some questions... 1. Why do we not ever hear any of the contestants complaining about jet lag? They're all over the place! Unless it's a constant adrenaline flow for them... 2. Shouldn't an experienced beauty pageant contestant be a much better "people-person"? Kelly can be downright rude to people (walking ahead of the tea cart yelling, "Excuse us, excuse us, MOVE!"). 3. This may sound stupid, but I've never traveled into or out of Africa. Did they really fly all the way from the departure city in Africa to India in that little plane? It looked like it was only big enough for contestants and luggage...

After all these times reading and posting to this thread and watching the show, I finally had to go to the TAR-CBS website to see for myself who the "Lynn and Alex" that are often refered to by posters here. Honestly, I thought they were another female-male couple, just as I admitted my confusion as to who was who between Merdith and Gretchen.