The Amazing Race -- It's The Cheese And The Gnome
Original Airing: April 14, 2013
This was the leg I started rooting for Joey and Meghan to get eliminated. I get why the rest of the racers don’t like them. There’s something very irritating about them.
Teams were finally out of Africa and off to Switzerland. Chuck was still being hard on Wynona, although in the interview by the show he was claiming otherwise. It was really bringing her down. He complained because she didn’t run as fast as the others, he complained she didn’t shimmy around a ledge as fast as the others and while climbing up a hill she was taking too long. Unfortunately, it was Wynona’s bright idea that ended up causing disaster for the duo.
Upon arriving in Zurich, Switzerland teams had to find a conductor who would give them their next clue, which was to travel to Grindelwald by train. Some of these names of the destinations were killing me. When I saw Jungfraubahn or Jungfraujoch, I was like, you’ve gotta be kidding me. When Joey and Meghan miss the connecting train to take them to Grindelwald the other teams celebrate.
Once in Grindelwald the teams have to go to a church a wait for a shepherd to deliver them their next clue, but he won’t do that until the next morning, so the playing field has been leveled again. The shepherd arrives on an upright sled and delivers the clues. Teams have to travel by train to Kline to pick-up a Swiss rescue companion outside the Bellville Hotel. The rescue animal was a St. Bernard. Then they had to take the dog back to the train and board another train to Jungfrau-whatever the last four letters were, which is the highest train station in Switzerland.
The Country Singers couldn’t get their dog to board the train so it was Bates and Anthony to the rescue. They’re still in an alliance with the girls, but they haven’t managed to score yet on the interpersonal level. Meanwhile, Wynona complains that Chuck is treating their dog better than he treats her.
After delivering the dogs, team head back to the train station for their next clue. It’s a Roadblock that will take place on Eiger, the highest mountain in Switzerland. One team member has to climb out a window onto a very slim observation deck with a safety line attached to them and shimmy along it to collect the Travelocity Travel Gnome and then shimmy along to the other window and climb back inside.
Wynona decides to do the task, even though she’s feeling dizzy from the elevation already. Chuck, per usual, is his usual encouraging self. He tells her if something goes wrong while she’s out there and she doesn’t make it back in, he won’t remarry for the first month.
Wynona does have some trouble out there. The hook of her safety line gets caught and she has a hard time moving along to collect the gnome, but she’s finally able to do it. I applaud Wynona for even going out there. I’d be terrified if I had to do that myself, and she was already feeling.
The next clue directs them back to the train to travel to Grund Station in Grindelwald. Upon arrival they’re to follow the sound of a man blowing a horn. He directs teams to follow the marked path and join the work place. It turns out the last task of the day is the dreaded cheese task.
Teams have to climb up a steep snow-covered hill to a shed with a sled and transport 4 cheese wheels weighing a total of 200 pounds. So each wheel must weigh 50 pounds a piece. Then they have to slide back down the hill and deliver it to get their next clue.
This week’s pit stop is the Bodmi Snowboard and SkiSchool.
Chuck and Wynona and Joey and Meghan are tied for last as they do the cheese task. Wynona has a horrible time getting up the steep hill and Joey and Meghan finish well before Chuck and Wynona, so you’d think they got the next to last place sewn up. But this is Joey and Meghan we’re talking about. For some reason only know to their brains they decided to walk to the next pit stop instead of taking a car like everyone else did. Meanwhile, Wynona had the bright idea to roll her cheese wheels down the hill instead of transporting them down the mountain on the sled, and since it was a faster way to do it, Chuck jumped on the bandwagon. You knew they were heading for trouble when the camera did a close-up on the sled.
I thought they’d be told to go back and retrieve the sled they left up on the hill and that would have been a better thing to happen then what actually did.
The teams checked in as followed:
- Bates and Anthony who won a trip to Bora Bora
- Mona and Beth
- Max and Katie
- Caroline and Jennifer
- Chuck and Wynona
- Joey and Meghan
But because Chuck and Wynona rolled their cheese wheels down the hill instead of transporting them by sled, they incurred a thirty minute penalty. Unfortunately, Dumb and Dumber managed to make it to the pit stop on foot before the thirty minute penalty was up and Chuck and Wynona got eliminated, even though they were really in fifth place.
What really pissed me off about this was Phil was right on Chuck and Wynona about rolling the cheese down the hill, but last season he completely let it slide about the teams stealing money from another team. He never even called them on it at the pit stop. And the show came out in support of the thieves. I still think this show should hold the racers to some fair sporting conduct during the race. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
A word of advice to Joey and Meghan. If the clue doesn’t say walk to the next pit stop, don’t walk to the next pit stop. It really made me ill that they got to stay; especially after they U-Turned Chuck and Wynona a few weeks back. I guess Karma was on vacation. Both bottom teams made a stupid mistake, but at least Chuck and Wynona’s mistake was smart, while the You Tubers mistake was just plain dumb. What the heck made these two twits walk to the pit stop?
I’m joining the other teams in hoping these two are the next to get the boot. I really don’t see them as Final Three material. Not that any of the remaining teams particularly light my fire, either.
Bates and Anthony need to start thinking with the heads on their shoulders opposed to the ones in their pants and cut this alliance they have with the Country Singers. Yes, they’ve been coming in number one. But they need to race for themselves instead of helping out the blondes they’ve got the hots for. Only one person can win first place, not two.
And I’ll say this about the Newlyweds. Max can come off as a creep at times, but he and Katie haven’t let the stress of the race get to them as much as Chuck and Wynona did. They’ve gotten snarky with each other a few times, but I don’t recall either of them treating each other the way Chuck treated Wynona.
Right now, any of the remaining teams could make Final Three, minus Joey and Meghan. It’ll be interesting to see who the last three teams standing are.
