TVSquad

(S14E05) Sure, the jackets Jen and Kisha are wearing on The Amazing Race look plenty warm. But will they hold up in Siberia? It looks like they're prepared for any weather the race might throw their way. For that matter, every team has more gear than it looks physically possible to fit in the bags they carry. Tonight it would have behooved the teams to have on long johns for underwear or, at the very least, not a thong.

Oh, sleeper cars!
Man, if I ever go to Siberia, I want to ride on that nifty Trans Siberia railway. Unless it's dark out, you wouldn't find me sleeping -- I'd be too busy catching the glorious scenery of the country from my warm haven on rails. But I suppose the teams never know quite when they'll sleep again and feel they need to get every extra moment. The best editing of this segment was flipping to a shot of Mark and Michael snug in their beds right after either Kisha or Jen complained about the beds being too short. Shades of Goldilocks!

Team players
While the teams on the race really have to go after the win for themselves, it can be beneficial for them to form quasi-alliances with other teams. Last week we saw Margie and Luke Blind U-turn Kris and Amanda. It wasn't revealed how the other teams found out it was them, but they know. It doesn't seem to be hurting them right now. However, it's going to set them up as a very determined team who themselves need to be taken out. Mike (of Mike and Mel) joked about it, calling Luke a "sinister deaf kid." It was funny, but he knows they're a team to watch.

Victor's doings seem more off-putting to the others than the U-turn action. Although Tammy seems rather innocuous, Victor blatantly led people at one point and then just took off leaving them in his dust. And, no ... he told them to follow him. It wasn't a case of teams just following him on their own volition. His lack of any apology and laughing about it probably will get him in the end.

Cool, no ... cold tasks
I so love this show for its sometimes cultural, sometimes just zany, tasks in the Detours and Roadblocks. In the Detour, they had a choice between finding and delivering a Russian bride to her groom or driving a Russian snowplow through a marked course. At least it was an even-ish split with teams taking part in both tasks. When they all choose the same task, I always feel like I'm missing something.

But the hoot of the night was the Roadblock -- one member of each team had to run a mini-marathon (I believe it was 1-1/4 miles) in their underwear. Why wouldn't Jen wear underwear under her jeans? That just sounds really uncomfortable! It was a bit too much information, too. I'm making a note right now to wear granny panties and a sports bra if I ever go on the show. From the looks of the locals, Americans running the streets in their underwear isn't something they see everyday. Oh, but it's a tradition and not just for the show, right? It could be like the Polar Bear Club.

For the record, the Pit Stop order:
1. Margie and Luke - they won a trip to St. Lucia
2. Tammy and Victor
3. Jaime and Cara
4. Mel and Mike
5. Mark and Michael
6. Jen and Kisha
7. Christie and Jodi

Since it was the first non-Philimination leg, all teams are safe. Christie and Jodi will face a Speed Bump in the next leg which will make them perform an additional task. I don't think they're going to be strong enough to overcome a delay unless Jen and Kisha or Mark and Michael fall behind. Tonight's episode had them all bunched together on the train, so they all really started out for the leg at the same time. Mark and Michael seemed to follow their clues better this week, as Jen and Kisha still had various woes, including a car problem. I guess we'll see what goes down.