Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

On last night's "Amazing Race," while waiting at the airport to fly from Dubai to Amsterdam, brothers, Sam and Dan, revealed to the other teams that they are gay. Other than the slightly disappointed female poker players, Maria and Tiffany (who had been flirting with them all along), no one seemed phased by the news. But the declaration did seem to have a liberating effect on the brothers, as they soared through every challenge on the leg, and landed first on the mat at this week's pit stop long before their competitors.


They weren't the only ones who seemed to breeze through this leg of the race. Meghan and Cheyne, Gary and Matt, and Flight Time and Big Easy didn't have much trouble either. After last week's unsportsmanlike behavior, the Globetrotters needed to redeem themselves in our eyes. It was tortorous to watch as they taunted the height phobic Mika at the top of the water slide with comments like "Don't do it. It's a long way up here." Still, this week we couldn't help but be charmed by them in their traditional farmer outfits clogging with all the little old ladies. Flight Time's "Soul Train" version of the Dutch Folk dance in drag brought a smile to our faces. Those tall dudes can groove!

A few couples did not fare as well as the leaders, though, like married couple Brian and Ericka. We hate the couples that bicker and fight on "The Race." We realize they are a producers' dream because they provide the dramatic tension, but they drive us insane. So we were just a little excited when the beauty queen stumbled during the road block. How hard can it be to count a bunch of bells. Everyone else did it pretty quickly. But it took her four attempts - apparently "counting" was not her Miss America talent. Then they did what all annoying "Race" couples do. Just when you can't stand it anymore, they take a breath and get all tender and supportive. She finished up and they moved on — hate when that happens. The honeymoon didn't last long, though, as she complained the entire next challenge as they walked, instead of rode bikes to the detour. Of course, they "fell in love all over again" while doing the Dutch folk dance. They were only lucky Maria and Tiffany did worse then them.

We liked the poker players, Maria and Tiffany. These girls were kicking butt and they were pretty nice while doing it — to each other and their opponents. At least, they were nice once they got beyond the whole lying that they were charity workers, not poker players thing. But the luck of the draw was not with them this leg.

Personally, we think they got gypped. Usually in a Detour one choice has to do with physical strength while the other is a more tedious skill. This week, both choices required some brute force. Maria and Tiffany bounced back and forth between the two, first trying to ring the bell on the high striker carnival game 71 times and then coming up short on each attempt to sink a ball in Dutch golf.

In her unaired post-"Race" interview, Tiffany revealed that every time she felt like giving up while swinging the striker, she was inspired by the image of her best friend's husband, who recently became paralyzed. She said she thought to herself, "who am I to not lift this gavel one more time when so many people don't have the opportunity to do so."

Sadly they were forced to fold and walk away from the race because they did not have the physical strength to complete either side. They did, however accomplish something. They gave female card sharks a good name again after Annie Duke dragged them all through the mud on "Celebrity Apprentice."

Written by Amy & Nancy Harrington