Tempers flared on The Amazing Race last night, making for yet another highly enjoyable episode in an already highly enjoyable season. The question remains: whose side do you take?
Let’s recap the fight: it all started when the teams of Margie & Luke and Jen & Kisha encountered the same clue box at the same time. I didn’t say they actually saw the clue box. Both duos managed to stand, walk, stare, amble, waft, and play ring-around-the-rosie directly in front of the box for about five minutes before they realized that oh yeah, the yellow and striped thing was in fact a clue box. I mean seriously, they wouldn’t have noticed it if Phil had parachuted from the sky, grabbed the box, and banged them over the head with it. Anyway, Jen and Luke both noticed the box first, which led to a small yet influential bit of scampering. Luke got to the box first, causing Jen to bump into him. Or did she push him? From the camera angle, it looked like nothing more serious than a graze, but he insisted it was a downright shove; so he retaliated back by shoving an elbow in Jen’s face. It wasn’t as violent as an out-and-out elbowing, but it wasn’t particularly polite either. Jen snapped back with an angry “Bitch!” and from there it was on…
When Luke found out he’d been called a bitch, he flipped out. He and Margie commiserated in the car, but even though they were pissed, Mom advocated a policy of calmness and non-violence. Kisha and Jen meanwhile similarly brooded, their anger quite stoked indeed. This wasn’t the first time they perceived themselves to have been wronged by Luke & Margie (or Lugie). In the previous leg, they suspected that Lugie had sabotaged them by giving their cabbie wrong directions. I still don’t know the veracity of this because when Kisha and Jen asked their driver if Luke and Margie had given him erroneous information, the guy just said “yeah, yeah,” in a hushed way which seemed to connote â€â€Ã‚ to me â€â€Ã‚ that he just wanted the girls to shut up.
Anyway, at the next clue box, Luke and Jen once again tangled, this time with Luke colliding into Jen, causing her to fall into the clue box. This elicited a hostile retaliation from Jen, who pulled the exact same elbowing maneuver that Luke had just minutes prior. I think Kisha somehow got involved also â€â€Ã‚ it was all so fast â€â€Ã‚ and ultimately, Momma Margie snapped and told the girls to “Stop that!” in her best, most protective mother-hen voice (although, she’s got nothing on Melissa and Joan Rivers).
Eventually, the tension bubbled over at the Pit Stop when both teams checked in simultaneously (along with Tammy and Victor â€â€Ã‚ who I loved this episode, but only because I really liked watching them speak Chinese). Phil asked if there had been any tension â€â€Ã‚ what a leading question â€â€Ã‚ and then everything exploded from there. Both teams accused each other of playing dirty, with Margie being particularly vehement about their innocence. Eventually Luke huffed away, said “Bitch!” and then when he returned to say his piece, Kisha and Jen smiled. Were they smiling at the ridiculousness of the situation? Or were they making fun of Luke? I tend to think the former honestly, but Margie didn’t see it that way. She launched into a passionate defense of her son, which was admirable â€â€Ã‚ albeit misdirected. I kind of felt she was merely channeling all her frustration and stress into this one moment, and she was gonna explode, no matter who said what or what was said. Even Phil tried to calm her down, but it was of no use. Kisha and Jen just stood there, explaining that they tend to smile and laugh in tense situations, and Margie yelled and yelled. I really liked her motherly behavior; however, having seen the footage, it looks to me that team Lugie was in the wrong on this one. Luke did instigate the violent (if it can be called that) activity, and then he totally whined when it was done back to him. Plus, I felt uneasy when he said that Jen shouldn’t call a deaf kid a “bitch.” One thing we’re constantly being told is that people with disabilities shouldn’t be treated any differently; so when Luke subtly played the victim card there, I felt a bit turned off. It wouldn’t have been cool had Jen called Luke a bitch because he was deaf. But she’s well within her rights to call a deaf kid a bitch if he acts like a bitch. Was it a polite thing to do? No. But offensive? Not really.
Ultimately, if we are to believe the forces of Karma, it looks like Jen and Kisha were the cosmic victors. Not only did they arrive in first place, but Luke got attacked by a fishing bird â€â€Ã‚ or as I like to call it, the Karma Duck. Gotta love the editors who scored the bird’s predatory approach with scary, imposing music. (Oh, and as a side note, one of the girls commented on how amazing it was that the birds knew not to swallow the fish. This is because their necks were bound by a cord, FYI.)
Anyway, what do you think about the fight? Who was in the right? Who was in the wrong? And what’s the deal with these photos of the teams banging drums?
Jen & Kisha win. Gees, Luke already used the U-Turn, for no real good reason. He has a reputation. In his defense, Luke is just really enthusiastic about the race, but also really clumsy in how he goes about it. Plus, Jen is both black and gay, so screaming at her about demeaning stereotypes is kind’ve nonsensical. In more amusing moments, Kisha saying Jen loves to play with fowl was rather priceless.
Luke IS a bitch.
The bottom line is that it doesn’t make a gnat’s ass difference if the other team gets the clue 1 second before you do – so why the pushing/shoving?
I loved when Jamie said that if anyone threw filet mignon in her mouth she wouldn’t give it back. So does that mean we can tie a rope around her neck?!
hb
I’m with Kisha and Jen on this one. Luke over-reacted when he elbowed her the first time, and he practically ran her over the second time. Lugie’s elimination mat reactions were just absurd. There are plenty of people who smile in discomfort when others are going off on them (I frequently have to remind myself not to do this). Margie’s accusation that this was because Luke was deaf was just an attempt to wiggle out of a losing position by making the argument one about discrimination. Luke is an adult and needs to stop reacting like a child; Margie needs to stop treating him like a child. They’re AWFUL.
Luke was in the wrong and for some reason he bothers me. I feel like I should feel bad about this because he’s deaf but for some reason I don’t.
I think my main problem with him is how proud he is of himself for being deaf and doing so well in the race. As an avid viewer of the race I’ve noticed that Margie has to do all the hard work and all the roadblocks. She’s really a 1 person team. I wonder how many legs she’d win if she wasn’t carrying around all the dead weight.
I agree with honeybunny… when someone gets there first you just have to wait the extra 1 second to get your clue. However, I think Margie & Luke have gotten the raw deal here.
Here’s the thing, if you decide to tangle with someone that’s bigger than you and you get shoved around a little, too freakin bad. Turning the argument around on everyone… should he step aside and take her shit because she’s a girl? Please. I played co-ed hockey, and trust me, if I went up against a guy and then cried because he fought for the puck, they’d tell me to go home or find a girl’s league.
Kisha & Jen were simply poor sports that Luke got there first and fanned the flames by calling him a name. Again, had Luke been the one to call her a name (especially that one) everyone would jump all over that as well. Everyone stewed in their taxis and the next confrontation happened. No one is really the “right one” here but Margie & Luke really can’t win.
I disagree with ya B-Side (and Phil too, I guess) though… I do think they were making fun of Luke. They weren’t laughing and doing their passive agressive smiling thing (WTF – grow up) the same way at Margie, period. Had I been there I would have stood up for him too.
Frankly, I hate girls like this. The kind of girls that act all tough when no one’s looking, run around telling everyone how “mean” someone else was to them (the fastest way to see who’s really wrong in my opinion), do passive-agressive crap and when they get called on it try to put on the doe-eyes and say they’re misunderstood. We see that Kharma vists *them* next week when little-miss-tough-girl ends up being a scardy cat in the water. I say adios, bitches.
During the first encounter at the clue box, it looked to me like Jen ran into Luke from behind and was reaching over his shoulder to get the clue before him. The second one seemed like Luke was trying to retaliate. I am not a big fan of Kisha and Jen, but really, I thought the whole thing was blown out of proportion on both sides. It did make for an entertaining hour of television, though.
I agree with gretcheepoo. I think Jen should have just let Luke get the clue in the first encounter since he was at the box first, instead of crowding around him and trying to get into the box while he was getting his clue. In the second encounter, I actually thought it was mostly momentum that carried her into the box, though both teams being riled up didn’t help.
I also think that Jen and Kisha were totally making fun of Luke being deaf when they were laughing at the elimination mat… they just played it off because they got called on it (I actually think there was some editing in this part of the episode, because one of the commercials showed the incident and I swore Kisha was actually mimicking Luke a bit when they were giggling, but I only saw the commercial once).
Oh, I also agree that Luke isn’t all that great. He barely does any of the challenges, and when he actually does feel challenged, he whines like a baby… It’s kinda pathetic.
Luke is also gay, but I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. Maybe people who are both black and gay cannot be insensitive, so I guess I was watching another woman on another show.
Luke was frustrated that he couldn’t express what happened from his point of view without being mocked. And the girls knew that would be the reaction, which is why they did it.
It’s hard to imagine how challenging it must have been to run this race without the ability to hear. Add to that the stress of conflict with two seemingly smug people, who are also adults who should know better, by the way.
Well, maybe they’ll go back to fighting with each other next week.
The reason they laughed was because Luke signed and honked that it “was his turn to talk.” I know that is what caused the smirk, becuse mine appeared simultaneously. It wasn’t mean spirited, just a natural reaction to someone saying they are going to talk, and then honking. Why cant Luke read lips. If I was deaf, it would be my number one priority. Seems like an awfully large burden to leave on his mom.
If Jen didn’t call him a bitch, I don’t think it would have progressed much further. She should have just waited until he got the clue before going to the box. Even after she “pushed” him, she went after it again while he was there which is when she got the elbow.
The second time around was totally Luke’s fault. And yeah, I do think they were laughing at him….but it was kind of funny. So they deserved the verbal lashing from his mom.
I love the reference to Top Chef!
the Karma Duck may have bitten Luke in the hand, but the Karma Pool seems to get revenge on Jen next week. Proving my theory that both teams were in the wrong by letting it escalate to the point that it did instead of letting it go as an outburst of frustration from the rigors of the Race and accpeting apologies when given.
I think the whole situation was completely ridiculous and chalked it up to teams being very competitive and into the race, which is a good thing for the most part. Still, I thought it detracted from the Race as a whole. I watch this show because I enjoy the race. If I wanted to watch petty bitching (of which both teams were guilty), I’d turn on MTV.
randomword wrote: “Why cant Luke read lips. If I was deaf, it would be my number one priority.”
No one can actually read lips. Most of it is guesswork. Only 30% to 40% of language can be interpreted by sight alone (thank you wikipedia), which means lip readers are always at a minimum 60% wrong. Not very helpful in a race where precision is key. If you want a good example of this, check the British tabloids from right after the 2006 World Cup Final. World Famous lipreaders said that an Italian player told a French player he “was the son of a terrorist whore” and other nonsense. Both players later came out and confirmed the actual comment was “I’d prefer your sister”. Trust me, the two phrases sound as different in French and Italian as they do in English.
Simply put, lip reading is not an adequate solution to the problem of being deaf.
But lip reading would, based on your premise, Alafoss, allow Luke to understand 30-40% more than he does now. This clearly wasn’t a decision Luke made – it’s a skill he should have been taught as a child. I think Margie has just kept him dependent on her, to bind him more tightly to her. I would not be surprised to learn that his father, or some other man or men, had abandoned her in the past.
Does this mean that Margie has been with Luke 24/7/365/23? So all the time he was in College Margie was there? So he never had to fend for himself? Stand up for himself? Learn to deal with whatever came along?
Is this too many questions? Why do I care?
I think this is a result of Twitter – when I can use more than l40 characters I go crazeeeee.
Sorry (in my best Gilly voice)
hb
The first three teams were obviously going to arrive at the same time, so I also thought it was a little mean of Kisha and Jen to push for first since if it weren’t for them following Victor and Tammy (no matter what I feel about them) in the calligraphy challenge there is no way they would have finished that quickly.
What I don’t understand is why there is always a struggle at the clue box-is getting the clue 1 second before the person next to you really going to give you a noticable advantage? Either way, they both could have behaved better, but I do think that Luke is kind of a whiner-how many times did he complain about getting bit by the duck? Marge needed the outburst, I would too-I don’t care that he’s deaf, I’m annoyed by what what a wuss he is.
I was pretty impressed with Tammy & Victor at the mat-they are the only ones who had any right to be mad. After all, the other 2 teams followed them around China & they were relatively accomodating, & it’s not like Jen & Kisha recognized this fact when they took first.
Oh, what I understand from earlier in the season-Luke doesn’t read lips by his own choice.
Why is it almost always such awful people left in the final teams? I so wanted Mike & Mel to win, I think now I have to get behind Tammy & Victor-or at least Tammy, otherwise I’d get lost.
Personally, I think it was a somewhat innocent situation to begin with that spiraled out of control.
I believe that Jennifer rushed behind Luke in the heat of the moment. What she may not have thought of is that Luke couldn’t hear her behind him, so when someone pushed, accidently or not, his natural reflex would be to protect his space. Try to put yourself in his shoes. That would scare the hell out of me!
Luke didn’t seem to really get angry until he was told Jennifer called him a *itch.
From there, it all got crazy.
Also – Remember that we are not seeing everything. We are only seeing the edit the producers want us to see. For all we know, LaKisha & Jennifer *could* have been laughing at Luke in a more obvious manner, but it was edited out.
The producer apparently wanted to show the plight of the deaf and relate that minority status with another.
That’s my 2 cents.
As for the mat meltdown, we really have no idea of what really happened on that mat.
We only saw 2 or 3 minutes of what has been said to be a “45 minute mat meltdown”.
I think that Luke was wrong and obnoxious for throwing the first elbow. I would have called him a bitch, too. I think the girl ran into him by accident, but he definitely went at her at the second clue box and that was completely uncalled for. He can’t take being called a name? Two words, boy: anger management. When he was going apeshit crazy on the mat and having his meltdown, I would have laughed at him too. They weren’t laughing at him because he is deaf! They were laughing at what a whiny little bitch he was being. His meltdown was ridiculous and I always laugh in the face of people who lose their cool at me. Is there anything funnier than someone losing their marbles? His mother’s breakdown/rant was annoying as hell. Based on what we saw, I think they were completely in the wrong.
Luke plays more dirty and fiercely than any one else yet cries like a baby and plays the victim card when he is played back at. If you can’t stand the heat… Also he has added zero contributions to the game letting his mom do all the heavy lifting. He acts like a spoilt brat and fights like a bitch. Its on tape..he elbowed first, threw a red herring at Jen’s team..used the hold card and smirked and laughed with his mom all the way. One angry curse at him and all of a sudden he is fighting for all the deaf people of the world. Grow up and be a man!
On the mat, Kisha was smirking at Luke’s signing. Period. How low can you get?
my best friend has been in an Anger Management class for 2 months now, he improved a lot when dealing with anger.-~`
most of us would need some anger management therapy if we are on very stressful jobs'”-
for those of us who cannot control anger, i think that anger management should be a reuirement to have a quality life ,,,
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