Donny Ketchum

Wheeler was my favorite detective on the whole show, so it pained me to agree with Carmen's comparison, but I really could see it at times. I thought, though, that Julianne did grow it out around season eight.

Was Troy or Taylor the one who picked Gwen after she said that one of them could actually push her to do better in her singing? I remember it was one of the most original pitches I'd heard on this show and can't remember if she made it to one of those two or to Ryan Sill. But I know it was a guy who picked her to whom she'd said that, as that guy was clearly honored and flattered by that statement.

Okay, so while I thought Carmen was so incredibly and unnecessarily nasty to her in "Flipped," the Howdy Doodie comparison she made in regards to Wheeler was pretty accurate.

Alessandra was only montaged once -- through the blinds. But she had her victorious Battle Round with Joe shown, and her lost Knockout showdown with Mia shown, as well.

Nope. Phil said the ninth leg, not the eighth.

I actually couldn't decide if that wife was deluding herself in the end or was actually a little bit right that a jury would see her side of things. Because yeah, her motives were somewhat understandable in that she was trying to keep her family together. But she horribly went about it the wrong way. This is one of the things I quite like about CI. The perps' crimes are heinous, for sure. But every now and then, you see one whose motives you can at least somewhat understand, if not even flat-out sympathize with a bit.

Reed thought that Jeremy was an ally, and Natalie, as well, until they joined Missy, Kelley, and Julie in voting Drew out. Till then, he'd thought that he, Drew, Jon, Jeremy, and Natalie were Hunahpu's main alliance.

Way to go, Zhu Li! I hope she's playing Zuvira. She turned on Varrick way too fast for that to be genuine. I hope Bolin gets out of this on his own, not with someone else's help. Glad to see that Asami and her dad have finally buried the hatchet. Didn't think they'd revisit that thread. Two weeks of no Mako? Wonder where he is?

We'll get one next week, but then, the week after that, the show takes a week off due to this odd new awards show that'll preempt the entire Friday night lineup. (As if we need any more awards shows.) The season will resume the week after that.

To be honest, I kinda had a feeling that they were out due to a tweet from Whitney last week. It was one that basically wondered whom karma would strike this week. I didn't think she'd say such a thing unless she meant Shelley & Nici. And indeed, Shelley & Nici left us this week. So next week is an NEL, most likely, and two weeks after that (because this weird new award show, not that we need any more of them, will preempt the show the week after next), Tim & Te Jay are gone.

Honestly, I'm a mix of saddened and relieved that they're gone. They seemed to get along much better on this leg, and they did their tasks quickly enough. But navigation did them in big-time. I couldn't believe that they got themselves so turned around like that. They were so far behind, they barely saw any teams again when they got to the Detour, but never again after that. Too bad for them, but such bad navigation deserves an elimination. Also, there is a little thing called "karma." I kinda figured it'd be visiting them when, on either Twitter or Instagram, Whitney publicly wondered whom it'd be visiting this week. I knew she likely meant these two.

This is probably the most screen time they've gotten so far. And what they got wasn't too good. At least it confirms what we've been suspecting: that they're just not good with directions. They do their tasks amazingly, but suffer when it comes from actually getting from task to task. They could've notched fifth place if they hadn't missed that turn to the Roadblock that Brooke & Robbie saw right in front of them. Instead, sixth place is their finish. Like they said, they've gotta get it together with the navigation, or they're in deep mud on the future legs. On a side note, anyone else that Amy has a rather hunched-over way of running sometimes?

Defeatist Brooke visits us once more at the Detour and again at the Roadblock. I admire Robbie for being able to get her focus back onto things when she starts to fret, but this was a Roadblock that proved that he won't be around to do that every time. At least she psyched herself back up and got that Roadblock on her own, after all. Though I guess Maya also helped with that.

These two seem to be decent at the tasks. It's just finding things that throws them off. And it seems like they needed help more than once on this leg, first from Shelley & Nici in finding the hay, and then from Alli in Te Jay getting through the Roadblock. They've gotta get better at doing things themselves, or they're as good as toast.

Well, they didn't do it this week, at least. They started out well, but they had me worried when Alli psyched herself out enough to want to switch Detours. They won me back over when Kym found a way to entertain herself, Alli, and even Adam & Bethany after they switched back, though. Alli was decent to accept Te Jay's offer to help at the Roadblock, and they even managed to vault right past them in the process. Didn't keep first place, but they remained in the top three, which is also good.

They could've gotten frustrated with the goats, but didn't. They kept up their Detour choice, finished it, and Bethany took a Roadblock that she rocked out, finding an excellent way around having only her one arm. Amazing job!

From what I saw, good, solid racing for another win. Nothing spectacular, just business, as usual. Though they had a bit of a struggle at the Detour due to not realizing they needed the rugs, they made up for it with Misti's Roadblock performance (finally, she does one flawlessly). A fine recovery from their Speed Bump, indeed. And better yet, they did so in spite of having a leg with no equalizer and starting way back! Too bad Jim blew it all away with their end-of-leg confessional. What happened to being humbled, Jim? I knew that was B.S.

Another pretty good episode. I like the legs that have no equalizers at the start. It pushes teams to really keep their leads or make up for their deficits going into the next legs. Some teams did more than the latter. But two teams failed to do the former. But on to the teams: Misti & Jim: From what I saw, good, solid racing for another win. Nothing spectacular, just business, as usual. Though they had a bit of a struggle at the Detour due to not realizing they needed the rugs, they made up for it with Misti's Roadblock performance (finally, she does one flawlessly). A fine recovery from their Speed Bump, indeed. And better yet, finishing first on a leg with no bunching whatsoever, despite starting from way back! Too bad Jim blew it all away with their end-of-leg confessional. What happened to being humbled, Jim? I knew that was B.S. Adam & Bethany: They could've gotten frustrated with the goats, but didn't. They kept up their Detour choice, finished it, and Bethany took a Roadblock that she rocked out, finding an excellent way around having only her one arm. Amazing job! Kym & Alli: They started out well, but they had me worried when Alli psyched herself out enough to want to switch Detours. They won me back over when Kym found a way to entertain herself, Alli, and even Adam & Bethany after they switched back, though. Alli was decent to accept Te Jay's offer to help at the Roadblock, and they even managed to vault right past them in the process. Didn't keep first place, but they remained in the top three, which is also good. Tim & Te Jay: These two seem to be decent at the tasks. It's just finding things that throws them off. And it seems like they needed help more than once on this leg, first in finding the hay, and then in getting through the Roadblock. They've gotta get better at doing things themselves, or they're as good as toast. Brooke & Robbie: Defeatist Brooke visits us once more at the Detour and again at the Roadblock. I admire Robbie for being able to get her focus back onto things when she starts to fret, but this was a Roadblock that proved that he won't be around to do that every time. At least she psyched herself back up and got that Roadblock on her own, after all. Though I guess Maya also helped with that. Amy & Maya: This is probably the most screen time they've gotten so far. And what they got wasn't too good. At least it confirms what we've been suspecting: that they're just not good with directions. They do their tasks amazingly, but suffer when it comes from actually getting from task to task. They could've notched fifth place if they hadn't missed that turn to the Roadblock that Brooke & Robbie saw right in front of them. Instead, sixth place is their finish. Like they said, they've gotta get it together with the navigation, or they're in deep mud on the future legs. Shelley & Nici: Honestly, I'm a mix of saddened and relieved that they're gone. They seemed to get along much better on this leg, and they did their tasks quickly enough. But navigation did them in big-time. I couldn't believe that they got themselves so turned around like that. They were so far behind, they barely saw any teams again when they got to the Detour, but never again after that. Too bad for them, but such bad navigation deserves an elimination. Once again, great episode. Can't wait to see next week's leg!

I was just glad to see Lily in a confessional, even if it was with Mitchell. Other than this one and her solo one last season (when she expressed relief that Joe could walk now and that she could blame more of her misbehavior on him), has she had any others? Honestly asking here.

I know! I thought the same thing! I don't see why Allie had to go, too, since Lucas is still in Salem!

Kelley. Kelley's the one on whom you're blanking.

Damn! Nicaragua! Sorry! Edited above!

They got their scenes in yesterday. Though oddly, with no flashbacks.

Same here. I hope they can come back together after all of this. And that everyone will stop jumping on Paige for EVERYTHING she says and does. It's getting on my last nerve.

I've wanted Dale's head ever since he caused Nadiya's boot, so I'm glad his chickens finally came home to roost for that. Add in that he was gonna be a backer for John Rocker, and I'm more than pleased to see him go. Though I'm also surprised to see him go so soon since I really thought he was getting a long-lasting edit. Rooting for Jeremy, Natalie, and Julie to take it far for now, and I don't care what anyone else says. I'm rooting for Missy and Baylor, too, to go far.