"Do you have a clue?"

I hate to say it, because I did enjoy the episode overall, but watching tonight's Amazing Race felt like a bit of a letdown. The thrill is gone, friends, with no one compelling to root for among the remaining four teams.

My brother -- Whose generosity, it should be noted, actually makes One Ping Only possible and whose ongoing support contributes to its continued life. If this were Hollywood, he'd probably get an Executive Producer credit. But it's not. So he won't. -- commented early on that he missed hearing Bolo destroy the name of whichever city they would be headed out to from the Pit Stop, and it really hit me that a lot of the fun had gone out of the game with their departure.

No more barbarian insults. No more adventures in counting. No more implant jokes. They were the last of the teams with real personality that wasn't defined just by bickering. Oh, and I miss their bickering, too.

So I'm feeling a little like, "Okay, let's get it over with, hand Kris and Jon the money and look forward to next season with Amber and Boston Rob." That fleeting wish almost got a little closer to being impossible as Team Smiley faced a barrage of dreadful cab drivers in China and came very close to going from first to last...not to mention almost getting creamed by a bus while running across a traffic-filled street on the dash to the Pit Stop. They edged out Rebecca and Adam, who were spared by a non-elimination round.

At least I was right in one of my predictions, since Kendra wasn't the offending honeymeister tonight, it was Rebecca of all people. I think she took her decision to continue playing along as Adam's girlfriend a little too much to heart and went overboard with the endearments at the Detour. As much as I sometimes want to smack her a little because she ever got into that relationship in the first place, I do admire her spunk. When Adam chastised her for the third time about calling him "honey," she shot back, "All right, ass."

A few odd moments from tonight:

- The sight of the racers dashing amidst the tai chi practitioners all dressed in white and moving in unison, looking for masters of the art, repeatedly asking them if they had the clue they needed. Aaron topped it off by telling one of them, "You look masterful."

- The Dr. Phil "Romance Rescue" commercial featuring Jonathan and Victoria, where Dr. Phil asks Jonathan, "Are you a jerk? Is that who you are?" Did the look on Jonathan's face say "YES!" to anyone else?

- As Phil was describing the aspects of the two tasks for the Detour, while walking along a sidewalk in a street in Shanghai lined with curious people, a Chinese woman totally and blatantly checks out his khaki-clad ass. How do you say "Nice pants" in Mandarin?

And now, the penultimate edition of the Official One Ping Only AR6 "Baby" Count™, which was almost evenly divided among "babies" and "honeys" this week, thanks to Rebecca's and Adam's efforts. As a bonus, there was a sweetheart thrown into the mix, but that doesn't actually get counted. We have to have some sort of standards around here, you know.

One Ping Only AR6 "Baby" Count: Episode 11 = 57