At last! Jonathan and Victoria were eliminated through their own failure to read the clue, and in spite of getting Adam and Rebecca to Yield Freddy and Kendra.

That’s the last ugly hat we’ll ever see, and the last time Jonathan will strip his shirt off for no reason. Unfortunately, he stripped down to his bright red bike shorts for a mud-related task. And that was way too much man package than I ever wanted to see, frankly.

Just HOW many ugly hats did this guy pack? He had a new one every week! And this week he busted out (I swear) a totally naff African knit skullcap, in the typical black/red/green colors. Maybe he was buying them at the airport gift shop while waiting for a departing flight?

It’s disturbing to think that a trail of discarded Jonathan toppers now litter the world from Iceland to Norway to Sweden to Senegal to Germany to Hungary to Corsica and France and now to poor Ethiopia.

And I have to say… what was the deal with Victoria’s face right at the end?! She was crying a lot and her eyes were red and swollen earlier, but she was wearing a billed cap that shaded her face at the Elimination (ah! Be still my heart!) and I swear to God it looked like she had a big shiner on one eye. I hope it was a shadow.

Anyway, good riddance to bad rubbish, Jonathan. One of my co-workers will be irked tomorrow, because he had $20 on them to win the leg. Hee!

For once, he actually worked at the Detour task (mixing mud and straw and applying it to an Ethiopian hut), but he still should have done the Roadblock task and not leave it to Victoria. I will say that Victoria, alone of the female (and sketchily dressed) Roadblockers borrowed a kid’s green shirt to go into the church.

And yes, she got a hand injury, but Freddy’s was bleeding much, much worse. Freddy almost broke down in tears and exhaustion when he successfully completed the Roadblock task, which involved matching a simple cross pendant to one worn by a chanting worshipper at St. George’s Church (the one hewn out of solid rock). He clasped the man like he’d just saved his life, hugged him, and kissed his hand… kind of like when a bishop visits and you kiss the ring. Was that what he was thinking? Anyway, the man seemed to think it was quite all right – he was smiling.

Strange, but they’re starting Season 7 off only 3 weeks after the end of Season 6, according to Zap2It. There are some who’ve argued that the quality this season has suffered from the presence of Jonathan, Victoria, and Kendra, but at least this week Kendra was slightly less condescending about poor black people when she first arrived in Addis Abbaba. By the end of the episoded, she was actually enjoying herself and treating people kindly. Imagine that. But I do wonder if the quality will suffer with such a fast turnaround, because editing and music cues and post-production tweaking take time, people.

In fact, everyone seemed very charmed and taken by the Ethiopian people, who were lovely and gracious to all the Racers. I hope that tourism increases to Ethiopia soon, because its people are very welcoming and the scenery is spectacular. It may appear to be a poor country, but it is rich in resources, one of which is its people. They certainly seem to have a good education system, though its probably run on a shoestring. All the kids seemed to speak quite good English, although most of the adults had a nodding acquaintance with it. That tells me that there are a lot of unsung hero and heroine teachers in the schools there.

There were many funny details this week, and plenty of editing goodness: probably the most satisfying was when J/V took off from the staging area with only one donkey,and the camera panned around and did a close up of 1! 2! 2 donkeys! Ah ah ah ha ha ah ah ah ahhhhh!

There was plenty of just plain confusion on the part of some Racers. Adam – what? What? He left the area of the church and wandered off, because some kids thought he wanted to go to the Pit Stop next, and Rebecca couldn’t yell out and stop him because, yep, sacred place, no yelling.

Lori walked up out of the buried church, too, but figured it out on her own. I’m not sure if her muttered “stupid, stupid, stupids” were a commentary on the task or her own bonehead maneuver, but she got out all right in the end.

Hayden took the Roadblock task and was almost completely overwhelmed by it and enjoyed it very much. Gee, she’s much nicer to watch when she’s not screaming and whining.

Kris and Jon – love them. They struggled a bit to find a cab to get away from the Corsican Pit Stop, but they got to Nice and off to Ethiopia eventually (note to Bolo: it’s not nice to misprounounce Nice, which is pronounced exactly like “niece”).

Adam’s new-found maturity was all used up overnight, apparently. He and Rebecca had a very public private scene. Sad, I guess. But by the end of the episode, they had enough left to just barely beat out Jon and Victoria, thus proving Rebecca’s remark that “there only has to be one team behind us” to keep going. Freddy and Kendra, in spite of his hand injury and taking a nasty spill at the church, passed them up because Freddy found his new best friend so quickly.

Guess it would have made more sense for J/V to manipulate Adam and Rebecca into Yielding themselves, eh?

Winners: Hayden and Aaron, who went from last and mugged to first and hugged.
Losers: Jonathan and Victoria. God, I love typing that.
Most improved: Hayden and Aaron, and not just in their Race standings.
Most fragrant: Lori and Bolo. Phil remarked on the funk emanating from them, and when Lori offered to hug, declined with his nose all wrinkled up.
Least likely to win friends and influence people: Adam and Rebecca
Most injuries or mishaps: Freddy. Get some disinfectant, stat!
Best “I do my own stunts” stunt: Bolo, who tripped, logrolled over his pack, and somehow ended up on his feet.
Most interesting new accessory: an Ethiopian rug with the Amazing Race logo was spead over the timer mat the teams step on to stop the clock.
Most donkey-related jokes: Tie between Kris/Jon and Adam/Rebecca
Biggest, assiest ass: Jonathan

Oh, my GOD. Tarflies already has the episode gallery up. I know which one I want for the top of this entry…