I’m sorry; I can’t do things under pressure.
I don’t know, I’ve totally forgotten how to divide.

The above quotes are both from this week’s episode of The Amazing Race.  In fact, both come from the same point in the race, at the hectic Roadblock. Why do they matter? You'd think neither would ever be uttered on The Amazing Race.

Besides the ability to read a map, the ability to do things under pressure seems like something that would be of good use when deciding to go on The Amazing Race. Apparently that’s not the case for Big Brother Rachel, though.

After not really screwing up anything at all, she broke down in tears and got mad at Brendan for not understanding this apparently obvious flaw of hers. She didn’t really make a mistake and they knew they had nothing on the line. Imagine what will happen when she really is under some pressure.

As for the second quote, that came out of the mouth of Dave whose inability to do basic division cost he and his wife, Cherie, the race. The ability to read a map is important for The Amazing Race. The ability to do math is important for, well, life. 

Sure, a lot is done via calculator now. Most of us do not write out long division on a regular basis. The difference between most of us and Dave is that most of us could do long division if we had to. Or at least after a few tries. Based on how few people were left at the stables while Dave was still performing the Roadblock, it took him many tries.

Neither Big Brother Rachel nor Dave deserved to continue racing for their silly sayings. Unfortunately for us, the more annoying person is left racing. Taking the scenario further, it’s far more likely that Rachel’s inability to perform under pressure is going to come in to play again than Dave’s struggles with math would have.

That means we’re going to have to deal with more scenes like the breakdown Big Brother Rachel had this week. I don’t watch Big Brother, so I don’t know much about her than what I’ve seen on The Amazing Race so far. All I’ve seen are shots of her crying. That does not bode well.

I worry that we might be subject to another Flo and Zach partnership from season three. For those who do not know or don’t remember, Zach carried Flo, literally at times, through the entire race while she complained, cried and broke down. Even worse, they won.

Please tell me we do not have to go through that again. This season has been entertaining through two weeks, but someone like Flo could ruin it.  Big Brother Rachel, don’t be Flo.

More from this episode:

• I love when teams have no idea where they are finishing and Phil gets to surprise them. Kerri and Stacey and Nary and Jaime both had great reactions to learning they were fifth and sixth, respectively. Phil even did a good job going the other way with Vanessa and Ralph.
• Was anyone else surprised so many teams did the solar panel Detour option?  Are teams that scared of challenges with animals?
• Elliot and Andrew are alive! I promise, it’s true, we saw them and they even spoke this episode. They’re still racing.