Since I haven't seen it anywhere else: The Colbert Christmas special was made of WIN.

I loved that this whole episode was made of Russians laughing at goofy American foibles. Cracked me right up, too.

Also if they didn't end up so frustrated I would have sworn the Frat Boys were self-destructing, that march was so bad. But funny! Can't wait 'till they have to dance next week.

I felt bad for the taxi driver. But in the end, what could he do? That's why I wish money issues had greater ramifications this season.

I felt bad for the taxi driver. But in the end, what could he do?

Yeah, it seems to me there should be game ramifications to shafting your driver like that.

But this is part of the general transportation issues that seem to have gotten worse over the years. The ways to come and go from places are almost always prescribed in the clue. If the locations were a little more central and the clues less specific, you could see more in the way of teams having to make hard decisions about whether to taxi or train or whatnot. I wish that element of the race hadn't become so rare.

(And seriously y'all - Moscow has one of the best and almost certainly the most beautiful metro systems in the world. Total missed opportunity there - unless maybe it's coming up in the next ep?)

And seriously y'all - Moscow has one of the best and almost certainly the most beautiful metro systems in the world. Total missed opportunity there - unless maybe it's coming up in the next ep?)

I got the sense that these locations were really far apart. Didn't the Frats say at one point that it was going to be a SIX hour cab ride? I wish they'd show where things were happening on a map.

I was thinking the same thing about the Frats taking an alternative to a taxi, at least from the airport to the monastery (BTW, loved the way the teams had to at least feign some reverence for their location, and the singing group of monks was beautiful to hear).

It was six hours total cab time (including lots of getting lost and challenge time), but yeah, clearly those places were pretty distant. I think Star was bitching at one point that they'd been in the cab for an hour after the last task on the way to the pitstop (and they weren't there yet, so who knows how long it actually took).

I was thinking the same thing about the Frats taking an alternative to a taxi, at least from the airport to the monastery

Yeah, I'd like to look up where the monastery is. Because it's defintely possible to do public trans to/from Sheremetyevo, and, again depending on the final destination, not necessarily a huge time penalty.

It might have been a camera issue. Sometimes they don't do things the most efficient way because they can't get permission to film in the subway or whatever.

When I saw the uniform they had to change into, I thought that the Frats wasted their money on the shoes at the airport--they should have taken the boots instead!

Actually, they did waste their money either way. They could have gotten by with the slippers until they got to Moscow, and then spoken with someone at the airport about where to go for cheap shoes on the way to the monastery. It would have been a time loss, but it was a tradeoff--money or time.

Top Chef is going to have some behind the scenes with the eliminated cheftestant thing starting this week. From the Futon Critic:

NEW YORK November 24, 2008 For the first time ever, viewers will get to see what happens after host Padma Lakshmi tells chef'testants on Bravo's "Top Chef: New York" to "pack up their knives and go." The Emmy Award-winning Magical Elves will produce "After the Knife," an original companion webisode series for the No.1 food show on cable, available exclusively on BravoTV.com starting Wednesday, November 26th at 11 p.m. EST. Each week, viewers will follow the eliminated chefs into the sequester house and capture the reactions of the previously eliminated chef'testants to see what life is like after getting the cut. Video available on [link]