Well, that changes the whole game, doesn't it?

Last night's "Amazing Race All-Stars" saw the elimination of perennial front-runners --- and perennial reality TV stars --- Rob and Amber. The duo had come in first place all three legs, but a little bit of hubris + a bad temper + crappy spelling - good luck = a last-place finish behind even Charla and Mirna. Ouch.

The producers heavily telegraphed this by promising an ending "everyone will be talking about" this morning. But the editing of the actual episode robbed (no pun intended) any real drama from the proceedings. We just watched the spouses sink deeper and deeper into the pack while Charla and Mirna were cast as the plucky underdogs. Mirna is many things, but "plucky" is not one of them.

Ultimately I'm glad they're gone --- this leaves the race wide open, and any number of teams could win it (I'm rooting for Danny and Ozzy). But it was just such an inauspicious way to go out for two amazing Amazing Racers. Once they hit the final part of the leg, which relegated not only travel order but travel time and featured a roadblock that involved no skill whatsoever, just luck, they were screwed. Nothing they could do.

But at least now we're spared a season in which every leg ends with Rob and Amber an hour ahead of everyone else. That would have gotten boring. Fast.