'The Amazing Race' recap: Hit the Hay

After a couple of hours of her weeping and moaning, Meghan found her clue, and she and Cheyne finished second, followed by Brian and Ericka. Then we got an excruciating sequence of Sam and Gary searching through hay. The producers did a good job of drawing out the suspense. Every time they'd switch from Sam to Gary (or vice versa), I'd think, ''Ahhh, this is the moment when he's just about to find his clue…'' but then it wouldn't happen, and we'd switch back to the other. The tension was far more palpable than it should ever be for a contest about two guys pushing hay around. But then it happened: Sam got his clue, he and Dan dashed for the mat, and then Dan burst into tears for the way he'd shouted at Sam. Who knew that hay could make you so emotional? I guess this explains why the Farmers Almanac says that 84% of all marriages end on hayrides.

Gary saw the challenge through anyway, only to be told by Phil that this was a non-elimination round. And that's when I got angry. My problem with this challenge (even back in season 6) is that it's too arbitrary. Skill doesn't matter at all, it's just a matter of which bale you arbitrarily pick to unroll. It has nothing to do with how well you've run the race up to that moment. While it's fun to see players' abject frustration, it's ultimately incredibly unfair.

And yet, Kristy's tenacious if doomed pursuit of a clue made it a classic, and the producers couldn't resist recreating it. But they didn't have the courage of their convictions. They thought, ''Remember how awful it was that Kristy looked for that long, only to be kicked out? That was awesome! Let's do that…except let's not kick anybody out.'' They recreated the frustration, but none of the stakes. It was like a war reenactment, where, after the dust settles, everyone gets up, wipes off the fake blood, and carpools home. So there was something to disappoint everyone: If you never liked this unfairly luck-based challenge, too bad, you got it again. And if you did like how mercenary it was, too bad, now it has no ramifications.

And so there it is; my last recap. I'm sorry I have to leave this season on such an unmemorable episode, but they can't all be water slides. I'm heading off to new challenges (I'll be easy to find; one quick Google search should do it), but I'll miss talking Amazing Race with you, sharing some laughs and some real truth flavor. But not to worry; the recaps will continue every Monday morning here on EW.com, and you'll be in good hands. So show the new writer some love, won't you? And by that I don’t mean by calling her ''babe'': As we all know from The Amazing Race, that's the quickest way to prove that there's no love at all.

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