"The Amazing Race" 15 is dead, long live "The Amazing Race" 16. But what did we learn from our latest trip around the world? Jocks don't like word games, tiny poker players aren't good at carnival games, and of course, 60-foot tall waterslides are scary to small blonde women in water wings. Valuable life lessons, to be sure, but fairly logical. And, fittingly, last night's season finale pretty much stuck to the stereotypes as they have the rest of the season. But then something crazy happened: The athletic kids had to do a math problem...and they nailed it. Jock power! Full recap after the jump.

Things aren't always as they seem on "The Amazing Race," but then again, they usually are. So last night, when the teams were forced to participate in a glorified word jumble, we knew the jocks were in trouble. Still, it's hard to imagine a fourth grade-level spelling game taking all night to complete. And who knew that proficiency in paperwork was a prerequisite for doing well on a reality show? Let's talk about it after the jump.

This week on "The Amazing Race," we revisit the Locke-Hobbes debate about man's role in the state of nature. Miss America Ericka surprised all of us by reciting part of "Leviathan," while Brian was more of a Lockean, and even broke out a powdered wig to emphasize his well-researched and defensed side of the debate.

...None of that happened, of course, because this is a network reality TV show.

But we did learn that some people -- cough, Meghan, cough -- think that you should be nice about trying to win a million dollars. Others -- cough, Cheyne, cough -- think you should do whatever it takes to win, because otherwise, your "Race" life is nasty, brutish, and short. Maybe their time in the Czech Republic will save them some marital counseling bills in the future. Or at least, we can hope.

Last night, we were down to the final five teams on "The Amazing Race": Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy, brothers Sam and Dan, oddly-spelled young dating couple Cheyne and Meghan, father-son Gary and Matt, and -- inexplicably -- Miss America Ericka and her husband Brian. It's a group with heroes, especially the Globetrotters and perky spelling adventure twins, and not villains so much as a team of bumbling whiners in the beauty queen and her husband. Overall, we're in good shape for these last few episodes of this season, but it looks like one team that seemed pretty cool might have bought a one way ticket to the dark side. A full recap is after the jump.

When people are faced with an arduous task on a reality game show that they willingly signed up for, there are a few things that can happen: They put their heads down and get the task done -- we'll call that the "stoic" option. Or, they can moan and whine, but ultimately get it done -- we'll call that the "road trip backseat" option. But then there's the third group; those people whose tantrums and hyperbolic statements are annoying, but make for good television. We'll call that the "drama queen" option. And, considering that the title of this episode is "This Is the Worst Thing I've Ever Done in My Life," it looks like we're going to get a few drama queens in the mix. Let's see, after the jump.

Last week's episode of "The Amazing Race" was carefully crafted by the producers to frustrate me -- I will not hear any arguments to the contrary. But last night, through the wonders of schadenfreude, the "Race" was back! The annoying teams struggled hilariously! The good teams dominated! One team stopped to "hug it out"! Let's not waste any more time: the full recap is after the jump.

You know when you're watching a show, or a movie, or even reading a book (remember books?) and you swear that it's talking to you? It can be kind of cool: For example, I'm convinced I should be getting royalty checks from "Community," because I am Jeff Winger. But then there's the opposite side of the spectrum, when something comes along that you know was put there to annoy you. Such was the case on last night's leg of "The Amazing Race." It's as if the producers called all my friends -- and ex-girlfriends -- and asked "Hey, how can we really annoy Will?"

So we're going to do things a little bit differently this week: Normally, I recap the episode with a few pithy observations and links. But today, I'm not going to hold back my grievances with last night's episode, because I can't stay impartial on this one. Consider it my Ninety-Five Theses. Or whatever constitutes the reality TV equivalent.

Before you go on "The Amazing Race," it's important to know a few things, like how to drive a standard transmission car, how to sleep on an airplane, and how to ask "Where's the bathroom?" in a few languages. But it'd probably help your chances if you'd read the newspaper in the past year...or maybe even an in-flight magazine. Because really, doesn't everyone know that the tallest building in the world is the Burj Dubai?

Last night's episode of "The Amazing Race" featured several of my travel nightmares: sleeping in an airport, being extremely hot, and losing a passport. Really, it's a wonder I didn't have a panic attack just watching it. The full recap is after the jump.

We're two episodes in to "The Amazing Race," and already we have clear heroes and villains: Globetrotters Big Easy and Flight Time are the good guys, while Mass-hole lawyer Lance and his girlfriend Keri keep finding new ways to out-awful themselves. Of course, there are other enjoyable teams (Zev and Justin, Gary and Matt), and insufferable teams (Maria and Tiffani, Miss America Ericka and Brian), but last night's leg of the race was really about Big Easy and Flight Time's teamwork, and Lance and Keri's hubris.