So, here we are. Over there's Meghan and Cheyne, also known as "that team that's always ahead". Also over there's Sam and Dan, also known as "that team that races and argues intensely" (or, as I christened them before, The Most Annoying Team Ever). And, catching up, is Brian and Ericka, also known as "that damn lucky team". One leg to go before one of these teams win the million dollars on The Amazing Race--but that doesn't mean they get away from the challenges of Las Vegas. I doubt that whatever happens there stays there, else I wouldn't be writing about it.

Meghan and Cheyne open the first clue and, after getting to Vegas, they have to head to a wedding chapel and get a clue from an Elvis impersonator. That's all that matters right now, because all three teams end up taking the same flight--a given, since there really aren't that many flights from Prague, right? At the airport, there's this slightly awkward moment: Sam and Dan apologize to Brian and Ericka for stealing their taxi two legs back, and perhaps a bit outrageously, blames it on the taxi driver.

After getting drowned out in that Katy Perry song--I like her, but please, are there other songs with Vegas on it?--the teams have this little taxi race. Brian and Ericka grabbed the lead for a little while, although Meghan and Cheyne overtook them. Again, none of it matters because all three end up in the wedding chapel at the same time, and worse, all momentum was lost when they stopped and stared singing "Amazing Grace" along with Elvis. That, to be honest, was annoying.

The teams now have to head to the Mandalay Bay, and an unlabelled Roadblock: one team member has to do a face-first rappel from the top of the hotel to the bottom, a height of 600 feet. Brian and Ericka get there first, and the former Miss America feels very, very confident. Hell, after being last forever, you can't help it, surely. She finishes the task first, after maintain a half-building lead over a nervous Cheyne, and Sam rushes his way down.

The next clue is pretty cryptic: "This desert has only one mirage." Duh, the Mirage hotel and casino. Brian's pretty euphoric at the idea of being first: "the karma is finally paying off," he says. They get there first and get to the task, set in the company of the Cirque du Soleil show Love: one racer has to launch his partner, attached to elastic ropes, high enough to get a flower bouquet hanging in the middle of the stage, to be able to get the clue. Must be easy, right? I mean, they're fans of the Cirque...

Uhh, no. Ericka gets to the ropes again (funnily Brian is afraid of heights, but we all know that) and is initially giddy, but slowly gets frustrated when she gets so close to the bouquet, but not quite. Meghan and Cheyne get in there next, ad finish the task pretty quickly. Sam and Dan did the same thing. As for Ericka, well, you know what happens when she gets really, really frustrated: throw a tantrum. It took them a while to finish the task, but they do.

During that, though, Meghan and Cheyne take their next, similarly cryptic clue: "the most popular casino in Monaco," or something like that. Now here is their little epic fail: they can't figure out where it is. The taxi driver thinks it's the Venetian (but that's Venice, sir!) and the team thinks Monaco is in Spain (it's a different country, folks!). Sam and Dan can't figure it out either, and decide to follow Meghan and Cheyne's taxi, which is already headed to the wrong direction... at least until they realize that they are actually headed to the Monte Carlo. They pull away just in time. Meghan and Cheyne only figure out where they are when they got to the Venetian, but the lost time--and bad traffic--meant they get to the Monte Carlo last, after the brothers and, karma permits, Brian and Ericka.

The task there's a pretty confusing one. There are three poker tables with loads of poker chips; teams have to count a million dollars' worth of chips to get their next clue. (Now this would've been a very convenient task for Maria and Tiffany. Oh, how much I miss my eye candy. Tiffany!) It was a fairly frantic count: you get a frustrated Ericka, a fighting Sam and Dan, and an annoying Meghan. Yes, I realize Meghan's nervous talking is frustrating, although "count as fast as your fingers allow you to" is not as bad as "Cheyne! Cheyne! Cheyne!" All that chatter paid off, though, as the blues were the first to finish that task, and after one try, too. Their next clue isn't cryptic, though: they have to go to the MGM Grand.

No, it's not the finish line yet. They have to find Suite 88 where Mr. Las Vegas will tell them where the finish line is. Yes, Wayne Newton himself, although I only knew that's what they called him tonight--yes, forgive me for being young. Meghan and Cheyne, of course, as there first, and they are told that the finish line is in the singer's house itself. Sam and Dan get there next, but struggle to figure out who Wayne Newton is. They recognize him, though. Still, a funny sight.

It's obvious what happens next. The taxi knows where they're going, but they get in the wrong gate at one point, but still. Meghan and Cheyne arrive at the finish line first. They are the winners of The Amazing Race. Sam and Dan are second, and Brian and Ericka--who were stuck with the poker chips--eventually arrived third.

Not a bad result. In fact, a totally expected one. Honestly, though, I was rooting for Brian and Ericka because it seemed they had it in the bag. Alas, luck doesn't love them too much. At least it's not Sam and Dan, thank heavens. And that, kids, is a wrap. Till the next season, then!