A few weeks back on The Amazing Race, Brian and Ericka adopted a tactic that, considering the cut-throat nature of the entire competition, seemed unlikely: be nice to others. Karma, Brian believed, will pay them back. So they played nice and helped the other teams just as they buckled under all sorts of pressure, and they finished second in Dubai--their best finish yet.

Well, they weren't really lucky afterwards, and they started falling down the rankings. Still, they were strong believers in the golden rule, and continued to play nice (to other teams, at least--their fighting, or better yet Ericka's nagging, is something else entirely). I initially attributed their luck to karma, but it seems it's worn off in recent legs, and they've been pretty close to elimination a few times, too.