Don and MJ run to the mat. "Please don't let us be last," she says out loud. "Please, please, please, please." Welcome, Don and MJ, you are team number nine. They hug. Hee, I like them. They may have a martini.

Gus and Hera. Avi and Joe. Unfortunately, only one of these teams can make it, and that's going to be sad. And who hits the mat first? Gus and Hera. You are team number ten. Boy, Avi and Joe could have probably outrun them if they'd followed from that wrong location. Daaaamn, that's going to haunt you.

Anyway, here they are. The boys. Nice and funny, I'm gonna miss them. Phil does the Philiminating. It's always a lot easier when people see it coming, and they really didn't -- particularly Avi -- so it's an especially sad one. Asked if they're shocked, Avi says plainly, "I am. We tried so hard." For some reason, I found that really endearing, and a great, great moment. People who see the race that way, I am just so fond of. "We tried so hard." That's why I still love it so, so much, even when people fight a lot or are assholes or put the wrong gas in the car, or when they make people eat bugs or whatever. You can't get booted off Survivor and say, "We tried so hard." Or even The Apprentice, really. Or Big Brother, or The Bachelor, or any of that shit, you know? "We tried so hard." Saying that and meaning it is pretty much this show's exclusive territory, of the big-name reality shows, and that's why it's still a gem.

Anyway, Avi says it was a great experience, and Joe talks about what great things they did, unthinkable for a "skinny, Jewish city kid." Damn, that was a good first Philimination. And by "good," I mean, "Ow."

Next week: Driving stick. Spazpants fighting. Lena trying not to laugh. (Hee.) Hornio tension. Welcome back, folks.