The Amazing Race 23: Legs 5 to 9
Nov. 30th, 2013 11:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderbraidsLeg 5:
1. First, we finish off the previous leg with Tim/Marie (who only took the Viking coins from the previous task and not the actual Pit Stop clue) cutting a deal with ER docs Nicole/Travis to let them have T/M's 2nd Express Pass in exchange for leading them to the Pit Stop at the longhouse, and MLB wives Nicky/Kim finding out that the leg is a non-elim. Next stop is Gdansk, Poland, and it turns out they might as well have just done a regular Pit Stop, because the next ferry to the airport doesn't leave until 8:30pm, and it's only like 4am as Brandon/Adam get to the boat :-\ And then the ferry ride to the airport takes like a whole day (during which T/M honor their end of the deal in secret on the deck).
2. First stop, Solidarity Square, near the entrance to a shipyard where the protests that brought down Communism in Poland began. Here, it's only a route marker sending them to a gate to the old city. T/M, Afghanimals Leo/Jamal and NHL ice crew Ally/Ashley spend a good chunk of the ep just getting to the right entrance with the Square, and they're not helped by Jason/Amy's cabbie who pretends not to know where they're going :-D
3. Old city, and Detour between posing as statues of Neptune to raise money (8-\) and polka dancing (which of course requires same-sex teams to have one partner cross-dress :-D) It also requires contestants to wear the outfits from the Detour they finish for the rest of the leg :-D There's a U-Turn after the Detour, which Tim/Danny use on the Afghanimals, and the Afghanimals in turn use it on Brandon/Adam, who are already dragging in last place after briefly trying out the statue Detour (only because they got there first) before switching to polka. Statued-up Afghanimals get a good donation from some dude from BYU :-)
4. Roadblock at Poland's longest apartment building: Who's got a sweet tooth? Rummage through a bunch of specific apartments (they're given in the clue) to find a traditional donut with red filling (Homer Simpson would probably love this task :-D) Travis decides to hit the elevator button on each floor to slow down Kim(/Nicky) :-D Tim/Marie aren't wearing outfits from either Detour, and Travis observes that they must have used their Express Pass on it (and he's right) Afghanimals and NHL work together, as usual...
5. Pit Stop is at the longest pier in Europe (1500 feet!) Winner for the leg is Tim/Marie, who get a trip to Hawaii, followed closely by Jason/Amy and Travis/Nicole. After getting U-Turned into doing the statue task (with which they already had problems the first time around), Brandon/Adam end up being the 2nd straight team to be eliminated after winning the previous leg :-\
Leg 6:
1. Next stop, Vienna, Austria. Everyone goes by train, and although NHL and the Afghanimals don't make the first train carrying everyone else, they do catch up at a connection in Warsaw, where the racers run into a pair of clowns. Of the rainbow-wigged type mind you :-) And THEN they run into the Afghanimals ;-) Afghanimals insist to everyone that they haven't U-Turned anyone (this will be important later).
2, Vienna Opera House (Tim/Danny: "The only theaters we ever went to had a movie screen in them" :-D) with a Rigoletto leading contestants to the Detour and Fast Forward clue pickup. Detour calls for a choice between assembling an elaborate crystal chandelier and having it crash down if it's incorrect (yeah, how about no?) and finding matching masks out of those worn by dancers at a ball. Fast Forward is weather-dependent, and Jason/Amy decide to check it out. It turns out to be bungee jumping from the highest tower in Vienna, and since it's ridiculously windy, they wait around 15 minutes before heading back to the Detour :-\
3, Everyone (Jason/Amy included) catches up at a nearby palace for a Roadblock: Who's a choir boy at heart? It calls for contestants to learn to sing a song in German and perform with a choir. It takes considerable effort to both keep in tune and pronounce the words properly (even when holding the lyrics sheet). Tim(/Danny) concedes that he's never sung before in English :-\ (Amusingly, while I was watching the episode, the broadcaster immediately cut to a promo for The Voice US after a scene showing the contestants learning to sing :-D) Funniest part of the actual task-doing: the Afghanimals singing in a rather theatrical fashion :-D
4. Outside the palace, although MLB notices Tim/Marie's cab doesn't have its bags in it (the cabbie has put them outside), they think better than to steal it. However, Jason/Amy steal Tim/Marie's cab (8-O) with the intention of framing it on the Afghanimals (!! although that ultimately goes nowhere...) and trick the driver into thinking they're on the same side as T/M by showing him the blue Route Info marker :-\
5. Roadblock is followed by a clue pickup in the middle of a labyrinth leading to the Pit Stop on top of a hill, where the ER docs win a trip to Anguilla. Tim/Marie finish right ahead of Jason/Amy (who have noticed T/M's bags in their cab) and we have a really long awkward argument at the mat concerning the cab theft, where even the usually non-stop BGM blare goes quiet, so you know that it's awkward. NHL edge out Tim/Danny to avoid finishing last and getting eliminated.
Leg 7:
1. A few seasons ago, we went to Dubai in the UAE. Now, time to check out the UAE's slightly less glitzy city, Abu Dhabi. (And yes, one team, NHL, does get the two cities confused...) We have a Detour between arranging a bunch of dates on a plate, and putting together a traditional fishnet (which actually looks more like a wire chicken coop with a hole cut in it). The former has the issue of getting the arranged dates to look exactly right, and finding the proper kind of dates in the first place (you know it's frustrating because we get to see Tim/Marie bicker a lot :-\) The latter has the issue of tying the thing together just right, and the heat of doing it in full-on sunlight (the date market at least has a good amount of shade).
2. After the Detour, everyone gets to ride a bunch of yachts departing every 15 minutes. Just as MLB (already in last) are running down the pier to catch one of the yachts, it pulls up its anchor and leaves, putting them 15 minutes behind the teams on that yacht :-P Destination is Yas Marina, and a Roadblock seemingly designed to allow the cluewriters to use a double entendre: Who's ready to drop in a hot lap? :-) The task calls for heading to the nearby F1 circuit, ziplining and then dropping from 200 feet on to the track, and then ride in a race car around the F1 circuit and look for the name and time of the record holder for this circuit (posted on one of many plaques placed beside the track). It takes contestants a couple laps to get it right, with some misreading/misremembering the times, and some don't even notice that there's more than one time posted at first, though that's understandable since they're riding at standard F1 racing speeds :-O Nevertheless, Travis(/Nicole) manages to get it in one go (!) Afghanimals: "No speeding tickets on this track" :-)
3. Pit Stop is at the champions' podium (how appropriate :-)) Afghanimals finish first (even greeting the greeter back in Arabic :-)) and get a trip to Paris, and once again, NHL have to compete with another team, in this case MLB, to avoid finishing last. Once again, NHL win, but this time, MLB does not eliminated, as they've managed to luck out into another non-elim. My mom didn't really care for the emotions on display from the last place team that much... but eh, I'm just watching for the scenery :-)
Leg 8:
1. We're staying in the general Abu Dhabi area this week. First, the Viking coins from Leg 4 finally come into play: arrange the coins according to the pattern given on the bag, and then flip them over to reveal numbers, and use them to open up their car for the leg (a Ford, duh :-)) One of the Afghanimals hilariously wipes out on the way to the garage to pick up the cars :-D Jason/Amy are way ahead of the organizers on this one :-) On the way to the first clue-pickup, Amy thinks Jason has missed a turn somewhere, and the entirety of Amy's reply to Jason's reponse to that gets censored :-D :-D
2. We have a couple of clue pickups before the Detour and Roadblock this leg: First stop is a set of sand dunes, where NHL's years of driving at Pismo Dunes pays off :-D while MLB get stuck in the sand with a broken clutch and have to get a new ride :-\ Next is an oasis near a national museum, where the clue is posted at the top of a date tree. Thankfully (?) the contestants don't have to climb themselves, as they let locals do it for them, and the contestants comment on their rather unusual way of climbing the tree.
3. Detour at a local fort is between find a prize-winning camel (according to a given set of criteria) and leading them to the task judges, and preparing ingredients for a local chicken dish (Afghanimals: "I feel like Martha Stewart" :-D ) then serving an already-prepared dish to a waiting group of people. Amy(/Jason) turns out to be a former Miss Rhode Island, while Marie is surprised to find out that they're supposed to be judging camels :-) Because the ER docs are obliged to use their Express Pass before the end of this current leg, they use it here, without even so much as choosing either Detour.
4. Detour is then followed by a double U-Turn. The Detours and U-Turn are located in the same area, yet somehow Tim/Marie mis-interpret the clue for the U-Turn and head off the fort grounds for a bit :-\ Nicole/Travis give the Afghanimals their 2nd U-Turn of the race (for lying to them about U-Turning Brandon/Adam), while Tim/Marie (despite their bizarre navigational problem) use it on MLB (as payback for getting on standby at their expense back in Leg 3).
5. Next stop is a waterpark called Wadi Adventure and a Roadblock: Who likes rapid transit? Ride an inflatable raft through the world's largest man-made rapids (it's a level 4) and grab three flags placed on banners above. Still in last place getting to the waterpark, MLB also get a Speed Bump involving swimming across a wave pool that produces a strong wave every 90 seconds before climbing a ladder. And one of them happens to be afraid of heights :-\
6. Pitstop at some hotel, and ER docs each win a choice of one of several Ford cars, Jason/Amy continue to be be frustrated by their constant 2nd place finishes (even if they never had a shot here), and NHL finish closely behind the Afghanimals, prompting Phil to ask them about their relationship :-) MLB finally get eliminated after their 3rd (!) last-place arrival.
Leg 9:
1. We're heading to Indonesia this leg. After a quick and trivial task involving bringing a pair of rams to some arena and have them butt heads, everyone gets split on to two trains to Bandung. NHL, ER docs, and Afghanimals get one train, Tim/Marie and Jason/Amy get stuck on a second (with the latter have some trouble in their cab :-\)
2. Clue pickup for the Detour right at the Bandung train station platform, between bringing a pair of songbirds to some bird festival (ER docs), and feeding fruit to elephants (everyone else). We have a confessional about Travis cutting loose at the songbird detour (even doing a little bit of song and dance :-)) NHL head to the zoo first (on the basis that it's closer) and look for the carts they're supposed to carry their fruit on, before realizing that they have get the fruit at a market first :-\ To add insult to injury, their cabbie (apparently) won't let them carry the comically long stalks of sugarcane they're supposed to carry :-\ And on top of that, they have what they claim in confessionals is their first big argument of the race, as one of them argues that they should just switch to the songbirds :-\ :-\ Meanwhile, Afghanimals get it all in one go (with the help of a scarf they got in Dubal), and we even get a sight gag of Jamal calling for his partner while running past a lion :-) Jason/Amy also use cloth to save time by packing all their watermelons in a blanket :-)
3. Next stop, some sort of cultural center for a Roadblock: Who has an inkling for Anklung? That refers to a type of Indonesian musical instrument (though it's also rather known over here, because I remember playing with one in music class :-)) Assemble a octave's worth of Anklungs in musical order, and assemble a stand for them (like the pic in the Wiki entry). Leo gets the instruments assembled properly the first time, but is told that the stand is wrong 8-\ Nevertheless, he still finishes the Roadblock first, and after successfully getting their clue, he's told by Jamal to dismantle his instrument to prevent Nicole (who apparently has to be told what an octave is :-\) from cheating off of him 8-O Amusingly, Jason/Amy read the teaser clue, and they have a hunch that it's musical :-)
4. Pit stop is at a local observatory, where the Afghanimals edge out Tim/Marie and get $7500 each. Back at the Roadblock, J/A finish the task, and Amy decides to give Nicole a few pointers, and I imagine that they're doing this just to get NHL out of the way. The ER docs end up finishing right behind J/A, to eliminate NHL (and the last all-girl team remaining). Nevertheless, NHL feels they've set the bar for ice crews everywhere :-)
1. First, we finish off the previous leg with Tim/Marie (who only took the Viking coins from the previous task and not the actual Pit Stop clue) cutting a deal with ER docs Nicole/Travis to let them have T/M's 2nd Express Pass in exchange for leading them to the Pit Stop at the longhouse, and MLB wives Nicky/Kim finding out that the leg is a non-elim. Next stop is Gdansk, Poland, and it turns out they might as well have just done a regular Pit Stop, because the next ferry to the airport doesn't leave until 8:30pm, and it's only like 4am as Brandon/Adam get to the boat :-\ And then the ferry ride to the airport takes like a whole day (during which T/M honor their end of the deal in secret on the deck).
2. First stop, Solidarity Square, near the entrance to a shipyard where the protests that brought down Communism in Poland began. Here, it's only a route marker sending them to a gate to the old city. T/M, Afghanimals Leo/Jamal and NHL ice crew Ally/Ashley spend a good chunk of the ep just getting to the right entrance with the Square, and they're not helped by Jason/Amy's cabbie who pretends not to know where they're going :-D
3. Old city, and Detour between posing as statues of Neptune to raise money (8-\) and polka dancing (which of course requires same-sex teams to have one partner cross-dress :-D) It also requires contestants to wear the outfits from the Detour they finish for the rest of the leg :-D There's a U-Turn after the Detour, which Tim/Danny use on the Afghanimals, and the Afghanimals in turn use it on Brandon/Adam, who are already dragging in last place after briefly trying out the statue Detour (only because they got there first) before switching to polka. Statued-up Afghanimals get a good donation from some dude from BYU :-)
4. Roadblock at Poland's longest apartment building: Who's got a sweet tooth? Rummage through a bunch of specific apartments (they're given in the clue) to find a traditional donut with red filling (Homer Simpson would probably love this task :-D) Travis decides to hit the elevator button on each floor to slow down Kim(/Nicky) :-D Tim/Marie aren't wearing outfits from either Detour, and Travis observes that they must have used their Express Pass on it (and he's right) Afghanimals and NHL work together, as usual...
5. Pit Stop is at the longest pier in Europe (1500 feet!) Winner for the leg is Tim/Marie, who get a trip to Hawaii, followed closely by Jason/Amy and Travis/Nicole. After getting U-Turned into doing the statue task (with which they already had problems the first time around), Brandon/Adam end up being the 2nd straight team to be eliminated after winning the previous leg :-\
Leg 6:
1. Next stop, Vienna, Austria. Everyone goes by train, and although NHL and the Afghanimals don't make the first train carrying everyone else, they do catch up at a connection in Warsaw, where the racers run into a pair of clowns. Of the rainbow-wigged type mind you :-) And THEN they run into the Afghanimals ;-) Afghanimals insist to everyone that they haven't U-Turned anyone (this will be important later).
2, Vienna Opera House (Tim/Danny: "The only theaters we ever went to had a movie screen in them" :-D) with a Rigoletto leading contestants to the Detour and Fast Forward clue pickup. Detour calls for a choice between assembling an elaborate crystal chandelier and having it crash down if it's incorrect (yeah, how about no?) and finding matching masks out of those worn by dancers at a ball. Fast Forward is weather-dependent, and Jason/Amy decide to check it out. It turns out to be bungee jumping from the highest tower in Vienna, and since it's ridiculously windy, they wait around 15 minutes before heading back to the Detour :-\
3, Everyone (Jason/Amy included) catches up at a nearby palace for a Roadblock: Who's a choir boy at heart? It calls for contestants to learn to sing a song in German and perform with a choir. It takes considerable effort to both keep in tune and pronounce the words properly (even when holding the lyrics sheet). Tim(/Danny) concedes that he's never sung before in English :-\ (Amusingly, while I was watching the episode, the broadcaster immediately cut to a promo for The Voice US after a scene showing the contestants learning to sing :-D) Funniest part of the actual task-doing: the Afghanimals singing in a rather theatrical fashion :-D
4. Outside the palace, although MLB notices Tim/Marie's cab doesn't have its bags in it (the cabbie has put them outside), they think better than to steal it. However, Jason/Amy steal Tim/Marie's cab (8-O) with the intention of framing it on the Afghanimals (!! although that ultimately goes nowhere...) and trick the driver into thinking they're on the same side as T/M by showing him the blue Route Info marker :-\
5. Roadblock is followed by a clue pickup in the middle of a labyrinth leading to the Pit Stop on top of a hill, where the ER docs win a trip to Anguilla. Tim/Marie finish right ahead of Jason/Amy (who have noticed T/M's bags in their cab) and we have a really long awkward argument at the mat concerning the cab theft, where even the usually non-stop BGM blare goes quiet, so you know that it's awkward. NHL edge out Tim/Danny to avoid finishing last and getting eliminated.
Leg 7:
1. A few seasons ago, we went to Dubai in the UAE. Now, time to check out the UAE's slightly less glitzy city, Abu Dhabi. (And yes, one team, NHL, does get the two cities confused...) We have a Detour between arranging a bunch of dates on a plate, and putting together a traditional fishnet (which actually looks more like a wire chicken coop with a hole cut in it). The former has the issue of getting the arranged dates to look exactly right, and finding the proper kind of dates in the first place (you know it's frustrating because we get to see Tim/Marie bicker a lot :-\) The latter has the issue of tying the thing together just right, and the heat of doing it in full-on sunlight (the date market at least has a good amount of shade).
2. After the Detour, everyone gets to ride a bunch of yachts departing every 15 minutes. Just as MLB (already in last) are running down the pier to catch one of the yachts, it pulls up its anchor and leaves, putting them 15 minutes behind the teams on that yacht :-P Destination is Yas Marina, and a Roadblock seemingly designed to allow the cluewriters to use a double entendre: Who's ready to drop in a hot lap? :-) The task calls for heading to the nearby F1 circuit, ziplining and then dropping from 200 feet on to the track, and then ride in a race car around the F1 circuit and look for the name and time of the record holder for this circuit (posted on one of many plaques placed beside the track). It takes contestants a couple laps to get it right, with some misreading/misremembering the times, and some don't even notice that there's more than one time posted at first, though that's understandable since they're riding at standard F1 racing speeds :-O Nevertheless, Travis(/Nicole) manages to get it in one go (!) Afghanimals: "No speeding tickets on this track" :-)
3. Pit Stop is at the champions' podium (how appropriate :-)) Afghanimals finish first (even greeting the greeter back in Arabic :-)) and get a trip to Paris, and once again, NHL have to compete with another team, in this case MLB, to avoid finishing last. Once again, NHL win, but this time, MLB does not eliminated, as they've managed to luck out into another non-elim. My mom didn't really care for the emotions on display from the last place team that much... but eh, I'm just watching for the scenery :-)
Leg 8:
1. We're staying in the general Abu Dhabi area this week. First, the Viking coins from Leg 4 finally come into play: arrange the coins according to the pattern given on the bag, and then flip them over to reveal numbers, and use them to open up their car for the leg (a Ford, duh :-)) One of the Afghanimals hilariously wipes out on the way to the garage to pick up the cars :-D Jason/Amy are way ahead of the organizers on this one :-) On the way to the first clue-pickup, Amy thinks Jason has missed a turn somewhere, and the entirety of Amy's reply to Jason's reponse to that gets censored :-D :-D
2. We have a couple of clue pickups before the Detour and Roadblock this leg: First stop is a set of sand dunes, where NHL's years of driving at Pismo Dunes pays off :-D while MLB get stuck in the sand with a broken clutch and have to get a new ride :-\ Next is an oasis near a national museum, where the clue is posted at the top of a date tree. Thankfully (?) the contestants don't have to climb themselves, as they let locals do it for them, and the contestants comment on their rather unusual way of climbing the tree.
3. Detour at a local fort is between find a prize-winning camel (according to a given set of criteria) and leading them to the task judges, and preparing ingredients for a local chicken dish (Afghanimals: "I feel like Martha Stewart" :-D ) then serving an already-prepared dish to a waiting group of people. Amy(/Jason) turns out to be a former Miss Rhode Island, while Marie is surprised to find out that they're supposed to be judging camels :-) Because the ER docs are obliged to use their Express Pass before the end of this current leg, they use it here, without even so much as choosing either Detour.
4. Detour is then followed by a double U-Turn. The Detours and U-Turn are located in the same area, yet somehow Tim/Marie mis-interpret the clue for the U-Turn and head off the fort grounds for a bit :-\ Nicole/Travis give the Afghanimals their 2nd U-Turn of the race (for lying to them about U-Turning Brandon/Adam), while Tim/Marie (despite their bizarre navigational problem) use it on MLB (as payback for getting on standby at their expense back in Leg 3).
5. Next stop is a waterpark called Wadi Adventure and a Roadblock: Who likes rapid transit? Ride an inflatable raft through the world's largest man-made rapids (it's a level 4) and grab three flags placed on banners above. Still in last place getting to the waterpark, MLB also get a Speed Bump involving swimming across a wave pool that produces a strong wave every 90 seconds before climbing a ladder. And one of them happens to be afraid of heights :-\
6. Pitstop at some hotel, and ER docs each win a choice of one of several Ford cars, Jason/Amy continue to be be frustrated by their constant 2nd place finishes (even if they never had a shot here), and NHL finish closely behind the Afghanimals, prompting Phil to ask them about their relationship :-) MLB finally get eliminated after their 3rd (!) last-place arrival.
Leg 9:
1. We're heading to Indonesia this leg. After a quick and trivial task involving bringing a pair of rams to some arena and have them butt heads, everyone gets split on to two trains to Bandung. NHL, ER docs, and Afghanimals get one train, Tim/Marie and Jason/Amy get stuck on a second (with the latter have some trouble in their cab :-\)
2. Clue pickup for the Detour right at the Bandung train station platform, between bringing a pair of songbirds to some bird festival (ER docs), and feeding fruit to elephants (everyone else). We have a confessional about Travis cutting loose at the songbird detour (even doing a little bit of song and dance :-)) NHL head to the zoo first (on the basis that it's closer) and look for the carts they're supposed to carry their fruit on, before realizing that they have get the fruit at a market first :-\ To add insult to injury, their cabbie (apparently) won't let them carry the comically long stalks of sugarcane they're supposed to carry :-\ And on top of that, they have what they claim in confessionals is their first big argument of the race, as one of them argues that they should just switch to the songbirds :-\ :-\ Meanwhile, Afghanimals get it all in one go (with the help of a scarf they got in Dubal), and we even get a sight gag of Jamal calling for his partner while running past a lion :-) Jason/Amy also use cloth to save time by packing all their watermelons in a blanket :-)
3. Next stop, some sort of cultural center for a Roadblock: Who has an inkling for Anklung? That refers to a type of Indonesian musical instrument (though it's also rather known over here, because I remember playing with one in music class :-)) Assemble a octave's worth of Anklungs in musical order, and assemble a stand for them (like the pic in the Wiki entry). Leo gets the instruments assembled properly the first time, but is told that the stand is wrong 8-\ Nevertheless, he still finishes the Roadblock first, and after successfully getting their clue, he's told by Jamal to dismantle his instrument to prevent Nicole (who apparently has to be told what an octave is :-\) from cheating off of him 8-O Amusingly, Jason/Amy read the teaser clue, and they have a hunch that it's musical :-)
4. Pit stop is at a local observatory, where the Afghanimals edge out Tim/Marie and get $7500 each. Back at the Roadblock, J/A finish the task, and Amy decides to give Nicole a few pointers, and I imagine that they're doing this just to get NHL out of the way. The ER docs end up finishing right behind J/A, to eliminate NHL (and the last all-girl team remaining). Nevertheless, NHL feels they've set the bar for ice crews everywhere :-)
