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Eleven teams of two, joined by family or relationship, follow a path of twists and turns in a frenetic race around the world for $1 million...again! They tried before and failed...so this is Unfinished Business! Who will be the first to cross the finish line? Recaps by Chris Wolvie, GSNN
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Too Many Cooks in the
Kitchen The Race went from Austria through Liechtenstein and on to Switzerl...aw, do you even CARE about these recaps anymore?!? WE GOT HIM!!! WE GOT OSAMA BIN LADEN!!! How can I possibly compete with that?!? What does riding motorized bikes across the length of Liechtenstein, chowing down on a pot-load of cheese fondue and hauling luggage around a Swiss resort town have compared to killing the most wanted man in the world?!?!?!? *sigh* OK, OK...I'll try to rise above it. So Zev & Justin (Team Puzzle Pieces) won for the fourth time and Jet & Cord (Team Cowboy Bebop) couldn't "cowboy up" past a U-TURN and were sent packing. Five teams remain to get back on fairly-safer American soil and win a million...who will get metaphorically shot through the eye next?!?
PIT STOP #9 In the shadow of the Matterhorn in the pre-dawn hours, Zev & Justin start of Leg 10 of the Race as such:
"Oh, that's comforting,"
says Zev about the "unknown" part of the clue. They run off to the
Port...which is surprisingly close by. They find the flights start
around 9:15am, weather permitting...so they sign up for that flight and
await daybreak. The other teams' departure times (all local): Gary & Mallory manage to get a cab before Kent & Vyxsin and pass them en route. It was snowing rather badly before dawn but, come 0915 local time, things had cleared up and the first copter has its rotors going. Before Zev & Justin enter, though, they're given their next clue::
After a little thought (and a misconception that the Matterhorn was named for the Disneyland ride and not the other way around), Team Puzzle Pieces decide that SEARCH would be faster. They enjoy the ride out among the Alps. Five minutes later, Team Cardnial Sisters choose RESCUE and take off. Five minutes after THAT, Team KY/Dad chooses SEARCH and head out. Team Dating Goths go with RESCUE and, twenty minutes behind the leaders, Team Trotters decide the same. Zev & Justin land on the glacier and start to look for the training dummy. It's a LITTLE difficult using the beacon finder but they get the hang of it quickly. When they find the place where they believe the dummy is, they stop moving and start digging. When Gary & Mallory arrive, they're quick to find their beacon as well and THEY start digging. Kisha & Jen arrive at the crevasse and, since Kisha's afraid of heights, Jen decides to rappel and "save a soul". While down in the ice, Kent & Vyxsin (cold as can be) arrive and, as Jen clips her victim, Kent gets lowered by Vyxsin to his. And Team Trotters joined them soon enough with "Flight Time" Herb being lowered. Vyxsin keeps lowering Kent...even after he screams to her to STOP. But he still clips his victim and gets hauled up. SEARCH: Down and down and down the two teams dig, Zev even mistaking Justin's foot for the dummy's foot. Gary thinks he sees a head... RESCUE: Jen's heavier than she looks, accroding to Kisha as she ratchets her back up. Right behind her is Kent. And Herb clips his victim and gets lifted by Nate. SEARCH: Both teams find their dummies, but Team KY/Dad's is more out than Team Puzzle Pieces, who tries to dig laterally. Gary yanks the dummy out...but his legs are still in the ice. (They are TERIBLE rescuers, breaking off a man's legs like that!) RESCUE: Together, Team Cardinal Sisters crank up their victim and, once on frozen agua firma, he gives the clue to them. Leaving the DETOUR in first, they open this clue:
Had Jen known the clue was with the victim, she would've just taken the clue and left him DOWN there! As it is, the sisters head back to the copter and take off. Kent seems to be doing all the work lifting the victim out, but they get him out and leave the DETOUR in second. Herb is almost out of the crevasse at this point. As Zev & Justin run out of steam in getting their dummy out, Gary tries to muscle the dummy's legs out of the snow and ice...but Gary, the oldest Racer left, is fading in the thin mountain air. Team Trotters are out of the ice ditch and work together to easily haul the victim out. He hands the b-ballers a clue and they split in third, leaving the SEARCHers behind. Team Puzzle Pieces argue about Zev not pulling his weight despite the fact that Justin is hogging the hole they're in. Meanwhile, Team KY/Dad are BOTH in their hole and, with one mighty dual pull, yank the legs of the bisected dummy out of the snow. Well, the "victim" may not be alive after getting its legs pulled off...but that's not part of the task. Gary & Mallory grab both parts and head back to the chopper. They get the clue from the trainer and depart in fourth, meaning the four-Leg winners have just gone from first to WORST. Kisha & Jen arrive at the ski resort...and Kent & Vyxsin are right behind them. Both teams arrive at the station...only to learn that the next train to Zelmatt is at 11:08. There's still some time to make this an Equalizer. And here comes Gary & Mallory to make it a three-way tie again (SEARCH must be closer to the resort than RESCUE)...and Herb & Nate make it four-way. So...where's Zev & Justin? Still digging...though not arguing too much anymore. The train arrives and the four teams board. Both best friends are almost out of steam, their dummy still half buried and they are unable to figure out what to do now. They dig laterally again...and, like the previous team, come out with HALF the dummy (the LOWER half this time). They laugh at first, but they move faster because they only have 25 minutes until the next train. Speaking of which, the first train to Zelmatt arrives and the eight American Racers file out, looking for...
LE PETIT CERVIN Oh, there it is...it's a hotel (and it's French for "the Small Matterhorn"). The Goths find it first and find a...:
Vyxsin, Herb, Mallory and Jen decide to do the deed. They all don chef coats and take a Gnome mold, using different colored chocolate to paint the front of the mold to look like the front of the Gnome in the corner of the kitchen. Meanwhile, their teammates look on...and chomp on some chocolate samples laid before them. Meanwhile, on the huge sheet of ice, Zev & justin FINALLY get the top half of the dummy out. Once again, it's not necessary that the dummy be in one piece; just out of the ice will do. So they, as Ah-nald would say, GIT TO ZE CHOPPA! and head for the resort in last. They wait for the train, hoping against hope that someone switched DETOURs. Back at the hotel, Vyxsin is being MUCH more careful than usual, wanting to get it right. The others work on one part and then freeze it in a small freezer (which Kent keeps calling an oven)...but Vyxsin wants the whole front half done first before freezing and working on the back half. Mallory had enough of Kent's constant talking. But things get MORE stressful as Zev comes in as Team Puzzle Pieces' ROADBLOCKer (basically because Zev's only done 3 to Justin's 5 and the "six-'BLOCK-per-teammate" limit is still in place). And more stress means even MORE talk from Kent for Vyxsin to "kick it up a notch", as it were. But, at one point, Herb went to put one half in the freezer...and says that someone ELSE had his OTHER half. So Jen and "Flight Time" sorted out the others, but they still couldn't find out whose is whose. Vyxsin, who remembers wher she put HERS, asks Herb to stop carrying her mold around and put it back in the freezer...but he wants some ANSWERS because he is NOT going through this again! He finally decides to work on a different mold...and "Big Easy" is CERTAIN that Vyxsin is working on Herb's one. Kent thinks that's a heavy accusation...but Nate is adamant. Herb just wants to move on since it seemed inadvertant, but the other teams think a penalty should be assessed. (Vyxsin is seen crying after the Leg is over for being accused like that.) The mood lightens after a while, though, as the teams continue creating their cocoa-covered concoctions. It's Herb that finishes both parts first, though. the head chocolatier then fills the mold with some chocolate and has him swirl the sweet stuff around to cover the entire outer coating. Now comes the cool-down...as in "stick the mold in snow outside for at least a half-hour" cool-down. As he covers the mold with snow, the other teams fill up THEIR molds and get THEM out in the snow. (Time passes...and Kent thinks "Big Easy" is a "Big Bully"...) The molds come out of the snow...except for Zev's which is just going INTO the snow. Herb thinks his is ready, and everybody else follows suit...save for Zev who stays outside. Carefully, the teams remove the chocolate Gnomes from the molds and paint over the parts where the brown chocolate seeped through the halves and any splotches left on the outside. And the first one with a delicious and good-looking chocolate Gnome is... VYXSIN! She and Kent get the first actual Roamin' Gnome and this clue:
The first thing they say as they run out of the hotel is "We need a taxi." (What part of "Travel on foot" did they miss?) As they look for one, Herb finishes HIS Gnome and he and Nate depart in second. Jen and Mallory are close behind as their creations are deemed worthy for exchange. And, when Mallory sees Team Dating Goths getting into an electric taxi, she KNOWS the "pink-and-black attack" is going to get attacked with at LEAST a half-hour penalty. The other teams stop taxis...but only to get directions, not to ride to there. Oh...and Zev is still waiting...and Justin thinks it's all over as they don't know about the "taxi" issue. But Zev touches up his Gnome and he and Justin leave in last...but will they be checked-in last at... PIT
STOP #10 Oddly enough, it's "Flight Time" & "Big Easy" who arrive in front of Phil and the local (and his Saint Bernard) at the cabin first...and are thusly Team #1! Their reward this time is a 5-night stay at the Cook Islands in the Pacific near New Zealand. Way to go "worst-to-first", guys! And the next ones up are Kisha & Jen, Team #2 once again. Vyxsin did NOT look too confident on the ride up, passing so many teams who were hoofing it instead. Kent didn't care at the time. Well, when they arrived, Kent learned that he SHOULD have cared. Though the third team to arrive, the Rules of the Race have been broken; the team travelled by taxi when the clue CLEARLY said "on foot". That's a 30-minute penalty before being checked-in...so they shot THEMSELVES in the eye, it seems. This allows Gary & Mallory to pass them and be the actual Team #3 (just as Mallory thought). Now the question is...can Zev & Justin find their way on foot to the cabin before the half-hour is up? Well, Zev slips in the icy road once...then they go to a "condo" called "Mürini" but it's not where they belong. Vxysin is worried that they'll be going home...but Kent wants her to stop with the negativity. Team Puzzle Pieces get help from one of the condo residents to the cabin...and Team Dating Goths continue to bicker as to whose fault it is...and the clock ticks down... With minutes to go, Zev & Justin hit the mat. Phil gives the bad news that they're last to arrive...and then gives the GOOD news that, due to the penalty, they are Team #4 and STILL in the Race! The sigh of relief, were it any louder, would've brought the entire Matterhorn mountainside down. It wasn't their best day...but they're still alive in the Race...so all-in-all, it ain't a bad day. Fifth in AR12...fifth in AR18. Kent & Vyxsin are summoned to the mat and are told they are eliminated. Not the way they wanted to go out...but they put all the bickering aside and snuggle with each other afterwards.
To see this episode in its entirety, or to apply to be a contestant on "The Amazing Race", visit the official website at www.cbs.com/amazingrace. |
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