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Episodes September 25 |
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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. Who will be the first to cross the finish line? Recaps by Chris Wolvie, GSNN
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The Sprint of Our
Life PREVIOUSLY ON THE AMAZING RACE: Eleven teams started their round-the-world trek going from Los Angeles to Taipei, Taiwan. Kaylani & Lisa (Team Showgirls) started off with TWO problems: they were last to leave the STARTING LINE and, thus, accured a HAZARD...and, more importantly, Keylani lost her passport! Fortunately, someone found it a returned it to her at LAX. In Taipei, the teams were confused with a billboard and confused with Confucius sayings. After rowing a dragon boat, Ernie & Cindy (Team Contradiction) checked in as Team #1 and earned the EXPRESS PASS to get them out of any task from now through the 8th Leg. After getting lost in Taipei, Bill & Cathi (Team Sexagenarians) arrived last but were spared elimination...for now (though a SPEED BUMP awaits them). Eleven teams still remain...which one will...oh, wait, Phil says this next Leg will be a DOUBLE Elimination Leg...so which TWO will be kicked to the curb NEXT? PIT STOP
#1 At the shrine for those who gave their lives to protect this island, Team Contradiction starts off this historic second Leg with this clue:
So off they get, nervous
about the "DEL". The other teams' deaprture times (local
time): TAIWAN
TAOYUAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Of course, Ernie & Cindy arrive first and go to China Airlines' counter. Aaaaand (you guessed it) the Great Race Equilizer strikes again! The earliest flight out leaves at 8:45am. Nobody likes Ethan & Jenna...and they're all wondering about Bill & Cathi, as they haven't seen them after the first Leg. Were they eliminated? Nope. The other teams prolly were just sleeping when they arrived over four hours after the next-to-last team. When they show up at the airport, everyone knows that "Ma & Pa" are "not toast" and actually APPLAUD them...though several teams feel Team Sexagenarians will be easier to beat...and that they only have ONE team to get to the PIT STOP ahead of in... JAKARTA, INDONESIA At the tenth most-populous city in the world, 22 more people disembark and head for the train station. And, of course, they're all going to be on the same train to Yogayakarta. But Justin & Jennifer argue about taking the time before the train leaves to find out some information about their destination so they have an advantage. It's always been like that between them, they say. And this current outburst makes the other teams in ear-shot uncomfortable. Eventually, they (and by "they", I mean "Jennifer") decide to just wait on the train (a train that allows people to ride on TOP of it, no less!). The train comes, everyone boards and, WAY early the next morning, they arrive at... YOGAYAKARTA, INDONESIA Out spill the Racers...and Bill & Cathi catch a taxi first, with Amani & Marcus right on their tail and Laurence & Zac a close third. All the other teams keep it a close race until, at 0730 ZULU, they start to approach the cave. Some of the teams are a BIT freaked at the "Crazi Taxi"-style driving of the cabbies, as cars, trucks and a LOT of motocyles seem to come within INCHES of the cabs. GOA
JUMBLANG First team to the cave is Bill & Cathi finds the clue amid flowers near the entrance (what, did CBS skimp of the "clue box" budget this year?!) and rip it open to find a...
(*chuckles* Nice name for the dagger, BTW...I approve 100%, Indonesians.) Oh, but WAIT a second! Ernie notices ANOTHER sign...with their picture on it...and a clue beneath the picture! Before Team Sexagenarians can do the ROADBLOCK, they must do this:
Well, hell, this is like every Christmastime when the lights need to be untangled so the two old-timers take it in stride. As they work most of the rope free, Ernie & Cindy arrive. Team Twin Grads FIGURED it was a cave-exploration task. As Team Hut-Hut! arrives, Marcus mutters about the cramped taxi, "I know how you feel, 'Big Easy' (from AR15 and Unfinished Business). As the teams filter in, "Ma and Pa" finish the SPEED BUMP and run to start the ROADBLOCK. Your spelunkers: Cindy, Marie, Marcus, Bill A., Jeremy, Tommy, Justin, Ethan, Keylani, Zac and Bill S. Cindy LOVES mountain climbing so this is natural for her. Marie is hoping not to wizz in her pants. Marcus is a deer hunter, usually hiding in tall trees...so no biggie for him, either. Bill loves the descent. But, when they all get down into the dark cave,...not so much with the enthusiasm. It's downright scary, according to Cindy. Of course, it's a lot easier to find the masks and krises when they're on poles...next to a monk...who bangs a small gong upon seeing someone. So the first four Racers head for a gapping cave mouth to find the ladder. The next four slide on down, though some take longer than others to get down. Back at the ladder, Cindy, Marie and Bill A. make like "American Gladiators" as the hustle up the rungs. Cindy falls behind because the rungs were longer apart than her climbing stride. Marie also slides behind. But Bill A. proves, as his wife yells, that he's "63 and still running" as he hands in the mask and kris and gets the clue to read with Cathi. They're first out of the ROADBLOCK...and they go smack into the first...
(There's a catch not mentioned: in order to check-in, they must not only donate the Rupia...but ALL the money they have on them at the time! Failure to do so will result in the team NOT being checked-in at the next PIT STOP. A small sign at the donation table is a plaque with those instructions; the team must notice it and follow directions.) Team Sexagenarians choose TICKET TAKER as they run off, happy to, once again, be in first. One by one the other teams emerge from the cave and choose their DETOUR: MONEY MAKER: Team Twin
Grads (2nd), Team Hut-Hut! (4th), Team Get-To-Know (5th), Team Sole
Survivors (8th), Team Showgirls (10th), Team Flight Partners (11th) But there's a problem: all eleven taxis are parked outside the cave entrance...and the later arrivals' cabs are blocking the first-comers' cabs going out. Somehow, Liz & Marie get out of the quagmire ahead of Bill & Cathi, and Amani & Marcus and Ernie & Cindy are right behind. Many of the later teams are just trying NOT to finish in the bottom two. The last three teams, however, find it hard to stay optimistic about that as they head off. Ron & Bill, the last team out of the DETOUR, seem VERY concerned (though Ron TRIES to keep the team's hopes up). TERMINA
KASIH As the last three teams retrieve their artifacts and head for the ladder, Team Twin Grads arrive at MONEY MAKER, crossing a VERY busy road to do so. Marie plays the gamelan while Liz dances and "begs" for money from the passers-by during red lights at the intersection. Seeing a blond dancer in a mask and local clothing must intrigue the riders; she's filling her jar rather quickly. It better be because of that 'cause Liz has ZERO rythym. As they continue, Team Get-To-Know arrive at the intersection...followed closely by Team Hut-Hut. With three dancers (Liz, Sandy and Marcus) on the intersection, making money will be more difficult. Marcus is...quite talkative as he dances. MAL
MALIOBORO Meanwhile, Team Sexagenarians arrive at the Mal and sees what need to be done to park the motorbikes. Team Contradiction are right behind and both teams try to lead motorists into the parking lot. It's not as easy as it looks as most motorists pass it by. Those that do, however, seem alright to pay these Americans to handle their delicate transports. It's easier for Ernie & Cindy, since they're a bit further up the road than Bill & Cathi so THEY get the bikes before the old-timers do. As they were getting close to their quota, Team Snow Shredders appear...as does Team Georgia Sibs. Needless to say, it's Ernie & Cindy who finish the DETOUR first and head for the orphanage. A few minutes later, Bill & Cathi finish second. About a minute later, at MONEY MAKER, Liz & Marie finish the DETOUR in 3rd. They feel a bit emotional about going to an orphanage because, well, THEY just lost THEIR father. As they split, Team Sole Survivor arrives at the intersection and Jenna starts to dance for the money. AISYIYAH
ORPHANAGE Team Contradiction leads the pack again, heading into this new orphanage. The sisters and children wave at them as they approach the table and place the 30K in an envelope. But will they notice the sign?:
They...don't. But they're handed a small coat-of-arms anyway. So what is it? Well, what that shield is essentially saying is this:
They head out of the orphanage, unaware that they've dropped from the head of the pack for being so (unknowingly) stingy. They get clues from someone about Kraton Palace and head on their way (its within walking distance...and, besides, if they read the sign, they'd have no money for a taxi anyway). As they leave, Team Sexagenarians show up with Team Twins right on their tails. "Ma and Pa" miss the sign...as do the Twins...so maybe Ernie & Cindy DO still have a chance. At TICKET TAKER, Andy & Tommy work hard to get people into the mall and parked...and Justin & Jennifer have apparantly worked out their sibling stress as they stay even with the snowboarders. The two teams finish within seconds of each other and head for the orphanage. As Team Snow Shredders pass them by, Team Drake Wannabes FINALLY reaches it and start to work. At MONEY MAKER, Team Showgirls arrives and starts their task. As Team Flight Partners arrives, Amani & Marcus and Jeremy & Sandy finish in 5th and 6th and split. Bill's NOT really a good dancer, either. Lisa show 'em how it's done, though. PIT
STOP #2 There's Ernie & Cindy now, showing up on the mat with Phil and the greeter standing there. "Ernie & Cindy," says Phil, "you are the first team to arrive." They're happy...but apparantly, they haven't watched this show very often...else they'd've noticed they're not "Team #1". Phil then gives them the bad news. They missed the sign...so they must turn back around, give ALL their money to the orphanage and THEN come back and be checked-in. And that's REALLY bad news because, at the exact same time, Andy NOTICES THE SIGN! He and Tommy dump all their dough on the table. Cindy is crying all the way back to the orphanage, being too competative for her own good. Back to the intersection. Ethan & Jenna and Kaylani & Lisa finish their Embarrassment For Orphans Drive and take off in 8th and 10th respectively. There's...one problem for Team Sole Survivors, though: Jenna dropped their DETOUR clue! "Da Rules of Da Race" say that Racers MUST have ALL clues from the Leg in order to be checked-in. Ut-oh. Fortunately, Ethan realizes it's not in his pocket where it should be and, thus, they run back to get it...though Team Showgirls pass them en route to the orphanage (and NEARLY have Ron & Bill pass them, too). Lawrence & Zac finish TICKET TAKER in 9th...they're a bit nervous about the end stretch. At said orphanage, three teams arrive to give up their money: Hut-Hut, Georgia Sibs and Get-To-Know. All three hand in their DETOUR money...but all three miss the extra clue. Team Twins hit the PIT STOP second...and then have to about-face back to the orphanage. As they do so, The Drake Wannabes arrive there...and THEY notice the sign. So they give up all their moolah and head out to the Sultan's palace in a potential 2nd place. Team Showgirls then arrive and THEY notice the sign...so, though they leave the orphanage 9th, they COULD end up THIRD! PIT STOP...Bill & Cathi...third to arrive...can't check-in...go back. Ah, FINALLY, we have a Team #1! And it's Andy & Tommy! And the dudes can party hearty on their five-night trip to Ireland courtesy of the Roaming Gnome(TM) at Travelocity.com! They're having a blast on this Race. (So would YOU if you just outsmarted three other teams to get into first!) Ernie & Cindy arrive back at the orphanage and give their humblist apologies for not splurging. They hand over all their cash and start the long jog back to the Palace. As they jog back - and worry about where they're placing - Ron & Bill leave the DETOUR in last...but, hey, they say they're going out in style if they're Philiminated. Turn around, Jeremy & Sandy; you gotta spend it all. Justin & Jennifer are arguing...AGAIN! And they argue some MORE when THEY get "U-turned" by Phil...but, they're not alone, because Amani & Marcus ALSO have to head back. Lisa & Marie get back and pony up all their money. As they run back to the Palace, Team Sole Survivors arrives. And THEY miss the sign...even though they packaged the money RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT! DOH! "Lawrence & Zac...you are Team # 2!" The pause and the "however" made Team Drake Wannabes' hearts skip a beat...but they are MORE happy with 2nd than with 8th. Team Get-To-Know outrun Team Sexagenarians to the orphanage to hand in all their cash. Ethan & Jenni are next to get turned around by Phil at the PIT STOP. Keylani & Lisa are announced as the "tenth team to arrive". Sad faces...until the orphanage clue is explained and they're pronounced as "Team # 3"! Much rejoicing! Ernie & Cindy arrive back and are the first turned-around team to check-in; Team #4, to be exact. Liz & Marie are Team #5, Jeremy & Sandy as #6, Bill & Cathi as #7, Justin & Jennifer as #8. Next one to check-in stays on the Race! And that will depend GREATLY on Team Flight Partners. They arrive at the orphanage before the other two "turned" teams arrive. Do they notice the sign?!? NO! THEY DON'T! They've sealed their fate! The other two teams reach the orphanage and hand in their cash. The first one of them to get back will live to Race another day! As expected, Ron & Bill are turned back...and they seem to KNOW they're history. Two fit Americans, male and female, walk back to the mat they weren't checked-into some time before. With a smile on his face, Phil says,... "Amani & Marcus,...you are now officially...Team #9...and you are still in this Race!" And, for the first time in the ten-year history of this show, a team that DIDN'T check-in last (while still having their passport, that is) is eliminated. Unfortunately, Ethan & Jenna will have to wait for another "All-Star" Race to win that third million: they're tenth...and, due to this being a D.E.L., they're out. Hey, they can't fault themselves for trying. Besides, Ethan fought frickin' CANCER to be in this Race! How can you NOT be considered a winner anyway because of that, especially with a beautiful and VERY supportive woman by your side? Ron & Bill give their money to the orphans...and just leisurely walk back to the Palace. They know what's next: they're last, and they're gone. Sad...but incredible. This Race wac just a "leg" to them...in their "race" called life. And what a chapter it has been.
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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