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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...and, quite possibly, even TWO million! Who will be the first to cross the finish line? Recaps by Chris Wolvie, GSNN
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Take Down That Million
- Part 1 Previously on THE AMAZING RACE...from sunny California, twenty-two Americans started yet another circumnavigation of this ball of rock and water in the prusuit of a million-dollar check at the end. From China to Indonesia, Bangladesh to Turkey, Russia to Holland to Spain, they Raced. Many fell by the wayside until only four remained. Trey & Lexi (Team Texas Two-Step) became the first three-Leg winner even with a painful finger injury to Lexi. Jaymes & James (Team Full Monty!) fixed a windmill first and came in minutes behind. Josh & Brent (Team Beekman Boys) continue to defy the odds and keep Racing despite being in the rear all the time. Natalie & Nadiya (Team Jersey Twins) thought they were going home until informed they had completed an N.E.L. Four teams are in the home stretch...who will go home next with nothing...and who will go home with ONE MILLION DOLLARS?! PIT
STOP #10 The former Texas footballer and cheerleader start off the penultimate Leg of this Race with this clue:
Yeah, they still have an alliance with everyone but the goat farmers...but, now that they're getting closer and closer to the FINISH LINE!!, they may have to put that aside to get to the Final Three that race for home. The other teams departure times (local time) are: Jaymes & James: 0946 Yeah, the Chippendales have been struggling...but they still have the heart to keep chugging away. Yeah, Josh & Brent have been hanging in by the skin of their teeth...but they're still IN it and that's all that matters. And, yeah, the twins from Jersey via Sri Lanka slipped in the last Leg...but they are ALWAYS ready for a challenge! As it is, they all catch flights (though not the SAME flights) to... EL
PRAT AIRPORT And the Great Race Equalizer strikes again as all four are on the same train to the middle of France. As is the usual in train segments of the Race, the teams get to relax and enjoy the view. And that's when Team Beekman Boys learn the ugly truth: there's an alliance...and they were not invited. "It's like high school again," says Brent. But one of two things could happen to them: they could be demoralized...or motivated. Guess we'll see which on it is when they get to.... SAINT-PIERRE-des-CORPS, LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE Train arriving on track cinq from Barcelona. All un-boooooard! The eight Americans get off the train, run out the doors of the terminal and find the aforementioned Fords with the clues of the windshields. And said clue goes as such:
Yeah, the teams are pretty impressed with the cool feature on their Fords. But there's the matter of getting to the chateau. While the alliance get directions from a local, Josh & Brent decide to follow the pack. At a stop light, Team Full Monty! make sure that Team Texas Two-Step - who are in the front - are going in the right direction. Team Jersey Twins really, really want to lose Team Beekman Boys...but they can't...and all four make a beeline to.... CHATEAU
de VILLANDRY Out of the mini-vans and into the gardens of the chateau they go. The place is GORGEOUS; even the Ja(y)mes Boys think so. They try to ask a groundskeeper where the dog is...but the alliance doesn't know what "dog" is in French. But Josh knows it's "chien"...which impresses (and scares) the others. The groundskeeper points out the way...a-a-a-and they're off! And it's Male Strippers out in front, Gridiron Couple in second by a length, Where the @#$% is Sri Lanka in third and G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Farmers close behind...a-a-a-a-a-and Feedlebaum! Hmmm...looks like Josh's ankle is all (if not mostly) healed up; he & Brent are keeping the pace. Ah, and THERE's the chien de pierre! And a clue bag is around its neck. The four teams pick, rip 'n' read:
Ohhhhh, but wait a sec...right next to the dog and the clues is something of importance to Team Jersey Twins:
As the four teams run down to the chateau proper, the cat-fighting begins between Natalie & Nadiya and Josh & Brent. The twins yell at the other alliance teams to "lose" the other teams...and Brent yells back to ignore them...though Josh takes the high road and asks his life partner to leave it be. The girls seem a bit upset to be left behind...but they'd rather not see Team Beekman Boys WIN this Leg while the other teams wait for them. So...up to the bedroom where the lady is helped into the corset. The back of the corset is to be laced in red silk correctly as a dress dummy illustrates. Meanwhile, it seems that no one knows where da Vinci is resting. Jaymes asks Josh to talk to someone in French about it...and, after getting instructions, he & James tell Trey & Lexi to FOLLOW Josh & Brent. It seems the alliance has shifted and the others are leaving Natalie & Nadiya in the dust! From the top and then from the bottom, Team Jersey Twins ties the corset TIGHTly around the lady's waist. After tying two cute bows in it, the lady checks it in the mirror...and nods her approval. She hands them the clue and the girls make haste back to the dog (which, apparantly, what that clue says). They get the "da Vinci" code...er, clue and head off. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand everyone else is lost. Team Beekman Boys stop at a petrol station, much to the chagrin of Team Full Monty! and Team Texas Two-Step. After getting proper directions, they get back on the road to CHATEAU
d'AMBOISE The first three teams arrive...but Trey & Lexi park a fair distance from the entrance while Jaymes & James and Josh & Brent get closer to Leonardo da Vinci's (NOT DiCaprio's as James says...would twere that it were) burial place. Strangely, though, the Texas couple find the chapel first and, after admiring the architecture, grab from a potted plant their next clue. And it is the Race's final...
Hmm...that's a conumdrum, all right. But Team Full Monty! decide to count of their strength and do PLOW. Team Beekman Boys are FARMERS...but, if Team Texas Two-Step decide to do it as well, they'll have to backtrack so...they decide to CHOW. Sadly, Trey & Lexi ALSO choose to CHOW. The two teams decide to help each other out and so the couple says they'll wait for the life partners... ...at first! Then Lexi's competative nature kicks in and she & Trey leave Josh & Brent behind and do PLOW instead. Of course, this upsets the men...well, not at all. At this stage of the Race, they can't trust anybody. So...off to CHOW they go. As they leave, Natalie & Nadiya arrive. They find the chapel and the DETOUR clue and choose chow because they've had experience making dog food with their grandfather. CHATEAU
de CHEVERNY As stated, both parts of the DETOUR are close by each other and Trey & Lexi are first to arrive. They park and jog to the plowing fields. where music is playing and food is laid out. Trey hefts up a plow and Lexi choose a horse with which to pull it. As Lexi leads the horse down the path, Trey pushes the plow down and TRIES to keep it straight...severe emphasis on "TRIES" because he's all over the place before they even get a third of the way down the first furrow. They stop, re-group and keep going. As they finish their first furrow, Jaymes & James and Josh & Brent arrive and try to find the right gate (and we get a RARE view inside the vehicles of the cameramen and sound-persons that travel with the teams recording their every move; normally, they are digitally removed). As Team Texas Two-Step turn the horse and plow around, the distinctive red vehicle of Team Jersey Twins arrive. They have made up the time and are ready to go...just as the two all-male teams arrive. It is a Race again! The girls run in to the kennel and are greeted by at LEAST two dozen beagles...and Team Beekman Boys are hot on their tail (the girls' tails, not the dogs'). The first part of the task is to debone and de-detritus hunks of raw meat. As they do, the cat-fight started at Villandry picks up with Natalie accusing the boys of stabbing them in the back and faking Josh's ankle injury. Josh & Brent let it all roll off and, though they answer back sporadically, they concentrate on the matter at hand, including finding fatty meat which didn't have much bone to take out. But then they kept talking about alliances...but not out of spite but out of strategy. Seeing that they can't cut meat and talk at the same time, Natalie & Nadiya just admit that the boys aren't weak and (finally!) STHU. Meanwhile, Team Full Monty! arrives at the plowing fields as Team Texas Two-Step get half-way done. The men have the same difficulties of staying straight as the couple to start, but they work on it through James' "burning" forearms. They finish their first furrow...as Trey & Lexi finish their third. Back at CHOW, Team Beekman Boys finish their two buckets of meat and bring it to the feeding area. The second part of the task is to pile up the meat in a long lone and lace it with 20kg (just over 44 pounds) of kibble. They line up the meat and start to dump and weight the kibble...while Team Jersey Twins try to make up time lost in conversation. Trey & Lexi finally finish their fourth furrow and get a thumbs-up from the farmer. They leave the DETOUR in first with this clue:.
As they head out, happy to have changed tasks, Jaymes & James finish THEIR furrows and they leave the DETOUR in second. Back at CHOW, Natalie & Nadiya decide to do BOTH meat AND kibble at the same time to catch-up. But the careful measuring by Josh & Brent gets them the 20 kilos of dry food faster. They run into the feeding area, surround the meat with kibble and, with a smile from the vicaire, leave in third...much to the twins' chagrin. And we finally find out "who let the dogs out" as a HORDE of Snoopy's poorer relations charge the "troths" and chow down. "The Gays bloody beat us," is all Nadiya can mutter as they finish cutting and start toi set up their "line". CAVES
des ROCHES "Roches", BTW, means "Rocks" in French, not "Roaches" as Trey seems to think. But he & Lexi park and jog down into a food market, where they find the clue in a basket of mushrooms. That's when they hit their next:
Lexi isn't a "guy" but she's all up for "fun"...and, besides, she HAS to do it because Trey has 6 and another 2xRB is coming on the final Leg (it's usually a 6 'BLOCK limit but the 2xRB in the first Leg bumped it up to 7) so... The three marked baskets of mushrooms are "pleurote grise" (oyster gray), "pied bleu" (blue foot) and "shiitake" (most commonly found in Asia). Lexi looks at the color and general shape of the 'shrooms and then - after grabbing the baskets - headed into the vast, cold cave. It took time to find the mushrooms and, by the time she got to them, she was a bit confused. The color in the dimly-lit caves was different from out in the sunlight. She finds the "pleurote grise" and picks ten...and CBS has to go to the "Survivor-night-cam" as the lights cut off while she continues. Jaymes & James arrive and find the 'BLOCK, which Jaymes must partake as James has 6 'BLOCKs for this Race. Trey asks James about the competition and all James can say is that the other two are doing CHOW back at the chateau. Josh & Brent are a bit nervous and, as they drive, get on each OTHER's nerves as they try to find their way. And the girls who get on EVERYBODY's nerves - including their own - finally finish feeding the pooches. Down in the caves, Lexi and Jaymes scramble around the caves, having to deal with intermitent lights-out moments (because 'shrooms NEED darkness to grow). Jaymes runs OUT of the caves to take a better look at the ones he needs while Lexi...she's more-or-less lost in the catacomb-like caves. As she finds a way out (and replaces one mushroom with another she thinks might be the right one), Jaymes asks the expert for a judgment...and the expert says it's no good. So, Jaymes re-studies the 'shrooms and heads back, passing Lexi coming out. She double checks the 'shrooms and nearly swears on network TV because she thinks she actually HAS it. She hands them to the expert...and he hands her the clue! She runs out overjoyed into Trey's arms and they open this final clue of this penultimate Leg:
(And I thought that, with beagles around, they would be going to the "Chateau du Mal Voisin". Google it...) The couple asks for directions to the "Castle of the Ladies"...and the locals tell her that it's in Valligon, two kilometers from there. Ut oh. As they drive off, Jaymes comes back, unsure about all but one kind of 'shroom. But, lo and behold, he gets it right this time! He & James split from the 'BLOCK in second...but when THEY ask locals, they get pointed to the RIGHT castle. And when Trey & Lexi arrive at the Chateau Valligon, they're pointed away to Chenonceau. Natalie & Nadiya beat Josh & Brent to the caves and...run INTO the caves to find the clue. Again, ut-oh. Team Beekman Boys FIND the clue and, as Josh has 6 under his belt, Brent is forced to do it. The twins run out of the cave, see Brent with the baskets and follow suit. THEY find the clue and, since they actually have a CHOICE to make about who does the 'BLOCK, they elect Nadiya. PIT
STOP #11 Two teams arrive at the former home of Francis I, the wife of Henry III and the Duke of Bourbon. They run up the long walkway to the castle-proper...but one beats out the other to the mat along the river where stands Phil and a high-wigged French lady. The lady wishes the two Americans "Bonjour" and Phil gives them the great news: "Jaymes & James...you are Team # 1!" James had been hoping that a) they would win the Leg and b) that the prize would be the very 2013 Ford Escape they've been speeding around central France in. Well, his hope came true: both men will get one! It not only includes the Hands-Free Lift Gate that they used today but the Synch with My Ford Touch System they used in the vehicles all 11 teams used to START the Race weeks ago. James' Escape is going to his mother, who doesn't have a car of her own. Jaymes? Well, it seems he'll keep his. A few minutes later, Trey & Lexi are Team # 2. But they're still going to Race back to the USofA for the million so...that's something. Back at the 'BLOCK, Brent has become frantic, looking anywhere and everywhere for the mushrooms. The reason for the franticness: Nadiya. They end up running side-by-side when they find the 'shrooms. They start to pick in relative silence, only talking to themselves through the light and the dark. Nadiya comes out first with what she thinks are the right ones...and the expert agrees! Team Jersey Twins leave in third for the PIT STOP...just as Brent finds his own way out. Brent gets it right and the life partners leave in last...but ten minutes behind. And ANYTHING can happen on the road in The Amazing Race. Like, for instance, Natalie & Nadiya not even stopping for directions until they're WAY out of the way...and Josh & Brent asking locals almost immediately and geting directions to Chenonceau. Or a REAL "detour" that Team Beekman Boys have to drive around while Team Jersey Twins yell at each other yet again for going the wrong way. Both teams think they're gonna be out of the running... ...but one team finally finds the right chateau, runs down the river and hits the mat. Phil looks at the exhausted team...and tells them... "Josh & Brent...you are Team # 3!" Same old story for the goat farmers: always in the back...but STILL RACING!! The most aggressive team in recent Race history have finally run out of steam. Nadiya & Natalie are given the bad news: they are last...and THIS CLOSE to the FINISH LINE!!, they've been Philiminated. They had potential...but they let internal bickering and poor direction-taking get in their way. They take it well, though; they intend on turning this into a positive down the road. Plus, they had a LOT of fun on the Race...which is something a small percentage of the teams who HAVE Raced and lost can honestly say. But, as they leave to an "au revoir" by the lady, the only thing they can say in departing is... "We suck." So...the Chippendales, the goat farmers and the Texas couple will now head back to the good ol' USA and, somewhere in that country is the BIG black-red-and-yellow mat where the seven-digit check awaits them! They all think they can win...but tonly one will! WHO WILL IT BE?!?!?
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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