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Episodes February 17 - Leg 1 February 24 - Leg 2 |
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| Eleven teams of two, joined by family or relationship, follow a path of twists and turns in a hectic 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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Like James Bond Again PREVIOUSLY ON THE AMAZING RACE...ten teams travelled around the beautiful South Pacific paradise of Bora Bora. They dove for pearls and set up underwater picnic tables before having to kick coconuts while on stilts. In the end, Bates & Anthony (Team Goons) just BARELY won a foot race to the PIT STOP to win the Leg. Meanwhile, Idries & Jamil (Team What's Up, Docs?) suffered greatly with Jamil's severe aquaphobia and, as such, were sent home. Nine teams continue their quest for the million dollars...who will be sent home NEXT?! Uh,...well, that question might be answered sooner than later. You see, in the aforementioned foot race, David & Connor (Team Ribbon Wearers) suffered a major setback as David felt he "popped his Achilles tendon". It turns out that Survivor isn't the ONLY CBS reality series with a medical team that can be seen on camera; a medic checks out David and believes he needs a sonogram to make sure. But, since there's none in the area, he gets David some crutches. But he's still able to walk...just not very well. The team will have to decide, before the start of the third Leg, if they wish to give up or - as they have been since they learned they had cancer - keep fighting. PIT STOP #2MOTU TAPU BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 0854 LOCAL TIME Two hockey players (who obviously had time to kill as this was taped during the NHL lockout) are ready to leave Bora Bora and continue their circumnavigation of the globe. And they start with this clue:
Apparantly, David & Connor have
decided to give the crutches a chance; they leave one minute later
than Bates & Anthony. They're hoping the layover in Tahiti will
allow them to get a sonogram for David's ankle. The other teams'
depature times (local time) are: At the local airport, teams learn that flights to Tahiti leave...well, pretty much right away! But Jessica & John grab the last two seats on that flight. Only problem for them is...Team Goons got the NEXT to last two seats. What's more, Team Ribbon Wearers show up and inform them that they need to hit the hospital in Tahiti...so Team Macklemore/Babe decide to give their extra EXPRESS PASS (the one the won in the first Leg) to them, thus honoring their alliance word. The first two teams leave on their plane to Tahiti, leaving the others to sit until 11:35am, the time of the next flight. FAA'A
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Upon arrival, Teams Macklemore/Babe and Goons find that the ticket counters are still closed...but the travel agency isn't. And they learn that the first flight to Auckland and on to Christchurch is at around eight o'clock...the NEXT MORNING! DOH! The Great Race Equalizer has struck! And WITH all that time to kill, David & Connor head to the downtown hospital for that sonogram. Through a French interpreter, they learn that the tendon is, in fact, torn. Bad news. But they head to a nearby pharmacy to get a special boot which, hopefully, will keep David's tendon in position until surgery can be performed. They join the other teams and give them the news. They feel sorry for the father and son...but the team vows to keep going until such a time when they can't. As they wait...and wait...and wait, strategy is at play. Jessica & John opt to form a new alliance with Mona & Beth and Joey & Meghan for the SOLE PURPOSE of defeating Bates & Anthony. Meanwhile, Team Goons form their OWN mini-alliance with Caroline & Jennifer...who were glad enough to give them cardboard boxes to use as a mat on which to sleep. Cock-a-doodle-doo, teams! Everyone boards the same flight to... AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
It's a mad scramble to find a connecting flight to Christchurch...but it's Pam & Winnie who find the last seats on the first avaliable one, leaving at 5pm. They've gone from worst to first thanks to the Great Equalizer. Mona & Beth and Jessica & John hold true to their alliance and book the 5:30 flight. Joey & Meghan likewise get on the flight...along with Dave & Connor (Connor racing Dave around the airport in a wheelchair. Bates & Anthony and Caroline & Jennifer check-in for the 6pm flight. Chuck & Wynona - having failed to cut in front of anyone at the ticket counter - are stuck two-and-a-half hours behind the leaders...and don't realize it until they find out that they're the only team LEFT in the airport! How will Team Roll Tide! EVER catch up when they get to... CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND (And I will do my DAMNEDEST to not do any "hobbit" or "orc" or "Mordor" references...but no promises. Sadly, there's not much else New Zealand's known for worldwide.) Team Scrappers lands first, find their Ford and head up to the gorge. A half-hour later, the second flight lands and the next four teams - Rollergames, Macklemore/Babe, Ribbon Wearers and Cute Activate! - start the trek. A half-hour after THAT, Teams Goons and Cowboy Descendants follow suit. Aaaaaaaaaand Pam & Winnie are lost. (WHERE does CBS find these poor direction-takers?!?) RAKAIA RIVER GORGE BRIDGE The jet boat tours run from 6am to 7pm...and it's past 7:00 so it's a good thing there's a campground set up on the gorge for the teams to wait it out. And it's Dave & Connor who grab the #1 ticket. The next three teams are Jessica & John, Joey & Meghan and Max & Katie. Pam & Winnie finally get their bearings straight and grab the #5 ticket. As the last flight lands and Team Roll Tide! try to make up time, Mona & Beth get the #6 ticket. Caroline & Jennifer walk RIGHT PAST the sign and just BARELY beat out Bates & Anthony in grabbing #7. At least Chuck & Wynona aren't THAT far behind; they get the last boat of the morning. Cock-a-dood...ah, you know! Dave has his cast wrapped in plastic as he & Connor don their life jackets and get on board the boat. They don't want to go home...and they WILL use their gifted EXPRESS PASS to win this Leg if they must. The teams leave a few minutes apart and they enjoy the HELL out of the fast ride up the beautiful Rakaia River. They liken it to James Bond and "Miami Vice"...only, I'm guessing, a bit colder. There's the Clue Box...surrounded by helmets. Team Ribbon Wearers run their three-legged race to said Box and hit their next:
Once again, the teams choose their
DETOUR upon arrival: After another exciting ride, Team Ribbon Wearers arrive at the DETOUR-proper...and they learn that, since the cars have a clutch, David is unable to drive! So they do a self-U-TURN and decide to REEL IT IN instead...not wanting to use up their PASS just yet. They decide to fish for five minutes and, if they ain't biting, they're PASS on it. So Team Macklemore/Babe are the first to try...and John forgets to release the parking brake! Good thing this was a practice run. For John's run, he takes 40 seconds...and Jessica takes...44...which makes 84! DOH, one second over. Let's try it again. Team Cute Activate! and Team Honeymooners arrive and THEY'RE not too keen on it being a stick shift, either. Joey (once he gets used to things being reversed) gets 46 and Meghan...also 46. 92 won't cut it. Meanwhile, Katie is a side-seat driver as Max fishtails out of control and finishes in 55...and, since Katie learned to drive a stick just DAYS before the Race started, you KNOW she doesn't finish in time (total of 108, to be precise). Over at REEL IT IN, Dave & Connor give it the old "FLW Tour" try. But Connor gets his fly caught (fishing fly, that is) in some seaweed. And, after a number of minutes, they decide to just do it:
The father and son give Dirk the PASS and Dirk hands them this clue:
As they split, Jessica & John try it again. Jessica drives first this time and gets 40 seconds. John revs it up and kicks up the dirt...and finishes in...38! 78 total...MORE than enough to pass the DETOUR! They leave for Mt. Hutt in second! As they go, Joey & Meghan finish their combined runs with LESS than a second to spare; they leave the DETOUR in third. Max & Katie's third run...90 seconds total. They're getting better...though Meghan's not shutting up. As they prep for run #4, Pam & Winnie show up. And Pam...apparently has ZERO clutch training as she stalls on the course. The next three teams arrive and start THEIR first runs. Team Cowboy Descendants kept it in first gear as "shifting gears is hard"...and gets 108 seconds total. The other teams don't do too well their first time...but Team Rollergames finish their second run with 81 total and leave for Mt. Hood in fourth. Team Goons takes three runs before hitting 80 seconds and leaving in 5th. It takes SIX runs for Team Hooneymooners...but they get it JUST under the mark and depart in 6th...and Team Scrappers close behind in 7th, leaving Caroline & Jennifer behind. Meanwhile, Team Roll Tide! arrives at REEL IT IN and get their equipment. Chuck's a "good fisherman" according to Wynona and she's hoping to catch one before he does. As it is, while almost all the other teams finish with REV IT UP, Chuck nabs one....though Wynona nabs one right after him. Now the question is...are they regulation length (12" or more)? Wynona's was MORE than sufficient (though she doesn't take kindly to throwing it back with her bare hands)...and Chuck's...is likewise. They leave in 8th...and four runs in, Team Cowboy Descendants clock 82.01 and split in last. . Back at the bridge, the teams arrive one-by-one, find their Fords and bolt again to... MT. HUTT STATION Team Ribbon Wearers arrive in first in front of the station where the Clue Box awaits them. ...
Well, DUH! Of COURSE, Connor's doing this one. So, while Team Macklemore/Babe and Team Rollergamers get lost on the road, Connor gets dressed, picks a hound and his owner and starts the course. First was a box covered all over the insides with mollases and then, right after it, a cloth tunnel with feathers inside...so a quick "tar-and-feathering". Next he climbs some hay bales and then rides an inner tube down a homemade "Slip-N'-Slide"(TM) into...a manure pond. Yeeeeee-uck! But at least he was able to get five unbroken eggs into his basket. Now he just needs to keep running the course until he gets an even dozen. FUN! So he does and gets 5 more And Team Hooneymooners are ALSO lost...and are STILL arguing. You'd think they'd get along better both have ancestors from Axis Powers countries (Max is Italian, Katie is German)...but that just means they're both Type-A and like being in charge. They drive up towards Mt. Hutt ski lodge where it's getting rather foggy. When they find out they've been going the wrong way for a half-hour, Katie does not miss the opportunity to tell Max. The third time down the slide, Connor falls off the tube...but he finishes his egg quota before any other teams arrive and he and his father leave the 'BLOCK with this important clue:
As they leave, Jessica & John arrive, John choosing to "Shemozzle" their way to the PIT STOP. While they drive off, Winnie, Chuck, Jennifer, Meghan, and Mona all choose to 'BLOCK for their teams. John gets four eggs on his first run, Jennifer (whom we find lived in Beverly Hills for a while and whose shepherd dog is named "Duke" [like her grandfather]) get two. One-by-one, the 'BLOCKers slid down the slide and dropped their eggs in their baskets. The last two teams arrive and Anthony and Katie decide to wear burlap and get dirty. As they start, John collects his final eggs and Team Macklemore/Babe departs in second. Winnie then gets her dozen and Team Scrappers leaves in third. Next is Jennifer so Team Cowboy Descendants go in forth and head for... PIT
STOP #3 It's bittersweet as Team Ribbon Wearers drive to the PIT STOP. After all, this may be the ONLY Leg they win and they definitely won't be as competative as the others down the road. But at least they'll make history as the first team to win a Leg while on crutches. Phil awaits David & Connor on the mat with a shepherd/greeter and his sheepdog Tim. And Phil is pleased to call them as the "first team to arrive" and present them with a five-night stay in Bangkok, Thailand courtesy of Travelocity. It includes a Thai boxing class...so David better get that leg fixed. And I'd be careful; I heard that even ONE night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble. But, uh,..."first team to arrive"? Not "Team # 1"? Well, they weren't penalized so that means.... Yes! It's a GAS-AND-GO PIT STOP! Phil hands Team Ribbon Wearers their next clue! They're still Racing! Or...ARE they? David is deeply considering dropping out of the Race due to injury; especially after THIS Leg, he NEEDS to rest. Will the team drop...or fight on? You'll have to find out next week, same Race-time, same Race-channel! In other words... TO BE CONTINUED... 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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