The Amazing Race Recap
We're Not Meant for the Swamp
By Daron Aldridge
November 18, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
It seems to be the last non-elimination leg of the season is behind us and Gary and Matt live to race another day...for now at least.
Phil reminds us we are in Stockholm, Sweden, "the birthplace of dynamite, the Nobel Peace Prize and supergroup ABBA." That is a direct quote, by the way. Apparently, our host is a Dancing Queen fan. Our lovable Globetrotters were the first at the Bögs Gard farm pitstop and if you didn't recall, we are once again basking in the glow of Travelocity product placement as the guys peruse their prize vacation online.
Flight Time and Big Easy leave the farm at 2:23 a.m. and head to a ferry that will take them to Tallinn, Estonia. They humbly give credit to the other teams that at this point all the ones left deserve to be there and specifically, brothers Sam and Dan are the strongest competition. They get to the ferry, which is closed, and are told the devastating news that the next ferry to Estonia leaves at 5:45 p.m. This season continues to prove that the producers are not willing to let travel disparities determine their winner. The upside is that I don't have to worry about what time each leaves because it doesn't matter this leg.
Meghan and Cheyne leave next, followed by Brian and Ericka. This husband and wife team seem to have the right overall perspective on the race. Even though they haven't been first yet, Brian points out that Ericka didn't win any of preliminary pageant competitions but still won the big prize of Miss America and "the only leg that matters is that final leg." Hear hear, Brian. Each season it frustrates me that the teams focus on being first on each leg but seem to forget this point.
Sam and Dan are the fourth to leave and vow to not let the bickering get out of hand like during the hay Roadblock on the last episode. Despite Dan's crocodile tears when they checked in, this seems like an empty promise, like Season 5's Jonathan's wedding vow to love, honor, and cherish Victoria.
One by one the teams, including Matt and Gary, begin to arrive at the station and get the bad news that they have hours to wait for the next ferry to Estonia. The producers start foreshadowing pretty thick of the impending confrontation shown in the preview between the brothers and the Globetrotters. The brothers want the Globetrotters out and Big Easy chastises their behavior to one another at the previous Roadblock, which makes sense with all the yelling, cussing and bird flipping between them.
The ferry departs on its 16-hour ride. The teams are much more well-rested than previous seasons undoubtedly. They just got off a 12-hour rest period, then another eight to ten hour wait on the ferry itself and now this downtime. That is an unprecedented 36 hours of travel.
First off the boat and into a cab are Meghan and Cheyne but all the teams are close behind. They are headed to Mustpeade to use the provided keys to open a door into the Brotherhood of the Black Hat, a secret, centuries-old society of merchants, like Wal-Mart greeters. The dating couple gets there and with Sam and Dan following behind. They get inside and are faced with a Roadblock, just as Ericka and Brian and Matt and Gary show up. There is no sign of Flight Time and Big Easy.
The Roadblock requires one person to locate a numbered candelabra, the corresponding room and find what appears to be a blank scroll of paper. They have to figure out that heat from the candle makes the clue appear. Once again, this race is making teams use their minds more than previously it seems.
Cheyne and Sam get to the cellar, or what appears to be the rehearsal space for Medieval Times. I wonder if the producers just scour Europe for actors between jigs at Renaissance Fairs to do their bidding every season because the last three episodes alone have featured Holland's Best Dance Crew, casting rejects from the upcoming Thor movie and now these jokers.
Gary and Matt see that the Speed Bump is waiting for them. Earlier, I lamented that the "soup" Speed Bump for the poker girls was a gimme. Well, this one isn't much more challenging. They have to find a sauna bus and take a five minute sauna with locals. Five minutes??? That's all this challenge requires. Aside from really enjoying this season and its teams, the producers are 0-for-2 on the Speed Bumps.
Ericka and Flight Time represent their teams on the Roadblock. Matt and Gary find the bus, disrobe (on the bus, not the street), wrap themselves in towels and start their sauna. Gary proceeds to explain his Finnish roots to the disinterested locals and nervously sings a song about saunas, while Matt looks sheepishly away from the attractive blonde girl sitting next to him. He is undoubtedly thinking about baseball and his grandmother to avoid an embarrassing situation from arising. And judging by Gary's pronunciation of sauna as "so-na," Frances McDormand earned her Oscar.
The Roadblock is proving difficult for all of them. First, Flight Time's instincts lead him to start a rubbing on the scroll, thinking the message will appear and then using the candle to look at it. As he puts down the scroll in frustration because there is nothing there, the camera lingers and we see that the message is slowly appearing. Cheyne, Ericka and Sam find their rooms and are on the right track by using the candle but using it for the light and not the heat. Cheyne and Ericka are the first ones to see the message (Pikk Hermann Tower Garden) and leave the task.
Matt and Gary finish the Speed Bump and return to the Roadblock. Clearly, Gary is no Robert Young because this father doesn't know best because Gary tells Matt that he has this one. The error of his ways is show immediately as Matt ignorantly wanders the cellar looking for a "cande...la...bra." He repeats the incorrect pronunciations over and over again, even going as far as to ask the minstrel sitting there if he is the candelabra and if he can take him to a special room. That sounds an awful lot like an indecent proposal to me. For a team trailing due to the Speed Bump, this type of delay is bad.
Sam gets the message and joins Dan. After finishing coloring his scroll, Flight Time sees the message thanks to the heat of the flame. Flight Time dashes for the door with scroll in hand, probably to put on his mom's fridge after the race.
Matt performs a little word dissection and notices that candelabra looks like candle, so he finally clues in on the many candle holders sitting on the middle of the table. Whew, that was kind of painful to watch.
The two remaining boy-girl teams are racing the streets of Tallinn looking for the Pikk Hermann Tower Garden and are virtually tied for first place as they find the clue box holding the Detour. They must head to the bogs for either Serve or Sling. For Serve, they have to score five points in volleyball that is played in shin- to knee-high mud. Sling has them use a slingshot to shoot vegetables at a target. Both opt for Serve and run for a cab. Cheyne is clearly in front and Brian asks for him to call another one. But from her vantage point, Ericka just saw Brian give up the cab. Surprisingly, this doesn't turn into a huge dustup.
Despite the request to call them another cab, Meghan tells the driver to just go, "We don't care about the others." Outside the race, that would be a classless and despicable move but here in the heat of the competition, I would have probably done the same thing. It's inconsequential really, as Brian and Ericka find another taxi quicker than if they waited for a called one.
Matt thinks he has the clue but the viewer is aware that he failed to reveal "Garden" at the bottom of the scroll. We know that the Pikk Hermann Tower is not a small place, so the Race gods don't seem to be smiling on these guys this leg.
Sam and Dan and the Globetrotters hoof it to Pikk Hermann Tower Garden and are neck and neck as they both choose Serve also. As the Sam and Dan try to commandeer a cab from a person already in it, Flight Time and Big Easy head their way. This elicits the response from Sam, "Go, find your own way, gosh darn it." With this little refrain, it finally dawns on me something that has eluded me all season. Sam IS Napoleon Dynamite. Close your eyes and with every breathy "shut up" and "gosh" that occur a dozen times an episode, you can easily envision a bespectacled, blond afro sporting goober in moon boots.
As another taxi pulls up (which is a van), all four race to it and stake rightful claim to it being theirs. Flight smartly is at the driver's window and giving him the address, which secures them a spot but the brothers have already climbed on board. So the two teams at odds with one another are now sharing the same taxi. Awkward much? From their interview, Napoleo...er, I mean Sam says, "[Globetrotters] aren't doing anything for themselves. They are literally just following us." Slow down there, hot rod. Haven't you guys relied upon another team to help you on virtually every leg? Lest you forget the bell tower assist from Meghan, the poker girls practically completing the gold exchange Detour for you, or even working together with Meghan on THIS leg with the candelabra. The bitterness just stems from the fact that it's the Globetrotters who they view as their biggest threat.
As expected, Matt and Gary get to Pikk Hermann Tower and think they have to get in the tower itself. One little missed word can cause a world of hurt on the Amazing Race. This is just another slight variation on misreading a clue. After a commercial break (for us, not them), they spot the clue box. It seems that the cabbies are unionized in Estonia as the driver that Matt and Gary get not only knows the one driving Meghan and Cheyne but actually calls him. Unfortunately for the not-so-dynamic dad/son duo, the other cabbie blows them off.
Meghan and Cheyne get to the Detour and start their volleyball match. After scoring a quick three points back-to-back, they have a bit more difficulty. Brian and Ericka arrive just ahead of the brothers and Globetrotters. With Ericka and Brian trying to find the marked path, the four guys are following along. Sam, I thought you guys were just complaining about Flight and Easy following you and now you are doing the same...again.
Meghan and Cheyne score the final two points and for the second leg in a row, the pitstop is at the same location as the last task. After a brisk jog, they are team number one once again. The other three teams stop pulling a Blair Witch Project and get on the marked path finally. They race to the volleyball option, which there are only two courts but three teams. Not shockingly, Brian and Ericka are the odd team out for volleyball.
Brian and Ericka proceed to try Sling since they courts were full. None of the teams are having any luck with vegetables widely missing the target and neither team able to score in volleyball initially. Of course, Sam breaks us off a truly Napoleon-esque "This is ridiculous." It's time for a commercial.
The guys are finally getting into a groove but the Globetrotters finish first but head in the wrong direction, this gives Sam and Dan a chance to get ahead, which they do. In the course of the race down the slippery, questionably stable wood plank pathway, Flight Time catches up to Dan and tries to pass but slips. This makes him to cause Dan to lose his footing also. So, all the hype about this leg getting physical really was nothing more than a pratfall. That doesn't stop Big Easy from being mad because he thinks Dan threw an elbow at Flight. It's no secret that Sam and Dan are probably my least favorite of the teams left but they did nothing wrong in this case. Oh yeah, the brothers are checked in as team number two and the Globetrotters are number three.
Matt and Gary arrive, just as Brian and Ericka are finishing up the task. The latter two are team number four. Matt and Gary know they are last but they continue on with the Detour, so they could finish it up the race the right way. The father and son don't get a reprieve this time and are eliminated. While I would've preferred that the brothers were gone, they will at least keep the competition heated.
And the previews show that will be the case as the brothers try to yoink Brian and Ericka's cab while they are in the middle of a challenge. I will be on vacation next week but BOP's fearless leaders David and Kim will break down the shenanigans of the next to last episode of this season.