The Amazing Race Recap
By Daron Aldridge
February 24, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
I hope you enjoyed the mandatory rest period after the last leg. Since it's so early in the season and there was not much memorable about the eliminated Adrian and Dana team, we don't get to reminisce about them. Let's jump right into the next leg of the race.
Team Big Brother Jordan and Jeff were the first on the mat in Valparaiso, Chile, so they are the first ones to get a rather convoluted set of travel instructions for their initial clue in this leg. Here goes (deep breath): Teams must travel by bus back to Santiago, Chile, then board another bus to Puerto Varas, next drive themselves to a lakeside hotel, then take a boat to Isla Margarita, and finally hike up a path to their clue. So much travel and changing modes of transportation are usually signs that the playing field is about to be leveled.
Team Big Brother gets to the bus station around 3:30 a.m. and sees that it doesn't open until 5 a.m., so all the teams will be there by that point. I would like to thank the producers now for actually editing out the unnecessary departure shots of the other teams. On the heels of last week's lean footage of the tasks where some teams weren't even shown, this season seems to be striving to mirror the quick pace of the last season and I am all for that.
The teams have the chance to mill around the station and wait for the one bus that they all have tickets for. During this down time, brothers Dan and Jordan assess that because cowboys Jet and Cord are running an independent race that they won't be around much longer. The cowboys appear to be unsurprised that people underestimate them just because of the stereotype of being a hick.
This also gives Team South Carolina Brent and Caite of Miss Teen South Carolina fame the chance to speculate that the gay couple of Carol and Brandy don't like them because one of them sarcastically asked another team "Where's her tiara?" This is nicely timed because at the beginning of this leg Caite is wearing a ridiculous, sparkling silver headband that is very tiara-like. May be she was slyly giving wearing it as a dig to their comment about her but probably not. It's likely just an unfortunate accessory choice.
We are also treated to the first formal attempt at an alliance this season. Carol and Brandy zero in on married couple Joe and Heidi as their potential alliance partners because, "He's a really strong competitor." We'll have to take their word for that one because even though they finished in the middle of the pack previously, Joe and Heidi were completely edited out for one of the tasks. While I completely understand the purpose and merits of having an alliance on shows like Survivor and Big Brother, they've always struck me as extraneous on the Amazing Race with no real purpose, because the race is pretty straightforward. But that might just be me.
Of course, I no more type those words and lo and behold, Joe and Heidi let Carol and Brandy cut in front of them in line at the Santiago bus station, which puts them in front of and on the wrong side of police detectives Michael and Louie. The boys in blue are particularly put off, especially when the dastardly duos get the only four seats on the first direct bus to Puerto Varas. So getting on the next bus that arrives an hour later are brothers Dan and Jordan, father/daughter Steve and Allie, lawyers Monique and Shawne and Michael and Louie.
The cowboys, who are still working on their own, decide to check other bus lines for an earlier departure time. Jeff of Team Big Brother has a similar idea and they actually show him rereading the clue to make sure that this wouldn't violate the rules. See, boys and girls, all you have to do is read the clue and reread if you have any doubts. Initially, I was unsure about Jordan and Jeff because of the Big Brother connection but they seem to be both have a very positive outlook on the race. I just hope they sustain that optimism along with their sense of humor. If so, they may be this season's Globetrotters. Sadly for my tastes they appear to have unofficially aligned with Team South Carolina. All three of these teams will be connecting through the town of Temuco and which puts them at the destination eight hours before the line-cutting alliance, who are oblivious to their standings actually as fourth and fifth place and not first and second.
That leaves grandmother/granddaughter Jody and Shannon back in the original bus line and settling for a bus that gets in 45 minutes after the second direct bus.
In Temuco, the cowboys' connection is 30 minutes after Big Brother and South Carolina. In the process of checking for availability on that earlier bus, Jet and Cord find out that the others' connection is at another terminal down the street. With this new knowledge, I would like to introduce a new game called "What Would You Do?"
There was debate last season about whether the Globetrotters' browbeating of Mika into quitting on the water slide was mean-spirited and dirty play or just smart strategy. So, if your competitors were standing around waiting for a bus that you knew wasn't going to show at that terminal, what would you do? For my money, there isn't even an iota of doubt that I would never divulge this nugget of information. Undoubtedly, some people are going cite karma in this instance and accuse Jet and Cord of being sneaky when if wouldn't have really mattered since they were the first three teams. To that I say, "Then you wouldn't stand a chance on this race." Telling them about the terminal would be like Saints announcing on the Jumbotron that they were about to do an onside kick, so the Colts would be able to prepare.
Of course, the cowboys keep it in under their hats (sorry for that) and the others scurry off to the correct terminal, where their bus has already left. So, it's time to rush to catch the cowboys' bus...which they don't. Oopsie for them but Brent acknowledges that it was their own fault for not checking the terminal schedule. Way to own up to the mistake. They are now stuck at the terminal and waiting until 1 a.m. or six hours after Cord and Jet, who arrive at the aforementioned marked path to see it doesn't open until 7:30 a.m.
Jet and Cord's lead is virtually gone as they are taking the boat to the island and Joe and Heidi, Carol and Brandy, Jordan and Jeff, and Brent and Caite all arrive. Also, the second direct bus has arrived in Puerto Varas with all the teams but brothers Dan and Jordan shooting out of the terminal in their car.
Dan states that Jordan is their designated stick shift driver and oh, the homosexual innuendos fly. As Dan makes a presumably innocent mention of the stick shift, Jordan drops the Freudian slip that this is just a fallacy but pronounces it as "phallus-cies." This awkward exchange was for nothing anyway as the car wouldn't go because Jordan failed to take the emergency brake off. I foresee them having another time penalty in their future because of missing little details.
Jet and Cord finally get to the leg's first task – a Detour back on the mainland between Llama or Condor. For Llama, the teams must dress a llama with a blanket and scarf. For Condor, teams have to put on a wetsuit, big condor feet boots and a big condor glider. After getting dressed up they must flap the wings on the condor suit and jump off a dock to a bouy.
The cowboys select Llama and with no trouble at all pinpointing what appears to be a near comatose llama, they are done with the Detour and off to the next challenge. I truly hope I'm correct when I proclaim this is the EASIEST task of this season. If not, then I will begin to lose faith in the producers because a challenge should be challenging.
Our newly allied teams both go with Llama and face more unruly beasts, one of which kicks Joe in what looks like his crotch. When I get done laughing (because Homer was right about the "Man getting hit with football" film being hilarious every time), we see that it only hit his leg. Better luck next time, Senor Llama.
Team South Carolina opts for Condor and with some Chariots of Fire-worthy slow motion running, they do more splatting than soaring. While they are retrieving their clue, the teams of Heidi and Joe and Carol and Brandy also finish playing dressing up with the llama. All three are neck and neck for second through fourth place. They are followed shortly after by Brig Brother's Jordan and Jeff taking on the Condor and Steve and Allie doing their own father/daughter dance off a short pier. A belly flop would be better than how a few other teams are faring. Let's check in with the bottom of the food chain.
Dan and Jordan are cruising around the Chilean countryside bickering at one another about who should be navigating, when it's clear that neither of them is. The final bus pulls into Puerto Varas and Nanna Jody and Shannon are finally in the race portion of the leg...sort of. They are trying to power their car with thoughts of sunshine, puppy dogs and rainbows because Jody declares that of all her grandchildren, Shannon is the one she knows the best and admires the most. In your face, other not-so-favored grandchildren. I hope you already knew your pecking order with grandma because otherwise this would be one AWKWARD family episode watching party.
Dan and Jordan finally get to the boats. Lawyers Monique and Shawne show up at the Llama task and give us déjà vu of Jet and Cord as this team breezes through the Detour, while Michael and Louie are left slack jawed at how easy it was for them.
Speaking of Jet and Cord, they are now at the Roadblock, in which one of them must collect milk fresh from the cow, a baker's dozen of eggs, a cup of sugar and a plate of butter. Cord elects to do the Roadblock and this task seems a bit too tailor-made for these guys, as evident by the ease at which he gets the milk and declares, "This ain't the first time I've milked a cow." If there is an upcoming challenge that somehow incorporates Louie's sweet handlebar moustache, then we will know that the challenges are team-specific.
Even with the cowboys having a comfortable lead this entire leg, they have remained grounded about how any of the other teams might be right behind them. This is a humble, yet realistic outlook, given that Joe and Heidi and Carol and Brandy show up shortly after they leave. Heidi and the high maintenance Carol step up for the Detour and we are treated to an extended view of the milk retrieval portion. Stocked with plenty of blurred shots of cows depositing manure within feet of the racers, the producers do a good job conveying how disgusting that barn must have been. Thanks goodness Smell-O-Vision never caught on. The rest of the ingredients pose no trouble and they finish as Brent and Caite show up.
Brent chooses to do the Detour. We are once again shown Carol mimicking Caite's disastrous pageant speech. If this race is just a glimpse at how she's perceived and treated by people, I actually feel sorry for her at this point and can see why Brent would be so fed up with it. Next, Jeff starts getting the ingredients for Team Big Brother.
The bickering brothers reach the Detour clue only a few minutes before Grandma Jody and Shannon. Both teams go for Llama and retain their places as second to last and last place. As this occurs, we catch up with two teams that have had a grand total of two minutes combined airtime this episode – Monique and Shawne and Steve and Allie. Monique and Dad are the chosen ones for this Detour. Sadly, our friendly neighborhood detectives might not be that great at "detecting" words on a sign as Michael and Louie drive right past the clearly marked farm. I can't help but wonder how frustrating it would be to be the cameraman with these teams that perpetually get lost. If I am ever on this show, which would be nothing short of a miracle (because I have never taken the time to apply), I would be aware of my cameraman's reactions to the surroundings.
Jet and Cord gleefully hit the mat in first place with Phil making a fairly lame belt buckle joke. The cowboys' continue to eschew being boastful by acknowledging that their lucking into the early connecting bus played a huge role. Joe and Heidi and Carol and Brandy are next to check in together as numbers two and three respectively. So far, so good on them making this alliance work for them. They are followed by Brent and Caite at number four.
As the lawyers and father/daughter teams finish the Roadblock, the brothers and Jody and Shannon show up. Last week, we had a pair of time penalties doled out for errors and this week in the spirit of the TWO missed buses by teams Big Brother and South Carolina, Michael and Louie keep on trucking to the town, well past the farm serving as the Roadblock site. Fortunately for them, they run into Jordan and Jeff as they are looking for the pit stop and they set them straight about where the Roadblock is. The detectives seem firmly in last place but get to the farm as Jody is in the middle of the Roadblock.
While they are battling for "not last place," Monique and Shawne, Jordan and Jeff, Steve and Allie, and Dan and Jordan each hit the mat as five, six, seven and eight. At the Roadblock, Jody's head is on the business end of a cow's swift kick, which causes her to have to start over. That delay allows Michael to catch up and pass her at the challenge.
It all comes down to which team is going to be able to locate the church pit stop location first as they are really only minutes apart. The Keystone cops will live to bungle another leg as they are officially team number nine.
Despite the tease of "the last team to check in MAY be eliminated," Jody and Shannon are out of the Amazing Race. The power of positive thinking may not have too successfully in furthering them in the race but it's a pretty solid way they choose to live their lives outside the race.
Next week, it looks like we will be treated to a meltdown between Carol and Brandy, which could be particularly satisfying as these ladies are poised to be the season's bad guys. It should be a good time for all...except them, that is.