The Amazing Race Season 17, Episode 6 Recap
By Daron Aldridge
November 2, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Back to the people who are doing well (or at least not bad enough to be eliminated), we are in land of perpetual sunlight Norway. First off the mat are doctors Nat & Kat and they note that it is 8:26 at night and still sunny. This doesn’t strike me as particularly phenomenal because Texas summers offer hot days and a post-9 p.m. sunset regularly. They explain that they are used to competing with men and they WILL be the first all-female team to win the race. Given how they have run pretty smart and well so far, I can see them doing it (even though I pegged them to be one of the first few teams gone).
The ladies tear into the clue and find out they are heading to St. Petersburg, Russia, via a train to Stockholm, Sweden, and then a plane ride to mother Russia. As they arrive at the train ticket office, they find out that the first train out will be at 10:26 the next morning. So, all the teams will be riding the rails together and I am spared breaking down departure times for each team. The teams will be settling in for a long ride as, according to Yahoo! Maps, it is nearly 900 miles from Narvik, Norway, to Stockholm.
With Jill excited about riding the train, she innocently asks boyfriend Thomas if he had ever ridden a train like this before. With arrogance, he smugly replies, “Yeah, of course,” which I can only assume means, “Of course I have. I went to Notre Dame, so I am cultured in the ways of mass transportation. You would know this if you didn’t go to beauty school.” Even though that is all we are shown of the conversation, I think that Thomas will continue to keep the “Fighting” in the “Fighting Irish.”
Cut to the sorority row train compartment and we see that Team HSN Brook & Claire and doctors Nat & Kat have giddily settled in. They have begun the bizarre "game" of smelling each other’s shoes and socks. Apparently, Brook’s bunions are the worst offenders. Nat notes they like HSN because they are positive people and that this was probably her favorite part of the race so far. Sounds to me like someone is pretty starved for acceptance, if a train ride with people you have known for a couple weeks tops all the places you have been and once-in-a-lifetime things you have done on a race for a million dollars.
At the juncture of train and plane in Stockholm, we get another frantic rush of teams scrambling for cabs to the airport, only to find out that they will all be on the same flight. While transportation is a Godsend for the viewer because it makes the race more competitive, I suspect the teams aren’t too pleased that they can’t broaden the gap between each other. Speaking of not too pleased, unaware that the airport will be a leveling of the playing field, Chad reverts back to his default emotion of "anger" because they are the last ones looking for a cab at the train station. And who is at fault in his eyes? Stephanie, of course, who he says took too long to get ready. As long as Chad’s default attitude is that it’s always her fault whenever he gets frustrated, Stephanie notes, “We have a long road ahead of us.” Amen, sister.
The teams touch down in the land of Yakov Smirnoff and Smirnoff vodka and HSN’s Brook fills the void left by Team Glee by singing, “We’re in Russia and we are ‘Russian’ through traffic.” She is so pleased with her cornball self. The teams react in awe at the history of St. Petersburg with Notre Dame’s Thomas informing us that “people call this city the Venice of the North.” Not content with accepting what Thomas says as fact, I did a quick search and found that quite a few European cities, including St. Petersburg but also, Stockholm, Brussels, and Amsterdam, are dubbed as such. So I guess Thomas is right…sort of, so back to the race.
Team HSN is the first to get to the clue box and find a Detour awaiting them. The two choices are Classical Music or Classic Cinema. The tasks are pretty convoluted and difficult to explain but here goes: For Music, the team has to listen to three gramophone records and then go into a hall where a couple dozen pianists are playing different songs. Not only do they have to correctly identify the song but also in the right order. For Cinema, the team has to go to a studio and sort through thousands of feet of film to find the filmstrip for the short film that is playing on a giant screen at the studio. These are possibly the most challenging tasks the producers have pulled out in a while. Particularly, Music reminds me of the telephone task that caused the Globetrotters to be eliminated last fall.
On paper, I think my choice would be Music. The Cinema task seems like it might trigger flashbacks of Christmas Eve 1997, when my then-girlfriend (now-wife) and I spent about six long hours fixing and untangling the film for the second half of Titanic following a temperamental projector platter system hurling it in the floor. Worst…Christmas Eve…EVER.
Brook & Claire decide to go with Cinema and have a narrow first place lead as father/son Michael & Kevin arrive at the clue box next. Kevin uses his experience making videos (namely for YouTube) to rationalize going with Cinema. We, the viewers, know that such a background will provide no competitive edge. If they read the explanation for each option, Kevin would also know this.
Within minutes, all the teams have retrieved their Detour clue and made their quick decision. Except for Jill & Thomas, who choose Cinema like the previous two teams, everyone else goes with Music. Sadly for no-longer-in-first-place Brook & Claire, their cabbie has no clue where the film studio is, so Michael & Kevin leap frog them. At the sight of the huge pile of film in the middle of the room, Kevin immediately realizes he overstated his qualifications for this task. At home, I am stifling the urge to curse the name of James Cameron and Christie projectors.
At the Music task, Chad describes the scene as "ridiculous" and Mallory exclaims it is "impossible." Both terms would be apt, but I would go with "musical chaos" to best describe the task. Joining these two teams at the task are doctors Nat & Kat and inked up couple Nick & Vicki - all of whom are at a loss for figuring out this task.
Back at Cinema, Jill & Thomas and Michael & Kevin are still sorting through film. Thomas uses his private Catholic school smarts (did we mention that he went to Notre Dame?) to focus on looking for war images and shots of white words on the frames. This pays off for them and they are securely in first place. Heading to a visual location clue, the couple leaves the Detour as Team HSN arrives. Brook & Claire are seemingly and securely in last place, but after witnessing the futility of the Music Detour, they could still gain ground.
With each attempt at guessing the musical order and the subsequent "nyets" from the maestro, the Music teams start to entertain the idea of switching tasks but no one is willing to make the change yet.
Back at the film studio, Brook & Claire reclaim their place ahead of Michael & Kevin as they are the second team to finish the Detour but the father/son team finally picks up on looking for the words on film. They are in third place but not by much.
Gary & Mallory are the first to bail on the Music task, which Mallory notes is a risky move but so is staying there. I am not a fan of switching Detour tasks, especially when they are not adjacent to one another because the time sitting in a cab or driving a car is time wasted on not advancing on the race. Nick & Vicki and Nat & Kat (who I don’t think we have even seen talk to one another this season) consult with one another about switching and decide to do it. This leaves only Chad & Stephanie being driven mad by pianos. Stephanie uses Chad’s own rationale against him by saying that they should stick with the task they start.
Jill & Thomas have their next clue and are almost to the town of Alexandrovskaya but can’t find the marked route leading to the neighborhood store and task. Thomas gets to make a fool of himself with his attempt to overcome the language barrier with over enunciation (in English, no less, to person who clearly doesn’t speak English) and exaggerated hand gestures. This delay gives Brook & Claire the lead and they get to the Roadblock first.
The Roadblock, unofficially titled “Russian Drag Race,” requires the team member to dress like a Babushka (old Russian woman) and retrieve a sack of 50 potatoes and a wheelbarrow full of cow manure. They have to dig a hole, put some manure in it, then the potato and finally cover it with dirt. It’s pretty straightforward, especially compared to the Detour, but none of the supplies are in the same place, so the racer has to find them in this small village.
Brook suits up for Team HSN and quickly finds the potatoes and manure. Unfortunately, she can’t find the field for planting. As is the case this entire leg, Michael & Kevin are neck-and-neck with the girls. Kevin mans up for his team and puts on his Babushka dress. He doesn’t have any issue with finding the supplies and field. After a quick tutorial on planting potatoes, Kevin gets under way and clearly has the Tony Robbins of Russian farming as his coach because she is cheering him on the whole time, even though he doesn’t understand a word of it.
The three Detour switchers are still knee-deep in film and Chad & Stephanie are still not any closer to conquering their Detour. Chad is about one more note away from just quitting but Stephanie talks him through it and saying they need to work together to be productive. I have to say that I am impressed that Chad hasn’t completely blown his stack during a clearly nerve-racking challenge. Chad finally relents and lets Stephanie take the lead. Whether it’s editing or not, they are finally done. Chad has been humbled. About the same time, Nat & Kat find the right film.
Brook has made it to the field and annoyingly channeling Lucy, she starts in with over-the-top screaming and overreacting when she gets manure on her. While gross I am sure, it seemed like she was simply trying to get attention or she was auditioning for a bad CBS sitcom. Meanwhile, Jill is loading up her supplies and trying to catch up to Kevin and Brook.
Chad & Stephanie and Nat & Kat get their clue pointing them to Roadblock. With Gary & Mallory finally successful at finding their film, Nick & Vicki are the lone team left at the Detour. In a move that is purely motivated by dejection, our inked-up couple switches tasks AGAIN. They feel they would have better luck back with the music.
Kevin is the first one done with the Roadblock and they are heading to the Pitstop at St. Isaac’s Cathedral. Brook finishes right behind him, which isn’t as impressive as Jill blazing through the task. All three teams are trying to get the Pitstop first. Unfortunately for Team HSN, their cab has to stop for gas. Yes this is the same cabbie that couldn’t find the Cinema Detour. I think I would have bailed on him at some point on the race.
Nat and Stephanie are the chosen ones for the Roadblocks and Nat has no problem with the task. Stephanie on the other hand can't find the manure (INSERT Chad joke here) and Mallory has now caught up but is equally as lost.
Even though Michael & Kevin get to the cathedral first, the son ignores dad’s suggestion to check the park for the mat and Phil. This opens the door for Jill & Thomas to swoop in as the first place team and Brook & Claire to take second place. Kevin finally relents and dad has every right to the “I told you.” They take third place.
Nick & Vicki are back for their second attempt at the Music Detour. I am impressed they have the insight to actually listen to one song. Find that piece and then repeat for the next two songs. This seems like the most logical way to do this but I think the teams got caught up in the rush of the race. It works for them and they are heading their way to the Roadblock, as a complete non-threat.
Back at the Roadblock, Stephanie wisely, although coldly, ignores Mallory’s request to work together. I guess there is no secret beauty pageant alliance going on. Stephanie finds the wheelbarrow and mischievously throws the shovel on top of the pile of manure, knowing full-well that the diminutive Mallory would have to climb up it to get. So, there is definitely not a beauty pageant alliance.
Mallory is making friends with the locals but not making any headway on finding her supplies. Nat finishes the Roadblock and gives her the passing advice of “Wrong way.” She finally finds and climbs Mt. St. Manure to get the shovel. With her supplies in hand, she gets to the field as Stephanie is about halfway done.
While the girls make quick work of the potatoes, Nick & Vicki are still driving. So we know that the only good outcome for them would be a non-elimination leg.
As expected, Nat & Kat hit the mat as number four. Showing the camera her manure covered fingers; Mallory says that she would chew her fingernails if it meant she wasn’t eliminated. Somewhere, John Waters is writing the sequel to Pink Flamingos with an all beauty pageant cast.
Nick is misled by the “Drag Race” description and soon finds out that it is “a little bit of race and a whole lot of drag.” He has Mallory-esque issues of finding the supplies, so the distance between sixth and last is roughly the size of the Grand Canyon now.
Following a tight footrace, Chad & Stephanie get fifth and Gary & Mallory take sixth.
As expected, Nick & Vicki finally hit the mat with little drama or tension as the last team. Phil does grant a reprieve as the second non-elimination leg is theirs.
At this rate, there will be none of these hopeful legs left at the end of the race, so teams will have to just work hard to not be last.
Next week looks like it brings more Russian fun, which means that Speedbump and time-delayed Nick & Vicki have a lot of ground to make up.