The Amazing Race 22: Episode 11 - Part 1
The Amazing Race 22: Episode 11 - Part 1
By Daron Aldridge
May 6, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Before we start back up where we left off in Scotland with Max & Katie in first, we get a Phil-tastic, two minute recap of the entire season. This little clip show/highlight reel touches on the ups and downs of the Race for the remaining teams. Of particular note is that out of the four remaining teams two (Caroline & Jennifer and Max & Katie) were both on the verge of elimination on the very first leg, when they intentionally took the time penalty on the sandcastle Roadblock. They just edged out the firefighters then and at least one of them will have made it all the way to the final three.
Plus we get reminded of how delusional John (of John & Jessica) was about being eliminated with an unredeemed Express Pass in their possession. Hahahaha…fools. Now, we go back to the matter at hand - narrowing the field to a final three in this first of a two-part recap of The Amazing Race 22.
It’s 4:07 a.m. and Cape Fear rips into their clue. The teams will be heading by train and then ferry to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Next, they go into a warehouse to get a car and finally, their next clue will be waiting for them at Peatlands Park. Max recounts the hot streak they are on and then with expected arrogance says, “I am completely confident that we will be in the final three.” This guarantee is usually the kiss of death on these shows, so we will find soon enough if that is the case for our newlyweds.
Less than 10 minutes later, Bates & Anthony leave the mat. Just as we have come to expect arrogance from Max & Katie, we get a more strategic assessment from the hockey brothers. They pinpoint one team left as the biggest threat and, sorry, Max, but it ain’t you and your young bride. Bates explains that Sock ‘er Moms Mona & Beth are their biggest and they should focus on getting them eliminated before the final three.
Bates & Anthony hoof it over to the train station and luckily, it’s running in the wee hours of the morning. Both teams are now heading out of Edinburgh to the ferry dock.
Just before 5:30 a.m., country singers Caroline & Jennifer leave the Pit Stop and offer this unique (and not necessarily accurate) assessment of why they are still in the Race. They credit their “positive energy” and being supportive of one another. While they haven’t been openly critical or berating of each other a la Katie toward Max, I wouldn’t call their many mini nervous breakdowns being fueled by “positive energy.”
TWO HOURS later, Mona & Beth leave the mat and head to the terminal. The moms don’t appear to have any bitterness about being U-Turned and just accept it as a part of the competition, which underscores much of their non-Race relationship through roller derby. This makes them feel they can strive on the Race and they won’t crack (well, I must add, “not again” to that declaration, as scenes from the Botswana river paddling and Mona yelling at Beth replay in my mind).
The leaders get to the ferry first and find out that the great leveler of transportation schedules is at work again. The next ferry doesn’t leave until the next morning. This gives the pair of all-girl duos the chance to rejoin the group. While they wait it out, Max can’t help but needle the moms about the fact that they didn’t get the three hour lead they were anticipating in Scotland on the last leg and then smugly adds that he and Katie U-Turned them. Beth reminds him that they know it’s a competition and they would have done the same thing, except she only tells the camera that they don’t understand why Cape Fear didn’t use it on the strongest team (Bates & Anthony). Since it is near the end and they are very much not in the core alliance, I think they should have just called it out right there in the terminal that it’s silly to not use such a tool on the strongest team, especially this late in the Race.
All the teams wisely use the ferry ride to get directions to Peatsland Park and information on Ireland. This boat ride is accurately described as “the calm before the storm” by Bates, and storm they do off the ferry to the warehouse. Everyone is caravanning through streets of Belfast.
The caravan quickly splinters when Max & Katie turn right, with Bates & Anthony following them, and Mona & Beth and Caroline & Jennifer continuing straight. Well, one group will be correct and the other one will be less correct. And the winners of the award for navigational accuracy are…
Cape Fear and Team Slapshot, who are now at Peatsland Park. The other teams see the error of their ways, thanks to a local who turns them around.
The next clue is a Roadblock and teams will have to participate in bog snorkeling, which Phil aptly calls the quirkiest sport ever. They will take a train down to the bog and get dressed in their wetsuit, snorkel and fins, then cannonball into the bog and complete a hundred yard swim in the bog under four minutes. It looks, ummm, gross. Katie and Anthony step up for their teams.
The non-Y-chromosome teams are now at Peatsland Park and waiting for the train to return. Mona and Jennifer will be donning the wetsuit for their respective teams.
Anthony executes his cannonball nicely and blazes through the boggy course in a time of two minutes and 18 seconds. They easily beat the time requirement and are done with the Roadblock. Katie is watching with much trepidation. The guys are now directed to drive back to Belfast and find the “thing with a ring.” This cryptic clue is pointing them to some sort of statue but the vague clue could likely be a stumbling block for any of the teams.
Trepidation is not really a word strong enough to depict how nervous Mona is about the task. She confesses that the two things she can’t stand are being cold and dirty water. This is 100 percent not the ideal task for her them. It could be a long morning in the Irish bog for the roller derby mommy.
Thanks to Max’s assistance with timekeeping and encouragement (see, he can be supportive…at least to his team mate. For everyone else, he is happy to be a jerk), Katie overcomes the fogged up mask and posts a 3:09 time. She heads back to change, while Bates & Anthony are leaving.
Mona wails, moans (appropriately), and generally freaks out throughout her attempt at bog snorkeling but actually bests Katie’s time. With a 2:53 finish, the mothers are off to the next clue.
While Cape Fear gets advice from a local woman about where a “thing with a ring” might be, Mona & Beth eavesdrop and then decide to just follow them. Max is none-too-pleased about this but he really can’t do anything about that.
Back to the bog, Jennifer, the admittedly weaker swimmer of the team, completes the first lap with enough time to make the return trip but gets out of the water and jumps into the mud on the other side. This kills enough time for her to not being able to get back to the end of the course in less than four minutes. Caroline serves as cheerleader, saying that she can do it again. After getting clarification from the bogmaster (or at least, that’s my name for him) about when to turn around, Jennifer is off on attempt number two.
Alas, even Caroline running alongside the shore cheering for her isn’t enough to keep her from quitting less than mid-way through the course. Looks like it’s going to be a long morning for the singers, and not the roller derby moms.
With Bates & Anthony stuck in traffic and unsure if they are even heading to the right location, Max & Katie and Mona & Beth arrive at the next clue. It’s this leg’s Detour: Tray It or Spray It. For Tray, they have to head to the dry dock where the Titanic was built. Using a menu and seating chart, they have to accurately serve five courses of meals to “first class” passengers. One team members is in the kitchen preparing the courses in the correct order and the other is running them to the dining room tent. The courses must be served to the right person in the right order to get the clue. For Spray, they have to head to indoor skate park and complete a piece of graffiti art before getting their clue. My inclination would be for Spray just because Tray seems to have a higher margin for error.
Bates & Anthony are on the heels of the other two teams and all three are heading to Tray It.
At the Roadblock, Caroline is doing everything in her power to psych up Jennifer to get back in and not give up. But with each minute of pep talk, the other three teams are widening the gap.
Max & Katie are the first ones at the Detour spot but they are quick to be confused about how to serve all five courses. They seem to be focusing on the seating chart and ignoring the menu, which clearly labels each course. To add to the potential error, they are picking whatever order they want to start serving the food.
As they are heading out with tray in hand, Katie finally notices the menu sign. They take a step back and adjust. Now with the appetizers in hand, they are heading to the dining tent. The distance between the kitchen area and the dry dock’s dining tent is quite long, but Katie successfully serves the first course.
When her words aren’t enough encouragement, Caroline turns to the Man Upstairs and offers a quick prayer with Jennifer. Her third attempt is now under way and she slowly but successfully finishes just under the four minute mark.
Team Slapshot is now at the Detour and trying to decipher the menu and the food options laid out in the kitchen. Nothing is labeled, so once the teams get passed the oyster appetizers, they are going to have plenty of guessing.
For the second course, Max & Katie switch roles with her selecting the items and him serving. Their second course is now complete. The newlyweds have a leg up on the other teams because they caught the menu snag before even heading to the dining tent. Bates & Anthony and Mona & Beth aren’t as perceptive. They just jump right into the seating chart as the lone guide to how to do the task.
While Bates gets his first thumbs down, Anthony is at the kitchen realizing the error and course corrects. The Sock ‘er Moms, on the other hand, are still oblivious to the mistake. So far, Cape Fear has completed three courses, the hockey brothers have done one course, the mothers have zero right and Caroline & Jennifer are still looking for the “thing with a ring.” But a local shop owner gives them directions and as repayment, he gets a hug from Caroline and his business’s name plastered on an American TV show.
Max & Katie are serving up their final, fifth course and Anthony trips over the train track, thus spilling all his dishes. Team Slapshot is still comfortably(-ish) in second as they have two courses down and Mona & Beth have struck out again. Mona is clueless about the lack of progress and need for the appetizer dish first.
Oh yeah, that local merchant that helped out the singers? He wasn’t helpful at all because he just sent them to a giant, crop circle-looking field. But another Irishman tries to help them out. We’ll see if that actually is the case shortly.
Max finally logs a rejected serving on the dessert course and Katie thinks it was a color mix-up on the jelly. Meanwhile, Bates & Anthony are closing in on them as Bates is delivering the fourth course and Anthony is prepping the dessert tray.
Caroline & Jennifer are FINALLY at the Detour clue box and guarantee they won’t be seeing any of the other teams again because they head to Spray It. But given the titanic (sorry) errors on the part of Mona & Beth, the singers still may have a shot at the final three.
With a rejected dessert course for Bates, he shows signs of anger for the first time the entire Race toward his brother. This could stem from exhaustion of the Race as a whole or just the fact that he has been running up and down a dry dock for probably hours. Either way, I hope this is just a scratch and not a crack in their team dynamic that has served them well up to this point.
Max has completed this last course and sprints out of the dining tent with the clue, while Bates is likely going to blow a gasket when he hears that the next attempt is also wrong. Mental note: If ever cast on the Amazing Race, review box of 64 Crayola Crayons to find out what color “chartreuse” is. Because that’s the color the dessert jelly is supposed to be.
As Max rejoins Katie, they revel in the fact that the roller moms still haven’t figured out that the oysters should be served first. Of course, this is the opportunity for Max to proclaim their superiority and brilliance. Slow down, hot rod, there is still an entire final leg awaiting you. First, you need to get to the Pit Stop at Ulster Hall.
Speaking of roller moms, they have made zero progress on the Detour and Mona is oblivious to how to fix it. They just keep doing the same wrong thing just a little different each time. If you think this is the chance for the singers to catch up, you would be right…if they weren’t still driving around looking for the Spray It skate park location.
Through a conversation with Anthony, Beth learns that they should be following a list but Mona is quick to dismiss this information. She is positive that it is just based upon the seating chart. Hallelujah, Bates & Anthony have completed their Detour. I say that because they are my favorite team but also because I don’t want to see Bates drop the gloves and start pummeling his brother if it is wrong again.
The guys have made up significant ground, though, because as they are rolling up on Ulster Hall, Max & Katie are scanning the streets looking for it. Both teams are now in full sprint to where they think the hall is. Cut to Phil and his fleet of Riverdancers and the first place team is…
Max & Katie, with second place Bates & Anthony so close behind that the newlyweds weren’t even properly welcomed by Phil before they came in the room. Now it’s just a battle for the last spot in the final three. Max tells Phil that he has a recurring dream of them coming around the corner and hitting the mat for a million dollars. Bates adds that he has the same dream but with him and his brother cutting them off before they get to the mat.
The battle for third will be prolonged because of the many tears being shed by Beth in the dining tent and Caroline behind of the wheel of their lost car. Sounds like a good time for a commercial break. Maybe there will be one for Kleenex.
Back to the Race, Mona finally listens to Beth’s suggestion from Anthony to look for a list. Upon seeing the menu, Mona rightfully gives herself a verbal beating for being so stupid. While they are finally making some progress (or rather any progress) on Tray It, the singers are at Spray It with equal amounts of exasperation.
At this point in the hour, the editors alternate between tasks showing each team chipping away at their task. The singers did pick the simpler task, it seems, or rather the artist judging their work is just more generous in his assessment this late in the game. He has them tighten up a few lines and then gives them their last clue. The moms finished up just a few minutes before if the editing is to be believed. Both teams are heading to Ulster Hall with the singers using a map and the moms using a local.
And the final team to round out the final three is Mona & Beth, and after being reassured by Phil that he isn’t tricking them, the tears of joy start flowing. That means that the Race has broken up the showmance alliance of Caroline & Jennifer and Bates & Anthony.
The singers are greeted by Phil and they are unsurprised by the resulting elimination. They then say their friendship is even stronger now and they will be writing plenty of new songs based upon their experiences on the Race. Consider us all warned.
Come back tomorrow for part two, which wraps up the conclusion of the Amazing Race 22.