The Amazing Race 24: All-Stars - Episode 5
The Amazing Race 24: All-Stars - Episode 5
By Daron Aldridge
March 24, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com

I know! His bandana *is* stupid!

The Amazing Race is usually an unpredictable affair but one thing is a given this week – thanks to last week’s non-elimination of Team Fetch, we are guaranteed an elimination this time. But even though that’s where the guarantees end, there are a couple of other scenarios that are pretty close to being assured this season.

Each week solidifies the fact that this season truly comes down to two teams: the brothers and the father/son team of David & Connor. The placement of who belongs at the top could easily be decided by a coin toss (hey, that’s how I filled out my NCAA bracket) because both of these teams have shown they are head and shoulders ahead of all the other teams.

Picking up at the scene of last week’s crime against the viewers (AKA the aforementioned non-elimination of Brendon & Rachel), Jet & Cord leave the mat in first and head to a travel agent to secure tickets on a flight from Malaysia to Sri Lanka. The boys explain that they take heed of the folly that befell Team Fetch last week when they slipped from first to last. It seems that the guys aren’t privy to the fact that the CBS Big Brother darlings weren’t eliminated.

Directly behind them is… unsurprisingly… the other favorite team, David & Connor. Team Murphy’s Law impressed us with their bartending skills last week but said skills probably won’t win them any points back at the tabernacle. Daddy Dave points out that this is the same leg in which they “self-eliminated” the last time and they have no intention of repeating history. May the Race gods continue to shine on you fellas.

The cowboys have gotten the flight that arrives in Sri Lanka at midnight and they pepper the travel agent with multiple chances to verify that this is indeed the earliest flight. She points out that one other flight gets in a bit earlier but it has a connection with only 30 minutes between. The brothers wisely opt for the direct option. David & Connor follow suit and are now on the same flight.

Now that we know the two viable flight options ahead for teams (one safe and the other risky), it’s time for a cavalcade of teams leaving the mat and heading to the airport or travel agency. The Afghanimals bypass the agency and head to the ticket counter directly at the suggestion of their driver. Does this spell disaster for them? Nope. They are on the same flight. One-by-one, every team, except Margie & Luke and Brendon & Rachel are ticketed for the midnight flight to the homeland of the mercifully eliminated Natalie & Nadiaya.

It seems a bit convenient that they would have this be a destination on a season when one season actually hails from the country. Maybe the twins were Team Fetch Jr. but they self-destructed despite CBS’ attempts to help them out.

The only question marks that remain travel-wise are which flight the last two teams will get. Margie & Luke drew the short straw on cabbies because despite their request to go to the designated travel agent, their driver is lost. They just ask to be taken directly to the airport. During that time, Brendon & Rachel have arrived at the agency and are hashing out their options. The midnight flight has no more seats and the agent advises against standby listing.

Despite the persuasive efforts of another agent to convince them that a 30-minute connection is too close of a call, the newlyweds decide to gamble on the connecting flight. I admit that given their placement and the impending Speed Bump, I probably would’ve taken the same chance.

Margie & Luke, on the other hand, opt for the standby list on the midnight flight with Margie even grilling the ticket agent about the odds of people not showing up at the gate even though they have already “checked in.” They take that gamble and it doesn’t look good for them.

Everyone is now at the airport and relaxing while they wait (except Margie & Luke, who don’t have a seat on a plane as of now), when the Globetrotters pass by Team Fetch. The guys are more than happy to be the ones to break the news to the others that Brendon & Rachel weren’t eliminated last leg. No one seems overly shocked at this news.

During the airport waiting session, Jennifer confesses that she is a superfan of Jet & Cord. She gushes over the chance to race alongside them and continues to flirt with them. The guys, who are both married, don’t exactly reciprocate the flirting and actually look somewhat uncomfortable with it.

The moment of truth arrives and the Big Brother alums get on their flight before the others and the opportunity for the mother/son team is officially gone. They have all their Race eggs in one standby basket because if they don’t make this flight, they will be several hours behind the others. Approximately TEN hours to be more clear. This smells of last season’s airline debacle of Chester & Ephraim all over again. More than likely the producers saw this writing on the wall and that’s why they one travel agent was trying to do the hard sell on Team Fetch to NOT take the connection. This is just a guess because at this point, it would take an act of God for Margie & Luke to not be eliminated.

As expected, the full midnight flight is indeed full and the mom and son are left alone in the Malaysian airport.

Sprinting through the Singapore airport is Team Fetch and the editing wrings as much drama out of the situation as possible, with Brendon even dropping a bag, which he has to retrieve. And then… Commercial Break!

Blah… blah… blah… please buy these products and we are back. No sad trombone for Team Fetch this leg as Brendon & Rachel make the connection and will actually be the first team on the ground in Sri Lanka. This is the best case scenario for a team facing a Speed Bump at some point in the near future.

After landing they hop into a cab and head to the Gangaramaya Temple, where they will receive a blessing and their next clue from a Buddhist monk. Granted, it’s near midnight, so it doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict that Ye Olde Operating Hours will be leveling the playing field. The newlyweds arrive and see that the temple doesn’t open for four hours or 5:45 a.m., so cooling their heels on the curb is their plan.

The midnight flight to Sri Lanka lands and all the teams scramble to the temple, just to have to wait with Big Brother. Honestly, the order here doesn’t matter since they will only be minutes apart. Even with the four hour delay at the temple, Margie & Luke will be about six hours behind the others.

Understanding that a similar “blessing” turned out to be a curse for his dad on their last season because it was the leg that his Achilles’ ruptured, Connor seems fully aware of and hopes to shake the dark cloud of Murphy’s Law that hangs over their heads.

The temple opens, which means that this is one of my favorite parts of every season. Without any sarcasm here, I enjoy seeing the teams actually soak in their surroundings and the culture of the places they visit. That is one of the main reasons why I would love to run this Race (call me, CBS… you have my audition application). All of them appear genuinely moved by the blessing.

The teams are now heading to the railway station, which will take them to the city of Galle. After arriving, they will hop into a mini cab, which looks like a motorized rickshaw, to take them to the King Coconut Stand.

All the teams except the MIA Margie & Luke (but you knew that) hit the train station and are once again traveling together. For the second time in the span of five minutes, we get genuine awe from the teams as they ride the rails down the Sri Lankan coast to Galle.

In Galle, each team picks a mini cab and off they speed down the streets, narrowly missing cars, buses and other people. No…really…their drivers are insane and weaving in and out of traffic with precision and reckless abandon. I don’t know if it’s the endorphins from high speed ride or the fact that they all realize that Margie & Luke are clearly getting last place this leg but the teams are more relaxed and having fun with laughter and car-to-car fist bumps between teams.

The coconut stand holds the next clue and it’s the Detour: Fishing Pole or Spin Control. For Fishing Pole, the teams have to swim out to a perch in the water and use traditional fishing equipment and bait to catch one fish. Each person only has to catch one fish. For Spin Control, the teams have to perform a traditional dance routine while spinning wooden discs atop four-foot poles. They don’t even get through explaining this task and I would bet my house on the fact that Flight Time & Big Easy are going with Spin Control. This seems like a gimme for the guys. What’s next - a cycling challenge for David & Connor or a horse riding one for Jet & Cord so they can broaden their lead?

Anyway, John & Jessica, Team Murphy’s Law and the Lone Rangers head into the surf for some fishing fun. That puts the Globetrotters, the singers, Team Fetch and the Afghanimals at Spin Control. The fish aren’t exactly cooperating with the novice anglers today and the three teams fishing are losing the bait left and right. Nibbles but no catches is the order of the day it seems.

Over at Spin Control, Flight Time takes the three pronged spinning pole for his team and does fare better than the others. Just now they have to master the steps.

Back in the water, Connor proudly claims the title of first person to catch a fish and David jokingly takes credit for teaching him how to fish. Daddy follows up Connor’s success with a fish of his own - and pretty substantial looking fish they are. Team Murphy’s Law has clue in hand and is off to the next destination – Trendy Connections Garment Factory.

At Spin, the Globetrotters have made short work of the task and are the second ones out of the Detour. Thankfully for the cowboys, size doesn’t matter when it comes to the fish in this task because both Jet & Cord catch Nemo-sized fish, which is enough to earn their clue. The easily flustered John & Jessica are left on the perch alone and beginning to question their choice in tasks. But they’re unsure about switching because a Detour switch-up last time led to their elimination.

Before we get to their decision, the Afghanimals and the singers have finished up Spin Control and are both heading to the garment factory. But Brendon & Rachel have squandered the lead they got at the beginning of the leg. In a shocking turn of events, the roles have been reversed for the couple. Brendon is now the more anxious and easily frazzled and Rachel… yes, Rachel Reilly… is the voice of reason and model of composure in the challenges. Will wonders never cease?

After a commercial break, John & Jessica have thought it through and decided to “pull the trigger” on switching. They rationalize that they are getting nowhere fast with the fishing and would rather try the task where they control their success or failure. Again, I think this is a wise move. As Jet said earlier (which became the episode title), “can’t make fish bite.”

As the engaged couple gets to Spin Control, Brendon & Rachel have finally mastered the routine and are off to join the others at the garment factory.

What about Margie & Luke? Will they have a miraculous resurgence? It’s doubtful, since they are just now boarding their flight and almost all the teams have already completed the Detour. Unless the Roadblock is “Wait for Margie & Luke to arrive at the Roadblock,” I don’t see an outcome that doesn’t have the mother and son in last place.

At the garment factory, the Roadblock has one team member channeling their inner Betsy Ross - that is, if Betsy Ross made shirts in an Asian factory and not flags in Colonial America. The team member has to sew together a shirt that has about half a dozen pieces to the satisfaction of a factory floor manager and then the shirt with get an iron-on symbol of the Pitstop.

What order do they arrive? It doesn’t matter any more than the temple because this is going to be a long task for all of them. Assuming sewing duties for the teams are Jet, Connor, Big Easy, Caroline and Leo.

As they beginning their sewing misadventures, the deer-in-the-headlights look on the faces of Connor and Big Easy conveys the whole story. These guys are in way over their heads here. Brendon & Rachel have arrived and finally face the Speed Bump in their path.

Before proceeding to the Roadblock, Team Fetch has to screenprint the Sri Lankan flag on 15 t-shirts to the satisfaction of the worker. Rachel admits that she has done this before but it’s been awhile and she knows the process can be time-consuming. Again, I am astounded at how mature and “together” Rachel seems to be this season. Even after some of their shirts don’t pass muster, she calmly proceeds to try again.

While they work the Speed Bump, all the Roadblockers struggle with their machines. Big Easy, in particular, seems to be going nowhere fast.

At the Detour, a rhythmically-challenged and admitted “horrible dancer” John has finally done a serviceable job on the routine and the engaged couple is off to the factory. Upon arriving, Jessica takes the Roadblock, just as Team Fetch has finished their Speed Bump. Brendon decides to do the sewing and quickly joins forces with Jessica. While these two teams like each other, this truly is a blind leading the blind situation.

The first one to conquer the Roadblock and be King/Queen Thimble? Connor. He falters on his first judged attempt but the only area of error is the collar. He quickly fixes it and they get their iron-on clue. The Pitstop and Phil await teams at the Colombo Rowing Club.

Not far behind, Caroline has gotten her sewing groove on and the singers are out the door right after Team Murphy’s Law. The Afghanimals cheer them on to “get their first place.”

But as expected, Team Murphy’s Law hits the mat in first place and is rewarded with a prize of $5,000 each. David & Connor will now officially make it longer this season than before. Jennifer & Caroline hit the mat in second.

Margie & Luke have finally landed and been blessed at the temple. They are en route to Galle via train. Their train ride is less than pleasant since it is the middle of the day and they have to stand the whole time. Yet, Luke describes it as “Amazing” immediately after Margie complains of the smell of the food.

Back at the factory, Jet is the next out the door and he & Cord get to Phil in third. Meanwhile, Leo continues to prove he can have fun anywhere. He is joking around and offering to pay other workers to finish his shirt for him. While I wouldn’t put it past him to continue to be so lively in the face of actually elimination, the fact that Jamal is not badgering him to stop messing around tells us that all these teams know that Margie & Luke are going home. The pressure just isn’t there for them.

Leo gets finished and they make it to the Pitstop as team number four. Jessica seems to have abandoned the idea of working together with Brendon because she finishes next and leaves the Globetrotters and Team Fetch at the Roadblock. The engaged couple is now team number five.

Rachel and Flight Time are discussing the absence of Margie & Luke. Flight speculates that they should be at the Roadblock in about an hour and he thinks Big Easy will still be there. We see Margie & Luke hit the King Coconut Stand and get the Detour Clue but we don’t see what they choose.

While Brendon and Big Easy plod along, Flight Time decides to liven up the factory with some basketball tricks. He works the crowd of workers and shows them various ball spinning tricks, which solidifies the fact that the Spin Control Detour was tailor-made for them. This fun intermission by his teammate reenergizes Big Easy and he and Brendon finish soon thereafter.

They hustle to the Pitstop with the Globetrotters claiming sixth and Team Fetch taking eighth.

Going through the formality of checking in with last place Margie & Luke, we see them get their clue at the Detour but don’t actually see them fish or spin. And if they went to the factory, there is no footage shown. As we knew about 12 minutes into the episode, the next team eliminated is Margie & Luke.

Next week, we get more high speed mini cab action and what looks like a return of the no-so-calm, cool, and collected Rachel Reilly.

Until then, have a great week.