The Amazing Race 25 - Episode 6
I fell like I just kissed a goat
By Daron Aldridge
November 6, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Before picking up where we left off in Marrakesh, here’s what my rankings looked like ahead of the sixth leg:
1) Kym & Alli (Friends/cyclists). Team Quicksilver
2) Adam & Bethany (Married surfers). Soul Surfers
3) Misti & Jim (Married dentists). Team DDS/Chompers
7) Tim & Te Jay (Dating). TNT
5) Brooke & Robbie (Dating wrestlers). Tag Team
6) Amy & Maya (Friends/PhD Students). Candy Crush
7) Shelley & Nici (Mother/Daughter). Super Fannies
It’s time to check out my prognostication skills. We pick back up in the random carpet shop that the Pitstop occurred in just 12 hours before with Kym & Alli ripping into their clue, which directs them to become part of Marrakesh’s "world famous" horse-drawn carriage scene.
I didn’t know that was this Moroccan city’s claim to fame but here we are. The girls dart out in first place but you may recall that Adam & Bethany hit the mat just after them, so any lead is inconsequential. The fact that they aren’t immediately heading to a plane, train or boat tells us that the teams will be hanging around Marrakesh for another leg.
Both the teams ask locals about the distance to the horse-drawn carriage location and are both recommended to take cabs. Once they are at the marked location, they have to haul two big bags of hay to a stable and store them. Then get two apples and ride in a carriage to a spot near a mosque.
Not receiving as sound of advice (or rather not even asking for it) is the next team out – Tim & Te Jay. TNT seems intent on imploding because they just trot off on foot in the direction they think they must go. Oops, we later find out that it’s about 10 kilometers, so this was a pretty sizable slip-up. The guys seem to be unable to recapture the good fortune of getting the task quickly they had on the first few legs.
As two teams ride and another walks, the next four that all hit the mat in quick succession are just as mixed of a bag of approaches to this task. Shelley & Nici haven’t a clue where they are going, while Brooke & Robbie are faring a little better by at least trying to get a cab. Unfortunately, the dentists seem hellbent on returning to the front of the pack and they are making more progress than the others. Finally, Amy & Maya still just seem to be just happy they are on the Race. As they leave the Pitstop, they encounter the Super Fannies, who seem to be employing the “stand around and look at other” tactic to getting to destinations.
By now, the surfers have bypassed the cyclists, with the newlyweds finding the hay and nearby stable without issue. Then Bethany shows how much of a hoss she is again by climbing up the ladder and then heaving their two bags of hay into play. There has yet to be a physical task this woman can’t conquer - one arm be damned. I know they said they wanted to have the Express Pass to give them an out in case such a task came up, but it’s looking more and more like they will just use the Pass to get a bit of an advantage and not let it go to waste.
Kym & Alli aren’t far behind and both teams are seated in their carriages and heading out. To the delight of Chompers, they drive up to the hay as the leaders are leaving. This gives our dental team hope they are narrowing the gap from sixth (where they started) to first.
Tim & Te Jay aren’t alone as both the scientists and the mom/daughter are both set on walking to the location, it appears.
After Misti & Jim complete the hauling and storing part of the task, Tag Team hits the hay next. Literally, hitting the hay is Brooke, who has decided to body slam her bag and then give it a flying elbow. It’s nice to see someone having fun, but Robbie does have a point that they really don’t have time for that.
Tim & Te Jay stumble up to the end location of where the hay has to be taken and see the wrestlers, who point them back down to the right spot. Meanwhile in the square near the mosque, Shelley & Nici and Amy & Maya both cross paths with the carriage-riding surfers. Adam kindly tells them to get a cab to get to the hay. (Side note: Adam may be the nicest guy…ever!)
Adam & Bethany get their clue and are instructed to drive themselves to a pottery stand. They take off with Kym & Alli still right behind them.
So still on the hay task: Tim & Te Jay know where the stable is but can’t find the hay itself; Shelley & Nici have found the hay but aren’t sure where the stable is; and Amy & Maya have successfully found the hay and a stable. BUT it’s not the right hay bags and they haven’t a clue where to go. Comedy of Errors – table for six.
Team DDS and Tag Team have both moved on from the carriage and are now following in the wake of the surfers and cyclists.
As TNT strolls up on the Super Fannies, the guys make an agreement they will take them to the stable if they show them where the hay is. Agreed. Left out in the cold on this pact are Amy & Maya, whose error opens the door for the other two to get ahead of them. Maya is particularly befuddled about where they should be finding this hay. Darting down the alley that she saw the others come from, she is confused and actually says the words, “But they just came from here.”
It’s like one of those moments in a mystery movie when the clueless cop follows a guy into a room, not knowing that said guy used a secret level to open a hidden room behind a bookcase. This isn’t quite the case here, but Maya’s expression would convince you otherwise.
While Candy Crush tries to find a haystack in the middle of a town, the pottery stand isn't proving to be as elusive for the cyclists. They arrive and scour the grounds to find the clue box tucked away in a shed. It's Detour time: Camp or Cream.
For Camp, they have to recreate a camp set up that involves numerous rugs and a tarp stretched out over three A-frame supports. This looks like way more complicated than the Parking Lot task in Denmark. For Cream, they must milk a goat and then churn three ounces of butter from it. Oh yeah, it must be done as the locals do using the hide of an animal as the churning receptacle.
The ladies opt for Cream and make their way to the task. Both Detour options are at the same location, so the appeal to flip flop is high on this task.
Thankfully for their Race prospects, Amy & Maya have located the hay but are securely in last place while they take the carriage. I think the pressure of the Race is starting to fluster the science gals with this slip-up, along with wasting time last week on the Twirl Time Detour as recent proof to this hypothesis. But that last place may be short-lived since the navigationally challenged Super Fannies are living up to that label as they leave for the pottery stand/Detour and are unsure of where they are going.
Adam & Bethany go with Cream also, while Chompers aren’t too keen to get back involved with an animal-centric task. Therefore, the married dentists got for Camp.
Clearly, there is not much need to know how to milk goats in New York City as the cyclists aren’t sure of the best milking technique and are surprised that it’s as easy as it is to milk them. Getting the milk is much easier than churning it. Kym happily hands the blowing of air into the animal skin and churning duties over to Alli. As they start to churn, Adam & Bethany arrive and begin wrangling their goat for milking.
Just across the way, the uber-confident team of Misti & Jim has hit the Camp site and started the construction. This task is much more labor-intensive than Cream. I am not alone in this thinking, apparently. Kym begins to question how long it will take to churn the butter and asks the local. His answer of 45 minutes is enough to shake their confidence in their chosen task. Alli leads the charge for them to try Camp because she feels they can put together the camp in less than 45 minutes. Off they go.
Brooke & Robbie have now arrived at the pottery stand and decided that goats are the wave of their future. You know who hasn’t arrived…well…anywhere? Shelley & Nici. The mother and daughter have not reverted back to their arguing ways and the result is no one wanting to be contrary to the other. Therefore, the already-lost team continues on their wrong way because Nici just concedes to mom’s gut instinct to keep going.
This opens the door for both Tim & Te Jay and Amy & Maya to stay out of last place. Not exactly close but both get to the pottery stand and each chose different tasks: guys go with Camp and girls go with Cream.
The dentists are making much better set-up progress than they did in Denmark’s similar task with the parking lot living room. And Misti adds, while Jim is sewing the tarp, “Jim went to med school before dental school and he was an all-star suture.” Consider me unshocked that someone on this team thinks they are collectively or individually the best at something.
The new Camp-ers of Kym & Alli are not quite as happy or confident. First, they don’t quite have the height need to set up the tarp. Secondly, Kym is very quickly determining they should’ve stuck out the Cream task. It doesn’t take much for Alli to be back onboard and off they go…again…to the goats.
This switcheroo and re-switcheroo was enough to let Adam & Bethany get the edge on them. It also has the cyclists just starting to churn while Tag Team is now there and milking the goats.
That means that Tim & Te Jay have also arrived at the Detour and begin to assemble their camp, which one of them eloquently describes as smelling like “camel fart.” Quite a way with words. Speaking of words, I think the editors intentionally left the double entendre-filled conversation between Tim & Te Jay into the final edit just to see if Standards & Practices would allow it. Trust me…everything they said could be taken the wrong way, if you mind was so inclined.
Team DDS doesn’t have time for innuendo. They are too busy reclaiming first place and heading to the next clue on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, where they must drive themselves.
Speaking of driving, let’s check in with Shelley & Nici. Yup, they are still driving…and it’s still in the wrong direction. They finally decide that before they circumnavigate the Earth in their Ford Fiesta, maybe they should stop and ask for help. A local gives them their lightbulb moment and turns them around. This episode should be called “Foregone Conclusion” and not “I feel like I just kissed a goat” because I think we all know the outcome at this point.
As the Detour churns, the teams try to replicate the musical stylings of the local farmer that was giving them their demonstration. Kym is scatting along and improvising like this is a Moroccan rap battle and Robbie is extolling the virtues of the butter churning workout - specifically, the bicep and back exercise he’s getting. Again, these two teams seem to just know how to have fun anywhere.
What else is fun is being the first ones done at your task and that would be Adam & Bethany at this one. They head out, and Amy & Maya stroll up. The girls inform us that butter is Maya’s area of specialty at school. I can’t help but wonder what kind of legitimate university allows people to major in candy and butter, and why haven’t I ever heard of that school before.
The time that the cyclists lost in switching tasks becomes clear when they unsuccessfully churn enough butter. Back to the churning for them, while the Camp is turning out to be the simpler task, as Tim & Te Jay are now done and heading to the Atlas Mountains.
Already at the mountains are Misti & Jim and it’s Roadblock time. Misti is eager to do it. For the Roadblock, the person has to walk across a very large canyon on planks, cables and slats. Then they must complete a slotted puzzle that is double-sided and without a reference picture. Finally, they zipline back to their partner. I know that the danger isn’t real because they wouldn’t let you die but this would still be unnerving.
Jim expresses nothing but confidence in Misti but then sweetly adds that as long as she is safe, that’s all that matters. I’ve come to realize that if it wasn’t for the braggadocios one-on-one interviews, I would actually like this team. They are nice to the other teams and for the most part, supportive of one another. It’s just the arrogance in the interviews that makes me dislike them.
Kym & Alli have churned enough and gotten their clue. They are the fourth place team heading to the Roadblock.
Let’s back up and check out the pottery stand clue box…any sign of Shelley & Nici yet? No…oh wait…there they are. They go for Cream and it’s unlikely they will get there before the others are done.
Since the Super Fannies have been MIA the entire leg, the wrestlers and scientists assume they are fighting for last. Back-to-back they finish up the Cream Detour and head out with Robbie especially on edge since he thinks they need to make up ground. Then, like a kid on Christmas morning, Robbie about jumps out of his skin in delight when he sees Shelly & Nici pass them on the road heading TO the Detour.
No fuss…no muss for Misti on the Roadblock. The puzzle may cause a bit of a snag for some teams because if you get passed up on the puzzle portion then you have to wait your turn until the team ahead of you clears the zipline. Such is not the case for Misti. She’s back with Jim and they are heading to the Pitstop, which is just a picture of a Kasbah d’If.
As they leave, they pass Adam & Bethany and gush about how much they love the surfers. It’s a pretty sure bet that Team DDS is back in the pole position with Phil.
Bethany jumps into the Roadblock and we get more proof of her ability. Having one arm is by no means a disability for this lady, as she swiftly moves through the planks and wires to the puzzle. In a bit of a surprise, the puzzle does cause issues for her because she can’t snap the pieces into place. Her solution? Use her feet. Which she does, and like a boss, she is done and zip lining back to Adam.
Reluctantly, Te Jay is up for TNT. By his own admission, he is good with puzzles but bad with heights. He keeps his wits about him during the walk but goes pretty slow and then has issues with the puzzle. I guess he’s not as good with puzzles as he thought.
This reluctance is enough for Alli to catch up because she virtually runs across the cavern on the planks and meets up with Te Jay at the puzzle. They decide to work together to get out before the next teams arrive. Alli agrees but doesn’t really need the help. She blazes through the puzzle and gets it approved but also honors their agreement and helps Te Jay.
Officially at the mat, Misti & Jim are team number one and he of course proclaims that they have a million dollar smile. I think I just threw up in my mouth. Not too far behind them, Phil checks Adam & Bethany as number two.
Tag Team is now at the Roadblock and we don’t see the rationalization of why Brooke was chosen but I’d like to because she is freaking out royally while walking the planks. Seriously, her wailing and moaning and “OH MY GOD” might be the first time I was annoyed at this team.
En route to the Roadblock, Candy Crush pulled a Super Fannies move and bypassed the location. They even showed Maya in the driver seat looking right at the sign. They don’t make it too far off course before turning around, though.
The puzzle delay for Te Jay was enough for Team Quicksilver to get to Phil in third place and remain a top three team. This puts TNT as number four.
It’s time for some obligatory footage of Shelley & Nici doing the goat Detour and it’s about as exciting as them driving around lost and not fighting. Undramatic and unentertaining.
For this Roadblock, cute little Maya goes for her team and meets up with a stumped Brooke as the grappler stares at all the pieces that don’t seem to go together. If you would’ve wagered that the PhD student would surpass a pro wrestler on a puzzle task, then you would’ve lost money. Brooke conquers the puzzle and retains their lead, which keeps Maya and her fellow sweet scientist in their familiar place of not-quite-last-place.
Tag Team is back again…in front of Phil in the back of the pack and checked in as number five. And Amy & Maya come up to the Pitstop in sixth as expected.
Finally hitting the Roadblock, Shelley is surefooted and slow on the task, ensuring that she doesn’t look down. With the Roadblock in the rearview, it’s only a matter of IF this is a non-elimination leg.
The good word from our host Phil is that Shelley & Nici are the last team to arrive and…
…are eliminated from the Race. The ladies express disappoint but feel that they raced hard and wish it would’ve worked out better for them.
That wraps the midway point in the season and we still have the Save and Express Pass in play. C’mon, people. Make those teams use them.