The Amazing Race Season 28 Recap - Episode 7
By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower
April 18, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com

Frisbee gods.

Previously on The Amazing Race, our favorite team, Tyler & Korey narrowly escaped elimination… although we suspect the show will give them at least one do-over if needed. Still, they’ve struggled in consecutive legs and narrowly edged Blair & Scott to remain in the competition. Like so many of the teams this season, we really liked the father/daughter tandem, and we’re sad to see them go. Blair’s one of the nicest players we’ve ever seen on a reality show, particularly The Amazing Race. She’s antithetical to the concept of the “ugly American.” We should make her an ambassador to some country.

The other story we’re tracking is the dominance of Team Frisbee. Since the guys are Florida Gators alumni, we hate them (it’s an SEC thing), but while we’ve had our fun with their alleged womanizing, they’ve impressed us. Out of eight legs, they’ve won four, and finished in the top three in every other instance since the opening episode. In that leg, they only placed fifth, we causes us to suspect that they were just too tired from taking some flight attendant to the mile high club. The only bad news for Brodie & Kurt is that the last team this dominant, Justin & Diana, didn’t win their season.

We begin the first leg back in Tblisi, Georgia, with Brodie bemoaning the fact that Blair has been eliminated. He and Kurt hope to win another leg (and another trip) so that he can take her on a vacation/date. It’s actually a fascinating beginning to the leg, because they show us the teams waiting to see who was eliminated, and then Brodie giving Blair a goodbye hug. We’ve never seen that before, and it speaks to how much the show’s producers love the burgeoning romance between Brodie and Blair.

Zach & Rachel are our first team to depart at 10:39 p.m., but they’re flying to Dubai, so teams will obviously be bunched at this point. Presumably, they’ll all be on the same flight. It should have been noteworthy that Tyler & Korey are almost three hours behind the first place team, as they are headed to the Tblisi airport at 1:17 a.m. The luck of location has put them right back into the mix again.

Once in Dubai, teams are driving themselves to their first location. Sheri misses the exit and whines about it, causing her son Cole to complain about her negativity. Is it negative if you really do suck? At least they’re not crying... yet.

Five teams show up at once at the location marked with flags to indicate the clue area. They pick up their Travelocity gnomes and then choose between Detour options of Races or Oasis. For Races, teams will have to ride a bike and race against a camel, which can run at up to 40 MPH. Perhaps you’ve heard that it’s really hot in Dubai. That makes this challenge a somewhat daunting one, especially since both team members must participate.


For oasis, teams will have to lead four camels one mile across the desert to a bedouin camp. Once there, they’ll receive their clue. If anyone has ever seen the stubbornness of camels, they’ll understand the challenges of this task.

Sheri & Cole are still driving around aimlessly, but they have a chance at making up some time because Brodie & Kurt’s car gets stuck in the sand. The guys are actually having to dig their car out in order to move ahead. They’re worried about being in last place (they’re not), but realize can use the Express Pass if need be - especially since they have to use it during either this leg or the next one.

It seems that the roads in Dubai are a bit confusing, because Zach & Rachel miss their turn for the camel racing track. Burnie notes that because of the way the area is constructed, they won’t be able to turn around for several kilometers, costing them valuable time. That means Burnie & Ashley and Tyler & Korey will be first to arrive at the camel races.

While Dana & Matt get started on the Oasis challenge, wondering if calling the camels like dogs will work, we see exactly how fast the camels are over at the Races. As Brodie says, “the camels are smoking them,” and it’s true. Burnie & Ashley and Tyler & Korey are barely even moving before the camels are flying down the track like American Pharoah in a Triple Crown race. Team Rooster Teeth decides to swap to the other task, while Tyler & Korey think they can probably win on a second attempt, now that they know what to expect.

As the newlyweds arrive at the track, Rachel is giving off a pretty bad vibe. She says that she has no confidence in her ability to ride a bike in the heat, and even says she doesn’t like going fast on a bike. Nonetheless, Zach says they’ll try it once before deciding to switch. “Not every challenge is gonna be an easy one,” he says. Just in case you wanted some proof of that statement, we cut over to Burnie & Ashley as they drive to Oasis. Ashley gags and heaves, causing Burnie to ask if he needs to pull over so she can throw up. She claims to be okay, but she sure doesn’t sound like someone who’s okay.

Burnie’s supportiveness stands out in stark contrast to Dana, who is berating Matt for… being too positive. She can’t understand why he’s not struggling in the heat - he’s even wearing a flannel shirt. “You make me sick,” Dana says. Not as sick as Ashley, we presume.

The Frisbee dudes are ready to bro down, and reassert their dominance by beating the camels in a photo finish. Zach & Rachel, however, don’t even come close. She starts out strong but quickly loses steam. Zach suggests they try again, but Rachel reminds him that she is afraid of going fast on a bike. He asks her why she didn’t tell him that earlier, and she says that she did, which is true. He was just so focused on getting them to the challenge location that he wasn’t hearing her.

Brodie & Kurt might have beaten the camels, but at what cost. Neither one can even stand after the effort they exerted to barely outpace the dromedaries. Eventually, they’re able to get up and get to their clue bearer. It directs them to the Aquaventure Waterpark in Atlantis, which is well known for some major league thrill rides.

You’d think the other challenge might be easier, but Dana is in such bad shape from walking in the heat that she’s close to passing out. Matt notes that it’s really hard to walk in the sand, but he doesn’t seem too troubled by the conditions. He is nice enough to be worried about Dana, though, even after she yelled at him for his positivity earlier.

For their second attempt at the camel race, Tyler & Korey get a bit of a head start. It’s enough to earn them a victory. Burnie & Ashley have arrived at Oasis, and she is definitely thrilled to be walking with camels instead of racing them. They even take some moments to admire the beauty of their surroundings.

Eventually, Dana & Matt arrive with their camels at their oasis. For their reward, they get to taste some local bread (which is probably 100 times better than it would have been otherwise due to their recent exertions) and camel milk. Although she claims it’s really good, we can’t help but think of Ron Burgundy in the San Diego heat, declaring, “Milk was a bad idea.”

Although Sheri & Cole get off to an excellent start in their race against the camels, they soon realize that the length of the track is significant enough to allow the dromedaries to leg it out. We have to admit we assumed Sheri would be terrible at this task, but she actually is quite impressive. They might be able to pull it off on a second attempt.

Brodie & Kurt have arrived at the Aquaventure park, and the Roadblock requires one member from each team to get in a tank with sharks and search for a pod containing a puzzle. Once they retrieve the puzzle, they’ll have to get out of the tank and solve it. For whatever reason, they’re also required to dress up like Rocky from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which means you can picture exactly what they’re wearing. Dr. Frankenfurter can make you a man in seven days, but the Frisbee dudes are so manly they don’t need his help.

The Oasis task is definitely proving to be easier for both Burnie & Ashley and Zach & Rachel. Both teams complete it with little issue. We’re actually pretty surprised at the cooperation of the camels.

There’s more Dubai road trouble as both Tyler & Korey and Matt & Dana are having trouble locating the waterpark. Brodie has reached the puzzle part of the task, which requires him to match letters to their corresponding shapes. The trick is that the puzzle is in a water receptacle, which makes it really hard to manipulate (and even harder to describe with words). Brodie notes that it’s easier to throw a Frisbee, because of course he does. It’s tough enough that he suggests to Kurt that they should use the Express Pass, but Kurt shoots down that notion pretty quickly. They are in first place, after all. It would take a major disaster to finish in last at this point.

Tyler & Korey, Burnie & Ashley and Matt & Dana all converge upon the waterpark at the same time. Amusingly, Dana apologizes to her mother for the revealing nature of the bathing suit. It surely wasn’t her choice.

In the first real sign of weakness during the entire course of the Race, Brodie tells Kurt that he sees no way he can solve the puzzle, and they need to use their Express Pass. So, they turn it in and are directed to Poseidon’s Revenge, Atlantis’s new waterslide. It’s one of those high slides that drops the bottom out from under you and sends you hurtling to the bottom at 60 MPH. Easy, right?

Sheri & Cole are lost again. “I don’t even know if we’re in Dubai anymore,” says Cole.

When Brodie & Kurt step up to Poseidon’s Revenge, they amusingly send down the Travelocity gnome by himself first. After taking the plunge themselves, they receive a clue that directs them to travel by water taxi to the Pit Stop at Old Souq Station.

Without Express Passes to let them skip the puzzle, teams must figure it out on their own. Burnie gets the idea pretty quickly, sending Team Rooster Teeth on its way to the Pit Stop. Dana and Tyler ask him how he did the puzzle, but he just runs on by.

Sheri & Cole are still lost, but at least they’ve found some nice people to draw a map for them.

Everyone is trying to wrap up the puzzle portion of the Race. Korey solves his, while Dana is frustrated enough with hers that she worries her inability to solve it will send them home. All of the other teams (except Sheri & Cole) have passed the dancers. Speaking of Sheri & Cole, they’ve finally located the waterpark.

Now Brodie & Kurt are lost.

Dana finally solves her puzzle, making it a foregone conclusion that Sheri & Cole will finish in last place this leg. We’d say they might have hope because other teams could get lost, but who are we kidding? If there’s potential to get lost in Dubai, it’s going to be Sheri & Cole.

The road difficulties of Brodie & Kurt allow Burnie & Ashley to catch up to them, making it a footrace to the finish. The guys win, and Brodie will get to take Blair on a dream date to Helsinki, Finland. Team Rooster Teeth is second, and then Tyler & Korey take third. There’s a lot of jubilation after the plunge down Poseidon’s Revenge.

Dana is convinced that she and Matt are in last place, and she yells at him constantly when he asks her to help with directions. She says, “I really think something is mentally wrong with you.” He suggests that they stop and ask for help, and she loses her mind. We just don’t understand why she gets so unhinged with him. He tries to have a conversation with her, which only makes it worse. She pouts as he gets out to ask for help, and admits in confessional that she comes from a family of screamers, which impacts how she deals with conflict. Matt asks her to work with him, but she refuses. Matt notes that he usually just lets her work it out and the tantrum will pass.

Sheri & Cole have finished the plunge and are now on their way to the Pit Stop, while Zach & Rachel are checked in as team number four. Later, Dana & Matt take fifth place, which causes Dana to do a bit of soul searching about her treatment of him.

That means the mother/son team are last to arrive, so bring on the waterworks. Actually, they’re good when Phil tells them about the last place status, because they knew exactly where they were throughout the leg. However, when he informs them that this is a non-elimination leg, then they start crying.

We sort of hate it when non-elimination legs are used for teams that finish so far behind, but these two are nice enough, so it’s good to see they’ll still be hanging around for at least another leg.