The Amazing Race Season 28 Recap - Episode 11
That's Money, Honey
By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower
May 30, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
On the other hand, once they arrive in China, the gamesmanship begins. Teams are first directed to go to the Departure Hall to pick up their next clue. Tyler & Korey sprint up a level and quickly grab their next instructions, with Dana & Matt following quickly behind them. The two teams agree that they won’t share the location of the clue box with either Burnie & Ashley or Sheri & Cole. They’re really primarily worried about the Rooster Teeth duo, but no matter what, they need to make sure that one of them finishes in last place.
Of course, at the currency counter, Tyler & Korey try to indicate to Burnie & Ashley that they’re keeping the clue location secret from Sheri & Cole, but Burnie holds his clue up in the air and notes how weird it is that there aren’t many left in the clue box. And thus the gamesmanship ends.
Apparently, the clue directs teams over to the Eiffel Tower for some reason, which makes us wonder if they’re still in Shenzhen or if we missed something. Tyler & Korey and Dana & Matt both are able to hop on the first bus marked as the clue indicates, where they complain about Burnie & Ashley’s cluelessness. Someone’s got to go, they say, and they don’t want it to be them.
Of course, Team Rooster Teeth isn’t nearly so nice when it comes to helping with tickets to the train to their destination. They get theirs and hop on the train, but happily leave Sheri & Cole behind to wait for the next train.
The destination is an area with miniatures of a lot of different worldwide landmarks, so Shenzhen it is, after all. The location is called Window of the World, and features 130 of these different tourist attractions. The teams have to solve a series of riddles to figure out which landmark is the answer before moving on to the next segment of the race. Since it’s a Roadblock, only one member from each team will be participating. Tyler and Dana decide to team up since none of them want to face off against Burnie & Ashley in the final three. Whatever they can do to forestall them, they will.
Sheri is last to arrive, but all four teams are working on the Roadblock now. The people competing are Tyler, Dana (jointly), Burnie and Sheri. When Sheri realizes that Tyler and Dana are teaming up, she freaks out a bit. Given that Burnie should be pretty solid at this challenge, she has legitimate reason to worry.
Although Burnie easily deduces that the Taj Majal is the location of the mausoleum with four minarets, the clue is giving everyone else fits. Tyler and Dana go to turn in their passports, and figure out that the only location they’re missing is the “minaret” area. Meanwhile, Burnie is unsure where the “reenactments” are. Basically, they find their Taj Majal answer just as Burnie is getting all of his locations stamped. He and Ashley will be out first, followed quickly by Tyler and Dana. Sheri is still struggling a bit.
The next clue sends them to Lychee Park, the location of their upcoming instructions. The top three teams are all on the same train to get there, so it is legitimately a tight race. It’s time for the Detour, which asks teams to choose between Commuter Cycle or Master of Arts. For Commuter Cycle, they have to ride a hands-free cycle and master a few moves in order to get their next clue. For Arts, they have to choose an artist to give them paintings to deliver to an art gallery, which they’ll have to hang to exact specifications. In this case, Arts definitely seems like the best choice.
Tyler & Korey and Matt & Dana choose Arts, while Burnie & Ashley select Cycle. Sheri has finally finished her Roadblock, so she and Cole are now on their way to the Detour area. She wonders how far behind they are, and Cole says, “Yeah, I mean…” It’s not looking good for these two, but they’ve always managed to hang on when they most need it.
It’s a pretty easy task to locate the artists with the painting elements, so our top two teams are off to the museum to hang their items. Burnie & Ashley rationalize that if they can do the Cycle challenge fast, they’ll have a huge lead. Oddly, Sheri & Cole also choose Commuter Cycle, so it seems that even if Team Rooster Teeth chose poorly, it won’t matter.
Arts isn’t as easy as it looks, though, because the judges require the contestants to be really specific with how their designs are arranged. They’re given a level, and apparently they are expected to use it. Both Tyler & Korey and Dana & Matt fail on the first inspection, so we’ll see if the other two teams can take advantage and catch up.
However, Burnie & Ashley decide that Cycle is simply too tough, so they switch over to Arts. Sheri & Cole are excited to learn how to cycle, although they experience regret fairly quickly. Cole presumes he’ll be able to pick it up easily because he’s a skateboarder, but he’s shocked to see that his mother is much more naturally inclined to the cycle than he is.
Now that they fully understand the task, Tyler & Korey finish the hanging of the painting and get their next clue, which is a picture of the Shenzhen Library Terrace, an impressive architectural structure. It’s the location of the Pit Stop, and of course, the last team to check in will be eliminated.
Although cycling is hard, Cole correctly notes that the other teams are already doing the Arts task, so it makes no sense to swap when they’d only be that much further behind. When Burnie & Ashley see Tyler & Korey run past them, they note that they’re no longer racing for first place, but rather their lives in The Amazing Race. They hang their art wrong at first, not realizing there is a pattern, but soon notice that they probably need to hang it up in a particular order.
Tyler & Korey finish the leg in first place, their fifth win. Just moments behind them are Dana & Matt. It’s now down to whether Sheri & Cole can master the Cycle. Burnie & Ashley have received their clue, ad Cole & Sheri are on their way on their unicycles. They manage to get done, and both teams are riding in cabs in the rain to the Pit Stop.
With traffic at a standstill, Burnie & Ashley get out of their car and run to the library area. They can’t quite find Phil, though. When Cole & Sheri get out of their cab, they can hear drumming, so they’re pretty sure they’re on the right track. It’s legitimately as close as you can possibly imagine, but…
The final team to compete in the finals of The Amazing Race will be Sheri & Cole. They’re shocked to be there, and we’re shocked to see them.
Burnie wonders if they might be in first since they don’t see anyone else, but they sadly realize that they have been eliminated from the Race. They’re disappointed, but had a “classic bad day.”
At this point, we continue to root for Tyler & Korey, our favorites from the start. Join us for the recap of the finale soon!