The Amazing Race Season 29 Recap
As Easy as Stacking Cups
By Kim Hollis
May 30, 2017
BoxOfficeProphets.com
In tonight’s episode, four teams will compete to be in the final three. Wait. So tonight isn’t the finale? Man, CBS messed up this season of The Amazing Race.
Matt & Redmond start today’s leg in first place, departing at 11:57 p.m. It’s time to leave Vietnam and heard to Seoul, South Korea, 1,600 miles to the north. Once they arrive, they must go to the Gangnam district. If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because you’ve watched YouTube at some point in your life. Psy’s “Gangnam Style” remains the most watched YouTube video ever, with 2.85 million views. I’m betting on a dance challenge soon.
We sigh as Brooke & Scott appear on screen, but at least they’re a couple of hours behind the Boys. They call themselves the underdogs since they’re one of two teams left that hasn’t won a leg. (But… wouldn’t that make Logan & London underdogs as well?)
Tara & Joey are about a half hour behind Team Annoying, with Logan & London about 15 minutes after them. Of course, none of the departure times matter, because everyone is on the same flight to Seoul. There has been far too much bunching this season.
Once they land, everyone takes a cab except for Matt & Redmond, who opt for the subway. They’ve been told that cabs take forever, so they’re going to try to go their own way.
Supposedly, there’s a lot of traffic, but it doesn’t seem too terrible. There’s a lot of cars, but everyone is still moving. The Boys have to switch trains, and they miss their connection by seconds. Obviously another one will be incoming.
The first team to arrive at the Gangnam district is Tara & Joey. Some dancers are enjoying some K-Pop, and one of the women hands them their clue. Sadly, no dancing is involved, and instead the teams must next proceed to the Hanyang University Olympic Gym. Team Mom and Dad hop into another taxi.
Brooke & Scott and Logan & London show up at the Gangnam clue area almost right after Tara & Joey, so obviously the subway was really the wrong way to go. When Tara & Joey get to the gym, we see a bunch of kids stacking cups (with great dexterity). One member from each team will have to race against the clock to try to stack their cups in some semblance of what the “pros” are doing. It won’t be in the ballpark, we guarantee.
Each person must complete the cup stacking sequence in less than seven seconds. Phil points out that the world record is less than two, so these guys are just giant losers if they can’t complete the challenge, obviously.
Joey immediately takes on the task for their team, and it takes him at least seven seconds to figure out that he’s working with cups. Brooke arrives and screams, “I can do this!” We wonder what the over/under is before she starts crying.
Brooke says she has a little cousin who can do this, and she’s seen it at family events. And actually, she starts it by going slowly, and then speeding it up. Joey admits that it’s a lot harder than he would have imagined.
The Boys have finally gotten off the subway and are walking through wet cement. Oops. It’s looking like it’s going to be one of those days for them.
Joey gets his cup stacking down to nine seconds or so. Brooke hits 7.6. Then she misses it by just .044. Finally, she finishes it in exactly seven seconds. She hasn’t cried one single time. The world might be coming to an end.
The next clue sends our teams to the Mugyewon Arts & Cultural Center. Brooke screams “Good Luck” at everyone on the way out, but it seems as though this is the type of win she really needed.
Joey misses by .07 seconds before he finally breaks the seven-second barrier. Logan is handling the task for his team, and he winds up with the best time of all, 6.699 seconds.
Matt & Redmond learn that their taxi driver is headed the completely wrong direction. He apologizes and takes them to the place where they’re actually supposed to be going. When Redmond says that they’re in a race for a million dollars, the driver says he’ll give them a discount. Yikes.
This means that the Boys haven’t even gotten to the Roadblock by the time that Brooke & Scott check in at the next clue area. Their next task is to make kimchi, the spicy Korean traditional cabbage dish. Once they’ve put it into jars, they have to bury it so the fermenting process can begin. Gag.
When Tara & Joey show up to watch the demonstration, Brooke snottily says, “Don’t say what we’re doing out loud. They don’t follow directions.” But then karma strikes back because people start laughing at them almost immediately. Brooke starts pitching a fit and wants to start over, while Scott protests.
Meanwhile, the other two teams calmly watch the woman who is demonstrating before starting the challenge.
Back in last place, Redmond takes on the task for the Boys. Matt is bummed that their cab driver took them to the wrong place, but figures they’ll keep on persevering.
Tara & Joey ask for their kimchi, and while most of it is good, there are a couple of portions that need to be reworked. The same goes for the other two teams. Tara & Joey are the first to complete their kimchi and they head over to the dirt to bury their pots of kimchi. Then, they’re given a bit of kimchi to taste, and they like it. Both Logan & London and Brooke & Scott follow right behind them.
“I was gonna lick my arm, but I saw that it had dirt on it,” says Tara.
Redmond struggles through the cups, but finally finishes with a 6.79 time.
The top three teams are all bunched together as they all race to the next location. They arrive at the same time, where the clue asks, “Who’s going to take control?” It’s time for some Esports! We love Esports. In all seriousness, we have two different Twitch screens going as we do this wrap, and we watched an Injustice 2 tournament yesterday. This challenge should be fun!
The teams must win a round of Street Fighter V as they take on some professional gamers. Every ten rounds, the Racers will get an advantage (i.e. the pros will have a blindfold or one hand tied behind their back).
Scott is quite familiar with Street Fighter, and he wants to play as Chun Li. London has no idea what to even do. Tara says she hasn’t played a video game in 25 years. We feel like Scott has the advantage here. He gets knocked out on the first try, though.
(Obviously London and Tara get knocked out on their first attempt.)
“I’m so sorry,” Tara’s opponent says politely.
Well, we’ve made it to Round 10. So, Scott is actually getting closer, and with a handicap he has a great shot at winning. His opponent will put one hand behind his back. The same goes for the other two opponents.
Scott still gets knocked out even though his opponent has a disadvantage. So, London almost wins, but just misses. Tara hates video games.
At the kimchi challenge, the Boys have realized that they’re firmly in last place. It’s not even going to be close.
Back at Esports, Scott talks a lot of smack for someone who doesn’t win.
We’ve gotten through enough rounds now that London’s opponent will play blindfolded. That’s the benefit she needs to finally get a win. Scott follows quickly behind. They’ll be racing to the Pit Stop on the rooftop of Gavit Some.
Tara is fighting a blindfolded guy. “We’ve worked so hard for this,” says Joey. Neither one of them can believe that a “gamer” might cause them to lose. It’s a little condescending.
The boys have finished making, burying and eating their kimchi. It’s on to the Esports arena, where we’d assume they’d normally have an advantage. Is Tara terrible enough that she’ll lose?
She’s certainly not having her best moment. She rants about how she has to fight bad guys in real life, which means she doesn’t have time for videogames. She can’t believe that this might be her downfall. Matt takes on the challenge for the Boys. Presumably he’s probably a decent gamer.
“All this work comes down to some teenage kid who’s on an ego trip. She’s lost a hundred matches,” says Joey. Tara isn’t learning from the game at all. She’s in meltdown mode.
Matt does pretty well on his first attempt. He asks for tips from the pros, and his opponent says, “No, he’s good!”
Over at the Pit Stop, it’s a legitimate race for first between Brooke & Scott and London & Logan. And… the worst team in the race is the first one in the final three. Brooke & Scott will race for $1 million. Team Lolo is right behind them. As Phil says, “The underdogs are now the top dogs.”
With Matt’s opponent down to one hand, he’s got a great shot. BUT Tara finally wins. Matt barely loses right as Mom and Dad are getting away. This is much closer than it has any right to be. The subway and cab were doom for the Boys. Matt wins his round while Tara & Joey are hailing a cab.
And so it’s another true race to the Pit Stop. The Boys are taking the stairs while Tara & Joey take the elevator. In the end, it’s Tara & Joey, though.
Matt & Joey were our favorites this season, and they finished in last. Unfortunately, they’re eliminated. STUPID subway. Hell, their cab driver’s mistake was enough to set them. We’re pretty sure they’re friends for life.
We’re down to one more leg, where we’ll root for anyone but Brooke & Scott. Place your bets on the number of times Brooke cries.