The Amazing Race Season 30: Episode 2 Recap
By Kim Hollis and David Mumpower
January 16, 2018
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Actually, that’s kind of a trick of editing, because the skiers stay overnight in Iceland before receiving their next clue at 8:08 a.m. It sends them to Antwerp, Belgium. Once they get there, there is a chocolate shop that they must locate in order to get their next clue. It looks like they get candy along with the clue, which is a nice bonus.
All teams are on the same flight, so it’s not like anyone has a big advantage here. Thus, we’ll dispense with the remainder of the “this team departs at this time” rigmarole. There’s no need for it.
With the teams now receiving their chocolate shop clues, it’s already time for a Road Block. Phil informs us that this one is called “Who’s Ready to Get High?” The task has this terrifying name because one teammate will have to climb a rope ladder to retrieve their next clue.
There are a few navigational issues here and there, but generally everyone finds their way to the ropes pretty easily. As they make their way to the ropes, X proves to be a tough taskmaster for Joey Chestnut. As a competitive eater, Joey is perhaps not in the greatest of physical condition (though Eater X is, so maybe he just has better genes and carb absorption). That’s okay, though, because Joey says he responds well to Eater X being mean to him.
The first group of Racers is down from the rope ladders and will be heading on toward their Detour. One option is “Old Print,” which asks teams to use an old printing press to reproduce a message exactly as it appears on their piece of paper. It is painstakingly slow, and should give you a real appreciation of the amount of work that once went into the publication of a newspaper. (There’s still plenty of work involved, but it’s digitized these days.)
The second Detour choice involves grading a diamond in Diamond Glint. The cut, color and clarity must be added together to come up with some sort of mathematical answer that isn’t really explained well. It looks like the more challenging of the two options, because there seems to be plenty of room for error.
This first group to finish with the ropes includes Cedric & Shawn, Joey & Eater X, the violinists, and Team Big Brother. A few teams are wandering around close to the area, including the Indy Car drivers, Kristy & Jen, and Goat Yoga. The Indy Car guys catch a cab only to be told that the ropes are only 100 meters away.
Honestly, the rope ladder doesn’t really make for great TV, though something funny happens. When Lucas retrieves the clue, Brittany kisses his cheek, only to spit and say, “Ew.” He’s gonna ask that girl to marry him, folks!
At Old Print, Team Big Brother quickly realizes that they will have to reproduce the message upside down and backwards in order for it to print properly. Cedric & Shawn arrive just shortly after Cody & Jessica get started. Other teams that choose this task include Henry & Evan and Kristi & Jen. The skiers figure out that if they hold up their clue to the light, the proper order for their letters is spelled out for them.
Back to the lifeguards. Brittany considers a cab and starts running after one, but Lucas huffily walks the other direction for some reason. (Maybe it was the “Ew.”) Anyway, Brittany starts yelling, “Pineapple! Pineapple!” which is apparently their safe word.
Diamond teams include the violinists, Joey & Eater X, Indy Car, and Goat Yoga. April from Goat Yoga claims to know a lot about diamonds because she says that her husband was very, very picky when selecting her engagement/wedding ring. She seems like a LOT of work.
Team Big Brother misses their first try on the printing press. The helpful man tells them they should have used the rulers, which is to say that it’s not straight enough or located in the right spot. They have to start over.
After that miss, the firefighters show up at the printing press.
Cedric & Shawn confuse a few letters on their first effort, and Cedric wonders why there weren’t any emojis. (He’s kidding.) They figure it out pretty quickly, and they’re the first team to get their clue – which is the message they just printed. A friendly Belgian helps them by sending them to a statue.
The violinists are wrong on their first attempt at diamond math. Joey Chestnut & Tim are just the tiniest bit off as well.
Kristi & Jen finish at the printing press, with Team Big Brother right behind them. When Cedric & Shawn arrive at the next clue area, we’re introduced to a first for The Amazing Race. Teams will compete head to head in a French fry carting race (Frites!). They will be dressed in a French fry costume while they do it. Teams will compete two at a time. The first team to win a race will win the leg, and the team that loses the last race will be eliminated from the Race.
Teams do pick just one partner to run the Frites race, but they can swap partners between races if they lose.
Our suspicion that the printing press challenge was the easier of the two is justified as most of the teams there are able to finish rather quickly. The lifeguards do get everything backward, though, so they’re sent back to try again. Brittany does have a mirror, so they’ll be in pretty good shape now that they understand their error.
The firefighters, on the other hand, just have no clue. They wonder if they chose the wrong Detour. They get the printing press challenge wrong, and then they just turn it upside down to try again. That… probably won’t work.
For our first French Fry race we have Cedric versus Cody. Cedric thinks the race might be easy since Cody is short (5’4” or 5’5”), but Cedric quickly drops a bag of frites. He also has trouble steering the dolly. Cody, on the other hand, has no problem. He’s pretty much able to take his time all the way to the end since Cedric also drops every one of his bags in the middle of the leg.
So, Cody & Jessica are the winners of the second leg of Season 30 of The Amazing Race. They win $2,500 each for their trouble, which seems… pretty crappy. Phil says, “A good leg to win,” trying to convince us that the prize isn’t garbage.
Finally, someone completes the Diamond challenge. Trevor & Chris are headed to the races.
The lifeguards are wrong on their second try, but know what the problem is. The firefighters, on the other hand, are way, way, way wrong and decide to go over to the Diamond Detour instead.
With Cedric tired, Shawn is up next for the NBA in the French Fry race. He’ll be racing Henry, who has a similar size to Cody. Will it work to his advantage versus the 6’7” Shawn?
No. No, it will not. It looks like Shawn is going to struggle, but then he sort of runs over Henry (all is fair in Frites Racing, it seems). That’s enough to get Shawn the win, and paints the guys as a formidable team in the race.
Evan is taking over the cart for Team Yale as she goes up against skier Kristi. Evan struggles as much as Henry did, and Kristi & Jen are easily checked in as team number three.
So, we swap back to Henry, who must take on violinist Chris. Chris runs away with it, and Trevor even tells him to slow down since he’s so far ahead.
Team Indy Car figures out their equation, and April drops hers on the floor. Joey & Tim are discouraged, but they’re miles better than Goat Yoga, so they solve their problem and head away. The Goat Yoga ladies are thrilled when the firefighters show up, realizing that there still might just be a chance.
The lifeguards get their clue printed.
I’m going to dispense with beating up on Henry & Evan and just go ahead and tell you here that they lose to Alex & Conor, Lucas & Brittany, and Joey & Tim. That leaves just Goat Yoga and the firefighters, so Team Yale has to wait for them to arrive to see if they can beat one of the two teams to avoid elimination.
Probably the best news possible for them is that Goat Yoga is first to arrive. Goat Yoga pretty much sucks at everything (and in fact they don’t beat the firefighters by much with regards to the Diamond Detour).
So, we’ve go Henry versus April. With full goofy music in play, Henry stumbles (literally) across the finish line. He and Evan are still in it!
We’re down to the final two teams. April and Sarah negotiate as to who should represent their team. Ultimately, Sarah talks April into going again. Daniel goes out quickly and loses some frites. Even so, he’s right behind April to the point that they collide and he gets her turned around. At this point, he’s able just to keep a slow, consistent pace until he reaches the finish line.
April insincerely hugs Daniel, who is a great sport in trying to make sure and commenting that he hates to be the one to send her home. The firefighters even say that the Goat Yoga teachers were the better team today. They smile at the end, and so do we, as we want to avoid their backbiting from the previous week.
Next week, Morocco!