The Amazing Race Recap

By Daron Aldridge

December 5, 2011

We lost? That's it. I'm climbing up and I'm gonna jump.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
That one little mishap allows the snowboarders to snag the first appointment for a tattoo at 7 a.m. the next morning in the village. Jeremy & Sandy are 20 minutes after them and the final two teams have an appointment at the same time of 7:40 a.m. It seems a bit off but understandable that the producers wouldn’t separate the last two teams by 20 minutes to up the odds of drama.

As the teams settle into hammocks for the night, Sandy laments that the only reason that Andy & Tommy are doing so well is because of luck. I think that working well as a team and racing smart with a fun-loving attitude are the real reasons for their success here. The only other team to compare on the teamwork aspect had been the most recently eliminated grandparents. I do understand why Sandy would rather blame luck and not something they can control if they just wanted to.

With the sunrise comes the tattoos that will spell out their next destination, which is the San Francisco Bay Towers in Panama City. Each of the teams quickly sees where their temporary fresh ink is pointing them. Once again, we are shown all the teams except Andy & Tommy expressing concern about making the final three. From an editing standpoint, this concerns me because it seems as if they are positioning the dudes of Team Dude as definitely in the finale, which means it probably won’t happen.

Andy & Tommy get to the towers first as expected, given their 20 minute lead. In the shadow of these buildings, Andy gleefully accepts the Roadblock that is not for the acrophobic. Andy is clearly not afraid of heights as he bounds to the elevator to get it under way. The task is to walk a 60 foot cable from one tower to the other, retrieve the clue and then return. Oh yeah, that cable connects the 35th floor of each building.




Advertisement



Counteracting Andy’s excitement is Sandy’s anxiety. She is due for the next Roadblock, so there is no choice but for her to face her extreme fear of heights. We get a glimpse at the Amazing Race rules in place when the teams read the clue because below the Roadblock task teaser, there is this: NOTE: Andy, Sandy, Cindy and Amani MUST perform the Roadblock. No deciding on the part of the teams, who had better hope that Cindy and Amani don’t have an issue with heights.

Andy blazes through the task with a smile that would make the Cheshire cat jealous. They get the clue that cryptically directs them to a statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps. Sandy gingerly starts her tightrope walk and she keeps her focus on the line and the task. She does surprisingly well given the pale, frightened look on her face before she started.

As the guys leave, Cindy gets the bad news that she is up for this Roadblock and they are only a few minutes ahead of Amani & Marcus. As Jeremy & Sandy’s taxi driver is getting directions from a local, the other two teams’ cabbies are listening in. So, there will be no misfortune at the hands of a taxi wandering aimlessly.

Andy & Tommy get to the next clue box, which holds their Detour for this leg. The choice is Filet or Sole. Filet has the teams go to the fish market and deliver a variety of seafood items to multiple vendors before getting their clue. For Sole, they have to make a pair of sandals to the satisfaction of a cobbler using only a piece of leather and straps. The boys go for the Sole.


Continued:       1       2       3       4       5

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.