The Amazing Race Season 30: Episode 3 Recap

By David Mumpower and Kim Hollis

January 24, 2018

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The challenge is visually hilarious. The gnome gets a zipline, too. One player from each team follows the gnome down the line. We half-expect the gnomes to become sentient and start talking in energy drink-speak.
Still, the Roadblock isn’t funny to Cedric Ceballos. Legitimately one of the largest people in the world, he’s struggling through the tight corridors and heavily slanted stairwells. He has to use attached ropes to pull himself up, exhausting the giant before he gets to the tough part of the challenge. It’s kind of tough to watch him struggling simply because he’s larger than everyone else.

The next step in the Roadblock is to head to the roof of the Kasbah Museum (no, we are NOT making a Clash/Combat Rock joke here). Finding the second rooftop is brutal in the tight space in this part of Tangier. Some of them run, which is a bit ridiculous since they don’t know where they’re going. They wind up going nowhere fast in a literal sense.

Meanwhile, we’re worried about Cedric’s health. He’s a 48-year-old man who probably weighs around 240 pounds. Morocco isn’t known for its cold spells, either. The blaring heat and the claustrophobic buildings are taking their toll on him. He’s reduced to crawling up the stairs at one point. Despite all of these issues, he’s the first person to retrieve his gnome and complete the Roadblock. It’s extremely impressive. Alas, he’s so worn out that he’ll struggle to recuperate the rest of the leg.

The next challenge again plays up the chaotic aspects of the city. Contestants must find a pay phone (ask your parents, kids) at a Tele Boutique. Here, they’ll receive a secret message. They must follow the directions of the message and reunite with their partner to reveal the next clue. This is where everything falls apart for Cedric. He gets lost and really just needs to sit down for a while. He might have done better if he had done that. As other teams reach the phone, he grows more and more lost.




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Team Extreme and Team IndyCar find the phone first. Cedric sees them and follows the unaffiliated pair to the phone. What he misses is that Alex pulls out a coin from the gnome’s pouch. As he evaluates the situation, Team Yale passes him. At least six teams are in basically the same situation, though. Everyone’s trying to find the clue for the Detour.

Team Yale is the lucky team. They learn that they can either Drop It Off or Shake It Off. Drop It Off requires players to lug a cart full of merchandise through the narrow streets and deliver the items to paying customers. At this point, they’ll receive a stamp confirming delivery. Shake It Off is a belly-dancing challenge, so most people are going to pick it. Players must read three different words off the bellies of dancers. It’s rude to stare like that, but hey! Belly dancers are probably used to the ogling.

At the back of the pack are Team Big Brother, Team Ocean Rescue, and Team Chomp. Something questionable happens at this point. Brittany the lifeguard has her hands full. Either due to kindness or calculation, Jessica offers to hold Brittany’s gnome during the call. Moments later, Jessica places the gnome on the ground and leaves.
Brittany is too frenzied at the moment to recognize her mistake. She runs off without the gnome. Jessica provides a non-apology to the camera, noting that she feels bad but is in last place. As the show cuts to commercial, Brittany realizes what has happened and runs down the street, screaming Jessica’s name. When she retrieves the gnome from a local, she comments that Jessica took it on purpose. During her late monologue, she seems less sure.


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