Season 28, Episodes, 4, 5 and 6
Tanzania/Norway/Italy: Whoops, thus blogger got busy and
missed a week of reporting in. Thus, here’s a quick account of three episodes.
Four and Five aired on the same night, I’m not sure why,
other than it may reflect the death wish that CBS has for the Race. OK, I’ll
stop beating that drum.
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| Freddie Mercury |
Episode Four took
place largely in Tanzania, where the teams searched for the boyhood home of
Freddie Mercury, and then moved on to be baffled by the
secret compartments in a roomful of boxes. Next, they hammered out some soup
ladles.
Tara and Joey, the oldest duo in the competition, and thus
dubbed Team Mom and Dad, took the leg.
Sara and Shamir, Team Junk because of his tight squeeze in a
rappelling harness in an earlier episode, were eliminated, in part because they
got lost and also because they weren’t that good. Their burnout dropped Allison
Chanler out of the pool.
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| King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway |
Episode Five played
out in Norway, which may have provided some of the most stunning scenery ever seen
on the Amazing Race.
A rite of passage into the country requires a newcomer to
devour fermented fish, which the racers did (the ever cheerful Floyd liking it).
From there, they were off to climb a 31-story wooden pallet (Matt flew right
up). After that, they either knocked on some doors and recited a poem to a troll impersonator (wouldn’t
Norway have real trolls?) or kayaked about in search of coded fishing lures.
Becca and Floyd played their Fast Forward, thus skipping some
challenges, but they still had to parachute from a helicopter, which,
they, of
course, loved.
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| Tara |
Joey and Tara (an increasingly strong and engaging team) took
first again.
Liz and Michael, once invincible, got lost (Liz couldn’t
read a map; Michael couldn’t stop scolding), but it was a non-elimination leg,
so they weren’t sent home.
Episode Six took
the teams to Milan, Italy, where they were tested by having to eat in a moving
street car restaurant and spotting the right signage before heading off to make a body-cast ghost or climb up and down a
rock wall. (Matt and Becca scampered up; Brooke broke down midway up, but made
it). Then they zipped across Lake Como in a vintage speedboat, a gorgeous ride.
At the leg's start, the racers knew they were to face a so-called "double-blind elimination." Meanly, some of them made a pact to use this obstacle to eliminate Ashton and Vanck.
The plan worked and Ashton and Vanck are now history. (Out of our pool: Team Bushnell).
It wasn’t quite clear why the others had it
out for Ashton and Vanck, as they weren’t that big a threat. It may just have
been that the other teams found them annoying.
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| Ashton |
They were a mismatched pair. Vanck, earnest and nerdy, was
not that athletic; Ashton, socially comfortable, was athletic, confident and brave.
Even though they were textbook opposites, they had begun to
work together and seemed to have formed a friendship. I found myself rooting for them. At the same time, other
teams – read Liz and Michael – cracked, turning on each other at the first
sign
of trouble.
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| Vanck |
Becca and Floyd finished first in Episode Six. They were - surprise, surprise - overjoyed.
Overheard:
Episode Four:
Tara: Get a new partner.
Joey: I don’t want a new partner. I want you.
Brooke: I’m not strong enough to do
this, and my jackass partner nominated me to do this.
Ashton: I’m stuck with him (Vanck) ...
It is what it is.
Episode 5:
Michael: We’re getting along great. Out
of all of these people, I wouldn’t take another partner.
Liz: Big teddy bear you.
Michael: Big smelly teddy bear.
Episode 6:
Michael: We’ve just got to get this
nastiness behind us and get moving.
Liz: I am trying to meet you halfway.
It’s like when you act like a jackass.
Brooke: I don’t know which way to go. I’m very concerned.
Ashston: All I can tell you, you’re a
beautiful ghost.
Vanck: I always wanted to be a
beautiful something.
Orders of Finish:
Episode Four:
1)
Tara and Joey
2) Becca and Floyd
3) Liz and Michael
4) Matt and Redmond
5) Logan and London
6) Vanck and Ashton
7) Brooke and Scott
Episode Five:
1) Tara and Joey
2) Matt and Redmond
3) Becca and Floyd
4) Vanck and Ashton
5) Logan and London
6) Brooke and Scott
7) Liz and Michael
Episode Six:
1) Becca and Floyd
2) Matt and Redmond
3) Tara and Joey
4) Liz and Michael
5) Brooke and Scott
6) Logan and London
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