Unable to find the strength to complete either detour in The Amazing Race 15 Episode 7, the last remaining female team in the race, Maria & Tiffany, were eliminated.
The football overrun has as usual caused a delay, this time of about 20 minutes. A live blog will begin when 60 Minutes is over.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.
First: Sam & Dan – 9:33PM
Second: Meghan & Cheyne – 9:48PM
Third: Herbert & Nathaniel – 10:32PM
Fourth: Gary & Matt – 11:08PM
Fifth: Brian & Ericka – 1:38AM
Dan continues to be the angry younger brother. Cheyne believes that the race has some indication of how they would do in a marriage. The Globetrotters are there to have fun. Gary wants to prove he can still do it at his age. Brian & Ericka want to prove through the race that they are a good team… I’m not completely buying it.
Teams will fly 700 miles to Stockholm, Sweden, where they will travel by train and ferry to the Tivoli Grona Lund amusement park. Considering what time it is, there should be some bunching. The first flight is at 6:55AM. It would seem that everybody should get the same flight, but Gary & Matt are told the first flight is fully booked. It’s a two team race for last.
First flight (6:55AM): Sam & Dan, Meghan & Cheyne, Herbert & Nathaniel
Second flight (9:25AM): Gary & Matt, Brian & Ericka
Meghan & Cheyne and Sam & Dan start off in the lead, leaving the Trotters behind trying to figure out how to get tickets for the train. They retain this lead as they get to the ferry as well.
When they arrive at the amusement park, one person from each team must ride a ride that plunges 24 stories in less than 3 seconds. Imagine if Mika had to do this. Being that he’s over 6’4″, Big Easy will have to skip this task. While on it, they must spot an arrow with the direction of their next clue. The first two teams work together to keep their lead intact.
As the other teams are at the amusement park, we see the teams bringing up the rear land. As with before, one team does not make the train, which puts Gary & Matt in dead last.
The next task is a game of Travelocity roaming gnome ring toss. Then, the detour is a choice between Nobel dynamite or Viking alphabet. In Nobel dynamite, teams will fill sandbags to create a protective bunker, then set off an explosion to find a box. In Viking alphabet, teams must decode a message using the ancient Viking alphabet.
The other two teams get lost on the way to the detour, allowing the Globetrotters to erase their lead.
All five teams choose the dynamite detour, which seems to be the most logical choice. What it does is give the all male teams an advantage, though, while Cheyne gets stuck listening to Meghan complain. And after the detour is over, he still has to listen to her dwelling on it.
From there, teams will drive themselves to Bogs Gard Farm, home to one of the most infamous challenges in Amazing Race history. Time to find a clue in a haystack. Lena & Kristy were eliminated after Lena spent nearly ten hours on this task back in season 6. In a switchback, that task is coming back. Dan knows his history and warns his brother this task sucks. Regardless of what the standings may be, this task makes it still anybody’s game. Considering some of the whining we’ve heard from these teams thus far, it could very well push some of them to break.
Road block (in order of arrival): Sam, Meghan, Big Easy, Brian, Gary
Sam decides to do it without really thinking, and Dan is immediately regretting it. Dan keeps yelling and trying to help his brother, but Sam wants no part of Dan. Meghan forces her way into this task because her and her partner are not working very well together, which could well be a decision that leads to a nervous breakdown. This is the worst thing she’s ever done in her entire life. Speaking of breakdowns, Sam calls his brother a moron and flips him off, refusing to listen to any advice he’s trying to give. Big Easy, meanwhile, just searches and keeps a calm head. And he finishes first, giving his partner a happy birthday present.
It comes as no surprise that eventually the trailing two teams catch up. Last person to find the clue loses. By this point, Meghan’s crying, and Sam is ready to kill his brother. All things considered, it may be worth employing strategy. Quit the road block and take the penalty. It’s a risk, but it beats digging through hay all day. After finding the clue, Sam & Dan decide they’re not going to be quite as mean to each other any more. Ironically, Dan’s advice turns out to be true: the clue Sam finds comes when he’s just rolling out the hay and not digging through it.
The farm is also the pit stop for this leg of the race.
First: Herbert & Nathaniel (win a trip to Turks and Caicos)
Second: Meghan & Cheyne
Third: Brian & Ericka
Fourth: Sam & Dan
Non-eliminated: Gary & Matt
They finished last on this dumb luck task, but Gary & Matt are still in the race. In the next leg, they will face a speed bump.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 15 Episode 9 You’re Not Meant for the Swamp (Estonia), which airs Sunday at 8/7cish CBS.