An early mistake left them trailing for the entire leg in The Amazing Race 20 Episode 4, but a non-elimination leg saved Bopper & Mark.
It would be really nice if this show started on time for a change.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.
First: Art & JJ – 8:57AM
Second: Rachel & Dave – 11:33AM
Third: Joey & Danny – 12:11PM
Fourth: Vanessa & Ralph – 12:27PM
Fifth: Nary & Jamie – 12:56PM
Sixth: Brendon & Rachel – 1:18PM
Seventh: Kerri & Stacy – 3:58PM
Eighth: Bopper & Mark – 5:54PM
Vanessa & Ralph say that, having both been divorced, they learned to vocalize what they want more, which may not necessarily be the best thing. Rachel is trying to remember that Brendon is her little bookie bear, not her enemy.
Teams will now travel by train to Ehrwald, Austria, then drive across the border into the oldest state in Germany, Bavaria.
There is a huge 9 hour gap between first and last place, a combination of both the fast forward and also the last place team having done so poorly, but the timing works out perfectly for them. The 10 hour train ride makes most teams spend the night at the train station, and their next stop doesn’t open until 8:30 in the morning. Not everybody is bunched together, but there are two packs a lot closer than they had been, with only the first three departing teams getting an early enough train to open up a lead.
The detour is a choice between fairy tale or champion male. In fairy tale, they’ll follow a trail of gingerbread, find the witch’s cottage, and use those pieces to complete the roof of a gingerbread house. In champion male, they have to style the beards of beard champions. You can’t make this stuff up. Seeing as it’s snowing out, the indoor task probably makes more sense.
Champion Male: Art & JJ, Joey & Danny, Rachel & Dave, Vanessa & Ralph, Nary & Jamie
Fairy Tale: Rachel & Brendon, Kerri & Stacy, Bopper & Mark
Before their detour, Bopper & Mark must complete a speed bump, which requires them to yodel. If previous speed bumps are any indication, this task takes about 10 minutes.
The first two beard teams retain their lead, but Joey & Danny chose the guy with the longest hair, a choice they blame for the other teams catching up. Ultimately, the task is not created equally for all players, as the different beards have different styling requirements.
Their next stop is Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s castle. At the castle, they have a choice between walking or taking a horse and buggy. The horse route is theoretically easier but slower. Rachel & Dave continue their standard fighting, while Vanessa tells Ralph to shut up, correcting him to tell him he couldn’t care less, which is probably true.
Aside from that, there are two castles. That means that Rachel & Dave and Nary & Jamie both just spent time on a tour for nothing. Bopper & Mark make the same mistake, minus the tour. In a pretty tight race, these errors are sufficient to shake up the standings. Adding to this, Mark thinks he’s going to have a heart attack from all that walking.
From there, they head to an ice hockey and curling rink. The road block is a game of eisstock-schiessen. They have to slide their Travelocity roaming gnomes across the ice to land them on a bullseye.
Road block (in order of arrival): Art, Joey/Danny, Ralph, Nary, Brendon, Rachel, Stacy/Kerri, Bopper
Most of the teams seem to get through this fine, but Nary’s noticeably struggling, having tried over 100 times by the time the trailing teams arrive. Another 100 or so tries later, they finally leave, now in last place.
The pit stop for this leg of the race is Landhannes Farm, a 200 year old working dairy farm.
First: Art & JJ (win a trip to Thailand)
Second: Joey & Danny
Third: Vanessa & Ralph
Fourth: Rachel & Dave
Fifth: Brendon & Rachel
Sixth: Bopper & Mark
Seventh: Nary & Jamie
Eliminated: Kerri & Stacy
With Nary & Jamie navigating their way to the pit stop better, Kerri & Stacy have been eliminated.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 20 Episode 6, which airs Sunday at 8/7cish on CBS.