We left off with a cliffhanger in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 7. Having made a bad flight decision, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent were several hours behind everybody else. But their potential saving grace came when James & Abba lost their belongings, including a passport, the biggest mistake you can make on a show about going around the world.
From last week, we already know the order of placement of the first three teams. It’s just a question of how the other three finish. For James & Abba, though there may be some very slim chance, the phrase needle in a haystack doesn’t even begin to describe the situation they are in.
Back at the swimming pool, Abbie & Ryan continue to watch the hapless Josh & Brent attempt to finish the swimming task. The library closed at 4, so that’s out of the question, forcing them to swim. Now the pool is closing, too, leaving Josh & Brent with a 4 hour penalty. Because the penalty will be assessed later, Abbie & Ryan will utlimately be safe no matter what, even if they continue to waste all night waiting for the other team. The good thing that comes out of this for Ryan is that it changes his character arc, potentially making him likeable to people who otherwise did not like him.
Josh and Abbie perform the road block. Josh easily finishes it, and he pays forward the other team’s waiting by helping Abbie figure out what she was doing wrong before she sat down and cried. Both teams step on the mat at the same time. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had they been in last, though in this case I assume the penalty would have determined the result.
First: Trey & Lexi
Second: Jaymes & James
Third: Natalie & Nadiya
Fourth: Abbie & Ryan
Fifth: Josh & Brent
Non-eliminated: James & Abba
It’s still not over, though. Having exhausted their efforts to find a passport and come up empty, James & Abba have been saved by non-elimination. Of course, they still need to find a passport in order to proceed to the next country.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived. We are not provided with any starting times so that we don’t know just how far apart they are. Josh & Brent have their 4 hour penalty assessed at the start of the leg. We eventually find out that this penalty is still not enough to kick them out of fifth place.
The first two teams are greeted by an hours of operation with an 8AM opening. It seems as if they may well be sticking around Russia for another leg, which should extend James & Abba’s lifeline, if they can ever catch up.
The road block involves calculating the time of day in 5 different Russian cities. The country has 9 time zones, and they must get the answers based on a series of slides.
Road block (in order of arrival): Jaymes, Lexi, Ryan, Brent
After taking the test 11 times, Lexi finally figures out what she and Jaymes are doing wrong, and they finally get it. Natalie & Nadiya have been dying to use their express pass, and they use it now, not even bothering to attempt the road block. Ryan makes the same mistake the first two teams did. He neglects to factor in the fact that Moscow is +4 (as in 4 hours ahead of GMT), but something +6 is just 2 hours ahead of that, not 6 hours. He has figured out that he’s being misled, yet it takes him two dozen attempts to figure out why. Brent gets it on his first try.
The detour is a choice between movers or shakers. In movers, teams must learn and perform a Russian soldier dance. In shakers, teams must identify 7 historic Russian leaders.
Movers: Trey & Lexi, Jaymes & James, Natalie & Nadiya, Abbie & Ryan
Shakers: Josh & Brent
Despite James’ sprained ankle, the Chippendales opt to dance anyway, and they still finish it first, though I don’t imagine that was a smart move if they just hurt him even more for the rest of the race.
The pit stop for this leg of the race is Sokolniki Park, and it has come very quickly, far too quickly for anyone’s luck to change. As we watch James & Abba spend the entire leg time trying to find a passport, their lack of hope keeps getting more obvious.
First: Jaymes & James (win a trip to Costa Rica)
Second: Trey & Lexi
Third: Natalie & Nadiya
Fourth: Abbie & Ryan
Fifth: Josh & Brent
Eliminated: James & Abba
After briefly delaying the inevitable, James & Abba have been eliminated.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 21 Episode 9, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.