Category: amazing race 28

After making their way to a surfing task despite the fact that there are professional surfers on the race, the otherwise strong team of Kym & Alli found themselves eliminated in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 9.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Adam & Bethany
Second: Brooke & Robbie – 3:35PM
Third: Misti & Jim – 3:48PM
Fourth: Amy & Maya – 4:27PM

Brooke & Robbie acknowledge they are neither the brightest nor the best team, but that hasn’t hurt them. At the airport, they continue their lies, and Amy & Maya really believe they didn’t try to screw them when they deliberately cost them an hour.

Teams will now fly to Manila, Philippines.

First flight: Adam & Bethany, Brooke & Robbie, Amy & Maya
Second flight: Misti & Jim

By going to the airport rather than a travel agency, Misti & Jim end up on the later flight. Somehow, though Amy & Maya make the same mistake (though they did call a travel agent on the way to the airport) and start 45 minutes behind, they still beat Misti & Jim on to the earliest flight. None of this matters with the arrival around midnight, as they are stopped by hours of operation.

The detour is a choice between coach and catch. In catch, teams will wade into the bay and transport fish via buckets. In coach, teams must assemble a sidecar and mount it on a motorcycle.

Coach: Misti & Jim, Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya
Catch: Brooke & Robbie

The fish catching task does not seem like a particularly sanitary task, but Brooke & Robbie come to the logical conclusion that it will be the more physical and therefore right up their alley. This is the right decision and pushes them into first place.

On the mechanical task, Bethany serves as Adam’s assistant, while neither Amy nor Maya are comfortable with tools but are not very physical either. Misti & Jim are both confident, but we have seen before they can lack attention to detail, and in this case, they forgot to connect the shocks, a pretty glaring detail.

The switchback returns us to season 5 when Colin’s ox was broken. Teams will dig up their clue in the mud (and other stuff) using water oxen. This task, while it can be funny to watch, is all going to come down to dumb luck. All four teams are eventually searching at the same time.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is the rice farm where they are searching. Phil does not greet them by telling they are one of three teams competing in the finals, which to me suggests this is a non-elimination leg, as it should be considering the unfairness of the task. This was also the case in season 5 when Colin & Christie were saved by non-elimination.

First: Misti & Jim (win a trip to Vietnam)
Second: Amy & Maya
Third: Adam & Bethany
Non-eliminated: Brooke & Robbie

In a close footrace, Brooke & Robbie place last but are non-eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 11, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Sticking with the detour that nobody was able to complete for a bit too long, Tim & Te Jay were eliminated in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 8.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Adam & Bethany – 9:25PM
Second: Misti & Jim – 10:07PM
Third: Kym & Alli – 10:50PM
Fourth: Amy & Maya
Fifth: Brooke & Robbie – 1:07AM

Teams will now fly 1/4 of the way around the world to Singapore. Flights are reserved for them from Malta to Paris, but they can book their own tickets if they feel they can get a better flight. However, for this season, there is a new rule that they are stuck with their first purchase and cannot change their minds. CBS doesn’t want to pay those cancellation fees. This rule becomes a problem for the lead teams when the cyclists find an alternate route through Rome that they never considered, which they then share with Amy & Maya. Then the team in last that’s way behind everybody else asks for whichever flight the earlier teams chose that was better.

First flight (arrives 6:00AM): Kym & Alli, Amy & Maya, Brooke & Robbie
Second flight (arrives 6:40AM): Adam & Bethany, Misti & Jim

The fast forward is to ride the Flowrider, an artificial surfing machine, for 2 minutes. Right up Adam & Bethany’s alley, but they are so far behind that most times people would not even read the clue. Brooke & Robbie and Amy & Maya decline, but Kym & Alli want to do it, leaving the other teams to believe they are not an option to U-turn. The thing about the fast forward is it’s not one of those cryptic ones where they later find out they are getting their heads shaved. It’s very clear what the task will be. Adam & Bethany know just how hard this will be for first timers, and they are willing to take what would be a stupid risk if they were not professional surfers.

By the time Adam & Bethany arrive, Kym & Alli are doing pretty darn good. They are lasting about half the time they need to. Bethany is pretty comfortable doing this, but Adam is unsure and falls before he’s even able to let go of the rope. On their second try, Adam & Bethany successfully complete the fast forward, putting Kym & Alli in dead last. Alli, who was questioning the decision in the cab ride over, knows why now.

The other teams head to the 57th floor of a hotel, which should give them a hint what they’re about to do. The road block requires them to cross on a high wire.

Road block (in order of arrival): Maya, Brooke, Jim, Kym

The detour is a choice between china cups or chili crabs. In china cups, teams must receive a deep tissue massage, skin exfoliation, and suction from glass cups and fire. In chili crabs, teams must prepare what many consider to be Singapore’s national dish, cracking open 2 pounds of crab.

China cups: Amy & Maya, Brooke & Robbie, Kym & Alli
Chili crabs: Jim & Misti

The massage is simple enough… if you can endure the pain. Everybody leaves black and blue. There are people who actually pay for these treatments and enjoy them.

At the detour, Amy & Maya and Brooke & Robbie each agree to U-turn one team (other than the dentists). Amy & Maya choose to U-turn Adam & Bethany. Brooke & Robbie decide not to bother. So the net result is that this double U-turn is meaningless. Not having learned from this, Amy & Maya still trust them when they tell them they did not find the last clue, so they just keep driving right past it. That lying is stupid because there are other teams who are much more preferable to eliminate.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Fullerton Pavillion, a floating dome next to the financial center.

First: Adam & Bethany (win a trip to Bali)
Second: Brooke & Robbie
Third: Misti & Jim
Fourth: Amy & Maya
Eliminated: Kym & Alli

They were one of the strongest teams, but the surfing task was a poor risk to take.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 10, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

With one of the detours being worse than the other, Tim & Te Jay finished last in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 7 but were saved by non-elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Misti & Jim – 6:37AM
Second: Kym & Alli
Third: Amy & Maya – 7:10AM
Fourth: Brooke & Robbie – 7:11AM
Fifth: Adam & Bethany – 7:40AM
Sixth: Tim & Te Jay – 7:44AM

Teams must now make their way by ferry to Malta. Everybody is on the same boat, though Kym & Alli separate from the pack and go sit by themselves.

Amy is limping as they leave the pit stop. She explains that she worked out too much before the race began several episodes ago. Huh?

Their first task is to climb some steps with a pair of glasses and a bottle of alcohol without breaking anything. Most of the teams fail at this early. Bethany makes it all the way up the steps then drops something when she arrives. Kym & Alli are the first to successfully finish the task, and Brooke & Robbie are right behind them. In any event, I don’t get the sense this will make anyone too far behind. Brooke & Robbie lose more time looking for a cab, though there is still a single team (Amy & Maya) behind them.

They pull departure times at their next destination.

7:30AM – Kym & Alli, Misti & Jim, Tim & Te Jay
7:45AM – Brooke & Robbie, Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya

The road block requires teams to rappel 20 stories off a cliff. They must then search the water for their next clue, located next to a bright blue light.

Road block (in order of arrival): Tim, Misti, Alli, Robbie, Amy, Bethany

There is an element of fear to this one, but it’s not enough to shake up the standings any. The first three teams are finished before the next three begin.

The detour is a choice between flag or shine, and in this blind detour they must choose between the two without a prior explanation. In flag, teams will have to grab a flag at the end of a greasy pole. In shine, teams must polish each other’s armor.

Prior to the detour, Tim & Te Jay must paint a cross on a shield for their speed bump.

Flag: Adam & Bethany
Shine: Kym & Alli (switched from flag), Misti & Jim, Amy & Maya (switched from flag), Brooke & Robbie (switched from shine to flag to shine), Tim & Te Jay (switched from shine)

Kym & Alli give up on the flag detour because they assign Kym, who has a fear of heights, to the hardest to reach flag. Arriving there before even getting their clue, Misti & Jim assume it’s impossible and want to do the other one instead. Amy can’t run, meaning she won’t be able to do this one either. Brooke insists on giving up the shine detour in what is the first arguing I believe I have seen between the wrestlers, and that puts them in last place for now. Then Robbie wants to quit the other one about half an hour later. Their only hope is that Tim keeps failing. Eventually, Tim & Te Jay give up as well.

Rather than attempting the detour, Adam & Bethany use their express pass, guaranteeing themselves first place.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Fort Manoel.

First: Adam & Bethany (win $10,000 each)
Second: Misti & Jim
Third: Kym & Alli
Fourth: Amy & Maya
Fifth: Brooke & Robbie
Eliminated: Tim & Te Jay

Brooke & Robbie nearly defeated themselves, but having been sunk on a detour for a second leg in a row, Tim & Te Jay have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 9, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Though they seemed to have briefly stopped arguing, Shelley & Nici were the last team to arrive in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 6 and were eliminated.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Misti & Jim – 9:44PM
Second: Adam & Bethany – 11:29PM
Third: Kym & Alli – 11:31PM
Fourth: Tim & Te Jay – 12:04AM
Fifth: Brooke & Robbie – 12:29AM
Sixth: Amy & Maya

Kym & Alli make it a point to keep going on about how much they hate the dentists. The feeling seems to be mutual.

Teams must now fly to Palermo, Sicily. I expected that there would be only one flight, but despite the lengthy airport delay, there are two with one arriving 40 minutes later. At that time of night, it probably doesn’t matter.

First flight (arrives 8PM): Misti & Jim, Kym & Alli
Second flight (arrives 8:40PM): Adam & Bethany, Tim & Te Jay, Brooke & Robbie, Amy & Maya

Upon arrival at their first destination, they choose times for their next destination before partying the night away.

6:30AM – Misti & Jim, Kym & Alli
6:40AM – Brooke & Robbie, Amy & Maya
6:50AM – Tim & Te Jay, Adam & Bethany

The troublesome part here is to get a taxi. The lead teams don’t seem to have a problem, but the others struggle. Two of the last two teams find the one street with a taxi stand, but it takes Brooke & Robbie to see a cab.

The road block requires teams to race in go karts, and they must cross the finish line in under 4 minutes and 7 seconds, which seems to be just enough time.

Road block (in order of arrival): Jim, Kym, Maya, Adam, Te Jay, Brooke

Maya is the first to fail the road block, going 25 seconds over the allotted time. The heats only run about every 20 minutes, so by the time she gets back up the hill, everybody else is there waiting. All the racers make it in time, leading to a four way tie for last.

The detour is a choice between painters or posers. In painters, teams must restore a painting on a ceiling while lying on their backs on high scaffolds. In posers, teams must listen to 10 opera singers then identify them by the costume they wore, name, and opera they sang.

Painters: Misti & Jim, Kym & Alli, Adam & Bethany, Tim & Te Jay
Posers: Brooke & Robbie, Amy & Maya (switched from painters)

Only four teams can paint at once. Knowing that, everybody but Brooke & Robbie go anyway, and Adam & Bethany and Tim & Te Jay win the foot race against Amy & Maya.

Brooke & Robbie want to go there, too. Then they realize that they don’t need to memorize the names or the songs, just the outfits (and what order they were standing on the stage), as the names and songs are given to them next to the outfits. This seems like the simpler task of the two now. Robbie wants to work together with the other team, but Brooke does not. She eventually changes her mind as both teams get down to 9 out of 10 correct. This a decision they later end up regretting because they let Amy & Maya cut in front of them at the judging station, giving them a lead of a couple of minutes that they end up retaining.

The pit stop for this leg of the race Villa Niscemi, an 18th century home.

First: Misti & Jim (win a trip to Ochos Rios)
Second: Kym & Alli
Third: Amy & Maya
Fourth: Brooke & Robbie
Fifth: Adam & Bethany
Non-eliminated: Tim & Te Jay

Tim & Te Jay have been saved by non-elimination. They fought so hard to get to that detour, and it turned out to be the wrong one.

Next week’s show will be preempted by The Hollywood Film Awards, whatever that is.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 8, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Keith & Whitney fell apart at the detour in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 5 and were eliminated, but not before being U-turned by Shelley & Nici, who wasted the U-turn to prove a point about “karma”.

First: Kym & Alli – 8:15AM
Second: Adam & Bethany – 8:16AM
Third: Tim & Te Jay – 8:30AM
Fourth: Shelley & Nici – 8:34AM
Fifth: Brooke & Robbie – 8:39AM
Sixth: Misti & Jim – 8:41AM
Seventh: Amy & Maya – 8:42AM

They start off by going to work with the “famous” horse-drawn carriages, which will take them to their Ford cars. Some of the teams have more difficulty than others finding the bags of hay required to complete the task.

Following their struggles finding the hay, Shelley & Nici now get lost on their way to the detour, though unlike before they seem to be walking on egg shells trying to avoid blowing up at anyone.

The detour is a choice between camp or cream. In camp, teams must set up a traditional tent to the specifications of the nomadic people. In cream, teams must milk a goat and then make goat butter.

Cream: Adam & Bethany, Brooke & Robbie, Kym & Alli (switched to camp and back to cream), Amy & Maya, Shelley & Nici
Camp: Misti & Jim, Tim & Te Jay

I’m not sure how much the task choice really matters. There’s a patience task that you’ll finish eventually and one that is about attention to detail, neither seeming to be particularly more compelling than the other. Ultimately it seems like it will come down down to the people who had the most difficulty with directions earlier.

After finding out that it will take 45 minutes to churn the butter, Kym & Alli switch to the other detour. Then they have too much trouble and switch back.

The road block requires them to walk across a wobbly bridge with missing planks, hop on a zipline, and complete a puzzle.

Road block (in order for arrival): Misti, Bethany, Te Jay, Alli, Brooke, Maya, Shelley

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Casbah Dif, a fortress-like structure.

First: Misti & Jim (win a trip to Brazil)
Second: Adam & Bethany
Third: Kym & Alli
Fourth: Tim & Te Jay
Fifth: Brooke & Robbie
Sixth: Amy & Maya
Eliminated: Shelley & Nici

They are not even going to pretend that there is a battle for last here. Shelley & Nici have been eliminated, though they still finish on a relative high note.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 7, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Unable to obtain correct directions from the place all people go to ask for help (a bar), Michael & Scott were eliminated in The Amazing Race 25 Episode 3.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Misti & Jim – 10:36AM
Second: Adam & Bethany – 11:45AM
Third: Keith & Whitney – 11:53AM
Fourth: Shelley & Nici
Fifth: Amy & Maya
Sixth: Brooke & Robbie
Seventh: Kym & Alli
Eighth: Tim & Te Jay

Teams must now travel via a 13 hour ferry ride to Copenhagen, Denmark. All teams are on the same ferry ride several hours later, but then there’s a race for the best flight.

First flight (arrives 2:00PM): Kym & Alli
Second flight (arrives 4:00PM): Jim & Misti
Third flight (arrives 5:10PM): Adam & Bethany, Keith & Whitney, Amy & Maya, Brooke & Robbie
Fourth flight (arrives 5:35PM): Tim & Te Jay
Fifth flight (arrives 6:20PM): Shelley & Nici

Jim & Misti manage to score some pretty good seats, but somehow Kym & Alli leapfrog them by a couple of hours. For two of the teams, flight delays push them behind the rest of hte pack.

From Denmark, they will now drive 20 miles across a bridge to Sweden. Somehow, they even manage to turn this drive into a Ford commercial, assigning an extra (very small) task to those who do not drive fuel efficiently.

The detour is a choice between parking space or wedding cake. In parking space, teams must set up a streetscape (apparently, people create an environment to sit in parking spaces) within half an hour. In wedding cake, teams must create a traditional wedding cake and delivery it to a restaurant on bicycle.

Wedding cake: Kym & Alli, Brooke & Robbie, Adam & Bethany, Jim & Misti (switched from parking space)
Parking space: Amy & Maya, Tim & Te Jay, Shelley & Nici, Keith & Whitney (switched from wedding cake)

The wedding cake task seems like the better one if for no other reason than a restart of a half an hour task because you use up the whole half hour would be problematic, though the cake task has the similar issue of potentially dropping the cake, except that is not a set half an hour.

Jim & Misti fail on a simple issue of attention to detail that allows other teams to start passing them. There are 7 petals on their flower pot instead of 8 (had they turned it around, they would have been correct). On the other task, Adam & Bethany struggle to balance the cake.

The road block is to be a waiter (or as Robbie calls himself, waitress), memorizing the ingredients from four sandwiches and relaying that to the chef. This hardly seems like a task that could make much difference.

Road block (in order of arrival): Kym, Maya, Robbie, Whitney, Te Jay, Adam, Misti, Nici

This task seemed simple enough, and it was for Shelley & Nici, who pulled out of last by getting it on the first try. Misti’s multiple failures push the dentists into last. After re-reading the clue, she finally realizes on her 9th attempt that she has not been stating the sandwich number before stating the ingredients. This is only a sensible requirement since she could be talking about any of the random 100+ sandwiches.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is the VM Houses.

First: Kym & Alli (win a Ford hybrid each)
Second: Brooke & Robbie
Third: Keith & Whitney
Fourth: Amy & Maya
Fifth: Tim & Te Jay
Sixth: Shelley & Nici
Seventh: Adam & Bethany
Non-eliminated: Jim & Misti

The constantly bickering Shelley & Nici get lost on their way to the pit stop. Rather than helping her daughter, Shelley just lets them stay lost to prove a point. This team needs to go already.

Regardless, Nici figures out what went wrong in time to finish ahead of the two trailing teams who switched detours. Correctly assuming he is in last place, Jim pulls out the save and hands it to Phil, but they won’t be needing it this time because it is a non-elimination leg.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 5, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

The added task of punting a boat led to the elimination of dating couple Dennis & Isabelle last week.

Teams depart from Oxford, England in the order in which they arrived. As the first team is leaving at midnight, they will all be equalized at the train station. Everybody else will camp out and wait for the train, while Kym & Alli go find a pub.

Teams will now travel by land and sea to Shetland Islands, Scotland. They start off with an 8 hour train ride.

Scott of the firefighters takes a tumble. He ignores it at first, but it’s not long before it turns purple.

After for some reason finding a giant puffin, they head to Scalloway Castle for the detour. The detour is a choice between pony up or light my fire. Pony up requires teams to cut 50 blocks of peat from the peat bank using a tushka then deliver them to a farmer using a pony. Light my fire requires teams to build a Viking torch.

Pony up: Misti & Jim, Shelley & Nici, Adam & Bethany, Amy & Maya
Light my fire: Keith & Whitney, Michael & Scott, Kym & Alli Brooke & Robbie (switched from pony up because they could not find it), Tim & Te Jay

Jim calls pony up a physical task, which it is in part, but it’s also an animal task, a wild card that can throw a wrench into people’s plans. The first trip up the hill seems simple enough, but then the ponies start to flip out. In the end, it does not seem to matter which task they chose, so perhaps they would have been better off saving their energy.

If working with ponies was not enough, they must now head to a sheep farm and corale some sheep. I guess I have not seen sheep run before because I did not realize they jump so much.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is St. Ninian’s Isle. They are given a clue that they must use to figure out that it’s here they need to go. Luckily, they happen to be near a museum, which some teams figure out is a great place to ask questions. Michael & Scott, however, think going to a bar makes the most sense.

First: Misti & Jim (win a trip to Dubai)
Second: Adam & Bethany
Third: Keith & Whitney
Fourth: Shelley & Nici
Fifth: Amy & Maya
Sixth: Brooke & Robbie
Seventh: Kym & Alli
Eighth: Tim & Te Jay
Eliminated: Michael & Scott

I’m pretty sure this is the first time anyone has asked for directions at a bar on the race, and having been sent half an hour out of their way, Michael & Scott have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 25 Episode 4, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Leo & Jamal were another surprise elimination in The Amazing Race 24 Episode 11, leaving us with a final three I don’t think anyone saw coming.

I had counted Dave & Connor out early, but they have proved to be one of this season’s strongest teams, though they still think they deserve preferential treatment of not being U-turned because there is an old man on their team. I suspected Caroline & Jennifer would go far, if for no other reason that they can flirt their way to the top, though I also did not think we would be seeing them in the final three. Brendon & Rachel are no strangers to this position, having placed 3rd the last time they raced, and a couple of meltdowns notwithstanding proved to be one of the stronger, albeit not the most liked, teams.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Dave & Connor – 4:31AM
Second: Caroline & Jennifer – 4:38AM
Third: Brendon & Rachel – 4:52AM

Teams must now fly to their final destination city, Las Vegas, Nevada. Brendon & Rachel live there, and one of the country girls went to high school there.

They hop in a car in the airport and, upon arrival, are instructed to get out and dig. Even this leads to an argument between the teams. This should be a fun leg. Their task is to dig up a box that says property of David Copperfield. Brendon manages to pry his box open, and it contains a bunch of keys (50). The other teams await further instructions instead. They’ll find out at the road block that they need to open that box, which they should already know based on the instructions written on it.

The road block requires teams to be lokced inside a wooden crate, then free themselves using the keys they just dug up.

Road block (in order of arrival): Connor, Jennifer, Rachel

Though this is more interesting than most because of the magic and fire involved, it is ultimately just a dumb luck task of seeing who can get the right key first, though going through 50 keys does not seem particularly difficult regardless. Having opened up their box before arrival, Brendon & Rachel manage to jump into second place ahead of Caroline & Jennifer, with Dave & Connor still leading based on their early luck in the airport.

Brendon & Rachel have such a bad cab driver that they try to steal Caroline & Jennifer’s cab, but he does not take the bait. They were good judges of this driver because he manages to give the girls the lead, while the Brenchels fall back into last.

Upon arrival at The Mirage, their task is to replace all of the lights in the sign at the top of the building and count the number of bulbs used. Rachel used to work at this hotel, but the hometown advantage seems to be turning into a disadvantage.

Dave & Connor manage to jump back into the lead by a couple minutes by completing the task quicker than the country girls. Not wanting to deal with the other one again, Brendon & Rachel have dismissed their cab driver and will find another one.

The final road block requires teams to skydive from a helicopter at 10,000 feet after spotting the sign with their landing zone.

Road block (in order of arrival): Dave, Caroline, Brendon

At this point, there does not seem to be anything Brendon & Rachel can do to catch up to the two lead teams, who are neck and neck. This task does not seem to lend itself to catching up, and for that matter, the landing zone is the pit stop, meaning there is no time to be made up. Both of these road blocks, while spectacular, aren’t what I would expect in a race oriented show.

The Amazing Race season 24 winners are Dave & Connor. They were a strong team right from the beginning, despite their U-turn whining. Caroline & Jennifer have placed second, and Brendon & Rachel once again come in third.

The Amazing Race has been renewed for season 25. After 8 years in the Sunday at 8PM time slot, the show will now move to Fridays at 8. This is the night where networks send their shows to die. If there is good news in this announcement, it’s that there will no longer be concerns about football overruns, so the show will actually start on time for a change. CBS is also arguably more reliable on Friday nights than some of these other networks that cancel half their lineups every season.