Amazing Race Recap—Week #4

—By the brilliant MR—

The eight remaining teams left the pit stop at Wat Phnom, Cambodia. Teams had to find their way to the Persian Gulf and the world’s tallest building. Sam and Dan disappoint their parents and their contestant MR by trying to book airline tickets to “the Persian Gulf.” Lucky for them, Ericka & Brian (SCan & GB) narrow it down for them and tell them the world’s tallest building is in Dubai. All teams get on the same flight--disappointing drama-wise.

The clue at the top of the building told teams to go to a parking garage to a car and drive themselves to a spot in the Dubai Desert and the next clue. Lance and Keri (KA) get lost going to the parking garage.

But surprise, there was a fast forward (the only one this season) also at the top of the building. Meghan & Cheyne (KCoo & AM) are the only team to try the fast forward, where Cheyne must drive a racecar on the Dubai Autodrome racetrack and attempt a 45-second lap. He conquers it the first try, and they were driven to the pit stop as team number one. They win a trip to Jamaica, even though Cheyne’s hair is annoying.

All the other teams drive to the desert task, but Lance and Keri (KA) get lost driving around Dubai and arrive late. In the desert, teams encounter a roadblock where one person has to find and ladle water from urns hidden in the desert sand. Evidently, it is hot in the desert and the task took the teams some time and sweat. Brian and Erika (SCan & GB) finished first. Maria & Tiffany (BH & AS) ran over a stake as they left the task, which punched a hole in their car’s radiator, and they had to wait for a different car. For some reason, Dan & Sam (MR) waited with them. Mika & Canaan (CS) and Lance & Keri (KA) are the last teams to arrive at the desert and the last teams to complete the task.

The task at the indoor ski facility is the roadblock, “Find a Snowman” or “Build a Snowman.” Teams can (1) building a snowman with melting snow in 100+ degrees or (2) sled down a hill and search for a tiny snowman in a big snow pile. Gary & Matt (DS), Sam & Dan (MR), Maria & Tiffany (BH & AS), Brian & Ericka (SCan & GB), and the Globetrotters (SL) all start with “Find a Snowman.” Although they arrived later than the others, Brian & Ericka (SCan & GB) and the Globetrotters (SL) get lucky, find the little snowman quickly, and head for the pit stop. Gary & Matt (DS), Sam & Dan (MR), and Maria & Tiffany (BH & AS) all gave up on finding the little guy and switched to “Build a Snowman,” which they finished easily. Mika & Canaan (CS) and Lance & Keri (KA) arrived late, and both teams chose to build the snowman. Lucky for Canaan, Mika chose “Build a Snowman” solely because she was afraid of the sledding part of “Find a Snowman.”

Finishing order: (1) Meghan & Cheyne (KCoo & AM)

(2) Ericka & Brian (SCan & GB)

(3) Flight Time & Big Easy (SL)

(4) Gary & Matt (DS)

(5) Sam & Dan (MR)

(6) Maria & Tiffany (AS & BH)

(7) Mika & Canaan (CS)

Last to arrive was a much calmer Lance & Keri (KA) and they were eliminated from the race.

Overall, the teams are being way too nice to each other. Things need to get nasty for the AR to be entertaining this season. Teams should have all had to “Find the Snowman” instead of having the option to do the easier task. The fast forward was waaay to easy: Driving a racecar? Come on, what happened to shaving your head or getting a tattoo?! And, getting flights needs to be trickier. We need the drama of teams on different flights, missed flights, flight delays, and hours of waiting in airports. Then, the teams wouldn’t be racing so close together. It’s better when the teams have no idea whether the rest of the competition is ahead or behind them. Sadly, the biggest drama of the night was that the NFL preempted the show by over an hour!

Next week: Mika & Canaan (CS) argue because Mika is afraid to go down a waterslide (outfitted with her pink waterwings).

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Ouch—KA’s AR team has been eliminated.  She is now the third person to have four teams out (like KCar and KM).  Luckily, her TC contestant is a winner, so she should hang in the game for a while. 

Other breaking news—DS is now TIED for last place with me!  Congrats!  One more week, and you should be in second to last place.  Nice.

Here’s the score update: