Amazing Race – Week 8 – Recap *Updated*

Come back later for my recap on this week’s Amazing Race. For now here are last week’s results.

Completed

  1. Team Longhorn (Trey and Lexi)
  2. Team Chippendale (Jaymes and James)
  3. Team Twin (Natalie and Nadiya)

Did not finish Leg

  1.     Team Rocker (James and Mark)
  2.     Team Ego (Abbie and Ryan)
  3.     Team Goat (Josh and Brent)

Recap

We continue the cliffhanger with The Rockers looking for their passports and Team Goat continuing to have issues in the water. Team Goat is told that the swimming pool is closing shortly but they are giving one extra try to complete the task. They do not finish so are giving their clue with a four hour penalty. Meanwhile the Rockers head for the hotel and contact the police to see what can be done. They also contact the US Embassy to have new passports issued.

At the Roadblock Team Goat finishes it easily and then Josh helps Abbie with the task since she is having trouble figuring it out. It’s actually a nice Race moment considering how much the two teams have been through together in the last leg.

At the Pit stop Phil smirks as he tells Team Ego they are fourth and Team Goat they are fifth but have the 4 hour penalty at start of next leg. The Rockers come back to the mat and are told they are still alive since it is a non-elimination leg but will need to get their passports to continue the race or they will eventually be eliminated. They will also have a Speed Bump at some point in the next leg.

With all that handled we are off to our first commercial break and already tons of storylines for episode. Team Longhorn departs first and it looks like we are staying in Moscow for the leg for now. Teams must make their way to the Agricultural Academy and follow the marked signs for the next clue.

Their first taxi takes them to the wrong place to a place with lots of graffiti and broken bottles. They quickly take a second taxi and are again taken to the wrong place. Thanks to poor taxis Chippendales arrive first and convince their taxi driver to wait with them since the academy opens at 8.

After the weirdest taxi trip ever Team Longhorn gets to the academy and waits for the doors to open with Chippendales. As it opens they see that Team Rockers are given a Speed Bump and wonder how bad their leg could have gone since they started previous leg with them.

As the doors open we get the episodes Roadblock:

  • Teams are shown Russia’s nine different time zones and a local Moscow time. Must say time in 5 Russian cities. As they finish they will get the next clue.

James and Lexi flunk on the first attempt. Before we know it they are on attempt six and the Twins are off. They must use the Express today are they lose it. After eleven tries Lexi figures out that Moscow is in the +4 zone so they were adding the times wrong. I have a feeling other times will make the same mistake.

Now that they have that mistake figured out they complete the task and go right into the Detour.

  • Movers: Teams must perform a Russian Soldier dance. If they can correctly perform the routine they will get their next clue.
  • Shakers: Must find look a likes for seven Russian leaders to get their next clue.

The Chippendales go to get their taxi driver who takes his time drinking his coffee and eating his pastry. They comment about how they are in a race and should hurry up but they fail to even thank him for waiting for them. They are about to take off but instead stop to help Trey and Lexi hail a taxi since they worked together on the Roadblock.

The Twins are having trouble with taxi as well since their taxi driver wants to stop at a McDonald’s. They convince him to continue toward the academy while Chippendales and Longhorns are starting the dancing. Jaymes is having issues with ankle that he injured on an earlier leg and as they start practicing he is noticeably in pain and sweating quickly. This task is an active one so I think they will be leaving for the other task.

As the Twins arrive at the Roadblock they use the Express Pass and move on to the Movers roadblock. At the Detour Chippendales fight though it and finish the routine first. They are now off to the next Pit Stop at Sokolniki Park. The have to fine a Public Performance Pavilion to check in. As they are getting undressed to take off Team Longhorn also finish and are off.

The Chippendales get a taxi quickly and try to get a taxi for Trey and Lexi but since Lexu ran off they just leave for the Pit Stop. The Twins arrive and get their taxi to wait for them as the Longhorns are able to hail another taxi,

While doing the detour Natalie has trouble with the pants as they rip down the butt. She tries to continue but it keeps ripping so she is forced to change pants and asks for help since the pants are tight on her butt.

We go back to the hotel as the Rockers are trying to find a way to get passports and Team Goat are waiting the penalty. Team Ego are finally off to start this leg. Ryan says that the last leg gave them extra strength that the other teams don’t have.

The Chippendales finally win a leg and get a trip for two to Costa Rica. They are shortly followed by the Longhorns. The Twins finish the detour and are off to the next Pit stop. We go to Ryan about to start the Roadblock. Instantly it is clear that he is making the same mistake. It’s funny since he is so over confident that he was correct and ready to leave when he is told he is wrong. As he continues to flunk the test he is noticeably getting upset which is actually getting really funny since his ego rubs me the wrong way. He goes through ten attempts as we are shown Nadiya falling on her ass as they reach the pits top in third place.

Team Goat are off to the first task as The Rockers are starting but choose to try to the passport problem solved before moving on. They first borrow a locals phone to call the Embassy but are not able to get a quick passport so decide to try their luck with the police.

Back at the Roadblock Ryan is asking why the Moscow area has a +4 when it is in the same time zone. Abbie figures it out and comments that she thinks Ryan is over thinking it. He is getting more and more upset as he is now on Test # 21. He starts confronting the instructor who tells him to calm down and that he is on his side. He’s blaming everyone but himself for not figuring it out.

The instructor actually starts laughing when Ryan finally figures out what he was doing wrong. He completes the task on the next attempt.

At the police station the Rockers find out they have to fill out a report and can’t just ask if the passport was found. At the Roadblock Brent figures out the time zones on the first attempt and the instructor tells him he is a smart man.

Watching Abbie pull off the routine was awesome. The girl can dance and even impresses the instructor. They finish the task quickly and are off for the pit stop.

The Goats do the Shakers and actually find the people easily. I thought this task would be more difficult but the task actually seemed quite easy. Team Ego finish fourth followed by Team Goat in sixth. After a grueling day Team Rocker are sadly eliminated from the race.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the episode. The teams were separated by too much time so it no one really seemed to be rushing to complete task. The tasks always seem more difficult when the teams are bundled together. On the positive side I think if the teams were bundled together we wouldn’t have seen the hilarious scenes of Ryan trying to figure out what he was doing wrong with the time zones. If they were bundled together the other teams would have given the clue to the teams behind them.

Next week it looks like Team Ego miss another flight and the Chippendales consider playing the game and U-Turning another team. They comment how it could cost them two friends so I think it involves the Longhorns.