Amazing Race 21 – Week 5 – Recap (UPDATED)

Team Rocker shot to the top of the Leaderboard last week thanks to the Fast Forward. Personally I don’t think they will stay there but you never know.

  1. Team Rocker (James and Mark)
  2. Team Ego (Abbie and Ryan)
  3. Team Twin (Natalie and Nadiya)
  4. Team Goat (Josh and Brent)
  5. Team Monster Truck (Rob and Kelley)
  6. Team Chippendale (Jaymes and James)
  7. Team Longhorn (Trey and Lexi)

Team Sub (Gary and Will) Elminated

I still think it’s an evenly match field that is left. I’d like to say that Team Monster Truck doesn’t belong but even with my dislike for Rob and the way they always fail to properly read the clues they have done well at the majority of the challanges and deserve to still be in the race. Based on the previews it looks like it will be a physical episode and put a toll on the teams. Rob seems to excel at the more physical challanges so they may be ok for another week. The Twins still have the Express Pass that they can use so I really hope they are smart enough to use it if they are in trouble.

If I had to pick a team to go home this week I would guess Team Goat but I wouldn’t be surprised by anything this season.

RECAP:

I was going to try to watch Amazing Race live and then send the recap to MJ earlier but then I started watching The Broncos and switched over in time to see The Giants win the World Series by sweeping the Tigers.

Now that Baseball is all over and Fox can get back to their regular schedule I’m finally sit down to watch Amazing Race as the final seven start off.  I am guessing early that this will be the season’s first Non-Elimination leg.

We start off in Bangladesh  with Team Rocker’s James finding out that his Dad has stage 4 Cancer with no chance of remission. I feel weird about situations like this because on one hand this is a once in a life time experience but on the other if it was me I would want to be with my family during this time.

Regardless Team Rocker are off as teams go to a specific taxi stand to take a taxi to Jatrabari Market.  Once there they must find a certain vender for their next clue. Their lead must be huge since they get to the market and are off to the next stop before any other teams are shown. They must proceed to Ferry Ghat Road.

Turns out to be an over two hour lead as Team Ego and Team Twin are leaving a minute apart from each other.  The twins take the time to comment about how they are the only all-girl team left. I like the girls but they need to get over the fact that they are the only girl team left.

We jump back to Team Rocker who are at the Roadblock were teams must build a scale and balance the scale with wood and rocks. James does it since Abba hurt his knee on the last leg. The only issue they have is James can’t find the Lashing rope at first but they get it together fairly quickly.

Meanwhile Team Ego and the Twins work together to find the clue as the remaining teams all leave the starting point in quick succession. The Rockers finish the Roadblock and go right into the Detour.

  • Straw Dogs:  Must help manufacturer Eco friendly Jut bags. They must whip unprocessed Jut on nails and then transfer to machine to manufacturer into bags.
  • Bamboo Jungle: Must grab 40 Bamboo of various lengths and then transport it across town.

Twins and Ego do Roadblock together and the interactions between the two teams are funny as they annoy each other.  Ryan has a short moment of hilarity as he mocks the Twins’ “Twinnie” chant. Team Monster Truck and Chippendales get to Taxi Stand at the same time as Goat as a hard time finding the stand.  And it turns out I was mistaken that all teams are now off since Team Longhorn are just leaving now.

Now I understand why producers do the tasks that force all teams to be grouped together. It must be hard filming all the teams in different places.  It is also hard to keep the teams straight since they are so spread out.

At this point the Rockers are doing  the Bamboo Detour, Twins and Ego are doing the Roadblock, Monster Truck and Chippendales are on their way to the market, Goat is having hard time finding the taxi stand and Longhorns just started the leg.

The Rockers get to Detour and discover that must get Bamboo from marked bundles. Back at the Roadblock Natalie get kids to chant “Come On Twinnie.” Nothing like getting the locals on your side.

The heat is starting to rise as Team Rocker start to get their 40 pieces of bamboo and since I can assume they still have a huge lead it is just going to get worse for the teams coming. Team Monster Truck start Roadblock as Twins finish and are off to the Bamboo detour.

Abbie has trouble building the scale but finishes building as Chippendales start. As she starts balancing the rocks and wood she finds out she needs to start building again.

The Rockers are getting help from locals as they travel to deliver the Bamboo as Team Ego finishes the roadblock; they leave as Team Goat and Team Longhorn get started on the roadblock.

Kelley is having trouble building the scales as the Chippendales finish. We jump back over to the Twins gathering the bamboo and trying not to take out the locals with the longer bamboo. The Rockers are now getting the last clue to go to the pit stop at the Lok Shilpa Jadughar the pit stop. I had expected the Twins to use the Express Pass here but they wisely choose to hold on to it since they are far enough ahead of the majority.

Josh from Team Goat has the wood holder on wrong side as Team Longhorn and Team Monster Truck start balancing and finish roadblock. Both off to Bamboo Jungle for the Detour.

The Rockers finish first and win a trip for two to Malaysia’s Tropical Rain Forest. Phil gets them to talk about not giving up and James’ family issues. He gets the tears flowing and James says that his family told him to keep going.

Team Ego is now separating the straw but are told they have to do some of their bundles again. The Twins are getting ready to transport the bamboo as the Chippendales, Longhorns, and Team Monster Truck are starting off. The teams are really pushing themselves in the heat especially Rob who seems to easily be carrying most of the bamboo on his own. These are the challenges that Team Monster Truck really excel at.

Team Ego finish the task and are off to the pit stop. Back at the roadblock Team Goat are still having trouble building the scales and Josh seems to be getting dehydrated. After a drink of water he realizes that where he was making the mistake and can move on to balancing the rocks and wood.

Team Ego finishes second and Ryan is mad that they won’t take the title for most leg wins in a season. This causes Abbie to cry because Ryan is pushing her hard to win. Back at the Detour Team Twin are dropping off the bamboo and Team Monster Truck are off to drop them off. Team Goat are now starting the Detour.

The Chippendales are transporting the wood but the camera shows that it appears they left behind three bamboo pieces. Team Longhorn also points this out as they are leaving. I love watching the teams transport the bamboo as it is crazy how dangerously close the teams come to taking out the locals and fruit stands .

Team Twins finish third and also show some disappointment with not finishing first and they are followed by Team Monster Truck. At the same time the Chippendales find out they left three bamboo and they look beaten as they are told to go back. They are forced to lay down in the heat as they are too tired to head back. When they do have the energy to head back their bundles start to fall apart.

Team Longhorn reach the pit stop as team five as the Chippendales get their three bamboos and are off again to drop off the bamboo. They do it right this time and head to the pit stop where they finish in sixth.  They trip as they reach the mat but are happy to still be racing.

We are now treated to finishing off the leg and enjoying the locals as they make their way to the mat. They do arrive last but are unsurprisingly told that they still in the race since this is a non-elimination leg. They will need to do a speed bump during the next leg but they are still alive.

Next week looks good since the teams go to Turkey were it looks like they will need to sell shots as well as visit a bathhouse which is always awkwardly fun. I’ll see you all next week and good luck to those of you on the east coast. Be safe during the upcoming weather.

About mj santilli 34894 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!