Here’s my recap of tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race:
Before we get into tonight’s episode, here’s a quick rundown of what happened last week on The Amazing Race. The seven teams raced from Poland to Vienna. Windy weather prevented Jason and Amy from completing the Fast Forward, but what really made them furious was the fact that Tim and Marie stole their cab. However, it was Tim and Danny who were eliminated due to Tim’s poor performance at singing in German.
Now onto tonight’s episode! Six teams remain, and they must now travel from Vienna, Austria to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Once they are there, they must proceed to Sheikh Zayed Mosque. Leo and Jamal are excited to travel to Abu Dhabi, and they book a flight ten minutes earlier than the other teams. Before the teams board their flights, Jason and Amy mention that they are still frustrated with Tim and Marie for stealing her and Jason’s cab. They won’t let it get them down, but Amy remarks that they will keep their friends close, but enemies closer. There’s also a scene where Nicky and Kim make snack requests at the ticket counter, which annoys Marie while she’s waiting in line behind them with Tim.
The six teams then travel to Abu Dhabi. Leo and Jamal’s ten minute advantage is helping them as they arrive at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque first. They find the clue box and are then informed to travel to Irani Souk to find their next clue. They’re on their way out while the other teams make their way inside. The next few scenes comprise of everyone admiring the mosque in awe while they get the same clue to proceed to Irani Souk. Behind Leo and Jamal are Jason and Amy in second place. Ally and Ashley are third, Nicky and Kim are fourth, Tim and Marie are fifth, and Nicole and Travis are currently in last.
Once the teams arrive at Irani Souk, they discover they have a Detour to complete: ‘Sort It Out’ or ‘Sew It Up.’ ‘Sort It Out’ requires teams to arrange a party platter of dates identical to the one already on display. ‘Sew It Up’ requires teams to construct a circular fishing net. Jason and Amy and Nicole and Travis choose to ‘Sew It Up,” while the other four teams decide to ‘Sort It Out.”
Over at ‘Sort It Out,” Marie loses her patience with Tim almost immediately. The two of them bicker about the correct way to arrange their platter. “This girl has got serious, serious mental problems,” retorts Tim. Nonetheless, Tim explains that even though the two of them argue often, they still trust each other completely. However, the other teams are embarrassed and annoyed by the squabbling exes. Nicky and Kim are especially humiliated by how Tim and Marie’s behavior is disrespectful to their host country, and it makes Americans look bad too. However, they continue to work on their platter and have a small advantage after they were able to locate some specific dates from a faraway table before the other teams did. They even refuse to inform Leo and Jamal where those dates are located when the two cousins asked them for help. However, Leo and Jamal soon find them, along with all the other teams.
Over at ‘Sew It Up,” Nicole made an error in assembling the nets, forcing Travis to undo her mistakes. This costs them extra time and they briefly consider using the Express Pass. However, the two of them choose not to use it and continue constructing the nets. Jason describes the task as tedious, but he and Amy finish the Detour before Nicole and Travis. They are currently in first place and must go to Al Bandar Marina. They must take a luxury cruise to Yas Marina to find their next clue. Travis and Nicole finally finish sewing up their nets, but are in third place at that point, because Leo and Jamal are the first team to complete sorting out their dates and are currently in second place.
Ally and Ashley and Nicky and Kim get their platters checked, but are incorrect. This allows Tim and Marie to be the fourth team on their way to the yachts. But Ally and Ashley finally get their platter of dates correct, and Nicky and Kim complete the Detour minutes after them.
Leo and Jamal take the same yacht to Yas Marina with Jason and Amy. Nicole and Travis, on the other hand, have a yacht all to themselves. Tim and Marie and Ally and Ashley are on the same yacht, which Nicky and Kim miss by no less than ten seconds. Since the yachts depart every fifteen minutes, Nicky and Kim must wait in last place before they can embark on a yacht and make their way to Yas Marina.
Leo and Jamal and Jason and Amy arrive at the Roadblock, which asks “Who wants to drop in on a hot lap?” The task requires a team member to take a zip line ride down a building and rappel down to a racecar circuit. Once there, they must sit on the passenger side of a racecar while trying to identify the sign that has the name and time of the fastest racecar driver of that circuit. The correct answer is Sebastian Vettel with a record time of 1:40:279. However, there are several other signs with different names and slower times, making the task more difficult.
Leo and Jason are the first to begin the Roadblock. Jason bemoans how he has done all the height-related tasks so far when the plan was for Amy to do them instead (Jason apparently has a fear of heights). Leo and Jason are unable to remember the correct name and time the first time, and must take another lap around the circuit. Leo gets it correct afterwards, and he and Jamal are on their way to the Champions Podium (The Pit Stop for this leg of the race) by the time Nicole and Travis arrive at Yas Marina. They realize that there are still three teams behind them, so they opt to not use the Express Pass. Travis then decides to be the one to attempt this Roadblock.
Leo and Jamal arrive at the Pit Stop and are Team #1. Phil showers them with champagne before revealing that they have won a trip to Paris. Leo and Jamal are thrilled, and the two take pride in the fact that they won the leg in Abu Dhabi, a place with cultural significance to them.
Meanwhile, Jason finally remembers the correct name and time, and he and Amy are Team #2. The two of them are discouraged that this was their fourth time coming in second place; they want to finally win a leg. Travis completes the Roadblock on his first attempt, and he and Nicole are Team #3. Nicole apologizes for her mistake at the Detour, but it wasn’t really too big of a blunder since they’re still in the Top 3.
Tim and Marie and Ally and Ashley arrive at Yas Marina, with Marie and Ally participating in the ‘Drop and Drive’ Roadblock. They are unable to identify and remember the correct name and time multiple times, before Marie finally gets it right. She and Tim are Team #4.
Ally seems to have the most struggles with this Roadblock, guessing the wrong name and time after numerous attempts. This gives an opportunity for Nicky and Kim to make up for lost time, but Kim is no better at the Roadblock; she gets the answer wrong many times too. However, Ally gets the correct name and time at last, and she and Ashley are Team #5.
This means that Nicky and Kim are the last team to arrive at the mat. Nicky gets emotional, saying she was making great memories on the race and didn’t want it to end. And it doesn’t for now! “How would you like to create more memories?” asks Phil. It turns out that this is a non-elimination leg! Nicky and Kim celebrate and are pleased and joyful that the race is not over for them. Although there was a ‘to be continued’ episode a couple weeks ago, this is the first non-elimination leg of the season, which means that Nicky and Kim will have a speed bump to complete on the next leg.
Overall, I thought this was a decent episode. The Detours were rather dull, but the Roadblock looked like fun. I’m glad Nicky and Kim survived this leg since they’re a very likable team and a positive presence on the show; they never fight with one another or complain about any tough situations. There wasn’t much drama tonight, but that might not be the case next time. The preview for next week revealed that the Double U-Turn will be back in play! How will this affect the six remaining teams? Will Nicky and Kim catch up? Will Jason and Amy seek revenge against Tim and Marie? Will Leo and Jamal get U-Turned again? I guess we’ll find out next week.
Final results of episode:
1st place: Leo and Jamal
2nd place: Jason and Amy
3rd place: Nicole and Travis
4th place: Tim and Marie
5th place: Ally and Ashley
6th place: Nicky and Kim
Eliminated: No one
Thanks for reading, and join me next week for another recap of The Amazing Race!
