The Amazing Race Recap: Kindness of Strangers (Taiwan)
Epic helicopter shots pan around the skyline of California. This season, we have busses instead of military helicopters, or tanks. We meet the eleven teams including the Olympic snowboarders, Survivor contestants, the youngest sailor and his dad, former NFL footballer and wife, the generic couples, relatives, best friends, and old people. I had my reservations about Jenna because of her techniques she used during Survivor: Amazon, but it seems like she's had a full 360 with her dedication to Ethan during his cancer battle.
I always found it funny how epic the opening was because of how much of the camera shots could be controlled and there was always less fuzzy shots during this time. Phil announces the Express Pass is back in play this season and the winner of this leg will receive it. Phil pointed out that there was a word puzzle where they had to find the phrase "TAI" on an umbrella to match the letters "WANPEI." If you haven't figured it out, the answers was Taiwan, Taipei. Phil warned that there was also a "Hazard" for the team that would be in last place. Sounds like a Speed bump to me.
After extended shots of eyebrow, Phil shouted Go and the teams shuffled to the pile of umbrellas. Teams ran blind to Phil as he rejected every color of umbrella. The snowboarders looked for vowels and managed to find the "Tai" they were followed by the Footballer and his wife. The players get a generic video explaining there were two flights: China Airlines for the first eight and Eva Air for the remaining three. The twins and Survivors were the last two to get the right umbrella before the new credits. There wasn't anything spectacular about the opening, but I was disappointed that the showgirls didn’t get the Guido clink when they toasted.
The divorced daters, biracial daters, the attendants headed out, followed by the grandparents, and adventurers. The snowboarders got directions from a guy at a Shell gas station and they wrote down the directions and left without much thought. The siblings were the second to last to finish and the Showgirls were stuck with the Hazard. They decided to go to the same gas station as the Snowboarders, where Kaylani dropped her passport on the ground. Somehow we get shots of the forgotten passport; I'm convinced that it was re-shot.
At China Airlines, the domestic partners make it first to the ticketing counter; I'm assuming that traffic equalized several teams, or that the flight attendants have magical airport powers. Ethan & Jenna were in second. Mid-drive to the airport, the two showgirls realized they lost their passport and it had to be at the gas, unfortunately for them no one brought it back to the gas station. They decided to drive to the airport anyway, in hopes that one of the other teams found it.
The showgirls arrived at the airport and asked the airline counter if they found the lost passport. Sorry, nope. The communication broke down immediately when one stressful moment occurred. That's not a good signal of future racing challenges. During the downtime at the airport the flight attendants and Jenna and Ethan decided to study up on Taipei, but didn't purchase any book. While they didn't announce their Survivor-dom, everyone already knew due to one blabbermouth (it sounded like Sandy). Kaylani got a really badly dubbed voiceover to go to the ticketing counter and she magically got a savior who found the passport: the guy who the snowboarders asked directions for at the Shell. Three seconds of fame, extended! He explained that it immediately came down to Twitter saving them. Who says that Twitter can't solve the problems of the world?
Flash forward to the Ximending Commercial district, Phil explained that the contestants would have to look up at a billboard for yellow/red balloons for their next destination. The first eight teams shuffled into the same bus and drove off. Marcus, like Jenna & Ethan, decided not to tell about his NFL background, thinking that he would be a U-Turn/Yield victim.
The showgirls and twins, managed to get on bus two, but the Grandparents were too slow and ended up on bus three. Their overall racing style was too slow for its own good. The bunched eight teams made it to the commercial district and after looking for the correct destination. After obsessive amounts of gong dings, the teams continued to pass the billboard. Those cameramen were having too much fun with their "look over here dummy!" shots as the racers walked past. Amani & Markus saw the sign, but shrugged it off. The siblings started to melt down and it seems like they will be eliminated soon if they can't keep it together. They bump into the NFL-ers and they decided to discuss the balloons.
The teams started to write down the symbols for the Taipei Confucius Temple and eventually several teams found the balloons and left before the showgirls and twins arrived. Like the rest of the teams they blew-off the balloons the first time. Bill & Cathi arrived and were lost. The Snowboarders and Survivors looked up and finally headed to the temple, the snowboarders doubted the clue until the Adventurers reinforced the clue for them.
The front teams made it to the temple with the contestants finding the Roadblock. The clue asked contestants "Who's ready to play telephone?" Phil explained that meant the contestants would have to call 1800-confucius, memorize the Confucian motto, and then repeat it to the very patient monk. They had to find the telephone first; I don't even think that was supposed to be a challenge, but the teams still had trouble seeing the pay phone that was right near the entrance.
The grandparents decided to look in one of the tallest buildings near the vicinity. While the clue said, "Look up," I'm pretty sure the vicinity of the tall building was nowhere near the district with the billboard.
At the Roadblock, we got a montage of failures emphasized by stamps of Wrong. I liked the fact that they weren't allowed to write the saying. It's only two sentences. Ironically Cindy got it right, all without the help of her limited Chinese. The siblings headed out as the snowboarders and adventurers arrived. The two teams would continue to work together the rest of the race.
The twins and showgirls finally decided to look up at the balloon billboard and both headed out. The grandparents took a last ditch effort going up a building. The next shot we got of the was the two staring at KFC, wondering if they were so far behind that they could grab lunch.
I understand that the show is trying to set up the fact that the Snowboarders take life at a laid back, but adventurous manner, but I didn't understand the connection between their Roadblock and the bed of music playing under them. It was as if the reggae music was playing because the snowboarders were getting high before the Roadblock. Nonetheless, it took them a bit longer than Ethan.
At the Riverside Park, the teams had to "race" dragon boats. One would paddle and the other drum, but in all reality, the crew probably could have done the paddling with their ears closed. Ernie & Cindy were in first, they picked (or were assigned) lavender and headed out. Cindy quipped, "I feel so Asian right now" and I really hope they stay in more Asian countries so that she will continue to feel Asian. Like the roadblock, most of the women took the drumming while the men paddled.
Amani finally finished the Confucius telephone Roadblock in fifth, followed by Adventurer Zac, and then a really sweaty Ron. Sometimes genetics plays tricks on us; all Ron had to do was walk to a telephone and walk to a monk. He looked like he was attacked by a hose. The snowboarders finished in eighth well before the showgirls and twins arrived.
The Pitstop was the Martyr's Shrine, though it didn't seem too hard to get to because it was all about taxi rides after the Roadblock. Ernie & Cindy headed there without any drama or fatigue. If anything, they were really excited to race.
The way editing was like the Showgirls immediately got their clue as they aced the game of telephone. However they had to head to Core City Pacific Mall to do their Hazard. The twins continued to make guesses and failing. The grandparents stood around in the city four hours later with bottles of water now in hand. You knew at this point they checked out and now were just going through the motions.
At the Hazard, one contestant had to do an indoor bungee jump. Basically an extra Roadblock. I'd be more afraid of an indoor bungee jump, even though the distance of the fall wasn't bad because I'd be more afraid of slamming into the walls on the sides. While the showgirls finished their hazard the twins weren't even finished with the Roadblock. To the producers, that must mean that the Hazard worked. I'm not sure if we'll ever see the hazard again, though it would be interesting to integrate a Hazard, U-Turn and Speed Bump in one episode.
In a very un-dramatic fashion, Ernie & Cindy were in first and got the Express Pass. They were followed by the other dating couple, and the siblings. I found it funny that Ernie & Cindy were a team yellow and won the Express Pass because Gary & Mallory were also a team yellow. Hopefully they continue to work well together even though Ernie was hinting of Cindy's possible killer fatigue moments kicking in.
The Snowboarders and Adventurers started rowing as Ethan & Jenna finished and left for the Pitstop. Team NFL must have been assigned pink or Amani chose it. Even with the embarrassing shade of pink on, he felt back at home with the enthused paddlers working as a team. Even with the dramatic racing and screaming to catch up, they all left the same place they arrived. It's not like you could row faster because if you did it wouldn't have matched the drumming, or vice versa.
The grandparents finally decided to look at the balloons on the billboard and headed out after a local translated it for them. The twins were still trying to figure out the roadblock, citing dyslexia as a possible reasoning. It's called tired and forgetful, let's not get the dyslexics angry. After the commercial break, the twins finally finished and left. Commercial breaks are great aren't they? The grandparents arrived last and following the trend, Cathi took the Roadblock. The twins caught up to the gay attendants at the boats, but there was no change in positioning. The grandparents got their clue without the stress of the twins or the big wrong stamp on their faces.
Teams in the middle started milling in. Eventually, the Showgirls finished in ninth; getting a minor interview with Phil about the stresses of the race. The twins finished in tenth, convinced they were last since they never saw anyone behind them after the showgirls left. The grandparents probably could have benefitted from being clumped on the same bus, but being on bus three was really what did them in. They arrived in last place. Phil announced that it was a non-elimination and they would be getting a Speed Bump and a double elimination next week.
Next Week: Sibling rivalry and the fear of a double elimination stresses out everyone.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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