The Amazing Race Recap: The Sprint of Our Life (Indonesia)
We return to the race, basically in the same place where we were last week. There are still eleven teams, except that Ernie & Cindy have an Express Pass and Bill and Cathi have to deal with a Speed Bump. We don't even have to think about the fact that Kaylani & Lisa lost a passport since the whole story was moot.
Phil reminds us that we last ended the leg at the Martyr Shrine, but their next destination was Indonesia. Ernie & Cindy were the first to read the new clue explaining that teams would fly to Jakarta, Indonesia to catch a train to Yogyakarta. There is a warning about a double elimination. Ernie & Cindy explain that there are going to be twists and turns that aren't the same as before. As the other teams leave we get little notes about most of them. The siblings continue to bicker at the start. Laurence has a banana. The snowboarders say "dude." Sadly, at this early in the race, everyone only has one dimension to their relationships and Laurence's is that he has a banana; it makes me think that they'll survive this episode because would the editors really be asses and leave him with his banana?
Departure Times
Ernie & Cindy 9:28PM
Jeremy & Sandy 9:36
Justin & Jennifer 9:39
Ethan & Jenna 10:07
Amani & Marcus 10:15
Laurence & Zac 10:22
Andy & Tommy 10:23
Ron & Bill 10:48
Kaylani & Lisa 11:09
Liz & Marie 11:31
Bill & Cathi 3:57 AM
Ernie & Cindy were the first to the airport and found out the earliest available flight was via China Air at 8:45 AM. There wasn't any plane searching for other teams. Ethan & Jenna hoped that their mistakes made them look like less of a target. Looking at other reality stars Allison & Donny were amazing the first leg and crashed and burned on their own accord. Rob & Amber had the chance to get Yielded, during their first race but never did. On their second time around Rob & Amber crashed and burnt on their own accord after doing well. Finally Jordan & Jeff failed on their own accord, even though the U-Turn was used both times. Long story short, Ethan & Jenna's mistakes will eliminate themselves without a Yield or U-Turn. Sandy was the only one who was holding the torch and pitchfork against Team Survivor, mostly because she doesn't see them as "Team Cancer Survivor"
The teams didn't know if there was an elimination or not in the first leg since teams nowadays are secluded between legs. Whatever happened to eat, sleep, and mingle? To everyone's delight the old fogeys arrived at the airport with enough time to buy tickets to the same flight that everyone was on. They arrived with fanfare mostly because teams assumed that "Ma & Pa" could be outrun by the young'uns.
Morning hit and everyone got on the same flight via China Air. At Jakarta there was running to the train station, Ron & Bill explain to us that the only available train is at 5:30PM. While everyone else was waiting, the siblings considered getting more information before getting tickets but Jennifer's snippy attitude caused a scene. They bicker worse than a married couple. The editors had a great time editing all the teams staring at the siblings. All the teams make it to the same train and apparently were given instructions to go to the Goa Jomblang Cave in Yogyakarta.
While the teams arrived before sunrise and held on for dear life as their taxis weaved through narrow, unpaved roads. By the time Ma & Pa arrive at the caves, it's already 7:30AM. They then got their clue to the spelunking Roadblock. Before they could start, however, they encountered one of the dumbest Speed Bumps that match the difficulty of sitting on a block of ice: untying rope. I think I would have been more satisfied watching them turn the Yield hourglass and wait.
By the time Ma & Pa finished, Cindy, twin Marie, and Marcus had arrived and started to harness up, Cindy being the first down. Extra credit for Cindy having a fun time going down. Yay for women that love the adventurous tasks and don't complain. Bill headed down close to the front pack. The whole challenge didn't seem hard, but was instead more for its visual beauty as contestants descended into the green jungle.
The second pack of Roadblock hopefuls then strapped up (Jeremy, Andy, Justin, Ethan, and Zac) and we were provided with several shots of Ethan having the time of his life. Down at the cave Cindy and Marie headed to the really obvious stakes with a mask and kris, Bill was right behind them and the three bumped into Marcus as they headed out.
It turns out the real challenge was the physical trouble of getting up a bamboo ladder. Cindy's lack of height lost her the lead and Bill and Twin Marie arrived before her. At this point, Kaylani and Bill also arrived and headed down as Jeremy found his mask. There wasn't much of a shuffle in teams even with the Speed Bump.
Bill arrived first and got the clue for the Detour which the choices were "Shake your money maker" (Do a traditional dance on a street corner for tips) or "Be a Ticket taker" (AKA become a parking attendant and park scooters). Teams would have to use their detour earnings to donate it to an orphanage. The twist was that they actually had to donate all of their money they collected so far in the race. It would have been interesting if someone actually spent all their money on the taxi ride there and legitimately had no extra money.
There was a shuffle of cars as the Twins and Former Footballer (& Wife!) headed to the street corner to sell their goods as Ernie & Cindy and Bill & Cathi tried to wave down motorists in loud orange shirts. At least the clothes helped gather attention.
It seems like in general that the dancing detour was harder, even though both teams had to raise 30,000 rupiah, because there could be a chance that no driver would hand you money after your dance. The twins got about 6K in their first time out, so worst case scenario it would be about five or so dance attempts after every red light. Ma & Pa arrived at the ticket station first and got changed with Ernie & Cindy following.
We get a montage of competitor Roadblock completions and we found that Jeremy & Sandy and Ethan & Jenna decided to dance their way to victory while the Bickering Siblings and Snowboarders thought being a valet was easier. Ethan was worried because he thought only one team was behind them, but Jenna corrected him as there were actually three. Still not a horrible position if your goal was to survive.
The flight attendants started their road of depression as all the teams left them at the Roadblock.
Ernie & Cindy ended up finishing the Roadblock first because they parked themselves in front of a one way street to get any of the patrons first before any team could get to them. Snowboarders and Siblings arrived to try getting scooters and the one advantage of having bickering siblings was the fact that they were vocal enough to sway passer-by. There was an interesting parallel to the dancers and hookers because each of the contestants dancing had to "work their corners" as they begged for money. At least we had a really interesting use of split screen with the timer going down as the dancers continued to beg for money.
Ma & Pa left near second and the twins finished dancing in third. As the twins got taxied they thought about losing their father and going to an orphanage where children didn't have any parents either. Ethan & Jenna arrived and the two had the weirdest flirting moments. Ethan tried to do a mask kiss and followed that with exclaiming that Jenna looked hot. With or without the mask Ethan?
Ernie & Cindy arrived at the orphanage they handed the detour money. Even though there was the white framed piece of paper, they didn't bother reading the clue about giving all their money to the orphanage. Instead they were given a symbol to Kraton Palace, the pit stop. They got directions and walked to the pit stop. If they had extra money (which obviously they did), why didn't they decide to take a taxi? Ma & Pa and the twins arrived, both missing the clue as well.
The scooter detour ended up being a bit easier as the Snowboarders and Siblings left in fourth and fifth. The Adventurers arrived to get scooters as the Vegas Dancers danced for money. At least they are doing something they should know and have rhythm.
Ernie & Cindy arrived at the Pit Stop, but as we knew, they didn't give all their money. In another decent use of split-screen, the snowboarders high-five the orphans until one realized that there was a sign on the table. How did three teams miss this already? This is a case of the red and yellow balloons all over again. Ernie & Cindy had to run back; she snapped and started crying. She explained how in a competitive Asian family failure is death. The irony of the Snowboarders reading the clue was that right afterwards; one snowboarder considered hailing a taxi when they had no money. Dude. Little did they know they had a buffer zone of three other teams that didn't listen to the instructions.
Cindy was in tears disappointed at her life, probably reliving the one time that she lost the junior chess championship at the age of seven. I wonder if they could have used the Express Pass to get around the donations. Ethan & Jenna left in eight from the dancing detour but the two forgot their detour clue. The Vegas dancers left the dancing detour as Jenna returned to find the clue with the provided clothes.
Like the front teams, the siblings, generic couple, and former footballer (and wife!) all forgot to read the special clue. At the pitstop the twins arrived, and were already disappointed looking when they arrived as if they knew there was something wrong.
Like a good father Laurence & Zac arrived at the orphanage and he looked at the sign and gave all their money. Similarly, the Vegas dancers read the signs. It's nice to see world navigators and Vegas showgirls understand that reading the fine print could be the difference between life and death. Bill & Cathi arrived in third and like the twins; it looked like they knew something was wrong as Phil rejected them.
Andy & Tony arrived to Phil in fourth but with the dumb moves of the first three teams, they were in first. Ernie & Cindy arrived at the orphanage for their second trip and continued to run while Ron & Bill just finished the dancing detour as they ran to the orphanage. Generic couple was forced to return along with the tired siblings and former footballer (and wife!).
The twins were back to check in as Ethan & Jenna went to the orphanage and missed the sign. The old fogeys must have been slow runners because Generic Couple returned to Phil before them. Ethan & Jenna then arrived, only to be rejected. Kaylani & Lisa got the fake out from Phil about arriving in tenth place, but actually being in third. One of the two retorted to Phil, "I hate you." No one could ever hate Phil.
Even with Cindy's mental breakdown they arrived in fourth and Bill & Cathi promised to learn to read. Our last team (Flight Attendants) who was far behind also missed the clue; one would have to wonder that if they didn't miss the clue, would they have overtaken Amani & Marcus and Ethan & Jenna.
Amani & Marcus could have had a minor footrace with Ethan & Jenna, but it didn't pan out for the editors to edit. Ethan & Jenna ended up in tenth place and Ethan tried his best to do everything possible to live life after his cancer. The domestic partners mentally boosted themselves even though they knew they were last but were happy about their experiences as well. I will miss the two teams because it seemed like both had some upper hands (previous reality experience for one, previous airline experience for the other) and neither got to use it.
Leg Placement
1) Andy & Tony - Won a trip to Ireland
2) Laurence & Zac
3) Kaylani & Lisa
4) Ernie & Cindy
5) Liz & Marie
6) Jeremy & Sandy
7) Bill & Cathi
8) Justin & Jennifer
9) Amani & Marcus
10) Ethan & Jenna - Eliminated
11) Ron & Bill - Eliminated
Next Week: Ernie loses a pedal, Cathi loses her balance, and all the teams lose their minds at a counting challenge.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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