The Amazing Race Season 21 Episode 5 Recap: Chill Out, Freak
Nov 01 2012 12:01 am ET
It's been a few seasons since the first four episodes of a season were all eliminations, but it helped weed out some of the weaker groups. We return to Bangladesh, but a few hours before the leg began Long Hair (Don't Care) received a call from home and his wife explained that James' father has stage four cancer. James decided to run not only for him, but for his father. They began the race in first and headed to the market to look for an eggplant vendor. They were stuck in the traffic of people as they decided to take a taxi. It didn't seem like the smartest as they had to squish past people. The rockers got their clue to head to Ferry Ghat Road to get their next clue; it was interesting enough (or lazy) that the designers of this week's challenge was to translate the word "eggplant."
Abbie & Ryan noted two interesting aspects of the race that the Rockers didn't note: 1) you were supposed to walk to a marked taxi and 2) Everyone had $1 for this leg. Long Hair (Don't Care) must have a decent amount of money saved up for the past four legs. Thinking about it, if everyone had money for a taxi, they were being financially smart. The two were looking for the most first place wins ever, though eight wins seems pretty high to beat. Granted, Rachel & Dave were up against two chubby men and Rachel (& Brendon) and Vanessa (& Ralph) who couldn't stop bickering at each other. I'm sure the race designers would be looking for more ways to shuffle all the teams to guarantee that future racers wouldn't have so many wins.
The Twins noted that they were the only female/female teams as they headed to their taxi. It's not really an amazing task considering that there were only two female/female teams remaining. Long Hair arrived at their next clue that said, "It ain't heavy, it's a Roadblock." The challenge was to use a scale to weigh a specific amount of wood. They first had to build the scale from separated pieces and then weigh wood to match the weight of four stones. James took the task, considering that Abba injured himself the last leg. He didn't get approved as he messed up the ropes and walked past the rope, our editors pointing out where he was supposed to go.
The Twins found their taxi stand as they caught up with Abbie & Ryan, and told their driver to beat the "goras." James finally found the rope as Abbie & Ryan started to complain about the smell and poverty.
Departure Times
James & Abba - 7:39 AM
Abbie & Ryan - 9:41
Natalie & Nadiya - 9:42
Josh & Brent - 10:53
Rob & Kelley - 10:59
Jaymes & James - 11:10
Trey & Lexi - 11:34
Josh & Brent left in fourth and explained that they both live in the farm but Brent still commutes into the city five days a week. The Monster Truckers quickly followed as Rob appreciated Kelly's hard working ethic combined with her quiet nature. Kelly claimed that she would sneak in and take the win. The Chippendales had to weave through the traffic as they pushed their way through.
James finished his scale as they aced his balancing pretty quickly. They immediately were given their detour clue. Their choices were Straw Dogs (Manufacture bags) or Bamboo Jungle (Collect 40 Bamboo Pieces and deliver it to a construction site). Long Hair (Don't Care) picked bamboo, though one has to consider that Abba's knee could have been an issue for such a physical task.
Josh & Brent were lost as Abbie took the Roadblock, Nadiya followed with Natalie screaming "twinnie" and Ryan trying to be funny imitated her. Josh & Brent were the only ones that couldn't find the marked cars as the Monster Truckers and The Chippendales found it with no problem. Trey & Lexi left as the Beekman Boys felt like they must be idiots for missing the obvious taxi stand. They tried the intersection at the road. I will say that an intersection would at least me minorly interesting at this point since most of the teams seem friendly enough.
Long Hair (Don't Care) hoped that the bamboo market would be an easy task as they picked their bike and looked for their marked flags. Of course, production put the bamboo in a far direction so they would have to weave around corners with really long poles. I hope the camera crew got extra compensation for being smacked by bamboo.
Natalie got the children to cheer for Nadiya as Abbie adjusted her scale. Nadiya finished without too much drama; something I don't mind about the twins is while they may be loudly supportive, they get the job done. The Chippendales got their next clue after finding their eggplants, quickly followed by the Monster Truckers. Texas caught up with the Beekman Boys and eventually took over.
Long Hair (Don't Care) started running out of steam as they realized how long the thinner bamboo was. They slammed into everything and while some of the moments were funny, there was this one vendor in the middle of the bamboo jungle (I'll take it as the local vending machine) that had to hold all of his fruit so it wouldn't fall off.
Kelley picked the roadblock as Nadiya got the perfect balance of rocks to sticks; they chose the bamboo task and headed out. As the twins left, the Chippendales ran past and they high-fived. Jaymes tried to catch up with Kelley, but it was Abbie who had a scale that was too low.
Long Hair (Don't Care) continued to move their bike as Abbie finished her scale. As she left Brent took the task noting that he had some farm-assembly skills. When did "Bangladeshi Scale" become a New York farming tool? Kelley was overheating as Jaymes looked foolish trying to talk to the locals; charming locals didn't really help speed up the process. He mentioned that his father was a carpenter and hoped that it would help. Jaymes was next to finish and headed to the bamboo because it was The Chippendale's strength: "lift heavy things." I guess their weakness is "look for abacuses."
The twins found their bamboo as they slammed into the face of a local. Long Hair (Don't Care) got the correct amount and headed out still in first with their painted clue which was Lok Shilpa Jadughar, the pitstop. The taxi driver knew exactly what the picture was and headed out. The twins struggled with angles while turning corners as Abbie & Ryan headed over to the factory and started to hack at their strands to beat.
Trey managed to catch up as both Brent & Kelley struggled. Kelley got in front of Brent as she balanced her wood. Trey left in fifth also picking bamboo. Kelley finished soon after and went with the bamboo. I really didn't think that everyone would have gone for the really difficult task. Josh knew the Beekman Boys were last but didn't give up.
Long Hair (Don't Care) kept their first place finish, their Fast Forward still holding their advantage as James explained that his family wanted him to keep racing and be strong. Abbie & Ryan continued to hit their strands as they got rejected for most of their original attempts. The Chippendales got some direction from the Twins as the men got to the bamboo. Why is it that the twins are so helpful to the Chippendales? Don't they know they will be out-powered by the two muscly men? Nadiya was excited to see when Texas arrived. The Twins again helped their friends with tips.
Brent continued stressed about having to get his scale balanced. The Chippendales took a water break as Texas decided to not work as a team moving bamboo. Why did Lexi think that she could hold as much bamboo when the two twins were working together? The Monster Truckers had an advantage as they realized monster truck tires were huge and heavy. Rob took most of the work as Kelley was behind him just making sure he didn't drag the bamboo too low. Abbie & Ryan managed to get past their hacking as they sent their bundle to Mill Two. They managed to get their printed clue and they had a taxi driver that knew exactly where it was.
Brent was at his lowest point as he worried about dehydration and stress combined. He took a water break and realized his minor stick mistake and finally fixed his scale.
As Abbie & Ryan checked in Ryan was upset because he didn't have first place. I think he took it too hard for multiple reasons, especially because they knew that someone was in front of them prior to the leg (even if they didn't know it was James & Abba) and they never saw the team during the whole leg. It's going to be second.
The twins left in third as they ran over and killed everything in their path with bamboo. They decided to drag their bike as it started to fail on them. The Chippendales admitted that they wanted to budget their money so they don't eat. I recall a lot of teams only eating during their hotel "mingle" status and bringing along the fruit the hotels would have. Lexi powered her way through without any drama with the bamboo. The Monster Truckers also had no problems with the weight. Josh & Brent finished and headed to Bamboo, hoping that Josh could do most of the physical work.
The twins made it to the construction site and received their clue with no penalties. The Monster Truckers left as the Chippendales and Texas confused their piles when one of the James' was tying. Kelley couldn't turn the bicycle and they started dragging their cart. Josh & Brent arrived at the Bamboo task by the time The Monster Truckers finished and left. The Chippendales lost a few pieces of Bamboo as the Beekman Boys found a goat claiming that it must have been good luck. Texas left and confirmed that the Chippendales forgot some of their bamboo. They couldn't go past as they were almost run over by trucks.
Lexi had the silly music as she said, "I'm so sorry" to every person she smacked bamboo. The Chippendales arrived as they realized they had to power through the sand. The referee checked and it was wrong. The Chippendales counted and realized they were missing three. They collapsed to the floor confused and stressed. Drenched in sweat and water the two couldn't move. After a commercial break, the two caught their breath and headed back to the bamboo "jungle," regretting that they couldn't count. The Chippendales then started losing bamboo. The Beekman Boys powered through their bamboo as Texas gained one more spot when they checked in.
The Beekman Boys never quit as The Chippendales found their last three bamboo pieces and left still ahead of them/ The Beekman boys had a decent pace, but The Chippendales were too far ahead to really lose any momentum. The Chippendales finished in sixth, and hoped they wouldn't be counted out. Beekman were in last the whole episode and checked in last. The two were non-eliminated to their surprise (I guess the goats were good luck), but would have to deal with a speed bump next leg.
Leg 5 Results
1) James & Abba - won a trip to Malaysia
2) Abbie & Ryan
3) Natalie & Nadiya
4) Rob & Kelley
5) Trey & Lexi
6) Jaymes & James
7) Josh & Brent
Next Week: The teams head to Istanbul as they deal with drinking and interesting showering.
Michael Pascua - TVLatest.com
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