Amazing Race Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 12th Edition

Thoughts on Episode 4 and Outlook for Episode 5

Thoughts on Episode Four

What? No Airports?

Teams had to find the chief of the tribal village at Bingo, who would give them a gift--a live chicken that they had to keep throughout the episode and turn in at the Pit Stop. No chicken, no check-in. Hendekea had the most trouble running, complaining of a gimpy leg.

Teams had to take a taxi 100 miles from Bingo to the town of Bouda Pelegtanga.

Detour

Shake Your Booty. Each team had to learn 3 steps of an African dance and repeat each step 4 times. Teams had to perform with both energy and originality. Otherwise the judges would declare the dance unacceptable and assess a ten minute penalty. Perhaps akin to figure skating judging, it appeared that teams were mostly better in artistic impression than technical merit, and not surprisingly given the fully costumed dancer they were expected to learn from. This would prove to be a tough task, with two teams having to wait the penalty, and two teams anxiously awaiting the verdict.

Shake Your Pan. Each team had to pan mud and water taken from a pre-dug pit for an ounce of gold. Muscle and a bit of luck was required, as evidently was proper division of labor. Where is the small mining company?

Episode Four Detour
Members	Detour	Result
Kynt and Vyxsin	Shake Your Booty	Judge said,"you are wonderful" to the energetic pair with the crowd-pleasing original touches.
Jennifer and Nathan	Shake Your Booty	Jen did OK, but Nathan was out of sync with her, and just a bit stiff. 10 minute penalty since their original moves were dropped out.
Lorena and Jason	Shake Your Booty	Good, though so far behind already
Ronald and Christina	Shake Your Booty	Their Asian-like touches seemed to rankle crowd and judges. It was energetic and original enough but not what the judges were looking for..10 minute penalty
Shana and Jennifer	Shake Your Booty	Perhaps accomplished this task with originality a bit more than with raw skill.
Azaria and Hendekea	Shake Your Booty	"Very good", in the view of a judge. Azaria cut loose with a high twisting jump in celebration. Hendekea looked to be the stronger performer in spite of her gimpy leg.
Nicolas and Donald	Shake Your Pan	Perfect division of labor made it look easy, and may have actually gained time.
Rachel and TK	Shake Your Pan	Muddled through this challenging Detour task to fall back four places.

New Element: The U-Turn

A U-Turn is an opportunity for one team to force another team to do both parts of a Detour. There will be two such chances in a Race. The U-Turn always appears at the end of a Detour, and can only be used once by a team.

Shana and Jennifer became the first team to use a U-Turn. Shana was sure that Lorena and Jason was the team just behind them and trying to catch up, so she talked Jennifer into using the Detour on Lorena and Jason. As a result, Lorena and Jason had to do both parts of the Detour, which made their fate ineveitable. But Shana was wrong. It was TK and Rachel behind them, worried sick that the U-Turn would be applied to them. Relieved as he was, TK was still furious that Shana and Jennifer used the U-Turn, figuring that the blondes have a target on their back now.

Teams had to travel by taxi from Bouda Pelegtanga to the outskirts of Ouagadougou and find the Tampouy Goat Market.

Roadblock: Who's Ready for a Juggling Act?

One team member must attach or carry a large amount of goods, including a live goat, on a bike to their designated vendor in the market.

Episode Four Roadblock
Team	Team Member	Result
Kynt and Vyxsin	Vyxsin	Tough luck with bike with broken kickstand cost them a place, though she got timely help from local kids.
Jennifer and Nathan	Jen	Good enough to stay close with the leading siblings
Lorena and Jason	Jason	Too far back to make a difference.
Ronald and Christina	Christina	Good enough
Shana and Jennifer	Shana	Gained place with good effort
Azaria and Hendekea	Azaria	Search for way back to Hendekea went too slowly, allowing Jen to catch up
Nicolas and Donald	Nicolas	Systematic approach resulted in good finish.
Rachel and TK	Rachel	Rachel got lost, allowing Shana to catch up

Where Are the Animal Rights Activists?

This Roadblock called for restraining a goat to be carried in the basket of the bike. Some Racers seemed to care for the goat, as the picture in the Recap shows Nicolas looking at his strapped-in goat. But, Jen forcefully tightened the straps on her goat, and asks her partner if it was too tight. He hears the goat make a cry, and took that for a 'no'. Azaria and Hendekea explained that there similar markets for goats in Ethiopia, where the goats are sold to be eaten. Should not the goat be treated humanely up to the end, even if the goat eventually becomes dinner?

Pit Stop

Once the Roadblock was completed, teams were directed to take a taxi to the Hotel de Ville, the city hall of Ouagadougou.

Episode Four Order of Finish
Members	Team
Kynt and Vyxsin	5
Jennifer and Nathan	2
Ronald and Christina	3
Shana and Jennifer	6
Azaria and Hendekea	1
Lorena and Jason	8
Nicolas and Donald	4
TK and Rachel	7

With Hendekea on the mat screaming for her partner to arrive, Azaria took a wrong initial direction, allowing Nathan and Jen to catch up. Azaria corrected his mistake in time to "touch out" Nathan at the mat in the closest of photo finishes for first place by just a step and maybe a second.

Outlook for Episode Five

The brother/sister team of Azaria and Hendekea, and the not so bickering Jen and Nathan are strong teams. Ronald and Christina seemed to be working better together. But, can he survive the continued problem of a hernia? The grandfather, Donald, was struggling with his physical limits, but the last two episodes gave him a new lease on life. Will TK and Rachel be able to bounce back from problems that put them at the back of the pack, and so gain revenge on the shameless Shana? Or, will Shana and Jennifer just self-destruct?

What will Episode 5 reveal about the racers and who will be eliminated next. Watch Sunday, December 2 at 8PM Eastern/Pacific, or after 60 Minutes, if delayed by NFL football.