Amazing Race Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 13th Edition

Thoughts on Episode 3 and Outlook for Episode 4

Thoughts on Episode Three

No Airport Shuffle, But Hard Day's Night

Leaving the Pit Stop, teams are informed that they must travel to La Paz, Bolivia, a distance of 1200 miles. From the airport, teams take one of two flights, to La Paz, Bolivia. The clue also states that they will find their clue in the classifieds in the morning newspaper.

Teams were instructed to find the Simon Bolivar statue in downtown La Paz. There, locals handed out blankets to the arriving teams, who had to camp out on the hard concrete around the statue. In the morning, Kelly and Christy confronted Nick for what Starr allegedly did to a sport bra. Nick was the ultimate diplomat, considering how unfairly he was stuck in the middle of an irresolvable conversation.

Teams waited anxiously for the morning newspaper to arrive. Once it did, they scrambled to find an ad in the classifieds in the form of a clue to direct them to their next destination, the Narvaez Hat Shop, where they were to buy a cholita hat. Additional Information: Hold onto your hat!

Detour

Musical March: From the website: Teams had to make their way on foot to two plazas several blocks apart where they needed to collect musicians and form a band. Then they had to make their way to Plaza Abaroa and exchange the band members for their next clue.

Bumpy Ride: From the website: Teams made their way on foot to Mercado de las Brujas where they had to ride a locally crafted bicycle in a harrowing, bone rattling trip down cobblestone streets to Plaza Abaroa. Additional: Teams were to use a map attached to the front of the bike to find their way.

The locally crafted bikes looked positively primitive, with stubby handlebars and small wooden wheels, perhaps more like scooters than bikes.

Episode Three Detour
Members	Option	Notes
Nick and Starr	Bumpy Ride	Take advantage of Christy crashing to get ahead and avoid the U-Turn.
Terence and Sarah	Bumpy Ride	They realized that they had to go back in the cab to the hat shop, and go to the Mercado de las Brujas on foot, apparently losing time, but gain by being fast on their bikes.
Mark and Bill	Bumpy Ride	They blow it by taking a taxi from the hat shop to Mercado de las Brujas instead of going on foot, as required by the clue.
Ken and Tina	Bumpy Ride	Do well, arriving at the Plaza Abaroa in fourth place.
Aja and Ty	Bumpy Ride	OK
Kelly and Christy	Bumpy Ride	Crash! Christy wiped out, received bruises. Head covered by the cholita hat.
Andrew and Dan	Musical March	Tell band members that it is a competition, clap to make the best of it.
Toni and Dallas	Bumpy Ride	OK, though mom is breathless.
Marisa and Brooke	Musical March	They show initiative by getting their band members to go faster. They turn and clap, then dance to pick up the pace.

Teams had to find Los Titanes del Ring.

Roadblock

Teaser question: Who's ready to pick a fight?

From the website: One team member had to hand the hat they bought to a woman known as a fighting cholita and don a colorful wrestling costume. In a private ring outside of the arena, their cholita would teach them a wrestling routine made up of six moves. When they felt ready to complete the routine, they would return to the main arena with their cholita for the performance. If they messed up, they would have to train again and fight until they got it right.

Episode Three Roadblock
Team	Member	Result
Nick and Starr	Nick	Did it right the first time.
Ken and Tina	Ken	Ken nails it the first time. He made it fun, as well as getting it right. He was a titan of the ring!
Terence and Sarah	Sarah	Sarah is miffed when the referee stops her for not getting the taunting right.
Mark and Bill	Mark	Get this man some oxygen! He needed plenty of it to get thru three tries, leaving only two teams behind. His first serback was on his re-entry into the ring. His second serback was on his duck and flip element.
Kelly and Christy	Kelly	Did it right the first time. Finish last, but not so far behind as to face elimination.
Toni and Dallas	Dallas	Did it right the first time, to put them in second, as other teams were struggling.
Andrew and Dan	Andrew	Did it right the first time.Did it right the first time.
Aja and Ty	Ty	Did it right the first time.
Marisa and Brooke	Marisa	A little confused with the hands, messing up the duck and flip part of the routine.

On the way to el Mirador del Monticulo, the Pit Stop for this leg, Mark and Bill go back through their clues. They discover they are facing a 30-minute penalty due to taking a taxi from the hat shop to the bike option.

Episode Three Order of Finish
Members	Place
Nick and Starr	6
Terence and Sarah	3
Mark and Bill	9
Ken and Tina	1
Aja and Ty	5
Kelly and Christy	8
Andrew and Dan	7
Toni and Dallas	2
Marissa and Brooke	4

Outlook for Episode Four

The seven remaining teams have diverse backgrounds and relationships. Each of the teams has a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. Some Racers are not as physically fit as others, and it shows already. Others have quite a bit of intelligence, while others are creative.

Ken and Tina struggled just a bit in the first two legs, but made few mistakes this time around. Toni and Dallas improved their performance this episode, as did Marisa and Brooke, while Terence and Sarah again seemed able to erase their mistakes to snag third. The bottom teams of Kelly and Christy, and Andrew and Dan are in trouble.

Watch episode four on October 19th, at 8:00 PM Eastern/Pacific, unless delayed by NFL football.