Amazing Race Tidbits
CBS' The Amazing Race 13th Edition
Start times were spread way out making it harder on the later teams to catch up. That is, until all teams had to wait for the gate to open at the chicken farm. Still, Andrew and Dan barely made it to the chicken farm from the third flight into Almaty, Kazakhstan. Teams wound up on three different flights. Ken and Tina, next to last to start, and an hour and a half behind Nick and Starr were lucky enough to snag the last seats on the Lufthansa flight. Terence and Sarah made their first big mistake of this leg by checking Aeroflot first, then going to Lufthansa, but late enough that Lufthansa flight had closed. Terence and Sarah wound up on Aeroflot, connecting through Moscow. Dan and Andrew found a later flight connecting through Dubai.
Teams leaving the Pit Stop all easily found taxis, and this time Dan and Andrew got a lousy driver, but made it in time before the gates opened at the Alel Agro Chicken Factory.
As soon as gates were opened, the five teams ran as fast as they could to the clue box. Dan nearly got the first clue, but was blocked by either Nick or Terence. Amazingly, Ken was not in the first three to reach into the box. Teams discovered that the clue contained both a Roadblock and the second Fast Forward of the Race. Dan and Andrew said that they were not going to gamble on a Fast Forward. But Terence did just that.
From the website: This was the second of only two Fast Forwards hidden on the race. The first team that finds it and completes it could skip all tasks and proceed directly to the Pit Stop. In it, teams had to travel by taxi to a restaurant where they would join in a traditional Kazakh feast. What they would find out at the restaurant was that the main ingredient in the meal was the fat from the rear end of a sheep. When both team members finished their serving, they would win the Fast Forward award.
Terence and Sarah chose to race Nick and Starr to the Fast Forward. At first, Terence said he wanted to go for it. Then he realized there might be a problem with eating a meal, because Terence is a practicing vegetarian, and had not eaten meat for as long as 16 years. Sarah said on the way, "This will make or break our Race." Terence and Sarah were at a huge disadvantage as soon as the meal was served. The main ingredient was the rear of a sheep. Though cooked, Terence could not get down even one bite of the meat. Worse, they waited until Starr had nearly finished her dish to bail on this unwinnable challenge. It was just far enough to the restaurant that when they returned to the egg factory, the other teams had already departed. Their decision soon put them in a desperate race to avoid elimination.
Only the bumbling Dan and Andrew gave them the appearance of a chance. While Terence and Sarah were at the Alel Agro Chicken Factory, Dan and Andrew were wasting time asking for directions every 5 minutes traveling by giant crane truck to the Koktobe Arch. They were bothered that so few people would communicate with them.
Teaser question: Who's feeling pecky?
From the website: .One team member had to enter the marked chicken shack and search among 30,000 chickens for one of only seven golden eggs.
Only Sarah and Tina had a relatively hard time with this task. Terence and Sarah have struggled with searches, as has Tina.
Episode Eight Roadblock |
||
|---|---|---|
Team |
Member |
Result |
| Nick and Starr | -- | Completed Fast Forward. |
| Ken and Tina | Tina | Just a bit slow, losing a place to Dan and Andrew. |
| Terence and Sarah | Sarah | Terence kept yelling at Sarah to look under the hens that would not move, causing her to waste a little time looking for one of four emaining golden eggs. |
| Toni and Dallas | Toni | Toni was quick to spot a golden egg. |
| Andrew and Dan | Andrew | Actually did quite well, ahead of Tina |
Teams had to go to the Koktobe Arch in the foothills of the Tienshan Mountains. Dan and Andrew gave up their lead over Ken and Tina in the crane trucks, and appeared to give an opening to Terence and Sarah, due to their repeated stops.
Play Like Mad
From the website: Teams had to travel by taxi to the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments where they would learn to play a simple Kazakh tune using two traditional instruments, the Dombra and the Shan Koby�s. When the instructor felt they learned the song well enough, he would send the team to the park to play for tips where they would have to earn the equivalent of one and a half dollars for their next clue.
No team picked this option as it required learning a skill in folk instruments, one like a mandolin, and the other like a mouth harp or roughly like a harmonica. Then, they were expected to earn tips from people in a park. Too many "ifs" implied to even consider.
Act Like Fools
From the website: Teams had to travel by taxi to a puppet theater, find the wardrobe department, and put on a two-person cow costume. Then, dressed as a cow, they had to walk the streets of Almaty to a marked stall where they had to drink a glass of milk. After finishing the milk, they would find the name of the next destination printed on the bottom of the glass, Zelyoniy Bazaar. After traveling in costume to the bazaar, the teams had to locate a butcher stall where they would receive their next clue.
The biggest thing with this option was to READ THE CLUE! One key was that the actual clue said that after finishing the milk, the name of the next destination would be revealed. The other tricky parts were presenting the "cow" to the fellow at the meat stall and keeping the costume with them to the Pit Stop.
Toni helped the confused Ken and Tina with the part about keeping the costume, then thought she should not have helped.
Episode Eight Detour |
||
|---|---|---|
Members |
Option |
Notes |
| Nick and Starr | -- | Completed Fast Forward. |
| Terence and Sarah | Act Like Fools | Do very well, except that they are too far behind. |
| Ken and Tina | Act Like Fools | Did not comprehend the clue correctly and lost a lot of time, but stayed in third. Got help from Toni to remedy their confusion about the costume. |
| Andrew and Dan | Act Like Fools | Had someone show the way, and do relatively OK. |
| Toni and Dallas | Act Like Fools | Perfect as they read the clue in all its intricate detail. |
Dallas had fun with the cow costume, enjoying the mooing experience thoroughly!
The Pit Stop was at Old Square, a park in the oldest part of Almaty. Andrew and Dan make a huge mistake, taking a taxi to the Pit Stop when the clue at the end of the Detour stated that teams must travel by foot. However, they did make it back in time to remain in fourth place.
Episode Eight Order of Finish |
|
|---|---|
Members |
Place |
| Nick and Starr | 1 |
| Terence and Sarah | 5 |
| Ken and Tina | 3 |
| Andrew and Dan | 4 |
| Toni and Dallas | 2 |
Terence realized the depth of his mistake in going for the Fast Forward, but also how blessed and honored he was to have Sarah with him. Sarah hoped Terence would not beat himself up too much for the mistake, and wanted to stay with him. They both were thrilled with the opportunity to go so far into the Race and experience so much.
Ken and Tina's communication and luck improved in Episodes 7 and 8, but they are still vulnerable. Dan had a point that he and Andrew must perform relative to the other teams. A lot of time was devoted in Episode Eight to focus on the performance of the under the radar team of Toni and Dallas. No more under the radar! And Nick and Starr have had the best run of first places ever! But, as Episode 8 proved, though, any team can have a bad day. Episode 9 should be the second non-elimination leg, meaning the next two episodes would determine the 3 teams going in the final episode, and eliminating the fourth place team.
Watch Episode Nine on November 23th, at 8:00 PM Eastern/Pacific, unless delayed by NFL football.
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