Amazing Race 14 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 14th Edition

Thoughts on Episode 3 and Outlook for Episode 4

Thoughts on Episode Three

Start -- Airport Shuffle

Teams drove to Munich airport for the flight to Bucharest, Romania. They had the choice of a Lufthansa flight at 3:20 PM, a Tarom flight at 4:45 PM, a Lufthansa flight at 9:30 PM, or a KLM flight connecting through Amsterdam at 7:30 PM. Only Tammy and Victor were able to acquire tickets on the early, getting them at the airport after first unsuccessfully calling ahead. Three teams get on the Tarom flight. Brad and Victoria gambled on the connection in Amsterdam and lost, as their flight from Munich landed too late in the marginal weather. When they found out no further flights were going out of Amsterdam until at least mid morning the next day, they were starting to get that hopeless feeling. Meanwhile the five teams they last saw in Munich were on the 9:30 PM Lufthansa flight into Bucharest.

Roadblock

Teams arrived in Bucharest and took a taxi to the gymnastic hall where Nadia Comaneci, gold medalist at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, trained. Only Tammy and Victor managed to have problems finding the entrance to the gym. Tammy realized Victor was off track, unaccountably.

Teaser: Who's ready to access their inner Nadia?

From the website: One team member had to learn and execute moves for three gymnastic disciplines: balance beam, parallel bars, and floor exercises. Once they performed all the moves correctly and in order, the trainer would hand them their next clue.

Only Mel was patient enough to wait for the winds to calm. But, every other Racer at the top departed on the downhill hike rather than wait. The trick was hiking the marked path down, with an estimated time of 60 minutes. It was OK as long as the hiker spotted the low-lying red arrows along the path. By the time the winds calmed, Mel began to regret his gamble.

Episode Three Roadblock
Team	Member	Result
Amanda and Kris	Amanda	Very good! Amanda's small frame was ideal for this challenge. Kris even exclaimed, "Like a pro!"
Brad and Victoria	Victoria	Very good, even though they were impossibly far behind.
Cara and Jaime	Cara	Struggled on parallel bars, claiming no upper body strength.
Christie and Jodi	Jodi	OK
LaKisha and Jennifer	LaKisha	Very good!
Margie and Luke	Margie	She had a hard time with the balance beam and the parallel bars but did much better on the floor exercises.
Mark and Michael	Mark	He's a stuntman! He went quickly through the parallel bars.
Mel and Mike	Mike	Did well enough, even on the balance beam.
Tammy and Victor	Tammy	She had the hardest time of all, especially on the floor exercises, almost not able to do cartwheel or the tumble. She also had a hard time on the balance beam and the parallel bars, flustered because they were almost last. Perhaps she was a bit ticked by Victor's attempts at coaching.

Route Info

Teams were directed to the "Transylvania Station", the train station in Bucharest. Most teams shared the 6:30 AM train to Brasov, a city located in the storied Romanian region of Transylvania. Once in Brasov, they would have to find the Biserica Neagra, also known as �the Black Church� for their next clue, which was for a Detour. Built in the late 1400's this church is aptly nicknamed, as it burnt in 1689 and its walls were permanently blackened by smoke.

Detour

Gypsy Moves From the website: Teams had to travel to a gypsy settlement where they needed to load all of a family�s belongings onto a horse-drawn cart. Then, they had to navigate the cart to the family�s new encampment where they had to unload the belongings.

Vampire Remains From the website: Teams had to travel to nearby woods, drag a coffin down a hill to a clearing, unlock and untangle a series of chains surrounding the coffin, and open it to reveal a set of antique picture frames. Then, in the spirit of Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Bram Stoker�s famous vampire Dracula, teams had to impale the picture frames on a wooden stake searching for a hidden flag to exchange for their next clue.

The trick was the marked paths. One path had the same arrows as the mountain path in Germany. The other path, seen just before the first official Race arrow, had fake markers in red and white painted onto the trees. These markers started with normal arrows, but also included a double-headed arrow and lastly, just a vertical line.

Episode Three Detour
Members	Option	Notes
Amanda and Kris	Gypsy Moves	They did just fine until their valuables bag came up missing, but someone handed it to them at the second encampment. This lapse put them behind Mel and Mike.
Brad and Victoria	Vampire Remains	Impossibly late, after all other teams had checked in.
Cara and Jaime	Vampire Remains	Struggled with the locks.
Christie and Jodi	Vampire Remains	Did OK with it.
LaKisha and Jennifer	Gypsy Moves	Did OK with it.
Margie and Luke	Vampire Remains	Did OK with it, even though they had to impale nearly every picture frame in the coffin to find the flag.
Mark and Michael	Gypsy Moves	Despite being short, they powered their way through the move easily.
Mel and Mike	Gypsy Moves	They had a hard time loading the cart, and with keeping items on the cart once it started. They stayed enough in contact with Amanda and Kris to take advantage of Kris's fumble.
Tammy and Victor	Vampire Remains	A set of red and white fake markers, including a two-headed arrow, tricked them! They wasted a lot of time and effort climbing the mountain, as Victor would not give up. Then, as they were opening the locks, they found that one of the keys was missing, lost in the leaves on the grassy hillside as Victor heatedly rushed to pull the coffin down the hill. Luckily, they found the key and got the clue as the sun was getting lower. All this put them far behind other teams, save for the much later Brad and Victoria.

Pit Stop

"Vila" Panoramic, overlooking Bran castle in Romania.

Episode Three Order of Finish
Members	Place
Amanda and Kris	2
Brad and Victoria	9
Cara and Jaime	7
Christie and Jodi	6
LaKisha and Jennifer	3
Margie and Luke	4
Mark and Michael	5
Mel and Mike	1
Tammy and Victor	8

The long run in to the mat made for a couple of close finishes. Mel and Mike kept just far enough ahead of Amanda and Kris to secure first place. Mark and Michael outraced Christie and Jodi for fifth place. Phil asked Tammy and Victor about their bad day. They admitted that it was rough, but they wanted to work on their relationship as a result. Tammy learned that she has to speak up when she thinks Victor is wrong.

Outlook for Episode Four

The eight remaining teams have diverse backgrounds and relationships. Each of the teams has a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses. Mel is nursing the injured groin Others have quite a bit of intelligence, while others are creative.

The surprise this edition is how even the teams are. Tammy and Victor struggled through this long day of competition. Margie and Luke struggled just a bit in the tasks, but made few other mistakes. Mel and Mike made up ground and surged into first. Amanda and Kris were lucky to have their valuables bag returned to them. Otherwise, they had a very good day. Kisha and Jen also had a very good day with challenges that they did well at, and without the navigation errors that plagued them earlier. Mark and Michael hustled and used their skills to gain another two places, which makes them a team to watch. The three bottom teams, Christie and Jodi, Cara and Jaime, and Tammy and Victor, are vulnerable. Tammy and Victor need an equalizer to gain back some of the lost time, but can they overcome their relationship problems?

Who will have to do the blind U-Turn? Watch the exciting Episode Four on March 8, at 8:00 PM.