Amazing Race 14 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 14th Edition

Thoughts on Episode 5 and Outlook for Episode 6

Thoughts on Episode Five

Start -- No Airport Shuffle

Teams had to take the Trans-Siberian Railway to Novosibirsk. The lead teams had most of 10 hours from the time they started to the time the only train for Novosibirsk departed at 10:26 PM, meaning all teams shared the same overnight train ride. As teams searched for cabs, Kisha and Jen took a wrong turn out of the train station to fall to last place. Teams had to go to Puknte Technicheskovo Kontrolya, possibly a car rental lot. Here, they found the cluebox for the Detour and marked cars, Lada 2105s.

Detour

Russian Bride From the website: Teams had to drive a car with four-speed manual transmission, known as a Lada, to a large Soviet-era apartment complex and search for one of the waiting brides. Once found, teams had to drive the bride across town to a church where her groom awaited. When the photographer snapped their wedding picture, the groom would hand teams their next clue.

While the apartment building and apartment was somewhat hard to locate, the church proved difficult to find for one team.

Russian Snowplow From the website: Teams drove a Lada downtown to Stadium Spartak where they would each take a turn operating a cumbersome snowplow through a training course.

The stadium was hard to find and getting help was not always easy. The first piece of business was to find the snowplows on the obstacle course, and pass up the distracters, an array of snowplow trucks, and other trucks. Not only did they have to read the clue, but use just a bit of common sense to find the right snowplows, parked on the training course. The next trick was driving a large piece of machinery using manual shift. This still proved to be the easier side of the Detour.

Episode Five Detour
Members	Option	Notes
Cara and Jaime	Russian Snowplow	They worked slowly, but did it OK.
Christie and Jodi	Russian Bride	They went to a white church far out in the countryside instead of the correct one, thanks to an "angel" who gave directions, very much the wrong way. They had a long way to backtrack, to the center of Novosibirsk.
LaKisha and Jennifer	Russian Bride	Jen had a hard time with the stick shift. Kisha advised Jen that she might be releasing the clutch too soon. That allowed them to stay ahead of Christie and Jodi.
Margie and Luke	Russian Snowplow	Did OK with it, although they worked slowly. Margie was just a bit confused by the other trucks. Luke found the right snowplows.
Mark and Michael	Russian Snowplow	They did just fine! The stuntmen both had experience with trucks.
Mel and Mike	Russian Bride	They had so much fun as they had to check a couple of apartments before finding the correct apartment, but easily found the right church. They made sure they got in on the photo shoot.
Tammy and Victor	Russian Snowplow	Tammy did OK even though she has not even driven a large car before. Victor did a really great job.

At the end of the Detour, they were instructed to travel to Gosudarstvennaya Publichnaya Nauchnaya Tekhnicheskaya Biblioteka, the largest library in Siberia. All teams managed to find this OK.

Roadblock

Teaser: Who has stamina and absolutely no shame?

From the website: One team member had to partner with two local runners, and first warm up for a mandatory ten-minute period. Then, they had to strip down to their underwear, and with their Siberian partners, run approximately 1.4 miles to the Novosibirsk Ballet and Opera Theater where their teammate who traveled there separately would be waiting for them. The reunited team would then into the theater to the Pit Stop for this leg of the race.

Episode Five Roadblock
Team	Member	Result
Cara and Jaime	Cara	She was worst of all as she walked most of the way. Lost a good bit of time, but not place.
Christie and Jodi	Christie	Last to arrive, apparently by the length of the warm-up period as Jen was shown emerging from the tent as Christie was coming in, possibly in an edited scene. Even being just that far behind, she most likely would not have been able to overcome the lead held by Jen. Dubious honor of having the skimpiest bottom, her thong.
LaKisha and Jennifer	Jen	She did well with it.
Margie and Luke	Luke	He did well with it.
Mark and Michael	Mark	Did very well indeed, pacing himself with the Russian marathoners! Perhaps the best of all! Still could not overtake Mike, but within a couple of minutes.
Mel and Mike	Mike	Would have done much better without his snow boots. He still finished safely ahead of Mark.
Tammy and Victor	Tammy	Embarrassed, but OK. Not able to overtake Luke.

Pit Stop

The Novosibirsk Ballet and Opera Theater

Episode Four Order of Finish
Members	Place
Cara and Jaime	3
Christie and Jodi	7
LaKisha and Jennifer	6
Margie and Luke	1
Mark and Michael	5
Mel and Mike	4
Tammy and Victor	2

Finding the theater was easy this time, aside from climbing a few flights of stairs. Last place Christie and Jodi were relieved to learn that they were not eliminated, but also heard that they would have to complete a Speed Bump in the next leg. In the preview, the next destination is in India.

Outlook for Episode Six

The seven remaining teams have diverse backgrounds and relationships. The surprise this edition is how even the teams are. Each team has strengths and weaknesses, and unique character. This edition is fun to watch!

Christie and Jodi lost a lot of ground and dropped into last. Kisha and Jen also had a very bad day with driving and making their way on foot. These two teams seemed to be reverting to form. Tammy and Victor tried to gain an advantage on Margie and Luke, but could not overcome the deficit once behind. Luke did well enough in the Roadblock, and Margie and Luke made few other mistakes. Mark and Michael did OK in this leg. while Mel and Mike put in a solid performance, although they chose the longer side of the Detour. Christie and Jodi need an equalizer and some luck to get past the next leg, as they have to do the Speed Bump. Previous teams faced with the Speed Bump have had mixed results.

How will Christie and Jodi fare with the Speed Bump? Watch the exciting Episode Six on March 22, 2009 at 8:00 PM, unless delayed by NCAA basketball.