Amazing Race Tidbits
CBS' The Amazing Race 14th Edition
Teams were instructed to fly from Jaipur, India to Phuket, Thailand. Once there, they were to look for the statue of a gorilla, as shown in a photo each team was given. All six teams arrive together on the same flight in Phuket. All teams, except Mel and Mike, soon learned that after landing in Phuket that the statue is at the Phuket Zoo. Mel and Mike's driver was sure that the gorilla was at Patong Beach, west of Phuket town on the opposite side of the island. Mel and Mike lost a whole lot of time.
Once at the zoo, teams had to find Esso the tiger and her handler, a one-armed man who would take their picture with the tiger. Then they had to find the elephant exhibit, where they would have to lay face down, flat on the ground, while the elephant would pat their bottoms and then squat down over them. Once that was completed, they would return to the tiger handler to receive their picture with the next clue on the back. All teams did OK with this, aside from running like crazy around the zoo looking first for the tiger and then for the elephant exhibit. Individual Racers each had their choice words for the animals and compassion for the trainer, being extra careful not to rile the tiger once they noticed the trainer was missing his right arm!
The next clue directed them to Nguan Choon Tong Herb Shop, the oldest herb shop in Phuket. They had to pick a drawer from among 99 drawers until they found one with an Amazing Race clue. To make matters worse, when more teams arrived, the shopkeeper insisted that teams rotate in calling out numbers. He was terrible in reaching for the drawers, almost never going for the one called. That not only got on Jaime's nerves, but almost all the Racers. Luke simply pointed to a drawer just once, and the clue appeared! Lucky Luke! Tammy and Victor were fairly quick to get a clue, as well as the stuntmen. Mel and Mike suffered as they were the last to arrive, and had to go through many drawers to get either the last clue or one of just a very few remaining.
100 Barrels Paraphrased from the website: Teams had to travel to the harbor to locate a sign with Pae Yod on it, and work to prepare a fishing boat for ten days at sea. They needed to fill 47 barrels with enough drinking water to last the trip, and they had to move 53 of the empty fish barrels from the bottom deck to the roof arranging them properly for the journey.
It was hard for Jaime and Cara and Margie and Luke to locate. Jaime and Cara's cab driver was certain that he knew where the other side of the Detour was, so these two teams switched. This certainly appeared to be the harder side of the Detour, yet four teams initially picked it, including the badly trailing Mel and Mike.
2 Miles From the website: Teams had to travel to a nearby temple and choose a rickshaw. In the event of a flat tire, pumps were provided for the teams. Then, while one team member sat in back, the other pulled the rickshaw and found their way two miles through the streets of Phuket to King Rama IX Park.
The full clue forbade teams from hiring help to reach their destination. Except for misinterpretations of the clue, this seemed to be the easier side of the Detour.
Episode Seven Detour |
||
|---|---|---|
Members |
Option |
Notes |
| Cara and Jaime | 2 Miles | Very well done! The cheerleaders switched off pulling the rickshaw. They actually finished this side of the Detour ahead of Tammy and Victor. They seemed to have gained just a bit of time on this task. |
| Kisha and Jen | 100 Barrels | They missed the part about the hose running almost until Mel and Mike arrived. As a result, they wasted a lot of time, but did not lose so much head to head with the quicker Mel and Mike. They would definitely have done much better doing the other side of the Detour. |
| Margie and Luke | 2 Miles | Luke could not hear Margie's instructions, so she had to pull for a while. Otherwise, they did well, although Margie became very weak and dehydrated from the heat. |
| Mark and Michael | 2 Miles | Oops! Mark got them into trouble by trying to hide the pumps. Michael kept asking why they should bother doing that. Then they accidently came across their taxi driver as they were pulling the rickshaw. Not realizing a restriction in the clue prohibiting hired assistance in reaching the destination, they asked the driver to lead them through town to the park. They finished the Detour "first", but would have a double penalty coming! |
| Mel and Mike | 100 Barrels | So late arriving, yet they actually do this one nearly as well as possible, filling the 47 barrels with water in between carrying the 53 barrels and putting them on the top deck. Would they have done the 2 Miles side of the Detour faster? |
| Tammy and Victor | 2 Miles | Victor did all the pulling. They did not figure to take the rickshaw into the park, until they spotted the sign for parking the rickshaws and had to hurry back. This lapse put them behind Jaime and Cara. |
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A Buddhist temple, Wat Thep Nimit, Phuket, Thailand
Episode Seven Order of Finish |
|
|---|---|
Members |
Place |
| Cara and Jaime | 2 |
| Kisha and Jen | 5 |
| Margie and Luke | 4 |
| Mark and Michael | 3 |
| Mel and Mike | 6 |
| Tammy and Victor | 1 |
Mischievous stuntmen Mark and Michael arrived first, then Phil told them they had to sit out the 2 thirty-minute penalties for tampering with the pumps and for having the taxi lead them in the Detour. Tammy and Victor won the taxi race with Cara and Jaime to claim the prize for winning this leg of the Race. Margie was complaining of needing water, of how hot it was, and she had had chills before reaching the Pit Stop. She appeared flushed, not well at all. Once they were checked in, she fainted. She was given water and had water poured over her and manually fanned after Phil helped escort her to a spot under a roof, just moments after Phil called Margie the Bionic Woman. In a few minutes, she appeared back to normal and turned down the offer of an ambulance ride to get further attention. Kisha and Jen's taxi driver dropped them off at the wrong Buddhist temple. After finding the gate locked, they learned from some Buddhist monks that it was the wrong one. Luckily, Kisha and Jen got on a van to the correct one, barely ahead of Mel and Mike.
Outlook for Episode Eight
The five remaining teams have unique strengths, weaknesses, and character. This edition is fun to watch, even as some strong teams have fallen by the wayside!
Jaime and Cara performed very well in the Detour. They nearly edged out the dominant team of Tammy and Victor. Tammy did not seem affected by her fall at the Amber Fort. How will Margie do after suffering heat exhaustion? WIll the stuntmen learn from the penalties, or will they find the going even tougher for them in Bangkok? Kisha and Jen had a slow day, to say the least, as they have before.
When will the last non-elimination leg come--in the eighth or the ninth episode? Watch the five teams explore Bangkok, Thailand in Episode Eight on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 8:00 PM, unless delayed by the Master's golf tournament.
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