Amazing Race Tidbits
CBS' The Amazing Race 14th Edition
Medical: Margie fully recovered from her collapse at the Pit Stop. Teams were instructed to fly from Phuket, Thailand to the capital, Bangkok. Other thanone team going directly to the airport for tickets, there was no difference in how teams arrived, as all teams took the same Thai Air flight to Bangkok.
Once in Bangkok, all teams were directed to find a specific boatyard on the main river through Bangkok. Kisha and Jen had the hardest time finding the boatyard, due in part to Margie's prevailing on her cab driver to not share directions.
Teaser: Who is ready to propel their team forward?
From the website: One team member had to choose a long-tail boat and figure out how to join an unwieldy rod to its propeller to make a working boat. The boat would only run if racers assembled the propeller correctly.
Perhaps better said: Secure a propeller to an unwieldy rod. Also, as soon as the prop was ready and team members were on board, the boatman would take off. This quick exit created havoc for most teams, unless they tried to anticipate the journey ahead or slowed down to read the clue at the end of the Roadblock before boarding. Only Margie and Luke anticipated the journey.
Episode Eight Roadblock |
||
|---|---|---|
Members |
Teammate |
Notes |
| Cara and Jaime | Jaime | Jaime did OK with the prop. After receiving the clue when they completed the Detour, but reading it on the boat, they realized they needed to return to retrieve their packs. |
| Kisha and Jen | Kisha | Last to arrive, they left their backpacks in the cab and their Race bag with their documents and money, along with a pair of shoes, at the dock. Attaching the prop would be the least of their problems. |
| Margie and Luke | Margie | Margie was handy with the tools, finishing quickly and well enough. They had everything in order when they left, as Luke wisely loaded the packs while Margie worked. |
| Mark and Michael | Mark | They left their packs in the cab, which would affect them later. Mark seemed to work slowly. |
| Tammy and Victor | Victor | Victor really struggled in this mechanical challenge. Victor needed at least two tries to get the prop secured properly. They picked up on Jaime and Cara coming back for the packs, so they wisely loaded their packs on the return trip. |
As teams completed the Roadblock, they opened their next clue telling them to journey on. Most teams did not get the wording of the clue right away. Kisha and Jen completely missed it, always figuring they would return to their stuff. Mark and Michael, only missing their packs, did not get that wording until too late to return. They were directed to have their boatman traverse the complex canals of the capital to the Peninsula Pier, where they would find their next clue.
Broken Teeth From the website: Teams traveled to the place some call �The Street of Happy Smiles�. Once there, they had to search through fifty sets of dentures to find good matches for five waiting patients.
This was the more challenging side of the Detour, but the team doing it had some control of the time.
Broken Record From the website: Teams had to travel to a parking lot and choose a party taxi equipped with an onboard karaoke system. Then, a group of locals joined teams for a five-mile ride during which they all sang along to a well-known Thai pop video until they reached their destination.
It was not challenging, and the party vans did not seem to get stuck in traffic. However, teams arriving in Chinatown were delayed by a lost taxi, taxis trying to ford flooded streets, or taxis stuck in traffic.
Episode Eight Detour |
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|---|---|---|
Members |
Option |
Notes |
| Cara and Jaime | Broken Record | They did well enough with this non-challenging side of the Detour. However, they had the taxi driver that was the most lost on the way to Chinatown, along with going through a lot of water. |
| Kisha and Jen | Broken Record | They did OK, distracted only by worries about their travel documents and their money. At least they followed Race rules and got a driver to take them for free! |
| Margie and Luke | Broken Teeth | Margie has a nursing background, making her comfortable being in other people's personal space, and with handling the dentures. Luke was so not these things that he worked much more slowly, leaving it up to his mom to make all the matches. |
| Mark and Michael | Broken Record | Oops! Michael prevailed on Mark that it was necessary to go all the way back to the start of the Roadblock and recover their backpacks to do the Detour. In getting back to the Detour, they bargained with their flashlight and compass to make the cab fare, against Race rules. They enjoyed the task, counting it as second nature. |
| Tammy and Victor | Broken Record | They enjoyed the karaoke, being Chinese. |
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The Phya Thai Palace, Bangkok, Thailand
Episode Eight Order of Finish |
|
|---|---|
Members |
Place |
| Cara and Jaime | 2 |
| Kisha and Jen | 4 |
| Margie and Luke | 1 |
| Mark and Michael | 5 |
| Tammy and Victor | 3 |
Margie and Luke finished first, easily ahead of other teams, with their clean run. Jaime and Cara settled for second, having to backtrack just a bit at the Roadblock, and having endured the lost driver on the way to Chinatown. Kisha and Jen managed to arrive third, with the lawyers, Tammy and Victor, right behind them. However, Phil sent the sisters back in search of their travel documents. Tammy and Victor, who arrived fourth, were awarded third place instead. Mischievous stuntmen Mark and Michael arrived next, then Phil told them they had to sit out the 2 2-hour penalties for selling personal items, the second time being on the way to the Pit Stop. The stragglers, Kisha and Jen finally arrived with their travel documents and the rest of their stuff. The stuntmen still had over three hours left in their penalties. Their reprieve is that this was a non-elimination leg. They will have the remaining time in the penalties added to their start time, and then will also have to complete the Speed Bump.
Outlook for Episode Nine
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!
Fully recovered from heat exhaustion, Margie lead the way for her team in a dominating performance as the tasks fell in her favor. However, Margie and Luke have had run ins with other teams, and the sisters, Kisha and Jen, did not take kindly to the cab interference by Margie. Not surprisingly, the previews show conflict between Luke and the sisters. The surging cheerleaders, Jaime and Cara, ran a strong leg beginning with the Roadblock, figuring out that they needed to go back for their bags. Tammy and Victor had a slower day, all due to Roadblock woes, but they still made all the smart decisions. Victor must be hoping that the boats are the last mechanical challenge. Kisha and Jen had a bad day, and are very fortunate to still be in the running. WIll the stuntmen be able to overcome more than three hours of penalties plus the Speed Bump?
Who will be the final four teams, and what is the Amazing Race "first"? Watch the five teams fight to avoid elimination in Episode Nine on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 8:00 PM.
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