Well it was a long break (two weeks) and I am glad The Amazing Race has returned. But I was not happy about the 40 minute delay on the East Coast, this time due to The Masters Golf Tournament running over schedule.
The race resumed from Phuket Thailand with five teams left. The order of departure was the usual “team equalizing” event of leaving at night over a 3 hour span but ending up on the same flight. Tammy & Victor departed at 9:27, Jaime & Cara at 12:31am, Mark & Michael at 12:46am, Margie & Luke at 12:51am and Kisha & Jen left at 1:05am. Teams had to fly to Bangkok and the first flight was at 7:25am.
Once in Bangkok Thailand, teams had to travel by taxi to a boat yard for the “roadblock” task. On the way to the boatyard here was a short “race” between Kisha & Jen’s taxi and Margie & Luke’s taxi, then both stopped at the same location for their drivers to ask for directions then Kisha & Jen’s driver went the wrong way which allowed Margie & Luke to surge ahead to first place while Kisha & Jen fell way behind. It was the beginning of their troubles throughout this leg of the race.
The "Roadblock" task had teams assemble parts for a motor boat to get their next clue then that clue had teams use their boat to travel the canals of Bangkok to locate a dock for another clue. A few teams left their backpacks behind either at the boat dock or in taxis and had to return to the boatyard retrieve them. Kisha & Jen left their bags AND shoes at the boat dock.
The “detour” tasks were “broken teeth” where teams had to go to a dentist and search through bowls of dentures that would best fit waiting dental patients or “broken record” where teams had to sing karaoke in a taxi with three TRANSVESTITES during rush hour traffic. Margie & Luke were the only team to choose the dental task.
After the “detour” teams were sent to the PHYA THAI PALACE, the location of the next pit-stop. The first team to arrive was the mother-son team MARGIE & LUKE and for their first place arrival they won a vacation package to Puerto Rico from Amazing Race sponsor Travelocity.
Kisha & Jen could have been the second team at the pit-stop but they had to ask for help from any willing taxi driver to take them to the pit-stop for free. They decided to go directly to the pit-stop without the shoes, money, passports and clothes they left behind at the boat dock. It took them a while to find a generous taxi driver which allowed JAMIE & CARA to arrive at the pit-stop in second place. So Kisha & Jen were the THIRD team to arrive at the pit-stop with Victor & Tammy arriving immediately behind them. However Kisha & Jen were not allowed to check in at the pit-stop without their travel documents which were left with everything else at the boat dock. They were forced to find a way to get back to the boat dock to retrieve their stuff before they could check in which made Tammy & Victor the third team at the pit-stop.
It appeared that Mark & Michael were destined to be the last team at the pit-stop. They also left their backpacks at the boat dock. But they retrieved their bags before doing the “detour” which depleted most of their money. Everything seemed “safe” and they arrived at the pit-stop assuming a FOURTH place finish surviving elimination. But a real kick in the gut came in the form of a little known broken rule and a tough time penalty for punishment.
Mark & Michael were running out of money because of the extra taxicab trips to retrieve their stuff. So they bargained with taxi drivers to make their journey by offering some of their personal items like watches, etc in lieu of monetary payments. That was serious enough an infraction on The Amazing Race rules that Mark & Michael were given a TWO HOUR penalty for EACH infraction. They did it twice so they were imposed a FOUR hour penalty before they could check in at the pit-stop.
Kisha & Jen returned to the pit-stop during the first ten minutes of Mark & Michael’s penalty hold and were checked in as fourth place. With Mark & Michael in last place, rather than having a long wait for the inevitable, Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan went ahead and allowed them to check in officially in 5th or last place. But they were not eliminated. They might as well have been eliminated as although they were checked in before their penalty time expired, they will have to serve the remainder of their penalty time before the start of the next leg.
So we had another non-elimination round which means that Mark & Michael will have a “speed bump” task to complete on the next leg of the race. That along with the FOUR HOUR time penalty they have to serve could put them way behind the other teams. But the arrivals at the pit-stop were all during daylight, possibly during the afternoon. This means after a 12 hour pit-stop, teams will again leave during overnight hours and may be “equalized” by a flight or train schedule or a closed destination. So if any of these teams have learned any lessons from their mistakes, this race is still wide open.
To recap, The OFFICIAL order of the arrivals at the pit-stop are:
FIRST: Margie & Luke
SECOND: Jaime & Cara
THIRD: Tammy & Victor
FOURTH: Kisha & Jen
FIFTH: Mark & Michael survived elimination and facing a time penalty and “speed bump” extra task on the next leg of the race.
So now here are my predictions for elimination and the new predictions for the FINAL THREE.
After the last broadcast I predicted Mark & Michael for elimination based on playing too hard and having relationship stress. Well they did play hard and while doing so they made the critical mistakes that put them in their current situation of doom. They are in last place with a tough leg ahead. So my prediction was partially correct since this was a non-elimination round. Given their current status I have to repeat my prediction that Mark & Michael will be eliminated next.
I also would like to predict which teams would make the FINAL THREE. I think it is sure that VICTOR & TAMMY will make the final three as a focused team with strong abilities. But I also predict that JAIME & CARA will make the final three for their strong abilities but they will also bring out the claws. And finally I predict the mother and son team MARGIE & LUKE to make the final three for being a strong team and for other good reasons with one bad reason indicated in the previews for the next episode.
I am sorry to not include KISHA & JEN in the final three. I think they are good but they have yet to make a first place finish at any pit-stop and have been lurking near the end because of early relationship stress as siblings and for making the costly mistakes that added time between them and the other competitors. Then we see a battle brewing between them and Margie & Luke. That distraction could cost either team precious time on the race.
And about that preview, the gloves are coming off! We have a possible CAT FIGHT between a GAY male under 30 (Luke) and a young black female who knows that she’s fine and acts like a “diva” (Jen). Well there are rumors that Luke is gay and judging by the hand gestures seen in the previews for next week I will say that the inner diva is about to come out. You know it’s going to be a Diva duel.
That "duel" appears to be a foot race battle for the clue boxes, pushing someone out the way like two women fighting for the last dress on sale at Nordstrom then calling each other “bitch”. This shall be interesting to see but I hope these two don’t turn The Amazing Race into Jerry Springer.
WE shall see next week and hopefully ON TIME!
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