The Amazing Race Review: Like One Big Racing Family

It’s always tough when you see someone on top of the world one week, and then through a series of events and mishaps, which may or may not be at their instigation, the next thing you know their fortunes have reversed and they’re left struggling to hang on by the skin of their teeth. I don’t know, maybe it’s the reminder of the capricious nature of success that can flip your quarter from heads to tails before you even realize the toss is up in the air. So with that being said, I sigh at this week’s episode of The Amazing Race where the team that I’m rooting for, former football player Marcus and his wife Amani, found themselves the victims of a cruel fate. Right after their first place finish, the team ended up dead last on this week’s episode. And before you start to think that I’ll do something completely crazy and like just flip out, keep reading on to find out how it happened and why this story has a happy ending… for now.

We start this week’s episode with the teams leaving Thailand to travel on to Africa. As the first team to arrive at the pit stop, Marcus/Amani are the first to leave for the airport in order to secure tickets on their flight. Their early lead, by the way, does no good as the teams find out that there’s only one flight from Thailand to Africa, so all the teams will be on the same flight. For this moment they are, as Justin calls them, “one big racing family.” Cue Brady Bunch song… as the teams arrive in Malawi for their next challenges.

In Malawi the teams race to get their taxis that will take them to the tobacco warehouse where they’ll be working to transport 10 200-lb bales of tobacco through the winding maze of the warehouse on a handcart. Jeremy/Sandy and Justin/Jennifer are the first teams to arrive and they learn just how exhausting this challenge is going to be. Dressed in the traditional hay-baler garb, the guys struggle to heft and direct the heavy bales; this task is not eased by the locals who make fun crashing into them. The guys get a little frustrated, but by the time they get to their third bale, they’ve pretty much gotten the hang of it. I’ve gotta say, I’m kind of glad that there aren’t any all female teams left on the race, because this challenge had the potential to be a total disaster. Not to say that women aren’t completely capable of handling the physical exertions of this task, but I (perhaps unjustly) believe that Kaylani/Lisa, Liz/Marie would probably not have been down for this.

While most of the teams are at the tobacco warehouse, Marcus/Amani and Bill/Cathi are still in their taxis trying to make their way there. These two teams got caught behind a slow moving engagement parade and are now well behind their competitors. Amani/Marcus console themselves that they are not in last place, Bill and Cathi are behind them. That changes quickly when their driver takes them to the wrong place putting Bill/Cathi in the lead. This task was probably tailor made for Bill. A farmer by trade, Bill slaughters it, making up some valuable time for his team.

For the next challenge, the teams had to choose between two tasks: “Sew” or “Grown.” In “Sew” the teams go to a tailor shop and stitch up a jacket and pant leg. When they’re done, the customers will give the teams their next clue. In the “Grown” challenge, the teams travel to a local school where they must use scrap materials to build two toy trucks. “Grown” pretty much requires attention to detail and basic building skills, whereas “Sew” to the best of my knowledge requires a skilled seamstress and prayer. I’m not going to lie, the looks of those machines slightly freak me out. That’s probably because I have no sewing skills whatsoever and the tip of the needle holds nothing but frustration and inadequacy to me.

Anyway, Ernie/Cindy, Bill/Cathi and Marcus/Amani choose to Sew. The teams learn that sewing is a two man job as the intricacies of the machine are hard for some of them to get at first. For the most part the teams make it through this unscathed. In the other challenge, Grow, Jeremy/Sandy, Justin/Jennifer, Andy/Tommy, and Zac/Laurence make trucks out of milk cartons and bottle caps surrounded by a hoard of playing children. Jennifer, Sandy, and Laurence are all touched by being in close proximity to the children and they each express their desire to spend more time at the school to play with them. But this is a race and they’ve got to keep moving ahead, but not before Laurence throws in some sexist comments to Sandy about how she needs to be doing the sewing task, but let’s just skip over that.

In order to get checked in at the end of this leg, the teams are told that they’ll have to pick up two beds from a local market and take them to Phil at the pit stop. The teams must call for a driver to take them part of the distance to the pit stop, but must eventually carry the beds the rest of the way. Justin/Jennifer are the first to call for their driver and they hop into the back of a pickup truck with their beds. Jeremy/Sandy are the second team to arrive at the shop and get their beds, but when waiting for their truck, they’re upset to see Andy/Tommy come in and swipe it away from them. In their defense, it’s not Andy/Tommy’s fault that they took the truck. When they asked for one, the shop owner pointed them to the truck meant for Jeremy/Sandy, but they didn’t know that for sure, they just counted themselves lucky. A couple of the other teams don’t even bother to wait around for a truck and they just ask anyone who happens to be driving by, and that’s how Ernie/Cyndi ended up hanging off the side of a truck clinging for their lives. Cindy tells us that she’s never felt so unsafe before in her life, and I tend to think that’s a risk you take when you’re HANGING OFF THE SIDE OF A TRUCK, but that’s just my opinion.

Carrying the beds to the pit stop, the journey is full of sexual innuendo. Maybe it’s because of the beds or my mind’s just flown into the gutter, but it makes me giggle when Ernie asks Cindy: “Do you want it on your back?” And Cindy says, “I gotta get this on top of me.” The real kicker for me is Cathi when she says quite innocently that, “My back may be sore from the bed, but the job has to be done.”

Amani/Marcus have their own issues with their truck. After settling their beds in the back of a pickup truck, the two decide to get in a cab and follow behind. Not too far away from the market, their cab breaks down and no amount of prayers they’re throwing up is going to get it to start again. After paying the cab and pushing it to the side of the road, Marcus/Amani get on the back of the truck and continue on.

At the pit stop, Justin/Jennifer are the first to arrive, and Justin tells Jennifer that he’s sure they’ll hear some good news. He’s right, they do. They are the first to arrive. But right after that comes the bad news: because the two didn’t pay their driver they have to go back and settle up with him before they can be checked in. This leaves enough room for Andy/Tommy to check in as the new #1, winning yet another trip for this leg, this time to the Virgin Islands.

By the time Amani/Marcus make it to the bed carrying portion, all of the teams have made it to the pit stop. Luckily for them, Bill/Cathi didn’t pay their driver either and the two have a very small window through which they can hope to remain in the competition. But that window doesn’t last long as before they find Phil, Bill/Cathi go back to pay their cab and then return to the pit stop in 6th place. Amani/Marcus are the last to arrive. While the two are disappointed at the thought that they are eliminated, Amani/Marcus tells us that what’s most important to them is that they didn’t give up. The two have a special needs daughter at home and so they’ve learned to appreciate even the small things as a milestone. The two tell us that they wanted to be an example for not only their kids, but to all kids, to hang in there and don’t quit. In the middle of this, Phil informs them that this is a non-elimination leg, so they’ll have another chance to prove it right.

Here are the rankings for this week:
1. Andy/Tommy- winning a trip for two to the British Virgin Islands
2. Justin/Jennifer
3. Jeremy/Sandy
4. Laurence/Zac
5. Ernie/Cindy
6. Bill/Cathi
7. Amani/Marcus- will have a Speed Bump next week

And here’s where I stand:

Rooting for: Amani/Marcus, come on guys pull it through
Rooting Against: No one really, but since someone has to go why not Ernie/Cindy
Who Will Win: Andy/Tommy

Next week on The Amazing Race, the teams take on the job of taxi drivers and Jeremy/Sandy battle it out on the lake.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out Africa – It’s Very Spacious by Gabe Callahan

Season 19, Episode 6: “We Love Your Country Already, It’s Very Spacious” (original airdate October 30, 2011.)

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.

Images courtesy of CBS.