The Amazing Race Review: Release the Brakes

On this week’s episode of The Amazing Race, Tommy and Andy try to pull themselves up from near elimination, Jeremy and Sandy struggle as waffle makers, and Bill impresses the judges with his rockin’ bod. Also this week, the teams take hold of an American classic as they get behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang in Belgium.

When we last left The Amazing Race, Amani/Marcus were the only team to have checked in to the pit stop. In this week’s episode, Ernie/Cindy and Jeremy/Sandy are quick to follow behind them and move on to the second part of the two-leg race. The teams are sent to the Ford Proving Ground in Lommel, Belgium, the testing environment for Ford Mustangs. All of the teams decide to get directions before starting and Ernie/Cindy, Jeremy/Sandy are quicker at their stops and move on their way while Amani/Marcus struggle with communication between themselves and a hotel worker. After a prolonged time, Marcus/Amani finally decide to take off with a general sense of where they’re going, which as we all knows means they’ll soon be lost.

We pick up with Andy/Tommy as they try yet again to pass through the bodybuilding competition. The guys flex their stuff one more time for the judges and finally, they get the requisite 12 points to move on. Up next is Bill/Cathi, who also make it through. As the team pick up their clue from the judges, Bill gets a compliment from one of them who is impressed with Bill’s physique. As we know from previous episodes, so is Cathi.

At the Ford Proving Ground, the guys are having a grand time rip racing through the courses. Ernie has a few troubles with the second obstacle, giving Tommy time to catch up and the two play neck and neck for the rest of the challenge. On the sidelines, Tommy’s partner Andy is feeling pretty heated.

Because of Tommy’s difficulties last week during the poem challenge, Andy/Tommy decided that they would leave the mental challenges up to Andy. This leaves Tommy with the physical challenges, like racing around in a mustang. Andy is sitting on the sidelines jealous that he’s not doing the task. This is something that he struggles with for a long time, refusing even to hear Tommy’s excitement of the course after the fact. Andy does eventually let it go, but it’s a hard won battle.

Amani/Marcus finally show up at the proving ground, right before Andy/Tommy and Bill/Cathi arrive. Their time spent lost has annihilated their lead. Bill/Cathi are the last team on the course, but Bill does a great job moving through the obstacles moving them on to the next task.

For the next task, the teams had to either: build a raft and float down a canal to gather pieces of their next clue or build a waffle stand and make 18 waffles to receive their next clue. Building the raft is pretty straight forward; they’ve got barrels, ropes and planks. It seems as simple as things always do before one must take into account the possibility of failure. As the water lovers that they are, Andy/Tommy immediately choose this task and get the job done with enviable speed. Amani/Marcus, who started soon after them, are still building their raft as the boys complete the challenge.

Also, still on the grindstone are Ernie/Cindy who started first in this challenge and watch frustrated as Andy/Tommy passed them by. Ernie/Cindy had a hard start to this challenge when they found that their collective height was too short to put the roof on the waffle stand. This cost them a bit of time, but they make it up by being pretty efficient on the waffles. Jeremy/Sandy on the other hand are thinking about just dropping this challenge. They’ve seen three other teams pass them by and they still can’t figure out why they’re not getting through. The trick is the 18 waffles have to be arranged in a specific order and Jeremy/Sandy got two of the waffles mixed up. They finally figure it out, but by this point they’re pulling up the rear.

The pit stop for this week’s episode was the Atomium in Brussels where Andy/Tommy were the first to arrive. Here by some miracle of advertising Andy/Tommy learn that they each won a customizable Ford Mustang. Andy tells us that it’s a blessing and that Tommy can try to rub it in all he wants, he won’t be jealous anymore. Amani/Marcus get lost on their way to the pit stop and are lucky to check in at fourth place. Bill/Cathi are the last to arrive and are eliminated.

It’s sort of bittersweet to see Bill/Cathi leave. Over the competition these two have been amazing contenders far surpassing many expectations (including my own) about their staying power. Bill tells us that they wanted to do this for older Americans who are overlooked. They wanted to prove that older people still have something to offer, and indeed they do. It’s hard to see Bill and Cathi leave, even though for most of the race I wanted them to do just that. It’s difficult to see now because they are so strong, steady, and… gracious. They have shown an unfailing affection towards one another and the world. It’s hard to see them leave because it feels nice to see them each week. Bill tells us that he’s not ashamed of how they have done on the race and if he had the chance to do it all over again, he’d do it with the same person, the same way. And at this point I realize why I like them so much, they seem the ideal of what marriage and love is supposed to be. Every girly part of me sighs at that, and it makes this moment so precious. We’ll end this with a final note from Bill as he tells us that this race proves what he always knew about he and Cathy, that “win, lose, or draw, there’s no reason we should fall apart.” (Double sigh…)

Here are the rankings:
1. Andy/Tommy
2. Jeremy/Sandy
3. Ernie/Cindy
4. Amani/Marcus

For more on this episode, check out One Long Car Commercial by Gabe Callahan.

Season 19, Episode 10: “Release the Brake!” (original airdate November 27, 2011)

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

Images courtesy of CBS.