The Amazing Race: December 2007 Archives

This week's The Amazing Race began in Florence, Italy in the Boboli Gardens where the teams had finished their seventh pit stop. Recapping last week's episode, we were reminded that Kynt & Vyxsin had arrived last but that it was a non-elimination leg of the race. The penalty for being last would be a Speed Bump for them in this next leg of the race.

Nicolas & Donald had been the first team to arrive last week so they would be the first team to depart this week at 10:12 PM. Teams would be traveling almost 4,000 miles to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. Once arriving in Mumbai, they would have to make their way to a newspaper stand via rickshaw to purchase The Times of India newspaper. In an ad inside the newspaper, the location for their next clue would be revealed.

Nathan & Jennifer left at 11:55 PM, Ron & Christina left at 1:06 AM, TK & Rachel left at 2:11 AM, and Kynt & Vyxsin left at 3:23 AM. Nicolas & Donald had been able to make reservations for a flight that would be arriving in Mumbai at 6:50 AM shortly after they left so they spent the night in a hotel catching up on some sleep. The other teams rushed to the airport only to find that it was closed and wouldn't be opening until 5:30 AM. Ron & Christina were able to get tickets on the 6:50 AM flight as were Nathan & Jennifer. Those two teams left on their plane along with a fresh Nicolas & Donald. Kynt & Vyxsin managed to swing a flight that would land 20 minutes after the first flight while TK & Rachel found themselves on a flight that (unknown to them) would be arriving later than the other two flights.

Fortunately for Kynt & Vyxsin, the plane with the other three teams on it got delayed in Paris and they were the first team on the ground in Mumbai. They were able to snag a rickshaw and be on their way before the other plane landed but it didn't really matter. Once they arrived at the paper stand they found that it didn't even open until 6:00 AM. So they sat and waited while all of the other teams arrived which caught everybody up.

When the stand opened, they all grabbed their paper and began looking for the ad that had what they would be doing next in it. Kynt & Vyxsin found it first. The teams would now have to travel by rickshaw to a tailor shop (Chauhan Tailors) where the shop owner would give them their next clue. The only team that seemed to have a major problem finding the ad was Nathan & Jennifer who began fighting with each other again.

Nicolas & Donald were the first to find the tailor shop and saw the Speed Bump that Kynt & Vyxsin would have to complete when they arrived. This clue at the tailor shop was a Detour though -- Paste 'Em or Thread 'Em. In Paste 'Em, teams would have to get to a certain underpass where they would have to paste a six-panel Bollywood poster on the wall. When finished, they would receive their next clue. In Thread 'Em, teams would have to make their way to a flower market and thread 108 flowers in a specific alternating pattern. When the judge determined they were finished, they would then have to deliver the strand of flowers to a waiting bridegroom who would then give them their next clue.

Nicolas & Donald (in 1st) chose to do the pasting as did Ron & Christina (in 2nd). Meanwhile, Nathan & Jennifer were still fighting back at the paper stand while Kynt & Vyxsin were lost and couldn't find the tailors. TK & Rachel arrived at the tailors and chose to do the threading.

Finally, Kynt & Vyxsin arrived at the tailors and at their Speed Bump. The Speed Bump is a task that only they have to do and they must do it before completing the Detour that the other teams were working on. In their Speed Bump, they must make their way to a yoga master and successfully perform a series of complex yoga poses. When done, they could continue on in the race.

Nathan & Jennifer finally found the ad and went off on their way. The driver for Nicolas & Donald missed the turn for the underpass putting them further behind. TK & Rachel were working on their flowers (albeit slowly) while Ron & Christina were fighting with each other while pasting the poster up. Kynt & Vyxsin arrived and began their yoga while Nathan & Jennifer chose Thread 'Em. Nicolas & Donald finally found their way to the underpass and began pasting their poster while Kynt & Vyxsin finished up their Speed Bump and made their way back to the tailor shop and chose to do Thread 'Em.

Nicolas & Donald were the first team to finish their task and received the next clue. Teams would have to make their way to Kabutar Khana (a traffic island) where they would receive their next clue. They were also told that the second of two U-Turns would be ahead.

As Nathan & Jennifer begin their fighting while threading the flowers (can't all girls thread flowers?), TK & Rachel finished up and received the next clue. After starting over on their poster, Ron & Christina finished their pasting and received the next clue as well. TK & Rachel were the first to reach the U-Turn and chose not to do it to any of the other teams. Teams would now have to travel by taxi to Bharatgas Colaba (a gas depot) for their next clue. As Nicolas & Donald and Ron & Christina arrived at the U-Turn, they chose not to do it to anybody else either.

Nicolas & Donald were the first team to reach the gas depot and that is where they got their Road Block. One person from each team would have to navigate the "mean streets" of Mumbai with a cart loaded with six tanks of propane gas. They would have to make two deliveries of three tanks each at addresses on order slips they'd been given. Once they made their delivery, they would have to take the receipt from the homeowner's door as proof of delivery. When finished with both deliveries, they would have to hand their order slips and receipts to a foreman before they would get their next clue.

Nicolas, Ronald, and TK chose to do the task for their teams. Nathan & Jennifer finally finished the flowers and scurried off to the U-Turn. Kynt & Vyxsin finished their flowers too then and hurried to try to catch up. They were able to make it to the U-Turn ahead of Nathan & Jennifer and you just knew they would use it on them but they made one of the stupidest decisions of the race this season. They chose to U-Turn Nicolas & Donald thinking they were behind them. When Nathan & Jennifer arrived at the U-Turn they were thrilled to see they hadn't been chosen but were completely confused as to why Kynt & Vyxsin chose Nicolas & Donald.

Meanwhile, TK finished up his deliveries and received the next clue. Teams would now travel 14 miles by taxi and find Bandra Fort which would be this leg's pit stop. Nicolas finishes up his deliveries as does Ron and they begin making their way to the pit stop. Poor Nicolas looks absolutely horrible though and even had to have his driver pull over so he could get out and puke.

Kynt & Vyxsin and Nathan & Jennifer finally arrive at the Detour and they're neck and neck in the race. Kynt and Jennifer decide to do the deliveries for their teams and off they went.

TK & Rachel were the first team to reach Phil on the mat and won a five night trip for two to St. Martin. (I wanna go!) Nicolas & Donald were the second team to arrive at the pit stop and were excited yet exhausted. Ron & Christina were the third team to arrive at the pit stop.

So we're left with Kynt & Jennifer battling it out between them. Both of them didn't handle getting their receipts right -- Kynt getting the wrong ones and Jennifer not getting hers altogether. So they had to go back and take care of that. Jennifer finished right before Kynt and both teams scrambled for cabs in quite a race for the finish. While crying in her cab, Jennifer said that Kynt & Vyxsin must have witch powers or something. You know, she is really on my last nerve.

Leading us to believe that Nathan & Jennifer were lost in a classic TAR fake-out, they were the fourth team to reach the pit stop. Kynt & Vyxsin were the last team to arrive and were eliminated from the race. Phil did say they were the most fashionable couple to have ever been on the show (LOL!). Kynt & Vyxsin said they appreciated all of the different cultures they came in touch with and had a fun time.

In next week's previews, Donald tires and Nicolas picks up the load (Don needs water?). TK & Rachel venture off on their own (Nicolas & Donald and Nathan & Jennifer both wonder where TK & Rachel are).

What did you think about this week's episode? And what about the tremendous mistake made by Kynt & Vyxsin at the U-Turn? Could you imagine being a fly on the wall during Ron & Christina and Nathan & Jennifer's fights? Finally, we're down to four teams now -- who do you want to win?

This week's The Amazing Race was a crazy journey! Planes weren't cooperating for some teams and attitudes for others.

TK & Rachel, the first team to arrive at the last pit stop in Vilnius, were the first to leave at 1:00 AM. Teams have to now fly 900 miles to Dubrovnik, Croatia. After landing, they must travel to the base of the Fort of St. Lawrence to receive their next clue. Kynt & Vyxsin took off one minute after TK & Rachel and Ron & Christina left 14 minutes later. Azaria & Hendekea left at 1:20 AM, Nathan & Jennifer left at 1:29 AM, and Nicolas & Donald left at 1:42 AM. Each of the teams were given $109 for this leg of the race.

TK & Rachel and Kynt & Vyxsin were the first ones at the airport and hopped online. They found a flight through the Czech airlines but their ticket window didn't open until 4:30 AM. Meanwhile, Ron & Christina stopped at a hotel on their way to the airport and made reservations on a Polish flight. While Azaria & Hendekea were on their way to the airport, she mentioned that she knew a couple of Croatian phrases that might help get them by. One of those was the English translation of, "There's a party in my pants." That might not help you in the way you'd like it to Hendekea.

At the airport, teams were waiting for the various offices to open so that they could buy their tickets. Kynt & Vyxsin noticed though that a travel agent's office had opened so they went over there to check out the available flights. Christina tried to help out Azaria & Hendekea by giving them the scoop on the Polish flight they'd already made reservations for. The other teams were waiting for the Croatian airlines office to open but several of them were getting antsy seeing Kynt & Vyxsin already getting their tickets. Not wanting to miss out on a better flight, Nathan & Jennifer left their spot in line to go check it out. Then Ron & Christina came over (he started arguing with Kynt). Azaria & Hendekea's reservations didn't go through and they started fighting. Nate & Jen change their minds and go to the back of the line they'd previously been in. Let's just say there was a lot of jockeying around in the airport with everybody trying to get tickets to these flights.

After the first flight (via Prague) left with TK & Rachel and Nicolas & Donald, Hendekea & Azaria find out that the tickets they'd finally acquired were in business class. No business class allowed -- only economy. They went back to their agent to get the tickets corrected only to find out that there were no more seats left on the flight they needed. They do manage to get a flight via Frankfurt and in the process, find out that the Prague flight would be arriving late. Good for them!

When the Prague flight landed, poor TK & Rachel and Nicolas & Donald were left with no connecting flight to board because their plane had arrived so late. Both of the teams had to get tickets to Dubrovnik on separate flights. Meanwhile, the second plane landed with Nathan & Jennifer (1st), Kynt & Vyxsin (2nd), and Ron & Christina (3rd). Ron & Christina find the clue box first and it's a roadblock. Who has a builder's eye? In this task, they would have to search through a pile of 150 stones for just one of eight that would fit in a hole in the wall. Ronald finished it really quickly and they received their next clue. They must now make their way to the roof and tandem zip line down to Fort Bokar for their next clue.

While Nathan & Jen and Kynt & Vyxsin were still looking for the clue box, Ron & Christina took off down the zip line for their wild ride. The clue this time was a Detour: Short and Long or Long and Short. In S&L, teams would have to repel down to the base of the fort and then scale a tower wall on a rope ladder before having to find their next clue in the plaza. In L&S, teams would have to tandem zip line down to the water below, swim to a floating platform and pick out a small fishing boat, row the boat around the city walls to the harbor, and then find their clue in the same plaza.

Ron & Christina chose to do L&S while Nathan & Jen and Kynt & Vyxsin finally found the clue box and began working on the roadblock. Nathan finished first for his team right ahead of Kynt for his. Nathan & Jen decide to do L&S while Kynt & Vyxsin decided to do S&L (they were the only team to do so btw). Almost immediately after beginning to row, Nathan & Jen started fighting. She hates him, she never wants to be with him again, blah blah blah. It was actually pretty hard to listen to because they were so upset at each other.

Ron & Christina landed in the harbor with Nathan & Jennifer right on their heels. Nathan & Jennifer find the clue box first and it's for the next pit stop. (Don't forget, the other planes still have not landed.) Teams would have to travel four miles by taxi to the edge of the city and find Stone Cross Overlook. That would be the pit stop for this leg of the race. Kynt & Vyxsin, meanwhile, finished up their Detour are looking for the next clue box in the plaza. The first taxi driver Nathan & Jennifer were able to flag down didn't want to take them because they were too wet. This pushed Jennifer over the edge again and she started having a breakdown in the middle of the street. All of this while, Ron & Christina snagged a taxi and were on their way to the pit stop. Finally, TK & Rachel's plane arrived at 2:39 PM and they were in 4th place. Finally, Nathan & Jen find a ride up to the Overlook -- but it's not a taxi. They asked some guy in a car to take them and he agreed.

Ron & Christina were the first team to reach Phil at the pit stop and were super excited! Besides his arguing with Kynt earlier, they actually did a fairly decent job of working together on this leg of the race. As winners, they each won a 12 1/2 foot catamaran. Not bad I guess. Nathan & Jennifer were the 2nd team to reach Phil and didn't look happy. They looked less happy when Phil told them that they'd have to go back and take a legal form of transportation up to the pit stop. I almost died laughing when Phil told them that! On their taxi ride back down, Jen began her crying again. She doesn't want to be there anymore! Stop already girl.

Kynt & Vyxsin were the official 2nd team to meet Phil and they were excited. I must mention this before I forget: as the teams were climbing the steps to get to Phil, there were guards posted that would fire off a gun or cannon that would scare the living mess out of the teams. I found it hilarious when each team screamed with fright as it happened. Let's get back to the race now. Nathan & Jennifer got their taxi and became the 3rd team on the mat. They're not happy with each other and it definitely showed.

Nicolas & Donald's plane finally landed in Dubrovnik and they're in 5th place. Azaria & Hendekea's plane then landed and they're in last place. Each of those teams were neck and neck going through the roadblock and trying to outpace the other. Meanwhile, TK & Rachel were the 4th team to see Phil. It's a race between Nicolas & Donald and Azaria & Hendekea now.

In the end though, it was Nicolas & Donald that would continue on in the race. Hendekea & Azaria were the 6th team eliminated. She said they beat themselves in this leg of the race (and they did). Of course, they didn't get any help from the ticket agent that gave them business class tickets instead of economy. Azaria said he was proud of her and that this experience has brought them closer together.

In two weeks (the Survivor finale will be on this Sunday), Donald is stunned by a Fast Forward (getting a tattoo????) and Kynt loses faith in Vyxsin (yells at her to stop the car because she's going too fast). It looks to be another crazy episode coming up. If the Fast Forward involves a tattoo, I sure hope somebody does it! It would be as great as when Joyce shaved her head. You remember that don't you? So what did you think about this week's episode?

The Amazing Race finally left Africa this week! Nothing against the continent or Ouagadougou itself but I've had more than enough to last me all season long.

Azaria & Hendekea and Nathan & Jennifer were the first teams to leave for the airport in Burkina Faso by thirty minutes. Ron & Christina, Nicholas & Donald, and Kynt & Vyxsin all left within minutes of each other. Shana & Jennifer and TK & Rachel were the last two teams to head out with TK & Rachel leaving more than an hour and ten minutes after Azaria & Hendekea. After arriving, teams had to purchase tickets to fly to Vilnius, Lithuania (3,000+ miles away) from an official airline ticketing office. Basically, they couldn't buy their tickets online. They could research the flights though and that's what most teams did.

In a refreshing change, there was more than just one or two different flight paths that could be taken to arrive in Lithuania. The best flight to get was the Paris-Amsterdam-Vilnius (PAV) one that would arrive at 1:25 PM. The next best flight was the Paris-Frankfurt-Vilnius (PFV) one that would arrive ten minutes later. The last flight that was used was the Paris-Prague-Vilnius (PPV) which would have its passengers arriving at 2:10 PM.

While at the internet cafe doing their research, Ron & Christina got frustrated with each other and the other teams and decided to take a chance and get to a ticket office ahead of the other teams. That didn't work out so well for them. They wound up being the only team on the latest flight. Perhaps if Ronald would have left Christina alone she could have found one of the better flights. The other high point in all of the ticket madness was with Nicholas & Donald. While Nicholas was ordering their tickets, Azaria & Hendekea overheard him tell the ticket lady to give the other teams later flights. Hendekea in particular wasn't too thrilled with that. Even later, when one of the teams asked Nicholas & Donald which flight they got, Nicholas refused to tell them.

Hendekea & Azaria wound up getting on the earliest flight but Nicholas & Donald didn't have such good luck. Their ticket lady didn't speak much English and didn't seem to like Nicholas too much and gave them a different Prague flight that arrived at 4:35 PM. They stupidly decided to buy the ticket anyway. But when Nathan & Jennifer were next to buy their tickets, amazingly there were still seats available and they got on the early flight with Hendekea & Azaria. What's that saying about karma Nicholas? Donald wasn't too thrilled when he found that out and somehow they were able to get tickets for the PFV flight. All of the jockeying wasn't over though because while the blondes were trying to better their seat position on the plane, Hendekea was trying to look over their shoulder to see where they would be seated. Shana didn't like that and actually asked Hendekea to leave. The nerve!

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we saw no footage of the Paris airport (or the other airports) or any drama concerned with catching the connecting flights. The next time we saw the teams, they were landing in Vilnius and off to find their next clue. Teams then had to find St. Anne's Church (some of them went the wrong way) where they received a Roadblock. Who's a good listener? One member of each team would have to become a Lithuanian messenger and deliver a package to its proper destination. Kynt & Vyxsin kicked butt in this task and finished first, hence, receiving the next clue.

They would now have to drive to an outdoor museum in Rumsiskes and find a Travelocity gnome among a hundred other gnomes. While Kynt & Vyxsin are looking for their gnome, some of the other players were really having a hard time with the Roadblock -- Nicholas in particular. He couldn't find where to make his second delivery so they lost at least four places. After teams find their gnome, they must take it with them until they reach the pit stop. But first, it's time for a Detour.

In this Detour, teams chose between Count Down or Step Up. In Count Down, teams have to count every single picket in a fence and provide the correct number to a local who would give them their next clue. In Step Up, teams have to walk a stretch of road on stilts to an awaiting local at the end who would provide the next clue. If teams provided the wrong number of pickets or fell off of their stilts, they would have to start over.

Kynt & Vyxsin chose to do the stilts as did TK & Rachel and Ron & Christina. K/V quickly changed their mind though when they couldn't complete the distance required and went to count pickets. TK & Rachel were the first to finish in the Detour and received the next clue -- make your way on foot to the Aukstaitija Windmill. That is the pit stop for this leg of the race.

Almost immediately after TK & Rachel received their last clue, Kynt & Vyxsin finished their picket-counting and began running to the windmill in an effort to catch up to them. It wasn't enough though as TK & Rachel were the first team to arrive. They won a 10-day trip for two to Japan and, from how Phil was describing it, it sounded pretty sweet! Kynt & Vyxsin were the second team to meet up with Phil. Meanwhile, the other teams were still working on their Detours. Ronald was having a hard time with the stilts and fell down pretty hard once. You could really tell he was in a ton of pain but he managed to complete it eventually.

Nathan & Jennifer were doing nothing but fighting while they were counting pickets. She was being a major pain and he wasn't helping matters any by interrupting her counting. He eventually called her a bitch and that's when she became more upset at him and decided they should just do the stilts. Nicholas & Donald and the blondes were having their problems as well. Nicholas had been counting the gateposts (a no-no) and the blondes were squabbling back and forth causing them to keep losing count.

Ron & Christina were the third team to arrive at the mat followed by Azaria & Hendekea and Nathan & Jennifer. Who's going to be the last team to arrive? Nicholas & Donald corrected their counting and wound up being the sixth team to see Phil. The blondes were the last team to arrive and were eliminated. They said they had a great experience even though they didn't always get along. Good for them. Personally, I'm glad they're gone because I didn't really like them very much.

Next week, Azaria loses patience with his sister and Nathan & Jennifer reach their breaking point. They were even throwing around the "hate" word with each other. That's not a good thing.

So what did you think about this week's episode? Were you glad the blondes were eliminated? And is it just me or this season of The Amazing Race not as good as it usually is?