Ready, set, go! The Race is on and I’m a little behind on these things; there is so much awesome Reality TV action happening right now! There are a lot of exciting things going on around this “office” as well! If you enjoy what you’re seeing here at Your Reality Recaps, we hope that you will support our Kickstarter to help Eric, Jon and the gang bring you even more exciting content in the near and not so near future. And don’t forget the comedic video recaps!
Before the race begins, bad news for Mark and Bopper; due to medical issues, Bopper won’t be able to run this one with his buddy Mark. Luckily, Phil has another Kentucky native online to queue up with Mark – previous two-time Racer, Mallory Ervin! As heart-wrenching as it was to see Bopper go, I love Mallory – I met her last September, she’s a genuine sweetheart and super competitive so I think Mark is in good hands.
First destination: China. The first team to check in will receive two Express Passes, one to keep and one to give to another team before the end of the fifth leg. They have to get there first, though, and to get there the teams must find the symbol of their destination city on a hat of one of the UCLA marching band members behind them. The sooner they find a symbol, the earlier the flight they can catch. Once they have turned in their band member to Phil, the teams can load up into one of the provided vehicles, (and when that company wants to give ME a car, I will promote them in my blogs), and drive to the airport to catch their flights. To make things more fun, the band will be marching.
Before you know it, the Afganimals and the Cowboys have found their band members and will be on the first flight. Dave and Conner and the Twinnies will join them; Jon and Jessica, who arrived to deliver their band member just ahead of the Twinnies, will be the first on the second flight and then the editors forgo the semantics and everyone is on the road to the airport. Here’s the breakdown of the second flight (in case you needed reminding): Jon and Jessica, Joey and Meghan, Caroline and Jennifer, Flight Time and Big Easy, Luke and Margie, Mark and Mallory and Brenchel.
Upon arriving in China, all teams must travel by taxi or metro, make their way to the Street of Wedding Dresses where they will have to find one three shops; each shop has a limited number of clues. It seems that only the Cowboys have decided to travel the metro, while everyone else on the first flight chooses the taxi option, (or seems to). The Twinnies and Afganimals have formed a loose “alliance”, searching for the dress shops together. When the second flight arrives, Metro is the popular choice, but the group is separated and the Cowboys and Dave and Conner have found their clues. Brenchel and Margie and Luke move into third and fourth place, quickly finding the correct dress shops upon their arrival in the area. Mark and Mallory move into fifth and Flight Time and Big Easy slide into sixth just as the last Metro slides into the dress shop area. The Twinnies and Afganimals are not doing well…
Guangzhou Tower (Canton Tower) is the location of the next clue. Each team must pick a numbered pod, go for a spin on the attraction and hope the clue inside will be an actual clue and not a whammy. The Cowboys are first, but clang! It’s a whammy clue! At a snail’s pace, they must endure the entire rotation to be able to try another pod. Also moving at a snail’s pace are the Twinnies, Afganimals, Joey and Meghan and the Blondes. When the Twinnies walk off with the Blondes and YouTubers, the Afganimals are not so upset and find a clue quickly on their own. Margie and Luke arrive shortly after the Cowboys find a real clue. Brenchel, Dave and Conner and Mark and Mallory are not far behind, but they all have a little trouble finding the clue on the door. Only Brenchel pick a pod with a clue, everyone else has to try again. The Twinnies and Blondes are in the last two spots when they finally find their clues back on wedding dress street.
At the Road Block, one person from each team must strap in and suit, (fabulously), up to perform flips on wires – 300 feet in the air. The Cowboys are still in first, but Brenchel isn’t far behind in second and before you know it, the mom and pop and sons teams are ready to flip out as well. As soon as they are unsuited up, the Cowboys make way for the Pit Stop so it should come as no surprise that the Cowboys hit the mat first, winning the Express Passes. And this is where I’m going to speed things up so I can get caught up with blogs.
The Twinnies are melting down up in their bubble on the tower when Brenchel hits the Pit Stop mat in second place. Dave and Conner take third, Margie and Luke are thrilled to be fourth and the Afganimals are happy to be fifth. There is still a lot of whammy clues and pod confusion up on the tower, people are freaking out, but mostly the Twinnies and they are in the last two spots with Joey and Meghan. Back in the arena, everyone else is breezing through the Head Over Heals Road Block; Mark and Mallory place sixth and Flight Time and Big Easy are right behind them in seventh. Jessica and John takes eighth, the Blondes take ninth place. With only one spot left, and with Joey and Meghan having a good lead on them at the Road Block, the Twinnies are the last to check in and they are eliminated.
The Amazing Race airs on CBS on Sunday nights at 8pm Eastern, 7pm Central. There are usually a couple of us Recappers live tweeting (so follow us!). Don’t forget to watch our Your Reality Recaps live recap shows on Mondays around 3pm Eastern, 2pm Central; you can check the schedule of all the live shows here.
