The Amazing Race 24 All Stars 2 Blog Recap Episode 5 “Can’t Make Fish Bite”

Jumping right into the action! BatuCaves in Kuala Lumpor is the start of the fifth leg of the race and since they finished first in the last leg, the Cowboys leave first at 2:26pm. Racers must now make their way to the airport to catch a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka, once they’ve arrived they must find the GangaramayaTemple to get blessed before they receive their next clue. Immediately, the Cowboys are in pursuit of a travel agency. Dave and Conner are next to leave at 3:13 pm; they self-eliminated on this leg in the last race they ran and they vow that this race will not be a repeat of that one.

You know what? None of this first part really matters. Since there is a Speed Bump in the way of a team, this leg is going to catch all of the teams up to each other so that there is a more even playing field. Basically, there are two flights leaving that night, but the earlier flight has a 30 minute connection in Singapore. Some teams go to a travel agent, others go directly to the airport – everyone is shocked to see that Brenchel is still in the race and that they are only team to risk the Singapore connection. The only team that is not on the direct flight is Margie and Luke and they’ve decided not to risk the Singapore connection. Instead, Margie and Luke will risk waiting on stand-by for a couple of seats on the direct flight.

When we go to commercial, Brenchel is tearing through the Singapore airport to make their connection, Brenden drops a bag, but when we get back from the break we find out that the editors have tricked us. Brenchel make their connection and will be in first place when they land, but their advantage is moot when they arrive at the GangaramayaTemple – it doesn’t open until 5:45am. By the time the temple opens, everyone except Margie and Luke have arrived and all teams are shuffled inside, dressed in traditional clothing and receive their blessing and clue in order of their arrival at the location.

Teams must now travel by train to King Coconut Island in Galle and everyone is on the same train and boy howdy do the Blondes love to be near the Cowboys! They are so magical! The country singers just have to rub some of that magic off of those Cowboys – they are, like, the coolest guys ever. They are such super fans! While the Blondes are doing exactly what they said they would not do on this race, (flirting with boys), Conner is loving the train ride to Galle. Rachel agrees that it is very beautiful; ocean on one side, jungle on the other – this is why you do the Amazing Race. Also while on the train, everyone is thinking about Margie and Luke, where they are, how they are doing. When we cut to the mom/son duo, they know that they are in last place, they had to take the flight that left that morning, but they are going to keep their fingers crossed and race like they are still in it.

Detour: Upon arriving in Galle, teams board tiny, three-wheeled taxi cars and it is Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride all the way to the Detour location where they must choose between Fishing Pole or Spin Control. Fishing Pole requires that both team members position themselves on a special stilt in the water and catch one fish each. Spin Control requires that both team members learn a traditional dance using spinning drums on sticks. The Cowboys, Dave, Conner, Jessica and John all decide to go fishing; the Globetrotters, Brenchel, the Blondes and the Afganimals would rather learn the dance. Flight Time and Big Easy think that the spinning challenge will be a piece of cake given their basketball background; keeping the drums spinning is the most difficult for the Afganimals The Blondes and Brenchel fail their first attempt at completing the Detour. Meanwhile, at the fishing beach, Conner takes credit for catching the first fish; Dave takes credit for teaching him how to fish and soon catches his own putting the dad/son team into first place.

Back at the spinning fields, Flight Time and Big Easy breeze into second place followed by the Afganimals. Those Afganimals are holding pretty steady in third place, aren’t they? The Blondes and Brenchel give the routine another shot and both fail again. At this time, the Cowboys have hooked their fish and a spot in fourth place; John starts asking Jess if she thinks they should switch Detours – Jess says no. The Blondes give the dance another shot and succeed, spinning themselves into fifth place heading for the Road Block. Brenchel tries again and fails; Brendon thinks he is taking on all the stress and anxiety this race. Rachel is doing really well at not getting frustrated during this challenge and is super encouraging and supportive of her hubby.

Margie and Luke finally arrive in Sri Lanka! And Rachel’s encouragement pays off when she and Brendon finally finish the spinning drum dance – they are now in sixth place. John asks Jessica again if they should switch detours; they don’t really want to because they were eliminated in a previous race because they switched. This race is really starting to become a nightmare! This is before the commercial break, though, and when the show is back in action, John cannot stand it any longer – he’s ready to switch and so is Jessica, even though she’s worried about fighting for last place. Margie and Luke, who are in last place, are just now receiving their blessing at the temple and Dave and Conner, the Globetrotters and Blondes have arrived at the Road Block.

Road Block: At the Trendy Connections Garment Factory, one person from each team must stitch together a shirt and once their work has been approved they will bring the shirt to the heat transfer machine where the next clue will be printed on the front. An on-going demo is available to reference. When Brenchel arrives, they encounter their Speed Bump: they must apply the final layer of color to fifteen silk-screened shirts emblazoned with Sri Lanka’s flag. Rachel’s done it before so she’s confident they will work quickly. While they are working, the Afganimals have arrived and John and Jessica have finished their Detour and soon join the rest at Trendy and when Brenchel are finished with the Speed Bump, everyone except Margie and Luke are working on the Road Block.

Conner is first to have his sewing work checked out, but it’s no good and neither is Blondie’s – she’s missing a seam. Leo’s attempts at “jokingly” bribing the factory works to finish his shirt are a fail. Jessica is receiving a lot of support from John, he urges her to be patient and concentrate. Flight Time just knows that Margie and Luke are going to show up while half of them are still at the factory and Big Easy swears he will never sew again. Conner attempts to get approval on his sewing again and this time it’s good! When they receive their clue, Dave and Conner are in first place on their way to the Pit Stop – the Colombo Rowing Club. The Blondes are right behind them followed by their favorite team, the Cowboys. Advancing teams inspire Brendon and Jessica to join forces since neither one of them has sewn before and before you know it, Leo’s Stand-Up Comedy Hour has ended because he is done with his shirt.

Brendon is getting more and more discouraged. Rachel is worried that Margie and Luke are going to show up, whip in and finish the Road Block, but the Globetrotters seem to have forgotten all about the mom/son team. Flight time has taken a cue from Leo and is now entertaining the factory workers, but he is using a basketball instead of comedy and it’s really helping Big Easy relax – he wishes he could join in, but he’s got to make that shirt! Brendon is still working hard and Rachel says his shirt is looking good, but Jessica has sewn more quickly.  Jessica’s work is approved then she and John are on their way leaving Brenchel and the Globetrotters alone as Margie and Luke check in at the Detour. When Brendon moves to have his shirt checked, Big Easy is in line behind them.

By this time, Dave and Conner have finished the leg in first place and have won $5,000 each. In second place are the Blondes followed by the Cowboys in third, the Afganimals in fourth and Jessica and John are told by Phil that they are team number five. Knowing that they need to move fast, the Globetrotters bribe their bus driver to not make any stops and it pays off because they arrive before Brenchel, hitting the mat in sixth place. I think by now everyone has figured it out, but… Margie and Luke should have gotten on the flight to Singapore with Brenchel. Waiting on stand-by for a possible seat on the direct flight is the decision that lost Luke and Margie the race – they arrive at the Pit Stop well after Brendon and Rachel. Mom and son feel good about what they accomplished on the race, though, they love that they’ve been on the show three times and both feel they appreciate each other more now.

Scenes from the next episode indicate that Rachel’s calm and encouraging demeanor is going to be thrown out the window; they are going to do whatever it takes to stay in the race, but we’ll all find out on Sunday on CBS at 8/7c what really happens. If you enjoy my blogs, please check out my Survivor and King of the Nerds blogs and don’t forget about the Amazing Race comedic recaps! (Click here for the Episode 5 recap). If you can, try to catch the shows live, (don’t forget to “like” and subscribe on YouTube), and it’s not just the Amazing Race that we like to talk about around here, (asif you haven’t figured that out by now…). And if you like what you see at Your Reality Recaps, support the kickstarter or donate in other ways to help Eric and Jon bring you more reality TV awesomeness.