Mike & Rochelle are the first to leave at 3:26am and are on their way to Bangkok where they need to locate the Wat Yannawa temple. The early morning drive to the airport has everyone discussing where they are in their relationships and I'm not sure that anyone watching really cares. It's like this whole season is going to be smothered with relationship undertones.
Most of the teams will be on the 6am flight for Bangkok. Harley & Jonathan however are on the second flight to Bangkok which obviously arrives later. That's not exactly a good sign for this episode.
When the first eight teams arrive in Bangkok it's a mad race for the taxis where one team steals Jelani & Jenny's cab. I didn't see who grabbed it, and I'm not sure we care. That seems to be a running attitude this season which I hope improves as the season plays out.
Laura & Tyler are the first team to the clue and it's this week's Detour: Wheel or Water. In Wheel they need to make their way through the streets of Bangkok in a tuk tuk and make two stops along the way, whereas in Water they need to go by water taxi, but there are only five water taxis, and there are still two stops along the way. Aside from locating their mode of transportation, either side of this detour looks far too easy.
Hayley finally decides that Blair should make a decision and then Hayley & Blair wander off in the wrong direction but still eventually managed to find the clue, when they decide to do Water they arrive too late and have to wander off again in search of Wheel. Hayley's constant nagging is really getting on my nerves but so far Blair just keeps moving forward. Not all blind dates turn out to be good ones and Blair seems to have an unlimited amount of patience. That said, he does come across as a bit of a jerk himself.
The water taxi was definitely the way to go in order to keep ahead of the pack as the tuk tuks have to contend with traffic. The Water Detour's first stop includes having to eat a 100 Year Old Egg, also known as a century egg. It's a traditional delicacy which is not really 100 years old, it's just pickled. Yes it would taste different much as a cucumber tastes different than a pickle, but I really doubt it was as bad as the teams made it out to be. Even Wayne could eat one of those eggs.
The Wheel Detour's first stop includes a billiard table task where team members have to sink a single red billiard ball. Really? That's it? On an oversized table? I regularly played billiards on a 6x12 pool table so I'm not even sure I'd consider this oversized but how exactly is that a task?
Laura & Tyler eat their eggs with only a modicum of complaining and move on, while Matt & Ashley stopped at the wrong market and proceeded to eat the wrong eggs but when there was no clue they realized their mistake and headed off to find the right one. None of the five teams liked the egg eating, and every one of them complained about it. Then again, most of them complained about eating noodles.
Meanwhile the pool sharks Jeff & Jackie and Hayley & Blair all completed their shots, grabbed their bottle of milk with the clue on it and they're off in search of stop number two. While the second stop for the Water Detour is to receive a Thai prayer, I'm still not seeing how this is a task. Sure, it's an experience within another culture, and we all know how much Americans need to experience other cultures, but a task? Once again Laura & Tyler are there first, receive their blessing and move on.
Harley & Jonathan finally arrive in Bangkok and make it to their Speed Bump, make a grasshopper out of river reeds before beginning the Detour. This is not as easy as it looks and really should have been more of a task for all the teams. I think they could have flipped this with the billiards task.
The second Wheel Detour stops at a cat house, not that kind, to pour that milk into a saucer to feed the cats. Welcome to the Caturday Cafe and one of the lamest excuses for a task I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure we've seen this stop before, or one very similar, in an earlier season. Then again I could be wrong.
Time for the Roadblock: one team member must search for a screwdriver left inside a vehicle transmission by an apprentice mechanic. This could take awhile if you keep selecting the wrong transmission to open up but they do supply you with all the power tools you require so it's not a difficult task. It doesn't even look that messy.
Harley & Jonathan finally complete their grasshoppers and begin the Detour, wisely choosing Wheel and avoiding the disappointment of finding out there are no more water taxis.
Tyler opens his first transmission only to discover there's no clue, fortunately he finds it on the second one and Tyler & Laura are off in search of the Metal Castle, a Buddhist temple which is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race.
Apparently none of these guys have ever worked on a car before, despite many of them saying how much their fathers or brothers have. I spent a lot of my youth disassembling vehicle parts and the worst part was the oil and grease, but otherwise it was fairly simple. I guess this would have been my task but I have trouble believing none of these guys seem to have a clue about automotives.
Laura & Tyler grabbed a cab to stay ahead of the others and their cabbie assured them he knew where it was but he ended up taking them away from where they needed to be and dropping them at the Metro. Now they need to race back to the Metal Castle before anyone else got there because it was actually walking distance from the Roadblock. On the upside, their clue also included the Date Night reward.
Rochelle disassembles her engine and finds her clue without even knowing what a transmission is. Much to the chagrin of Jeff who was still looking for his clue. He probably also had no idea what the transmission was but was too manly to mention it.
Thanks to a misdirected cabbie, Kurt & Bergen are Team Number 1 and have won a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Hayley & Blair arrive right behind them as Team Number 2, and then Aly & Steve arrive right after them to be Team Number 3. Meanwhile, the last kids on the block, Harley & Jonathan are having way too much fun at the cathouse. Maybe they forgot they were in a race.
Laura & Tyler finally arrive after the others have left the Pit Stop and are Team Number 4. It's always unfortunate when a team has such a great lead only to lose it by choosing a bad cab. I guess they can use Date Night to commiserate about their lost lead.
Meanwhile Matt & Ashley and Jelani & Jenny have no idea where the Metal Castle is until someone tells Jenny it's a ten minute walk. They let Matt & Ashley get ahead and then they jump into a tuk tuk to pass them. Matt's pissed and he and Ashley chase after them until Ashley takes a tumble and the tuk tuk pulls away. So much for that alliance. Jelani & Jenny are still lost and have burnt that bridge as Matt finally gets directions.
Jeff & Jackie are Team Number 5, Mike & Rochelle are Team Number 6 and Jelani & Jenny finally find their way and arrive to be Team Number 7. That leaves Matt & Ashley as Team Number 8 and unfortunately Harley & Jonathan are the last team to arrive and have been eliminated from the race. They were just too far behind to make up the time.
Apparently we have a few weeks until the next leg (April 3rd) but the upcoming season looks to be stepping up its game. Rage, romance, wild animals, high wire acts . . . it's like a week at the circus. Looking forward to it, assuming it improves. Until that time.