So back in Gdansk, Tim and Marie (along with Amy and Jason, and Nicole and Travis) leave at 8:33 am, and must take the train to Vienna, Austria, 640 miles away (that's over 1000 kilometres for Gord and me cause we're Canadians). Then they must find Rigoletto at the Vienna State Opera House. (Whoa, my mom would love that cause she's a huge opera fan. And Verdi is one of the best.) Then Rigoletto will lead them to the costume department where they'll get their next clue. Methinks someone's gonna be dressing up.
We discover the first train arrives in Vienna at 6:20 the next morning, which means just after a pitstop, teams get another bit of a rest travelling on the overnight train. No one better complain about lack of sleep. And there's a bit of drama whether the Afghanimals and the Ice Girls make it. The first train out of Gdansk leaves without them but since they have to connect through Warsaw, the two trailing teams catch up. And since the teams were sequestered during the pitstop, no one knows who's been eliminated. The Afghanimals lie through their teeth about U-turning the Beardos, but no one really believes them. Nice try, boys.
Next morning (man that would have been a nice train ride), teams race to the Vienna Opera House, arriving pretty much at the same time. Rigoletto takes them through and even though I'm not as huge of fan of Opera like my mom, I would love to check out that space. So the next clue's a detour: Light Brigade or Masquerade. In Light Brigade, teams must dress up and assemble a crystal chandelier. If they don't get it on their first try, Phil says their hopes of finishing will come crashing down. Guess that means only one try or it's a four hour penalty? In Masquerade, teams must wears masks and join a ball. Then they must find matching masks from one of the many dancing couples. Gord and I would do that one cause Gord's an artist and has a heck of a visual memory. He'd pick out the matching masks in no time. But given teams have only one chance with the chandelier, who would pick that anyway.
There's also a Fast Forward. Teams must go to the Donauturm, the highest structure in Vienna. They'll probably have to jump off but they aren't told that. But they are told the FF is weather dependent. Jason and Amy head out first, smart move making their taxi wait (although teams should know to do this all the time by now). Nicole and Travis follow along, a bit behind because they had to find a taxi. Quickly the ER Docs decide to skip it and go to Masquerade. The Afghanimals are the first to arrive at Masquerade but screw up on the first try. The other teams arrive and start looking.
Meanwhile, the Daters arrive and go up to Donauturm, and of course, must bungee jump 500 feet. Phil was hooked up at the top and I wonder if he did the jump. Wish they would have shown it if he did it because that's what made Amazing Race Canada so fun; host Jon Montgomery did a lot of the crazy tasks while describing them. Of course, Jon is a gold medal Olympian in Skeleton while Phil is a TV host. A physically active TV host but no match for a Gold medalist. But maybe Phil didn't jump cause it was too windy. Which is what Jason and Amy are told. Maybe in 10 minutes they can jump. And while Jason wants to leave, Amy decides to stay. So they vacillate, Jason thinks it's dumb but maybe Amy has a point. They wait.
Tim and Marie are the first to find their matching masks and must make their way to the Weiner Sangerknaben to get their next clue. The Bunnies are next, not surprisingly because women are better at visual cues than men. Except Gord. He'd beat the Bunnies; he's an ogre. The Afghanimals are third followed by the Ice Girls. Meanwhile, Tim and Marie can't get a cab even though the Bunnies and the Afghanimals got one. Back at the tower, Jason and Amy decide to pass on the Fast Forward and are an hour behind, it seems, everyone else. Not good. But everyone's done, although Tim and Marie, the first ones out, are the last ones to get a cab. Hopefully, Amy will make this go fast.
At the Weiner Sangerknaben, it's a Roadblock and even though I rewinded it four times, I still can't tell what the Afghanimals are saying. Something about a choir. Anyway, the clue says one teammate must sing Die Forelle by Schubert in the original German. That might be mine cause I sing backup when I drum in a rock band and can read the rhythm in notes. But Gord speaks German so he might get that faster. Fortunately, teams get a bit of help from an instructor. No matter who does this task, it looks pretty tough.
And while Nicki is pretty good at the language because of her dad, she can't carry a tune. Throughout this task we see various shots of teams sucking at it. Although Travis is a musician and can sing. Back at the ball, Jason and Amy are done and chasing everyone. They catch up but let's see who gets done first. But like I said earlier, I really don't think it makes any difference who comes last because this will probably be a non-elimination.
Travis the musician is the first to try but he sounds off-key. Which is why he's stopped halfway. Jamal and Ally give the old college try but don't get it. Tim's stuck with his instructor trying various ways, all in vain, to get even close. Guess singing's never been a job he's had. Tim's probably done the best so far, but fails. Nicki's German sounds good but she's a terrible singer. Back to the class.
Finally, Travis gets it by dropping it into a lower key in the first movement. And nails it. Then they have to get to Shocnbrunn Palace and search a maze for their next clue. Despite her tin ear, Nicky gets its and the Bunnies go to grab a cab. But it's got Jason and Amy's luggage in it. The cabbie dumps the Exes' luggage but the Bunnies decide to do the right thing and walk away. They get a cab down the street and don't mess with karma. I mean it's a race but stealing someone's cab is way too low for me.
But not for Marie. Tim gets his singing done, just after Jamal does. And as they walk away, Marie says "Let's go steal someone's cab." And they steal Jason and Amy's because their cabbie dropped them off at the wrong side. Wonder if they paid him. I sure hope so. Not only that, Marie concocts a plan to say the Afghanimals did it. Smart, because the Afghanimals lied about the U-Turning the Beardos, but dirty. But that's Marie. As they drive away, Amy gets her song on the first try but they can't find their cab. Instead of stealing one of the remaining cabs, they find one on the road.
The ER Docs and the Bunnies arrive at the Palace and get lost in the maze for a bit. It's the Bunnies who arrive first and are told to get to the Pitstop at the Gloriette, which is the centrepiece of the garden. So it's a footrace for first. The Bunnies just start running but Nicole and Travis get directions. These guys are smart players, one of my picks to win this thing. And finally, several episodes in and we get a fake point from Phil. Love how he does that, although I'm glad he now only does it once and awhile. And it's Nicole and Travis who come in first, winning a trip. The Bunnies make it second, just ahead of the Afghanimals. Both of these teams did well in this leg, the Bunnies getting their highest finish.
The Exes get the clue in the maze but have to settle up with the stolen cab. But just before they get there, Jason and Amy arrive, seeing their old cab with Tim and Marie's bags in the back. Guess blaming the Afghanimals isn't going to work. But the Daters don't hang around. They get through the maze and arrive on the mat right after Tim and Marie step on it. "Whoa, you guys snuck up on us," Phil says.
Obviously, Tim and Marie are 4th and Jason and Amy are 5th but no one really cares about the placement. No doubt, the producers were probably wringing their hands in glee cause, you can't write this kind of drama. (You can try but it will seem fake) Marie fesses up to stealing the cab but says she didn't take the bags out so that's okay. Jason and Amy say it's still not right and not something they would do, but Marie tries to tell them they don't know what they would actually do. But Jason says there was another cab there and they didn't steal that one, so there. More back and forth but Tim says nothing, won't admit he was okay with stealing the cab. He lets Marie fight the fight, the coward. While I don't like Marie, at least you know what you're getting from her. She'll lie, cheat, steal and do almost anything do win and be loud and proud of her actions. Tim will do the same but blame her. So in many ways, he's worse. Unfortunately, Jason lets the arguing take over and tells Amy to shut up during the fight. Fortunately, he seems to realize his mistake and stops arguing. He better apologize for that. Just after the leg and again tonight, after the airing. But the Exes better watch their back.
Still with the choir. Tim and Ally keep singing but fail over and over. Finally, Ally gets it, leaving Tim all alone. But the girls can't get a taxi and Tim gets the clue. Not sure if he actually finished or they just felt sorry for him. And the boys get a taxi pretty quick. They also get to the palace just as the girls finish the maze. Still, too late, the Ice Girls are 6th. Oklahoma arrives last, but surprisingly, and blowing my prediction out of the water, they are eliminated. Whoa. I was not expecting that. Shows you what I know about TAR. Next week for sure...