Leo & Jamal are the first to a travel agent and it doesn't take long to realize that everyone is going to end up on the same flight and everyone arrives in Rome at the same time, but those at the front of the plane get a bit aggressive with the shuttle driver who eventually figures out the only way to shut up these obnoxious Americans is to drive them to th terminal, leaving those teams at the back (Globetrotters, Dave & Connor and Jet & Cord) to wait for the next shuttle. Now that they're all in Rome, teams need to find Hadrian's Bridge.
This leg's Detour is Gladiator or Charioteer. In Gladiator, the teams must dress up like ancient Roman slaves and battle a trained gladiator in a sword fight to get their next clue, . . . In Charioteer, the teams must control a robotic chariot around a track, one controlling the speed while the other controls the steering, completing five laps to get their clue.
John & Jessica choose to be Gladiators, while Rachel & Brendon choose Charioteers. Leo & Jamal also choose to be Charioteers but we know that's not gonna last thanks to the joy of TV previews. John goes on about how he's had martial arts training before and figures that this would be easy. As soon as they air that you know he's gonna fail. Wayne and I would probably have chosen to fight the gladiator as well, but at our age it wouldn't have been the easier task just more fun than driving an RC chariot where Rachel was running the slowest chariot race known to man and eventually her little chariot that could, couldn't.
Meanwhile Caroline and Jennifer hit their Speed Bump, if you can call it that, . . . In Just My Type, they need to head to the Pantheon to retrieve a typewriter and then deliver that to a pedestal at Altarre della Patria. It was easy to find the Pantheon and get the typewriter but delivering it was another problem (apparently the Altarre is a little lesser known location than the Pantheon).
John screwed up his gladiator training when he used his shield instead of his sword, but Jessica had no such problem, she probably just pretended the other guy was John, up until the end when she's supposed to take a fall. In his second attempt John once again used his shield. So much for all his bragging.
Leo & Jamal kept having trouble with the chariot and decided to switch when Dave & Connor and the Globetrotters arrived. Rachel was getting a little ticked as more teams arrived, which added more obstructions to the course as they kept running in to each other. Maybe she should have increased the speed on their first run on that empty track.
Once Caroline & Jennifer have delivered their typewriter they choose the Chariot race and find themselves almost alone at the track as everyone else finishes up and leaves. They figure they're out at this point but they're just gonna go with it and finish their tasks. With nobody else to interfere they finish their five laps quickly and move on.
John & Jessica eventually finish their gladiator training and get the next clue which takes them to Piazza di Spagna, the location of John Keats former home, to get the next clue. Thanks to editing it looks like Rachel & Brendon have completed their race at the same time and are also on their way on their roman holiday.
Unfortunately, John & Jessica's cabbie says there are no piazzas in Rome only streets, and has taken them to an apartment complex instead of the widest steps in Europe, made famous by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.
Back at Piazza di Spagna teams discover this leg's Roadblock. Teams have to count the steps and then find out when the obelisk was erected at the top. Easy enough if you remember your Roman numerals, but most teams had some trouble with that. Once they get the number of steps and figure out the year, they need to add those numbers and present the answer, again in Roman numerals, to a happy couple on a moped, dressed like Peck & Hepburn, to get the next clue.
Brendon & Rachel have managed to move into first place and as long as Brendon knows his Roman numerals they should be able to stay there. He races to the top to start with the year that the obelisk was erected, LXXXVIIII, which translates to 1789? How's that work? Who is that old guy giving Brendon misinformation? Whatever, at least it's better than John's cabbie.
The Afghanimals completed the Gladiator task and they were on their way to the Piazza. Not in the best spot after switching, which has backfired on them before, but hopefully still in it and ahead of John & Jessica who are on foot and looking for a hotel. Dave & Connor see Rachel and ask where the clue box is and she pointed in the general direction without actually telling them anything. They eventually find the clue box but can't figure out why she wouldn't help them. On the other hand, I'm not sure why they figured she would, it's a race and there's no prize for "most helpful team."
Brendon gets 135 steps and adds his numbers to get 1924, he then gets some help translating his numbers correctly, hands it in and gets the next clue. Teams now have to race to the Piazza del Popolo, the People's Square, for the Pit Stop for this leg of the race and it's pretty much a guarantee that someone's going home this time despite Phil saying the last team may be eliminated. However it's not BigBrother as Brendon & Rachel are Team Number One and also win a trip to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I'm not sure Rachel could be more excited.
Dave and Connor get the wrong answer converting their numbers and when Caroline & Jennifer arrive they realize they're still in it. The girls get the numbers right and they're off alongside Dave & Connor who also completed it and who let them arrive on the mat first. That was awfully nice of them, especially when they could have been giving up first place if Rachel & Brendon had taken a wrong turn on the way to the Pit Stop. However, Caroline & Jennifer are back near the front and are Team Number Two, with Dave & Connor as Team Number Three.
FlightTime tries to short change the Roadblock by asking the crowd how many steps and writes down that number. He forgot to actually read the clue and avoids the obelisk entirely. Meanwhile, Jet & Cord have dropped down to Team Number Four, which is better than FlightTime who continues to not read the clue and can't figure out what he's doing wrong. He can't even be bothered to count the damn steps.
For some reason, Jamal points out the numbers on the obelisk to FlightTime, which was the half of the clue that he wasn't even bothering with. Not only does Jamal help FlightTime with the clue, but he then gives the BigEasy and Jessica the answer to the Roadblock in exchange for their guarantee not to U-Turn the Afghanimals, figuring that the CountrySingers are still behind them all, before they head off to the PitStop. That's a big risk on his part, especially since he's wrong. I'm not sure I like this season's Afghanimals.
It's now down to a foot race between the Afghanimals, the Globetrotters and John & Jessica, thanks to Jamal. Despite their strong start on this leg, Leo & Jamal are Team Number Five while FlightTime & BigEasy continue to be Team Number Six, which is not a good sign for them in the upcoming leg.
Unfortunately that leaves Jessica & John as the last team to arrive and they have been eliminated from the race. At least they didn't have an Express Pass in their pocket this time. Had Jamal not given them the answer I'm pretty sure that FlightTime would still be walking up and down those steps getting a different number every time, and John eventually would have figured it out which would have resulted in a different end to the leg. I'm not upset that John & Jessica are gone, but after the lack of effort that the Globetrotters have been putting out I'm a little surprised they're still here.
Next week we get the dreaded Double U-Turn and the teams finally start to play dirty. I'm surprised it took this long. Hope everyone enjoyed the show and the review. Be sure to leave a comment and checkout our video blog which should be up in the next 24 hours. If you follow my Survivor review I'll see you on Wednesday, if not then I'll see you next Sunday for an Easter review. Until that time.