Teams stay in Abu Dhabi. And I really hate when they stay in and around the same area they just spent a full leg at. It’s boring. Leo and Jamal head out first at 7:10 pm. Now the Norway task with the satchel of coins comes into play. They coins can be used to decipher a coin in order to see a Ford commercial for an unlocking door code thingy. Once the Ford commercial is over, teams must drive to the sand dunes to find some dune buggies. No big surprise; if there’s a desert they usually bring out the dune buggies. Oh yeah, there’s also a U-Turn ahead. But the boys can’t U-Turn anyone because they already U-Turned the Beardos in Poland.
Jason and Amy leave and she’s already got the code broken, didn’t even need the coins then. Must have done it during a flight or train trip. Smart woman. But she thinks they are going the wrong way but Jason dismisses her concerns. Then then ER Docs do the commercial and head out, noting that they will play the Express Pass this leg. Good for them. The Exes are behind, worried the Daters will U-Turn them for stealing their taxi. No shit, Sherlock. But pretty much everyone wants to U-Turn them so there is that.
“Promise you won’t yell at me,” Tim pleads. What a whiner. I guess the only reason she keeps him around is to push him around. Which is weird cause this guy is supposed to be a sports agent. If he was my agent before I saw the show, he wouldn’t be after.
But when Nicole and Travis catch up to Leo and Jamal, Travis notes he doesn’t like the Afghanimals style of racing, so they’ll probably U-Turn them. Meanwhile, the Daters seem to be lost and at first, the Ice Girls can’t figure out how to open the door with the coins. They do finally succeed but allows the Bunnies to catch up. Both teams pretty much head out for the Dunes at the same time. The Bunnies have promoted themsevles to Ninjas and since they know where they are going, I think, the Ice Girls let the Ninja Bunnies pass them so they can follow.
Finally, after lots of shots of driving, we get…more shots of driving. But on sand. Teams must follow the flags onto the sand to find their next clue. They head out. On the sand, the Afghanimals spot the clue box while the Docs get bogged down. While Travis is spinning his wheels, the boys discover they have to return to their Ford, and drive to Al Ain Oasis and find a date palm tree with the clue hanging from it. After a bit, the Docs get unstuck, find the clue and move on.
At first the Dates looked lost but maybe not that much because they arrive at the dunes, just as the Afghanimals and the Docs drive away. Amy pleads the Docs not to U-Turn them. And even though they are nice folks, U-Turning the Daters might be a good idea; they are a tough team. But U-Turning Tim and Marie would feel better. I just hope somebody U-Turns someone. Jason and Amy get the dunes done pretty quick, getting the clue just as the Exes jump into their buggy. More shots of driving and driving.
Around this time the Bunnies, I mean Ninjas, and the Ice Girls arrive. But the Ninjas aren’t that smooth and get stuck. They climb out and try to dig out just as the Ice Girls drive by. Will the Bunnies be stuck forever? Or is some manufactured drama and will they get out after the next commercial is done. Yes, they do but only because only they’ve burned out the clutch and get a new buggy. Off they go, getting the clue and back onto the highway.
At the oasis, the Afghanimals get kind of lost, allowing the Docs to get in front. Uh-oh, will the boys be U-Turned? Nicole and Travis find some dudes who climb the tree to get the clue. Really? They don’t have to climb it themselves? Then what’s the point? Better just have a clue box than seeing every team look in surprise as some guy climbs a tree. Anyway, it’s a Detour. In Wedding Guests, teams must prepare a traditional dish by gathering the ingredients, preparing them and take them to the cooking station. In Beauty Contest, teams must pick a champion camel based on a set of scoring guidelines, dress it up and present it to the judges. Gord and I would probable take Wedding Guests cause as Stay-at-home dads, we cook everyday. And camels spit. But maybe the camels might be easier. Who knows.
Again, Jason and Amy are lost but no longer are the Afghanimals. Tim and Marie also arrive. But the Docs choose to use their Express Pass and must find their next clue at the Al Jahili Tower. On foot, of course, cause it’s a U-Turn. Which they do use. Against the Afghanimals. Because they told a lie. Man, that’s nothing compared to what Tim and Marie have done. Oh well. It’s second time this has happened to the Boys. And unfortunately, they can’t U-Turn anyone else. So they will have to do both sides of the detour and the Docs must now go to Wadi Adventure.
Jason and Amy are no longer lost, get their palm tree clue and choose Beauty Contest, mostly because Amy has been in these things for many years. Probably not the same thing, I’m guessing. Since Leo owns a restaurant, they’re confident than can get their task done fast. Which they’ll need. At the same time, the Exes arrive at the contest looking for camels. “We’re putting make-up on?” Tim asks. Yes, Tim. Go ahead and try to put make-up on the camel. No wonder they are called Pinky and No Brain. Time for a new agent. And time for Marie to get rid of this dead weight called Tim. Regardless what you think of her as a person, she’s the one carrying this team.
After not seeing the remaining teams for a bit, we finally catch up with the Ice Girls and the Bunnies, still driving. The Bunnies know they are in last and hope someone’s been U-Turned, like maybe the Afghanimals. Nice guess. Meanwhile, Marie gets spit on while Tim gets kicked in the shin. Nice. They take their animal to the judges. But no way. The head is wrong. They have to try again. The Daters arrive at the same and Amy’s all into it, checking out the form of the animals, going back to her old days in the pageant business. Guess contestants are a little different in Boston. She picks one and they start dressing.
In first place, the Docs arrive at Wadi Adventure, some kind of huge water park. Roadblock: Who likes rapid transit? Maybe me cause I need to take the bus. The task has teams navigating the world’s largest man-made rapids, needing to collect three different colour flags hanging over the course. Okay, that’s you Gord cause you’re tall. Nicole takes it on, paddles a bunch but missed the first flag. Then the second. No word on the third because we cut to the Ice Girls, who choose, not surprisingly, Beauty Contest. The Bunnies are right behind and they do the same.
Various cuts of various teams doing various tasks. Tim and Marie’s second camel is better so they move on. But Jason and Amy’s camel decides to sit down , getting all dirty and unsuitable for judging. Wonder if this happens in normal beauty pageants? They have to go back and do it again. Tim and Marie are looking for the tower but only find Leo and Jamal. This causes the boys to panic and change their tasks. Not a good idea cause they’ll have to start again. Although they don’t know it, they shouldn’t change just because they see one team. The boys look for a camel while the Daters are getting approval from the judges.
But the Exes are still looking for the tower, getting confused. So they grab their bags and Marie says they don’t want to do what they normally do, run 45 minutes in the wrong direction. So they head in the wrong direction and we’ll see how long they are out there in the desert heat. I’m feeling sorry for Leo and Jamal as they dress their camel, but many of their problems have come from their own mistakes. Looks like this one will make them pay the ultimate TAR price, Philminiation.
Jason and Amy aren’t lost and arrive at the U-Turn before Tim and Marie. But they decide not to U-Turn anyone. Man, they had the chance to send back Tim and Marie but don’t take it. If Tim and Marie beat them later on, it’s their own fault. Too nice. We head back to Nicole racing the rapids and she finally snags her first flag. She misses another, grabs the next and then dives and grabs the third. No holding back for her. Nice work. Now they must head up the winding 21 corner highway (woohoo, more driving) to pitstop at Jebel Hafeet.
Back to the camels, the Afghanimals get done, find the tower and realize they’ve been U-Turned. I wonder if they have to start their other task all over again from the beginning? With the other teams behind, that might make the difference between life and elimination. But it seems they can continue where they left off. So that’s good for them. As Jason and Amy leave for the water adventure, they see Tim and Marie running around, a half a mile away from the tower. Maybe they will run around for 45 minutes? I’m actually enjoying this running because there has been way too much driving around in this leg. It’s getting tiresome.
But we get a shot of the Ice Girls asking for directions just as the Bunnies pass them. And then the Docs drive up the curvy road and find Phil. They are Team #1, winning any Ford vehicle they want. One for each of them. Nice prize. But I don’t agree with their reasoning behind U-Turning the Afghanimals. If they want other teams to run a good, honest race like them, whatever that means, they should have U-Turned Tim and Marie. Oh well.
Finally, Marie gets to the tower and blames Tim for the whole thing, threatening to punch him in the face. No matter what happens, it’s always his fault. She’s got issues, man. And she decides to U-Turn the Bunnies. Uh oh. Sorry Bunnies. And they don’t help their predicament by switching before they even get started. Over at the waterpark, this episode is really boring me. Jason takes the paddle. Shots of him paddling, grabbing flags, shots of the Ice Girls dressing camels, shots of the other teams chopping stuff. Man, this is why I hate when they spend two legs in the same area; it becomes really boring as they try to make things interesting. Should have just moved on.
So the judges say yes to the Ice Girls’ camel, which I think means they like nice looking blond girls who jump up and down. Well, who doesn’t? They head to the waterpark where Jason is easily grabbing flags and moving on. Tim doesn’t do as well, getting caught on a rock for a bit. He spins and then the Afghanimals get done their detours. They head to the waterpark leaving the poor Ninja Bunnies behind. At the Waterpark, Tim gets his flags and then move on. The Ice Girls are lost while the Bunnies are done. It’s obvious the all-male wedding guests are happier to see these servers than the previous Afghanimal ones. But the Bunnies will be heartbroken when they see the U-Turn. But the camel bit should be fast for them cause we know the judges like good-looking women.
At the pitstop, Jason and Amy are second and Amy says what I was thinking, “Today was pure torture.” Annoying leg, so far. Maybe the end will save it because, as expected, the Bunnies get the Beauty Contest done quickly and we’re left wondering if the Ice Girls are really lost. Yep, looks like it. They ask for directions but admit they have no idea how to follow it. But it probably won’t make much difference since the Bunnies have a Speed Bump.
Tim and Marie arrive in third just as the Afghanimals hit the rapids. And just as the Ice Girls find it. Guess they weren’t that lost. Ally decides to go. More water, more flags and the Bunnies finally arrive for their Speed Bump.They have to jump into and then swim across a big wave pool before the big wave hits. But Kim is afraid of heights. Still, she jumps and goes. There’s more water and rafting and swimming but unless something really bad happens, the Afghanimals hit fourth, the Ice Girls in fifth and the Bunnies gone. Yep, they cut to the Afghanimals and their “Race wives” hitting the mat right after each other. Phil asks if there is any potential love interest between any of these two teams. Even though the girls flirt, I can hear the “No” that they shouted in their heads.
So we get shots of Nicky grabbing flags, falling in and quick to the pitstop. And even Phil looks sad to eliminate the Bunnies. Sad to see them go because they had some smarts, played much better than I thought they would. Oh well.
Next week, we’re off to Indonesia as the Afghanimals face off with the Docs. And it seems Nicole isn’t racing fair. Hmmm.