The Amazing Race isn’t a reality show with a lot of strategy. Unlike the other CBS reality titans, Survivor and Big Brother, The Amazing Race does not involve a lot of scheming. It’s really just a challenge of wills, body and mind. Every so often strategy does enter the game though and it arrives in the form of the U-Turn. Leg 10 is just that leg.
The announcement that a Double U-Turn would be available on this leg sent the teams into a frenzy. It was an all out race to see who would get the U-Turn first and who would be the victims. It resulted in easily one of the most exciting and satisfying episodes of the season.
Exercising in Stupidity
The teams spend a night on the boat that was the last Pit Stop. (By the way, Brodie snores loudly, in case you didn’t think he couldn’t get any worse.) Once the teams are awake, they hop into a boat and head to nearby coral reef. It is at this reef where the teams have to dive and pick up the first clue. The clue does not come in the usual paper form, but instead, it is a waterproof canister that holds the clue. This is important detail if, and only if, you’re an idiot like Dana and Matt.
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Dana and Matt arrive fourth at the clue location. They find the clue quickly, well Matt does anyway, but then he immediately starts to second guess himself. He thinks, “The clue can’t possibly be in the yellow canister, because it’s not like yellow is the main color of The Amazing Race.” (In case you are an idiot, I’m sorry, but I’m being sarcastic here. Yellow is the main color of The Amazing Race.) Dana and Matt spend so long flailing in the ocean and waving their obvious clue, that Brodie and Kurt quickly catch on and sneak in getting a clue of their own. Matt and Dana eventually catch on, but by that point there are in last place.
Chicken and Witch Hunt
After this debacle, the teams head to the Detour, well kind of. As a refresher, the Detour is that challenge where the teams have to choose between two choices. However no one chooses the one challenge so it might as well not exist (at least for now). In a choice between “Harvest” and “Haul,” everyone chooses “Haul.” In “Haul,” the teams must grab 50 coconuts and four chickens, then transport them to a surly man with a clipboard. (It is not really clear if he ever uses the clipboard or if he is carrying it because he think it looks kind of cool. In either case, I think this guy is awesome.)
Tyler and Korey finish the Detour first and reach the Double U-Turn. Once they arrive, they waste almost no time in U-Turning Brodie and Kurt. This is a Double U-Turn though, meaning, another team can use a U-Turn, so there is still the dangling thread. It is a thread which Burnie and Ashley quickly tie up. Seeing that Tyler and Korey have already U-Turned Brodie and Kurt, they U-Turn Tyler and Korey. This means that Brodie and Kurt have no chance of U-Turning someone else and that I’m in love with Burnie and Ashley.
Impending Doom
Back at “Haul,” Brodie and Kurt have no idea what fate awaits them and it’s delicious. However, Dana and Matt are being their usual useless selves. While literally no one has had trouble grabbing up the chickens, Dana can barely manage to get one. Dana blames it on the chickens being mean, but she approaches them in the most menacing way possible. She is constantly yelling at Matt to “shut up” for encouraging her as she grabs at the poor chickens.
Once Dana does grab a chicken though, she sweet talks the crap out of it like she is taking a newborn puppy on a walk. Any time that Matt speaks up though, Dana quickly tells him to shut his trap. It will come as no surprise then that Dana and Matt are the last team to finish “Haul” and reach the U-Turn. Luckily for them, Brodie and Kurt have already arrived and been forced back to go to the other Detour.
Exercising in Futility
This is where “Harvest” comes into play. “Harvest” involves the teams, or in this case Brodie and Kurt, having to harvest seaweed from the ocean. It’s just as boring as it sounds which is probably why no picked it in the first place. To Brodie and Kurt’s credit though, they do go about the challenge with a lot of positive attitude and smiles. They are the worst (well, Brodie is) but this is an admirable way to deal with their terrible situation.
Anyway, back at the teams who are not being Detoured, the Roadblock is up next and it involves one of those dreaded height challenges. The designated team member must climb to the top of a cliff. After being coached on how to land by a very hunky instructor, they must jump off the cliff into the ocean below.
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It’s sounds like nothing and it doesn’t look that impressive on TV, but I know I’d be crying like a little baby if I had to jump off this cliff. I’d also probably just tell Matt to “shut up” because apparently, that’s a thing to do on The Amazing Race. Representing me in this challenge is Cole, a much more handsome and more fit version of myself, who is also deathly afraid of heights. Cole has a moment of hesitation, but eventually he does jump off the cliff.
From here, the leg is kind of over. The teams head to the Pit Stop and the race isn’t so much for last here as it usually is at this point. Instead, the real drama is for first place. Burnie and Ashley try so hard for that first place finish, but it’s once again in vain. Tyler and Korey come in first again and Burnie and Ashley finish second for the fifth time in a row.
As mentioned though, last place is pretty much already written. Despite a positive attitude, the U-Turn is too much. Brodie and Kurt are eliminated from The Amazing Race. Brodie tries to gain some last minute sympathy by saying he is going to visit Blair now. Since precisely no one cared about this relationship in the first place, no one does now either. In all honesty, I’m a little disappointed Brodie doesn’t go out of the race like he lived it, howling like a moron.
The Amazing Race airs Fridays at 8pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
