Recap: The Amazing Race 18, Episode 7 – “You almost got the cow in the butt.”

Episode 18.07 – You Don’t Get Paid Unless You Win



The Leg
Gary & Mallory enjoy their Snapple-funded time off the Race, but it is only a brief respite as the teams set off on the next leg.  Teams must now fly to Varanasi, India and most teams book the same tickets whether at the airport or travel agents on a Kingfisher flight that gets in at 10:45am.  But somehow, Jet & Cord only find a flight on Jet Airways arriving at 11:45am.

With plenty of time before their flight, Ron & Christina enjoy some local Kolkata food. (*sniff*)

Connecting through Delhi, the other teams wonder where Jet & Cord are and vice-versa and all realizing the Cowboys must have ended up on a later flight.

In Varanasi, teams must find a Tonga Stand to get their next clue.  Kent & Vyxsin arrive first and find the Road Block.


In this Road Block, teams will use six provided photos to search the streets for six different sadhus, or holy men.  Each sadhu will hand them one of six pieces to a phrase, “Once you’re over the hill you pick up speed” which they will have to put together and tell one final sadhu who will then hand them their next clue.



Kent decides to do the Road Block as the other five teams arrive.  Some teams fall into working together, others just fall. 

Kent decides to follow Gary and promises to help take him to the final sadhu which he’s already found.  Meanwhile. Ron gets absolutely lost as Jen flies through the task and she finishes first.

Teams must not find the Swaminath Athkara in Tulsi Ghat and find a strongman next to their next clue.  Justin and Big Easy finish next and Jet & Cord manage to arrive to the worry of the girls Christina, Mallory, and Vyxsin.



When Kent and Gary get the last clue, Kent bolts, leaving Gary behind.  With only Christina and Jet left at the cluebox, Cord comes running back putting Ron & Chris in last.

Jen & Kisha’s cameraman hits a cow’s ass with the brand new HD camera, and Zev & Justin and the Globetrotters find find the strongman and the next clue, the Detour. 


In this Detour, teams will choose which everyday chore they will complete.
In Feed the Fire, teams will travel the Ganges to the home of a milkman where they will make 50 traditional fuel patties out of buffalo manure and slap them onto a wall to dry.  When approved, they will then use dried fuel patties to start a fire to begin boiling milk for the children.
In Feed the Buffalo, teams ride a water taxi to an island in the middle of the Ganges to pick up two bales of hay which they’ll take back to shore and deliver to the given address.

The guys decide on Feed the Buffalo and navigate their way through the streets while trying to keep the roaming cows from eating their hay.  They get the next clue and it tells them to cross the Ganges and head to Ramnagar Fort, the Pit Stop.

The Globetrotters edge ahead Zev & Justin and claim first and second respectively.



Kisha & Jen get a little testy with each other at the Feed the Fire Detour, but finish quickly and take 3rd.

Meanwhile, Ron finally gets back on track and they head off.  Can they catch up? (Oh, how I wish.)

Kent & Vyxsin and Gary & Mallory also choose Feed the Fire as the Cowboys go for the hay.

Kent & Vyxsin finish and decide to take a water taxi to the Pit Stop, but there’s some sort of delay and Vyxsin decides to jump into the water.  Not so shallow she finds and they’re all over the place.  That allows Gary & Mallory to check in 4th and the Cowboys 5th.



Ron & Christina finish the Detour and they decide to take a water taxi… and they stick with it thinking it’s better than sitting in Indian traffic.  Kent & Vyxsin kick some guy out of a rickshaw so they can have it and it’s a taxi race to the Pit Stop.

Sucks that it has to come down to these two teams, but even worse when Kent & Vyxsin squeak by in 6th leaving Ron & Christina in last and eliminated.




Episode Thoughts
I’m not gonna lie.  This might be one of the worst episodes ever for me.  No secret that Ron & Christina are one of my all-time favorite teams and it sucks to see them eliminated this way, this early.  It would have been awesome to have them be the only TAR team to ever make the final 3 twice.  It would have been awesome to have them be the first parent-child team to ever win The Amazing Race.  But it just didn’t come together.

Aside from the horrible elimination, the episode had some odd touches to it.  The  simple tasks and the requisite “eyes opened to the world” moments/comments didn’t quite mesh as well as they usually do.  And this season, maybe it’s the HD but TAR has been using all kinds of Windows Movie Maker special effects and transitions.  Maybe TAR’s always been using them, but the HD just makes them more obvious.  Plus, the usually excellent TAR sound editors seem to have gone a little to sound effect happy this episode with their fingers on the rattlesnake and chimes sound effects the entire episode at every scene cut.

Or maybe it’s just me being upset at what could be the worst ending to an episode since the TAR12 finale and almost as horrible as the finale to All-Stars.  *sigh*
Just heartbreaking.

Leg Seven Itinerary
DEPARTURE
Fountain of Joy, Victoria Memorial
Kolkata, India

CASH
$80

DESTINATION CITY
Varanasi, India

ROAD BLOCK
Tonga Stand
Varanasi, India

ROUTE MARKER
Swaminath Akhara
Tulsi Ghat, Varanasi

DETOUR
Sakka Ghat
Varanasi, India

Ganges River
Varanasi, India

PIT STOP
Ramnagar Fort
Ramnagar, India

Departure Times

Fountain of Joy, Victoria Memorial
Kolkata, India

Gary & Mallory 1:18pm
Jet & Cord 1:52pm
Ron & Christina 1:53pm
Zev & Justin 1:54pm
Kent & Vyxsin 1:55pm
Kisha & Jen 2:03pm
Flight Time & Big Easy 3:45pm

Who Did the Detour?
In order of completion

FEED THE FIRE



FEED THE BUFFALO




*

Road Block Count
In order of completion; Italics indicate who did this week’s Road Block

Who’s ready to search for the meaning of life?
3 Kisha Jen 3
2 Zev Justin 4
3 Flight Time Big Easy 3
4 Kent Vyxsin 2
3 Gary Mallory 3
3 Jet Cord 3
3 Ron Christina 3

2 Margie Luke 3
2 Jaime Cara 2
1 Mel Mike 1
1 Amanda Kris 0

Order of Finish
1st Flight Time & Big Easy (+6)
2nd Zev & Justin (+2)
3rd Kisha & Jen +3)
4th Gary & Mallory (-3)
5th Jet & Cord (-3)
6th Kent & Vyxsin (-1)
Eliminated Ron & Christina (-4)








My Subjective Team Rankings for Leg 7
Ron & Christina Ron & Christina – After a solid Race so far, luck wasn’t on their side and they were eliminated.  Though Christina probably would’ve flown through the Road Block, the taxi certainly didn’t help.  The only consolation is they didn’t get eliminated because another team screwed them over or because of some huge blowup some TAR apparently expect from them.  Again, it would have been awesome to see them go all the way this time, but it just wasn’t going to be.  At least they did get to spend time together and that they’ll have so many memories to keep with them, especially now that Christina will be starting her own family with Azaria (congrats to the newlyweds by the way!).  It’s going to be a less exciting Race from now on for me.
Gary & Mallory Gary & Mallory – Well, my full support shifts to Gary & Mallory now I guess.  I can’t fully get excited about the likely prospect of them going all the way just yet (I need time), but they are maintaining good momentum and position and all the “first parent/child team to win” comments made their return this leg.  Foreshadowing?  I hope so, it’ll be just about the only thing left that could redeem the rest of the season.
Kisha & Jen Kisha & Jen – Again, more solid Racing from Kisha & Jen.  Cool, calm and collected (save for the poop fumes getting to them at the Detour) is going to help them very much and I hope that they’ll be  in the final three.
Kent & Vyxsin Kent & Vyxsin – Looks like they’ll have to be the lone source of hilarious moments from now on.  From the random blow ups to the random breakdowns and the generally solid Racing otherwise, I’m rooting for them to at least make the final 3.
Zev & Justin Zev & Justin -  It was an alright leg for them.  But so far they haven’t pushed themselves strongly yet.  No moments where they really showed they’ve got what it takes to take home the million.  Their tendency for quick frustration, which other teams do not have, could be a mark against them in future legs. 
Jet & Cord Jet & Cord -  Good leg for them.
Herb & Nathaniel Flight Time & Big Easy – Their loudness came back.
Quotes from Episode 18.07
Jen: “You almost got the cow in the butt.”

And really, was there anything else to laugh about in this leg?


Episode Caps



470+ HD! episode caps at xangatheamazingracecaps

Miss the Episode?
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The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business - The Amazing Race

0 thoughts on “Recap: The Amazing Race 18, Episode 7 – “You almost got the cow in the butt.”

  1. “And really, was there anything else to laugh about in this leg?”To answer that question, yes, it was. At least for me. At the Detour, when one of the sisters said ‘Are you serious lady? We trying to feed yo’ kids’, for example.Mallory wearing the same outfit she wore in Russia was also laughable.Big Easy singing and even Vyxsin jumping in the water made me smile, although I don’t know what to think of the Goths anymore. 😛

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