And so my 2021 rewatch of season 4 is over. TAR4 was always a sort of middling season. Especially sandwiched between seasons 3 and 5, two of the franchise’s gold standard seasons, it was easy for TAR4 to get lost in the shuffle. Of course after ten years of the HD Era, it’s also easy to look back at a season like TAR4 with great nostalgia.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 13 – “It’s Like Adam Building His First House!”")
The Final Leg of the Race begins with teams being given $1 and needing to drive themselves to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. Here, they will join in a traditional ceremony where tribesmen will give them their next clue.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 12 – “He’s A Couple of Ticks Away From Having a Heart Attack”")
The Final Three begin the Penultimate Leg with only US$1 and by driving themselves to the Australian Woolshed in Ferny Hills. With an HOURS OF OPERATION, teams all arrive with hours to spare.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 11 – “Such a Nice Pheromone Smell to You; Just Makes Me Want to Stay Close to You”")
Phil announces that the final team will be eliminated in this Leg, securing the Final Three. The Leg begins with Kelly & Jon opening the first clue directing them to make their way to Hangang Park on Yeouido Island where locals fly traditional Korean kites. Teams must pull down a kite to release their next clue.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 10 – “That’s Me. That’s My Face. Just Hit My Face. Hit My Face!”")
The 10th Leg of the Race begins as teams must make their way to the Puu Jih Shih Temple) in Sandakan armed with $400. There, teams must search through thousands of Buddha figurines for ones with their names on it. Inside will be a key to a rattan bag that holds their next clue.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 9 – “We’re Not at Charm School Learning How to Be a Gentleman, We’re Racing”")
With $130 for this Leg of the Race, teams must take a boat back to Kota Kinabalu and then hop in a taxi to Poring Hot Springs which will open at 6:30am. The first four teams are able to enter before Kelly & Jon arrive and they hurry across hanging bridges to the next clue.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 8 – “The Priestess Reminded Me of My Grandmother. She Was Very Old But Still Very, Very With It”")
During the Pit Stop mingling, Reichen & Chip celebrated their one-year anniversary by telling the other teams about their story of how they met. Reichen had been in the Air Force when he met Chip and actually left because of being gay. Millie & Chuck, meanwhile, come out as virgins.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 7 – “We’re Going Down the Wrong Side of The Freeway… and the Lights Are Off!”")
After last Leg which Phil describes as including “a crowded train ride” that “terrified the women,” teams learn the 7th Leg is still in India. With $70, teams must hop… ON A TRAIN to Ernakulam Junction.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 6 – “I Could Have Never Been Prepared For What I’m Looking at Right Now”")
Teams must now fly to Mumbai, India. With $110, teams head to the airport to look for flights. Millie & Chuck inform Jon & Al of a direct KLM flight. But Reichen & Chip have found an Alitalia flight via Milan that arrives an hour earlier. They inform their friends Monica & Sheree. But the NFL wives feel much safer with the direct flight.
.jpg "Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 5 – “You Are Just Deliberately Trying to Make Us Lose!”")
Teams must now fly to Amsterdam, the Netherlands with $90 more for the fifth Leg of the Race. All teams are bunched up at the Marseilles Airport.