EPISODE 13-02: DO YOU LIKE AMERICAN CANDY?
The Leg
As we start this 2nd leg of the Race, Terence & Sarah’s tension over Sarah being too friendly for Terence’s standards to other teams takes the spotlight. It would apparently only be the start for them this leg, because right at the start, he gets hit in the head, literally by the trunk of the taxi. Hey, at least it wasn’t Jonathan accidentally hitting you on the head.
Anyway, the siblings start the leg off in first and find out the teams are heading to Fortaleza, Brazil.
At the airport, they with Ken & Tina find out there is a flight at 11:30am, but an even earlier flight at 6:45am.
There aren’t enough seats on the earlier flight, but thanks to Tina (according to her), they switched the planes to a bigger one to accompany them (because of her “persistence”). She lets everyone know about it, telling Ty that he owes her. He and Aja don’t really care.
Marisa & Brooke give candy to the handsome ticket agent, he enjoys candy from the two beautiful girls. They’re on the flight.
Still at the counter, Terence & Sarah are annoyed by the Ken & Tina/Nick & Starr alliance (“They didn’t even say ‘hi’ to us!”). And their “tension” continued to the gate. With Tina claiming first boarding because, she got on other teams nerves especially Terence who has some words for her. Ken looks about ready to punch his face. *cut to commercial* *back from commercial* They literally kiss and make-up.
All the teams eventually make it on the flight and they arrive in Portaleza to make their way to Cumbuco.
After arriving, the teams take part in utter chaos running around the airport looking for taxis, one of which Anthony has to eventually push to try and get started which eventually doesn’t start.
The teams arrive at Cumbuco Beach and find their first clue. Teams must take a dune buggy and make their way to Barraca D Manoel.
On the way, Stephanie and Anthony have their ‘appreciate what you have” moment that we of course see on all seasons.
When the teams get their next clue, they learn of this leg’s Detour: Beach It or Docket.
In Beach It, teams choose a 2-man crew and a traditional boat, a jangada and try to maneuver it across the beach and into an inlet using only 2 logs to roll it.
In Docket, teams receive a number that corresponds to a container at the port. They must search a computer database to find the corresponding letters which will tell them where on the dock the container will be located at. The clue is waiting inside the correct container.
All the teams except Mark & Bill do Beach It. Marisa & Brooke wanted to Docket but end up at the boats.
After the teams finish the Detour, they must take a taxi parked close by and make their way to Parque de Vaquejada for their next clue.
The teams all have their own problems with the Detour, especially Kelly & Christy who make their first reading mistake of the leg. They think they have to look for a container after moving the boat and waste precious time digging in the sand looking for it.
Meanwhile, Terence & Sarah finish first and walk down the beach instead of up the hill to the taxis and end up in the middle of town where other teams, namely Nick & Starr and Ken & Tina just pass them as they try to flag down taxis. Later though, Toni & Dallas decide to stop and tell them where to find the taxis, for which Terence & Sarah are grateful for.
Mark & Bill finish their Detour and walk down to the taxis taking the lead.
At teams arrive at their next clue, they discover the first Road Block of the Race. In this Road Block, teams have to search for their next destination (Cidade da Criança) on a 600 foot wall painted with various ads. They’ll tell the painter and he’ll give them their next clue. Called “In plain sight,” Phil says teams must use the laid back nature of the locals to find easily find the location.
For Bill, that meant just writing down the list at the end of the wall and pointing to each one until he got the right one. The other teams will use this strategy also, but for many, only after over thinking the task, which is exactly what Phil warned against.
The teams have no idea what to do, Nick proposes an temporary alliance with Sarah. When she proves to be no help to him, he moves on to Andrew whom he also leaves in the dust later on.
Meanwhile, Kelly and Christy, who promised to themselves earlier to read their clues more carefully, miss an important piece… to make sure your taxi does not leave. Their taxi goes off to park somewhere, but the girls think its long gone and waste even more time trying to flag down taxis.
Mark & Bill finish first and are told to make their way to the Pit Stop at Cidade da Criança. Ken & Tina are right on their heels and they race to the mat with them just squeaking past the best buds to win the leg and new off road vehicles.
Terence & Sarah overcome what could’ve been a fatal mistake to take 3rd as they, Aja & Ty, and Toni & Dallas make it a foot race for 3rd, 4th, and 5th respectively.
Nick & Starr finish 6th (thanks to him being “dirty” and liking it), Kelly & Christy take 7th (which might have been higher had they known how to read), Andrew & Dan 8th, Marisa & Brooke 9th, and Anthony & Stephanie affirming their life-long relationship together as they are eliminated.
Overall
Overall, a much better leg than last week. Much more exciting, lots going on.
What I always love in a leg is when there are multiple placement changes throughout the leg. Teams coming from behind, falling behind, footraces to the finish… I love when we get an episode full of those and this 2nd episode definitely had plenty.
The Road Block and Detour were okay. I probably would’ve been completely lost with that wall Road Block. And the Detours seemed interesting enough.
I’m hoping for more exciting tasks though, and looks like next week we’ll some action, literally.
I have no clear favorite yet and surprisingly, while some teams I could do without, I don’t really dislike them enough to feel strongly about it.
So the Race is on, I’m just happy we’re in the middle of a TAR season again.
ARTHUR 0
