Recap: The Amazing Race 15, Episode 3 – “You taste deliciously sweaty.”

Episode 15.03 – It’s Like Being Dropped on Planet Mars!

THE LEG

Phil shows us a little bit of the Mekong Delta, once a place of fear and death, now a beautiful and vibrant area of simple living.  And along these “peaceful waters” the Bassacc III Riverboat which has left Cho Cai Be and is now traveling to the town of Meto, Vietnam, the teams clueless to their destination.  (The first time we’ve had a mobile Pit Stop? – That actually went mobile that is?)

In the morning, Gary & Matt are first to depart from the docks of Meto and get a clue telling them to travel by taxi to Ho Chi Mihn City.  There, they will search for the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre where their next clue will be taken from the mouth of a water dragon.

Gary comments on how hard it is for him to accept his son is an adult, capable of making his own decisions. Sam & Dan leave next and Sam talks about trying to get his younger brother to calm down and not to easily get frustrated as we see him getting frustrated already just looking for a taxi.
Big Easy Nate talks about losing his father a few days before the Race began.  He’s going to represent his dad and win the Race for him who told him that it didn’t matter where you came from for you to make something of yourself.
Keri reads the clue, saying they’re going to Ho Chi Mon City and as she and Lance run off into the street, she says they ARE in Ho Chi Mon City.  Their confessional talks about how they are built for this Race, that they are the lions and everyone else are gazelles (cut to the gay brothers) or zebras (more on that later).
Marcy gets emotional when remembering how her father was shot down in Vietnam during the war, but thankfully rescued thanks to his sheer will and determination, two things she feels she is made of as well.  She takes note of how beautiful the people in Vietnam are and how she really wants to experience the people and culture of the country.

Lance & Keri are finally told they are two hours away from Ho Chi Minh City and all the teams are on their way.  

The scooters and motorcycles and mopeds are buzzing around the streets as the teams enter Ho Chi Mihn City.  It’s traffic, but Flight Time and Big Easy arrive first at the threatre.  The dragons spray water at them and slyly maneuver through the water making it hard for the teams to grab the flag and clue hanging from their mouths. 

They grab the clue, a bullet with a stamp inside of it.  On the stamp is a picture of the building where  their next route marker is located, the Ho Chi Minh City Main Post Office.
Gary & Matt are next.  They head out to the streets and a man tells them the post office is one kilometer away.  Matt reasons they don’t have much cash and its only 1k so they will just run it though dad is unsure.  They run, but don’t know where to go.


Flight Time & Big Easy find the Detour, Child’s Play or Word Play. (The first of the season!!)
In Child’s Play, teams make their to a local park and find a kiosk where they will pick up a concrete animal and transport the “heavy and unwieldy” animal along the bumpy pathway of the park, picking up five balloons from vendors.  When they deliver their animal and balloons to the children’s playground, they’ll receive their next clue.
In Word Play, teams head to a hotel’s observation deck.  Scanning the crowded intersection below, they must identify six Vietnamese letters traveling with the congested traffic.  Once they check with the security guard that they’ve got the right letters, they’ll leave the hotel and get help from the locals to unscramble the letters to spell DOC LAP, meaning ‘independence’ in Vietnamese.

Flight Herb & Big Nate choose Child’s Play and realize to take the smaller animal since it’s lower to the ground and less likely to fall over. 
Meanwhile, Gary & Matt finally decide to take a taxi realizing the post office wasn’t so close, and Meghan & Cheyne leave the theatre just as four other teams arrive.   As the three teams leave for the Post Office, Lance & Keri hold their bullet and wonder where their clue is, having no idea they must open it.  They head back to the theatre, hand the bullet to the men at the door, but they shrug.  Back inside, Keri finally tells Lance to open it and they find the stamp.  They take Mika & Canaan’s taxi as they arrive and Keri tells Lance not to yell at her.

Mika & Canaan are dancing to the music inside the theatre while Brian & Ericka are stuck in traffic. 

Canaan dances as Brian & Ericka are stuck in traffic.  Flight Herb and Big Nate collect their balloons and along the way, they pass a woman jazzercising along the path (Work it girl!). 
At the post office, Zev & Justin, Gary & Matt, and Meghan & Cheyene arrive and they all choose Child’s Play while Marcy & Ron choose Word’s Play.  Zev & Justin pick up a navigator who squeezes into the crowded backseat.  Mika & Canaan’s dancing finally results in a clue and they leave as Brian & Ericka catch up to them.

Flight Time & Big Easy take their sheep to one of the stalls and hand the balloons over to the lady.  They get their clue telling them to head for Dien Co 008 at the intersection of Durong Vinh Vien and Durong Ly Thuron Kiet for the next one.

Lance & Keri head inside the Post Office, while the two couples go straight for the clue box outside, and are now in last place (“Damn it Keri!”).
Marcy & Ron arrive at the hotel.  She slaps him in the elevator with the clue (Ron: “What the f— was that!?!”) and up top see the letters on top of scooter boxes and drivers’ hats, but they miss one letter and the man tells them their letters are not correct.Meanwhile, the other teams arrive at the animals.  Sam & Dan and Maria & Tiffany stick together until the girls’ dolly breaks.  Dan tries to help them, but as much as the girls’ appreciate their kindness, they don’t want to impede another team’s progress just for them so they let the brothers go.

Zev & Justin choose the giraffe as it was closest to the dollies.  They try to maneuver the tall, heavy animal through the park until it slams its head onto the ground.  Oops.  They get it back up, pick up all the pieces from the ground and head off.
The rest of the teams at the back get their animals.  Brian & Ericka choose the zebra since it “worked well” for them as they put their hands together, their fingers resembling the zebra’s stripes.  Now officially Team Zebra.

Marcy & Ron figure out the missing letter was a D and not an O so they head down to the street.  However, they are having trouble as they are looking at signs outside the hotel instead of asking locals to help them.

The other teams are in the park.  Tiffany has trouble pushing the animal all by herself.  They don’t have a man on their team like the others.  Lance lets go of his red balloon so they go back for it.  Brian & Ericka speed through and move up to 5th.
Lance & Keri are freaking out looking for the balloon lady, they even ask Zev & Justin… who are with the balloon lady handing them their clue.  She’s holding balloons.  Lance & Keri walk away.  She walks into some performing pagoda, but Lance screams to her.  They frantically pull the animal up, they knock over a monobloc chair, they scare the balloon lady, they’re in 8th place.


Flight Time Herb and Big Easy Nate arrive at the cluebox and find the Road Block.
Who’s ready for a complete break down?
In this Road Block, teams must break down two VCRs and toss their parts into separate piles.  When all their VCR parts have been disassembled and sorted, they will be given their next clue.

Flight Time does the Road Block, and Matt and Cheyne follow. 
Meanwhile, Marcy & Ron continue to overthink the Detour.  They guess OLD CAP.  Wrong.  They finally ask a local and he tells them DOC LAP.  They think that’s it and it is.  They head to the Road Block.

Back at the Road Block, Flight Herb finishes first and the Globetrotters are off to the Pit Stop, the Reunification Palace.  The site of a historic moment when a North Vietnamese tank stormed the gates ending the Vietnam War.
The Globetrotters have trouble finding a cab that knows where to go as more teams arrive at the Road Block.  They decide to follow Meghan & Cheyne and beat them at a footrace.  Gary & Matt are close behind.

More teams arrive, Sam & Dan are done.  Brian & Ericka are right behind.  Dan gets whiny again, Sam tells him to stop. 

Flight Time & Big Easy and Meghan & Cheyne are at the Reunification Palace gate and it’s a footrace.  They all drop their packs and though Cheyne arrives at the Mat first, Meghan lags allowing both Globetrotters to claim first place and a trip to Aruba (with a reserved cabana everyday!).
Meghan & Cheyne settle for 2nd and Gary & Matt claim 3rd.  Coming back from last place, Team Zebra, Brian & Ericka take 4th. 

Zev & Justin and Mika & Canaan arrive at the Road Block, but Lance & Keri get dropped off nowhere near it after he yells at the driver, Keri says.  He proclaims “I’m done with you” and get back in a taxi. They get to the Road Block and Lance starts smashing and ripping the VCRs apart.  (Can he do that?)  He finishes, leaving Justin and Zev who leave before Marcy & Ron arrive. 

Sam & Dan run to the Mat to finish 5th, Maria & Tiffany are 6th, and Mika & Canaan are 7th.
All the teams are done with Road Block and the last three heading to the Pit Stop.  Justin & Zev’s guide remains with them.

At the gates, Lance & Keri run first, but Zev & Justin are right behind.  Lance & Keri get clueless again just as Marcy & Ron arrive at the gate (or we are led to believe so, giving us hope!). 

But it is the best friends who run faster as Zev & Justin claim 8th with the clueless couple being spared elimination at 9th.  Lance offers to wrestle Phil to show the lion is still alive, Phil doesn’t want to, but Zev offers he and Justin to take him on.  

That leaves the internet dating couple from San Francisco in last and sadly Philiminated.

OVERALL
A great episode.  I enjoyed the Detour, for one because it we didn’t get any in two hours last week, and also because it is awesome having children on the Race.  Plus, the animals were just as fun whether live or cemented.  

I felt bad for Marcy & Ron.  They could’ve easily blown through the Detour, but they spent too much time on little things.  While you’ve always got to be detailed on the Race, sometimes being too detailed is the wrong way to go.  They overthought it and it did them in.  It would’ve been great seeing them move forward.

The Road Block was okay.  Not too imaginative and not really that Vietnam-specific, but it looked like it got them to be with the locals which is what all challenges should do on TAR.

So far so good!

Leg Three Itinerary
DEPARTURE
Bassacc III Riverboat
From Cho Cai Be to Docks at Meto, Vietnam

DESTINATION CITY
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

ROUTE MARKERS
Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre
Ho Chi Minh City

DETOUR CLUE
Ho Chi Minh City Post Office

ROAD BLOCK
Dien Co 008
at the intersection of Durong Vinh Vien
and Durong Ly Thuron Kiet
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

PIT STOP
Reunification Palace
Ho Chi Minh City

Leg 3 Departure Times
Bassacc III Riverboat
Docks at Meto, Vietnam
Gary & Matt 5:45am
Sam & Dan 5:55am
Herbert & Nathaniel 5:56am
Lance & Keri 5:57am
Zev & Justin 6:04am
Meghan & Cheyne 6:10am
Maria & Tiffany 6:11am
Mika & Canaan 6:14am
Marcy & Ron 6:15am
Brian & Ericka 6:29am

Who Did the Detour?
In order of completion

CHILD’S PLAY








WORD PLAY

Road Block Count

In order of completion; Italics indicate who did this week’s Road Block
2 Herbert Nathaniel 1
1 Meghan Cheyne 2
1 Gary Matt 2
2 Sam Dan 1
2 Brian Ericka 1
1 Maria Tiffany 2
1 Mika Canaan 2
2 Lance Keri 1
1 Zev Justin 2
1 Marcy Ronald 2
1 Garrett Jessica 1
0 Eric Lisa 0

Leg 3 Order of Finish
1st Flight Time & Big Easy
2nd Meghan & Cheyne
3rd Gary & Matt
4th Brian & Ericka
5th Sam & Dan
6th Maria & Tiffany
7th Mika & Canaan
8th Zev & Justin
9th Lance & Keri
Philiminated Marcy & Ron
My Team Rankings for Leg 3
Almost even except for last place.
Brian & Ericka Brian & Ericka – Team Zebra definitely did better this week.  They hustled when they needed to (and they definitely needed to) and got themselves into the top half of the standings for the first time in three legs.  They should keep up the momentum.
Marcy & Ronald Marcy & Ronald – It was a shame they couldn’t finish the Detour because it seemed easy enough.  They missed one letter and then all they had to do was go to the street and ask the first person they saw instead of standing there looking at signs.  It would’ve been great to see them go further because they seemed physically capable in keeping up with the other teams, but one wrong move can easily cost a team the Race.  They were fun and enjoyed the Race, which is something always great to see.
Herbert & Nathaniel Herbert & Nathaniel – Held on to the lead the entire way.  Worked very well together and even took time to admire their surroundings (“Work it girl!”).   They can keep it up and when it comes to a foot race like this week, they’ve already got an advantage on most of the other teams.
Meghan & Cheyne Meghan & Cheyne – They are coming on strong and keeping their pace at the top of the leaderboard.  They’re working very well together, no problems it seems so they are in a good position right now.  As long as they continue pushing themselves and not fall into a false sense of security, they’ll be fine.
Zev & Justin Zev & Justin – An all right week for them, though bad mistake with not thinking through the Detour and choosing the lower animals.  Bad mistake and luck because most of the other teams probably didn’t think about it either.  They can recover I think.
Gary & Matt Gary & Matt – A good leg for them.  They continue to do well and work together even thought they do have room to grow in their relationship on and off the Race as we saw.
Mika & Canaan Mika & Canaan – They were almost invisible this episode.  They did okay, but still hanging around the bottom.  They better make a move next week or they’re going to be easy to check off in the next few weeks. 
Sam & Dan Sam & Dan – So Dan’s lack of patience which there were hints of in the premiere came out full on this week.  Sam has shown that he is the calmer one, which sometimes isn’t the best thing for Race, but it is probably better than Dan’s frantic, hanging out the taxi window, frustrated most of the time attitude.  That could hurt an otherwise solid team.
Maria & Tiffany Maria & Tiffany – The sympathy lie a distant memory, this week was the time for Maria & Tiffany to make a statement on their own Race-wise.  Kudos for not wanting to hold back another time just for their benefit which was surprising because based on last week, you’d think they would welcome all the help they can get, damn the progress of another team.  Then again, they did set the bros free to separate, so I guess they’ll team up, but if they don’t mesh on decisions, then they can go their own way and they did all right for themselves.  
G     A     P 
Lance & Keri Lance & Keri – Okay.  So Lance, we already know, isn’t a very likeable guy, or at least a love to hate kind of Racer.  But did he really have to add “dumb” as well?  I was shocked that over and over, one after the other, the simplest mistakes and wrongs turns and “DUH!” moments topped any past “Don’t read the clue!” teams. It was crazy.  Hilarious, yes, but when teams like that get saved after such a horrible leg, that hilarity turns to pretty fast.  The frustration at Keri is another long story, so lets save it for next week.
Quotes from Episode 15-03
Lance: “It’s like being dropped off on the planet Mars because we don’t know where we were dropped off at.”

Big Nate: “Go work it girl, work it!”

Cheyne: “You taste deliciously sweaty.”

Tiffany: “I like these power tools, they’re bad ass.”

Ron: “If you don’t have patience in traffic, then you should never live in Ho Chi Minh City.”
Marcy: “And if you don’t have patience with the opposite sex, you shouldn’t live on planet Earth.”

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