Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 1, Episode 4 – “I swear to God… I’m going to throw you off this bridge.”

The Amazing Race Australia – Episode Four

The Leg


Richard & Joey kick off the fourth leg as they open the first clue telling them to fly to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  Teams will have to search the airport carpark for marked cars with clues on the dash. 

With a more than three hour lead on the rest of the teams thanks to the Fast Forward, they catch a flight connecting through Bangkok to Johannesburg where they’ll eventually get caught up at by the rest of the teams, including Mo & Mos who were originally five hours behind the next closest team, Sam & Renae thanks to their penalty last leg for quitting.

So the leg really begins as the nine teams race out of the airport and find their next clue inside the cars telling them to drive themselves to the Valley of the Desolation at Camdeboo National Park, 300km away, for their next clue.

While Alana & Mel make themselves the stereotypical “I can’t drive a stick” team, Nathan & Tyler get to the cluebox first and find the Detour.


In this Detour, teams have to drive all the way back to Port Elizabeth to the Kragga Kamma Game Park.
In Smash, teams have to use a traditional African weapon called a knobkierie to break four hanging vases to receive their next clue.
In Bash, teams have to build a giraffe feeder using tools and materials provided.  When the park ranger approves, they’ll get their next clue.



The teams drive all the way back to Port Elizabeth and the game park only to find Hours of Operation have struck again and the park will open tomorrow at 7am.

After spending the night, teams caravan into the game park with Joey & Richard leading the way.  And unfortunately for them, leading the way on grassy, muddy terrain might not have been the best thing to do.  The caravan comes to a muddy crossing and Richard doesn’t quite eye it correctly and they end up getting stuck.

The caravan looks on (and laughs) as Richard & Joey get out and try to unstuck themselves.  Chris & Anastasia decide to give it a go, but they get stuck too.  Tyler & Nathan can’t wait anymore so they move a couple of branches and they speed through in between the two stalled 4x4s.  It looks like a third team is about to get stuck… but they manage to find the right path and they head off.

Sam & Renae follow suit, Chris & Anastasia break free and speed forward as do the rest of the teams, leaving Richard & Joey behind. 



The teams get to their Detour choices.  While Matt & Tom and Tyler & Nathan were getting lucky with smashing the vases, Mo & Mos and Jeff & Luke decide to switch joining Chris & Anastasia, Alana & Mel and Sam & Renae at the Bash side of the Detour.


Matt & Tom finish the Detour first they open their next clue revealing the Road Block.  In this Road Block, teams head to Bloukrans Bridge and attempt the world’s largest bungee jump at 216m to receive their next clue.

But the clue has a P.S. – “Caution.  U-Turn ahead.”

Matt & Tom decide not to waste their U-Turn now, but Tyler & Nathan do.  And they U-Turn the “dodgy” Richard & Joey in the hopes they get eliminated.



Chris & Anastasia, Dave & Kelly, and Sam & Renae finish next.  Richard & Joey decide to go build the giraffe feeder and actually finish ahead of Alana & Mel and Mo & Mos.  They get to the U-Turn and are surprised, but not surprised to see their picture on it. 

Meanwhile, the police decide to stop Matt & Tom after they’ve received complaints of some cars driving too fast on the highway.  That’s all, the policeman says and tells them to enjoy their stay in South Africa.

With the little stop, Tyler & Nathan and Chris & Anastasia get to the Road Block first before the farmers.  They make the jump and they open their next clue telling them to head to the village of Nomathamsanqa, collect a goat from a marked pen and deliver it to the local witch doctor known as a sangoma. 



Richard & Joey fight their frustrations and finally finish the Detour and they head off.  But Nathan & Tyler and Matt & Tom are already collecting their goats and dragging them along the village roads. 

They get their clue and head to the Pit Stop at the Addo Elephant National Park.  They stay neck and neck on the road and then it’s a foot race to the Mat with Matt & Tom just edging Nathan & Tyler for the first place finish and a A$5,000 shopping spree in at Kathmandu.

Chris & Anastasia have a little dance with locals and take 3rd while Jeff & Luke feel bad about dragging their pregnant goat so they carry her to the sangoma and head to the Pit Stop in 4th.



Sam & Renae and Dave & Kelly finish uneventful in 5th and 6th.  Mel accidentally fingers the goat’s bum though and they check-in 7th.  Richard & Joey, having caught up again to Mo & Mos and the girls have trouble with their goat.  After Joey screams at it, it finally decides to run.

Now it’s a race to the Pit Stop for the last two teams, but it’s Mo & Mos that squeak by again to finish 8th, leaving Richard & Joey in last and eliminated.


Episode Thoughts
This was a pretty simple leg, but having extra tasks like the goat in addition to the Detours and Road Blocks are very welcome.  It’s something I wish TARUS would do more of since they’ve moved away from them the last couple of years. 

Those poor goats though! Some teams were yanking on their horns and dragging their hooves.  Brutal!

Having the teams need to drive through the mud pit was pretty genius though, but the most hilarious part of the episode had to be that random and completely unnecessary 300km drive just to get one clue.  That’s about 2-3 hours each way just to grab an envelope.  No wonder they didn’t make the Hours of Operation, they wasted 4-6 hours just on driving!  Hilariously odd.

South Africa was beautiful though.  TARUS needs to go there soon. 

This leg was modeled after the first leg of TAR Israel’s HaMerotz LaMillion.  It’s good to see they’re not just patterning TARA. 

Overall, a good leg, though not as full as the first three.  Still, a good season so far though.


PIT STOP
Macau

CASH
A$216

CONNECTING CITIES
Bangkok, Thailand

Johannesburg, South Africa

ROUTE MARKERS
Valley of Desolation, Camdeboo National Park
Graaf-Reinet, South Africa

DETOUR
Kragga Kamma Game Park
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

ROAD BLOCK
Bloukarans Bridge
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

ROUTE MARKERS
Nomathamsanqa, South Africa
Macau

PIT STOP
Addo Elephant National Park
Port Elizabeth, South Africa



DEPATURE
Somewhere in Macau

Richard & Joey 9:52am
Alana & Mel 1:00pm
Tyler & Nathan 1:00pm
Dave & Kelly 1:31pm
Matt & Tom 1:34pm
Jeff & Luke 136pm
Chris & Anastasia 1:37pm
Sam & Renae 1:38pm
Mo & Mos 6:31pm



SMASH




BASH

>



>

> or < indicates team switched Detours.



Who did the Road Block?
Who’s ready to take the plunge?
In order of completion; Italics indicate who did the Road Block

2 Tyler Nathan 2
1 Anastasia Chris 3
2 Matt Tom 2
2 Jeff Luke 2
2 Dave Kelly 2
3 Sam Renae 1
0 Alana Mel 4
1 Mo Mos 3
1 Joey Richard 2

1 Tracy Anne-Marie 2
2 Ryot Liberty 0



PIT STOP
Addo Elephant National Park
Port Elizabeth, South Africa

1st Matt & Tom (+4)
2nd Tyler & Nathan (+1)
3rd Chris & Anastasia (+4)
4th Jeff & Luke (+2)
5th Sam & Renae (-3)
6th Dave & Kelly (-2)
7th Alana & Mel (-5)
8th Mo & Mos (+1)
Eliminated Richard & Joey (-8)




Jeff & Luke Jeff & Luke – Bonus points for not dragging their poor goat along the road. 
Joey & Richard Joey & Richard – Sad.  The head shaving ended up being merely an experience rather than the beginning of a great run for them.  They made up a lot of time after getting bogged down.  They probably would have survived the U-Turn if it wasn’t for the mud.  I really didn’t believe they were as bad as the other teams Alana & Mel made them out to be.  (They must not have seen any of TARUS.)  But it is hard to criticize their drive and determination.  They might get a little crazy and it helps to be quick and steady, but seeing enthusiastic Racers that aren’t tripping other teams up or being vindictive is okay in my book.  They also had a very classy elimination. 
Tyler & Nathan Tyler & Nathan – I wouldn’t say it was a smart use of the U-Turn by them since they were right behind the 1st place farmers and they might need that U-Turn later on in the Race.  Otherwise a strong leg from them.
Anastasia & Chris Anastasia & Chris – Another quiet leg from them on the dysfunction front.  But a great leg from them on the Race front.  They chose the right Detour, got themselves to the front and maintained it to the end of the leg.  If they can keep working together that way, they’ll do very well.  Though presence or lack of dysfunction doesn’t necessarily seem to affect their performance.
Matt & Tom Matt & Tom – They grabbed the leg at the beginning and never let go.  This is the kind of performance that signals an arrival in the Race (sort of like Sam & Renae in the first leg).  So if they keep it up, they can do very well. 
Alana & Mel Alana & Mel – Showing every other sound clip from them as rants on Richard & Joey made them seem more obsessed than TAR3’s “twin hunt” and TAR7’s Romber hate combined.  After four legs, they haven’t shown how strong a contender they can be and instead make it seem more likely they’ll be an early boot.  Mel doing all four Road Block so far though should make things hilariously interesting for them down the road.
Sam & Renae Sam & Renae – It is sad to see the models fading away rather quickly.  They are getting lost in the shuffle and aren’t the dominant team they showed in the premiere.  That should’ve signaled their arrival.  Instead, it was a guest starring role.  It would be great for them to pick it up in future legs, but they’re getting dangerously close to being in a position where one wrong turn could be the end for them.
Mo & Mos Mo & Mos – After four legs, they’re starting to overstay their welcome.  There aren’t as many laughs anymore and they are starting to resemble TAR13’s Dandrew too much for my liking. 
Dave & Kelly Dave & Kelly – Still not funny or cute or rootable.  They seem to be playing up to the camera, being cute and all that, but it is definitely not working.


Quotes from Episode 1.04

Mel: “I swear to God if you get us lost one more time, I’m going to throw you off this bridge.”










Over 460+ episode caps at xangatheamazingracecaps!
.


 

Share your thoughts!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top