Recap: The Amazing Race Australia, Episode 2.04 – “Don’t be a douche!”

The Amazing Race Australia 2, Episode 4

The Leg

Sticky & Sam are the first team to depart the Pit Stop, but Grant informs us that before heading off on the leg, teams must vote for who they want to receive a U-Turn this leg.  It’s no surprise, most teams vote for Paul & Steve.

Teams take a train back to Delhi and rush to the airport.  All teams except for Paul & Steve, Lucy & Emilia and Ross & Tarryn get tickets on the first flight on Emirates that gets into their next destination city, Dubai, at 6:10am.  The last three teams have to fly via Mumbai to get them into Dubai at 8:15am.

The first flight arrives and the teams head to the carpark to find their next clue waiting on the windshield of a row of Hondas.  They open up the clue to find the Detour.


For this Detour, teams will drive themselves to the Al Faqa Desert.
In Camel Dash, teams must ride a camel through a marked course, collecting four flags to exchange for their next clue.
In Dune Bash, teams ride a dune buggy along a 10km course.

Joseph & Grace are in first and they choose the dune buggy, but Grace accidentally knocks the gear into neutral and they get bogged down.  Meanwhile, Michelle & Jo give the camels a whirl, but the camel doesn’t want to cooperate so they switch.

A new dune buggy arrives for Joseph & Grace and they head to the finish line while Kym & Donna speed through the course.  Michelle & Jo on the other hand make a mistake and sink into the sand.  Sticky & Sam come driving by and they ask for help, but they tell them good luck and head off… only to get bogged down a couple of meters away.

As the last three teams finally arrive in Dubai, Shane & Andrew decide to switch from camels to dune buggy. James & Sarah finish the Detour while Sticky & Sam get bogged a second time.

After completing the Detour, teams must check-in at the U-Turn board before heading back to Dubai and making their way to the Wild Wadi Water Park.  There, they must ride a boogie board at the Wild Wadi Surf Machine, going at full blast, to grab a clue at the bottom of the waves.

Joseph & Grace stay out in front, but Kym & Donna get a flat tire.  They change the tire, but are already frustrated.  Joseph & Grace get to the Water Park and grab the next clue telling teams to head to the Meydan Racecourse where they must pick a winning horse before a race.  If they don’t pick a winning horse, they must wait for the next race to pick again.  If teams still don’t pick a winning horse after the last race, they will have to carry their partner 200 meters across the finish line to get the next clue.

Joseph & Grace’s horses lose the first race and they now must wait for the next one.  That allows Michelle & Jo to catch up.  After putting on their hair extensions for the races, they join Joseph & Grace… in losing the 2nd race as well.

Back in the desert, Paul & Steve see their faces on the U-Turn and begin the camel side of the Detour while Lucy & Emila slowly drive their dune buggy into sand pits.

James & Sarah arrive at the Racecourse and they too join Michelle & Jo and Joseph & Grace in picking the wrong horse.

Elsewhere in Dubai, Kym & Donna’s frustration comes to a head.  Kym pulls over the car and they complain about having no money (having spent it all on their tuk tuk in India?) and no maps and not knowing where to go.

At the Racecourse, Sticky & Sam and Andrew & Steve arrive.  Sticky & Sam, Joseph & Grace and James & Sarah choose Horse #8 and it wins.  They get the next clue telling teams to head to the Pit Stop at the Helipad on top of the Four Points Sheraton.  While Joseph & Grace’s car battery has drained thanks to leaving the lights on, James & Sarah and Sticky & Sam drive to the Pit Stop.

James & Sarah manage to get to the hotel first and step on the Mat to officially claim their win and a trip to New Zealand.  Sticky & Sam have to settle for 2nd while Joseph & Grace, after getting help from a man with jumper cables, finish 3rd.

Michelle & Jo leave the cops behind at the Racecourse after picking the winning horse.  Shane & Andrew lose in the last race of the day, so they have to piggyback the other across the finish line.  Michelle & Jo and Shane & Andrew finish 4th and 5th respectively.

Meanwhile, Lucy & Emilia get detained by the police after driving into the royal palace.  They are led to the station, but are released.  At the Racetrack, Ross carries Tarryn and Paul carries Steve across the finish line, but it’s Paul & Steve that finish 6th (much to their shock) while Ross & Tarryn finish 7th (also to their shock).

Lucy & Emilia have fun on the Racetrack and head to the Pit Stop to finish 8th.  Kym & Donna, however, are having no fun at all and are now sleeping by the side of the road when Grant comes out to eliminate them.

Episode Thoughts
A very full episode even without a Road Block.  Finally, some movement within the team placements.  The Detour was simple, but as always, anytime animals are on The Amazing Race, you’re sure of a good time.

The task at the Water Park is the kind of extra task that helps keep teams on their toes, and especially considering the teams getting lost (and apparently adverse to asking locals for directions) in Dubai, having more Route Markers helps stir up the competition.  The task at the Racetrack was pretty random though.  I sort of did not get the point, other than showing off (even more) how rich Dubai is.

It was really strange seeing so many teams not wanting to ask people for directions though, especially Kym & Donna ultimately giving up because they had no money to buy a map.  Huh?  I find it impossible for teams not to go into a hotel or gas station or like Shane & Andrew, ask a cop for directions.  Very odd.

And finally, the U-Turn voting.  It is definitely an interesting concept.  It is my first time seeing it play out even though I’ve heard of TAR Israel’s implementation of it for their second season.  It didn’t really ass that much drama since it was expected that Paul & Steve would be targeted.  I’d be very interested to see how it would play out on TARUS.  I certainly wouldn’t want to see it every leg though.

But overall a great leg, probably the most exciting one yet this season.

PIT STOP
Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort
Jaipur, India

CASH
$60

CONNECTIONS
Mumbai, India

DESTINATION CITY
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

DETOUR
Al Faqa Desert
Al Faqa, UAE

ROUTE MARKER
Wild Wadi Water Park
Dubai

Meydan Racecourse
Dubai

PIT STOP
Four Points by Sheraton Helipad
Dubai, UAE

DEPARTURE
Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort
Jaipur, India

Sticky & Sam 1:37pm
Ross & Tarryn 1:39pm
Michelle & Jo 1:44pm
Kym & Donna 2:10pm
Paul & Steve 2:12pm
Shane & Andrew 2:15pm
Joseph & Grace 2:17pm
James & Sarah 2:17pm
Lucy & Emilia 2:42pm

CAMEL BASH
Paul & Steve

DUNE DASH
Joseph & Grace
Kym & Donna
> Michelle & Jo
Sarah & James
Sticky & Sam
> Shane & Andrew
Paul & Steve
Tarryn & Ross
Lucy & Emilia

> or < indicates team switched Detours.

  TEAM

VOTE

Joseph & Grace

Paul & Steve

Michelle & Jo

Shane & Andrew

Sticky & Sam

Tarryn & Ross

Kym & Donna

Sarah & James

Sarah & James

Sarah & James

Shane & Andrew

Sarah & James

Sticky & Sam

Who did the Road Block?
There was no aired Road Block this leg.
In order of completion; Italics indicate who did the Road Block

2 Sticky Sticky & Sam Sam 0
1 Tarryn Tarryn & Ross Ross 1
2 Michelle Michelle & Jo Jo 0
2 Paul Paul & Steve Steve 0
1 Donna Kym & Donna Kym 1
1 Shane Shane & Andrew Andrew 1
1 Joseph Joseph & Grace Grace 1
1 Sarah Sarah & James James 1
0 Lucy Lucy & Emilia Emilia 2

2 Sue Sue & Teresa Teresa 0
0 Adam Adam & Dane Dane 0

PIT STOP
Four Points by Sheraton Helipad
Dubai, UAE

1st James & Sarah +7
2nd Sticky & Sam -1
3rd Joseph & Grace +4
4th Michelle & Jo -1
5th Shane & Andrew +1
6th Paul & Steve -1
7th Ross & Tarryn -5
8th Lucy & Emilia +1
DNF/Eliminated Kym & Donna  -5

Lucy & Emilia Lucy & Emilia – They are a riot!  Seriously, they are hilarious.  Not just them laughing at each other or their situations, but their next-to-last or technically last finishes are unprecedented.  Can they keep up this streak?  Is it even possible for them to be horrible Racers, but have just enough luck to stay in?  Too funny.
Sarah & James Sarah & James – They deliver.  Mostly Sarah though, but they bring the laughs and now they’ve won a leg.  They can definitely go far as long as they keep their cool.  Looks like they get back to bickering next leg, but this leg showed they have a lot of potential to be good Racers as well as be hilarious to watch.
Michelle & Jo Michelle & Jo – They’re chugging along and continuing to do quite well.  I don’t know about the hair extensions though.  They’ve got TAR20 Rachel Reilly beat on that one.  But they’re making a strong case for themselves.
Tarryn & Ross Tarryn & Ross – Like the other two teams that oddly didn’t want to ask for directions, I didn’t understand Tarryn & Ross basically throwing their hands up in the air while on the road.  They are an otherwise smart and solid team, so why would they let directions get under their skin?  Just so odd.
Sticky & Sam Sticky & Sam – I guess you could call it karma when they get bogged down after merely passing the twins at the Detour.  Or it was just amusing.  Nontheless, they continued Racing well and without any major mistakes.  A solid leg.
Shane & Andrew Shane & Andrew – They’re slowly settling into their bumbling cops personalities.  They’re still good guys, but they really need to step up their Race if they want to go far. 
Paul & Steve Paul & Steve – I’d have them as my favorite team of the leg after taking the U-Turn in stride and laughing at themselves for being U-Turned, but I can’t after their strange attitude while driving around threatening to quit.  What!?  I have a much bigger problem with Paul’s now 2nd time feeling frustrated and not in the Race than his stepping on other teams’ toes (though completely within Race rules).  
Joseph & Grace Joseph & Grace – They ran a solid leg, though my original thought of Grace being a strong competitor is completely gone now.  Plus, their reasoning for U-Turning Paul & Steve, because they don’t help others?  I can’t take that.  This is a competition.  Like Kym & Donna said, they don’t need to make friends here.
Donna & Kym Donna & Kym – They were doing alright until this leg.  Their negative attitude was so contrary to what they’ve shown so far.  And them basically quitting was out of nowhere.  I saw no reason why they couldn’t stop and ask for directions even with no money.  They truly just gave up and it always sucks when a team that doesn’t push it to the end, even if they are in last, takes away a spot from a team that would go all the way.
Quotes from Episode 2.04

Grace: “No more showing off, there’s no one to show off to.  There’s no hot girls around here, alright? … Well, there is one, but I’m your sister.  Doesn’t really work.”

Steve: “Come on buddy, we just need one more flag.  Don’t be a douche.”

Over 330 episode caps at photobucket.com/TARAu204

Share your thoughts!

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

Back to top