Recap: The Amazing Race 21, Episode 9 – Fishy Kiss
The Leg
  
Jaymes & James open the first clue of the Leg and find the flag of the country they are flying to next. Teams must figure out it’s the flag for The Netherlands and they must fly to its capital Amsterdam.
Trey & Lexi ask the doorman of the hotel who tells them France while Natalie & Nadiya think its France as well.
Trey & Lexi run into Jaymes & James who clue them in and they head to a ticket counter, but there aren’t enough seats for both teams on the flight. Trey & Lexi go to another airline. Natalie & Nadiya meanwhile find an early flight, but the agents don’t want to sell them tickets on a one-hour connection. The Twinnies eventually persuade them.
  
Next morning (!) Abbie & Ryan set off from the Pit Stop. The first three teams agree on a plan in case there’s a U-Turn ahead. The first team to arrive at the U-Turn must choose Abbie & Ryan and the next team that gets to the U-Turn will U-Turn whoever U-Turned Abbie & Ryan so Abbie & Ryan can’t U-Turn anyone else. Pretty simple.
The teams each hop on different flights to Amsterdam. Natalie & Nadiya fly through Rome getting them in at 11:30am. Jaymes & James have a direct flight arriving at 12:15pm. Trey & Lexi fly through Larnaca and arrive in Amsterdam at 1:05pm. And Abbie & Ryan are returning to Frankfurt where they’ve booked two connecting flights arriving at 12:45pm or 2:05pm. Josh & Brent take a flight through Oslo arriving in Amsterdam at 4:35pm.
  
Natalie & Nadiya arrive in Amsterdam and teams must take the train to Central Station to find their next clue. The Twinnies open it up and find the Fast Forward. To attempt the Fast Forward they must head to the Van Gogh Café and board a nearby bus.
As the Chippies arrive in Amsterdam, Abbie & Ryan experience déjà vu in Frankfurt. They aren’t let on their first connecting flight and must take the other one, which then has technical trouble, so they have to board another plane.
Meanwhile, Natalie & Nadiya realize the bus is going into the water. To win the Fast Forward, they must eat five raw herring each in 7 minutes, before the Floating Dutchman amphibious bus returns to solid ground. If they fail to eat it all, the bus returns to the café and they’ll have to wait another 10 minutes before heading out.
  
They manage to finish and receive the clue telling them to head to the Pit Stop, the house of Rembrandt’s mistress in Ransdorp. Jaymes & James decide to go for the Fast Forward but run into the twins when they leave the bus, so they head to the next Route Marker.
Teams must hop on a boat on the Amstel river and look for a floating poffertjes stand near the Magere Brug. Jaymes & James find the poffertjes boat and are handed some nice treats and the next clue and the Detour.
Teams have to travel on foot for both Detours.
In Back in Time, teams must recreate Rembrandt’s The Night Watch using real people in costume.
In Organ to Grind, teams must play an organ grinder while trying to earn €30 in trips.
  
Jaymes & James choose Organ and when tips start drying up, they take their shirts off and bring in more people with a grandmother and her grandkids giving €10 to bring them to €30.
Natalie & Nadiya arrive at the Mat where they officially check-in first and win $5000 each.
Meanwhile, at the airport, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent arrive at the same time and again make a pact to stick together and Race side by side this Leg.
Jaymes & James arrive at the next Route Marker, the Museum Geelvinck where they find the U-Turn. They struggle with their decision, but ultimately keep their promise to the other two and U-Turn Abbie & Ryan.
  
They hop on a bus to the next Route Marker at a field in the town of Ransdorp where they find the Road Block.
In this Road Block, teams will Switchback to a TAR12 task where they have to pole vault over a ditch to retrieve their clue on the other side before pole vaulting back.
James easily does the task, retrieving the wooden shoes with the Pit Stop location. He and Jaymes head to the Mat where they officially check-in 2nd.
Trey & Lexi finish the Detour and head to the Museum where they step in front of the U-Turn board and are happy to see Abbie & Ryan’s faces. They U-Turn Jaymes & James, according to their plan and head off to Ransdorp. Trey quickly does the Road Block and they head to the Pit Stop to finish as Team #3.
  
Back in Amsterdam, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent are still sticking together and decide to do the Rembrandt Detour. Again, they stay together and head to the museum where Abbie & Ryan are shocked to see who U-Turned them.
Josh & Brent say if it wasn’t for Trey & Lexi U-Turning Jaymes & James, they would’ve wanted Abbie & Ryan to U-Turn them so they can continue Racing together. Instead Abbie & Ryan head off, but Brent still proposes that he and Josh wait for their friends or help them out.
But they decide it’s time to finally Race. Since it’s after 6pm, they can take a taxi to Ransdorp instead of a bus.
Abbie & Ryan start the Organ Detour and have €24 when a kind woman gives them €6 after she dances with Abbie. An emotional Abbie and Ryan thank her.
But as Abbie & Ryan wonder why Jaymes & James would stab them in the back, Josh & Brent get through the Road Block and head to the Pit Stop where Phil tells them they are Team #4. Phil senses they are disappointed.
  
Phil: “Would you like me to eliminate you and leave Abbie & Ryan in the Race?”
They say no and that they’ll go hard from now on.
That leaves Abbie & Ryan solemnly doing the Road Block and stepping on the Mat where Phil tells them they are eliminated.
Episode Thoughts
I don’t remember a Final 5 leg that had the teams so spread out from one another. I’ve also never seen five teams all taking five different flights to the next destination either.
First, look at those Departure Times! Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent were pretty much 12 hours behind the first three teams. In a way, you could understand them wanting to give up, but then again, their decision to Race together to the end just didn’t benefit anyone. If Abbie & Ryan had just sped up and left Josh & Brent behind, they could’ve survived the U-Turn.
On to the tasks. The Fast Forward was pretty cool! I’d love to hop on an amphibious bus. The Detour was alright. The organ side of the Detour was great for having teams interacting with locals. The painting side of the Detour though was kind of boring though.
And the Road Block. Now the Road Block was fun in TAR12, but really only memorable for Don stripping to his underwear. And it definitely isn’t “infamous” like the descriptions said it was from even before the season started. I like the idea of Switchbacks. They might not produce the same amazing results the original tasks did, but I like them more for nostalgia really. This Switchback fell flat since the teams did it easily with no drama or fun.
An okay episode overall.
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