AJ & Jody open the next clue revealing the Detour for this Leg of the Race.
In Music, teams must drive to Macy’s Diner and recruit 15 people to join them in a song and dance performance. Once their performance becomes a hit and the owner enjoys it, they’ll receive their next clue.
In Massage, teams will drive to Nail Lounge and Massage Salon where they must enjoy a painful traditional foot massage for 5 minutes on each foot.
Picking up where this uploaded episode begins, Roch & Eji are just arriving as Yna is in tears getting her massage. Jet is upset and says they should just stop this Race, it’s so annoying.
Meanwhile, Jody merely smiles as he finishes his massage. He and AJ receive their next clue directing them to the U-Turn Reveal Board at the Laoag City Plaza in front of the Capitol, also known as Aurora Park.
Eji decides to get the massage first and he just laughs his way through it.
Yna, on the other hand, is struggling through and Jet directs his anger toward the masseuse and asks what her problem is for doing it so hard. Yna calms her brother down and it is finally over.
AJ & Jody and Jet & Yna arrive at the Reveal Board and find they are not U-Turned, though Matt & Phoebe have voted for Jet & Yna. They open the next clue pointing them to Dhevie Kate’s Salt Refinery.
It is Roch’s turn to enjoy a massage. And she screams into her towel, closes her eyes and cries.
Across town, Matt & Phoebe have chosen Music instead. They start recruiting people, mostly the workers at the diner, and start rehearsals. They head inside and after two tries with Phoebe singing and leading the dance, they get the next clue.
Back at the massage, Vince & Ed arrive as Roch is finishing up. They see she is crying, “as expected” and Vince can’t believe how overdramatic Roch is being.
Vince goes first and before the masseuse even starts, he starts screaming in “pain.” Which is actually just his strategy so the masseuse will go easy on him. Ed does the same.
As Roch & Eji finish and leave, Matt & Phoebe arrive at the Reveal Board to see they have been U-Turned.
They head to the massage and Matt goes first. He doesn’t feel a thing even when the masseuse is putting all her strength into the massage. He’s done and it’s Phoebe’s turn.
Kelvin & JP arrive just as Phoebe is getting to the most fun part of the massage. They finish with Kelvin & JP close behind after getting through the massage no problem.
RR & Jeck, in last, arrive at the massage. RR is first and she enjoys it. She asks for tea and relates her experience with massages. But now it is Jeck’s turn. She screams in pain while RR laughs.
Episode Thoughts
It was another good episode and it had one of the most fun Amazing Race tasks of all time.
I do think the editing of a 22-minute episode and the huge time difference between the teams diminished the fun a little. Compared to the quick cuts of screaming and crying on The Amazing Race 14 and The Amazing Race Australia 2, we got an extended version here which lessened the impact I think. It was a little less frantic and intense even with twice as many teams as TAR24 and TARAu2. Maybe Sunday’s highlights episode will have a nice little montage of the fun.
But it was still a great task. It’s interesting though because this was a Detour choice. On TAR14, it was a Road Block while on TARAu2, it was a mandatory Active Route Info task.
It was great for Matt & Phoebe to do the Musical side of the Detour first so we actually got to see it. I’m still sad last Leg was a Yield instead of a Detour. That Poro Point Detour feels like such a lost opportunity. =( Should’ve been an Active Route Info task I think.
Anyway, it’s 5-for-5 so far with tasks and episodes. This Ilocos Leg has been the best yet. And it looks like the Pit Stop episode is going to help complete this great week. Very exciting.
Episode Quotes
AJ: “Hopefully we can run tomorrow.”
Roch: “Parang matatanggal yung paa ko!”
Vince: “Arte-arte naman yung babaeng yan. Nakakairita.”
Kelvin: “Nanganganak ka ba?”