Recap: The Amazing Race 27, Episode 5 – "My underthing is just coming off."


Recap: The Amazing Race 27, Episode 5 – King of the Jungle

Tanner & Josh decide to give the Express Pass to Denise & James Earl because they’ve been a big help and are not a threat.

Teams must now make their way to Lookout Cafe at Batoka Gorge.

Justin & Diana arrive first and find the Road Block: Who wants to gorge themselves?

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For this Road Block, teams will perform a Switchback to the very first TAR task evah… a swing over Batoka Gorge.

Justin and Josh do the Road Block. While Kelsey makes the jump, Denise hugs Tanner for the Express Pass.

At the Leg 4 Pit Stop, Cindy & Rick check-in 5th while Logan & Chris, in 6th, maybe regret not thinking about using the U-Turn. Jazmine & Danielle are Team #7 and also regret not using the U-Turn since this was a virtual Pit Stop.

That means Tiffany & Krista are last and they decide to U-Turn Justin & Diana since that’s what everyone agreed to.

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Cindy & Rick and Logan & Chris arrive at the Lookout Cafe, but they hop back into their taxis thinking the swing is somewhere else. That allows Jazmine & Danielle to move into 5th. Tiffany & Krista, who have been crying since the Mat, are now in 6th.

Logan & Chris continue following Cindy & Rick who realize the Road Block was where they left. They head back. Logan & Chris are upset with themselves for again missing crucial detail and possibly eliminating them.

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After the Road Block, teams will face the Detour: Crocs or Canoes.
In Crocs, teams will feed three crocodiles while in an underwater cage.
In Canoes, teams will paddle across the Zambezi River. One team member must then hoist their teammate up to their clue inside a vulture’s nest.

Justin & Diana and Tanner & Josh are neck and neck at the Canoes. Kelsey & Joey choose Crocs and just as they are about to head into the cage, Denise & James Earl arrive to hand over the Express Pass.

After the Detour, teams must head to The Lion Encounter where a pair of lions will lead them to their next clue hidden inside a skull.

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Justin & Diana are still in first as they get briefed on the Dos and Don’ts. Denise & James Earl have to change out of their bright pink clothes.

Kelsey & Joey and Tanner & Josh must wait until the first two are done.

Back at the Crocs, Jazmine & Danielle, Tiffany & Krista and Cindy & Rick are in line to do the task. Logan & Chris arrive and Logan says they should leave since so many teams are here.

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They change into their wetsuits and get in line, but Logan continues doubting this is the right choice. They go back to change and leave, but then decide to just stay.

Meanwhile, Justin & Diana finish the lion walk and can now make their way on foot to the Masuwe Private Game Reserve, the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race. But teams must bring two fruit baskets, balanced on their heads, to the Mat.

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Denise & James Earl manage to balance their fruit better and are able to slowly claim first place. They win a trip to Slovakia.

Justin & Diana have to settle for first loser, or 2nd place.

Jazmine & Danielle tell their driver to take them to the Masuwe Game Reserve. They start balancing the fruits on their head, but then see Phil and realize they’ve made a mistake. Tanner & Josh and Kelsey & Joey have also just arrived and point them to the lions.

Tanner & Josh step on the Mat as Team #3 and Kelsey & Joey are Team #4.

At the lions, Tiffany & Krista find their clue and head over to the fruits. Jazmine & Danielle finish their walk and head back to the start as Cindy & Rick and Logan & Chris head out. The guides ask Jazmine & Danielle if they’ve found their clue… which they haven’t. Uh oh. They now have to wait for the two teams to finish. Turns out they didn’t read the additional info to know to look for the clue skull.

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Tiffany & Krista check-in at the Mat as Team #5. Cindy & Rick and Logan & Chris are neck and neck. But #TeamPaparazzi finish in 6th and #ChacAttack take 7th.

That leaves Jazmine & Danielle in last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Well! I think this might have been the best episode of the season so far! The tasks themselves were kinda on the blah side. But the competition and drama was very exciting! Definitely made the episode.

I think the editing was on point this week as well. That was not the case in the first four episodes. This time, things were fun and exciting all episode long.

Lots of funny moments as well, just like this moment at the Road Block:

So random, yet hilarious.

The episode started with a short intro to accommodate the continuation of last week’s episode which was refreshing. (Short intro only for this week please! lol)

The Road Block was okay, though I don’t think they were at the same location as TAR1’s first task so that kinda lessened the impact. Even though the task was still fine.

The Detour was pretty simple. The Canoes side was definitely the better one because it showed off the Zambezi. But without the Tanner & Josh and Justin & Diana race at the canoes and Logan & Chris’ meltdown at the crocs, the Detour might have been boring.

Same for the lion task. Fun lions, but without Jazmine & Danielle’s mistake, it would’ve been just okay.

I did like the fruit basket to the Mat which gives that extra, last bit of tension before the Pit Stop.

But this was still a linear Leg. Three bunching, first come, first served tasks. Again, if it weren’t for the teams themselves and their drama, this Leg might have been horrible. But thankfully, the teams finally delivered after four weeks of blahness.

Overall, a great episode of an okay Leg. But best of the season, no question.

My Subjective Team Rankings

Yay for Denise & James Earl. Great to see them win this Leg (with the help of the Express Pass of course.) Seeing them having lots of fun and happy all Leg was great even though their bickering is fun too. But Denise’s excitement was awesome.

Tanner & Josh reminded me of the fun, pre-taxi stealing Gino & Jessie from TARCAN3. The “Shut up bro” and “Gawd” and all that. I liked that version of Gino & Jessie and I hope Tanner & Josh can keep that hilarious bickering bromance as long as they’re on the Race. In addition to their rivalry with #TeamGreen of course.

Tiffany & Krista are doing well. They still seem to be falling forward, but they’re doing just enough to stay with it. They are the underdogs, but it would be great to see them step up and really go for the win.

Logan & Chris are absolutely hilarious. They definitely delivered this Leg with all the hilarious drama they dish out at each other. Hope to see more of that. Meanwhile, Cindy & Rick‘s positivity and energy even when they made a huge mistake was oddly amusing. I was hoping they’d be a strong team who was uber competitive, but I’ll take them being the happy-go-lucky couple. They were very enjoyable this Leg.

Justin & Diana slipped for me this week because they were kinda boring. I guess they took a backseat to all the other teams who really delivered. But I’m glad they didn’t win so they don’t turn into that dominant team. Being close and continuing their rivalry is good. Taking over and winning every Leg is not.

Kelsey & Joey are almost like a sleeper or darkhorse team. They’re under the radar right now, but I’d love to see more of the cutthroat competition they teased in Leg 3. And Jazmine & Danielle really made too many mistakes and it was only a matter of time before they caught up with them and eliminated them.

Episode Quotes

Denise: “Now get your ass back up here!”

Logan: “We’re so stupid.”

Logan: “We’re our own worst enemy, basically.”

Tanner: “My underthing is just coming off.”


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6 thoughts on “Recap: The Amazing Race 27, Episode 5 – "My underthing is just coming off."

  1. Wow! 5 episodes of TAR 27 already. With the five episodes, it even highlighted why TAR lose their Emmy streak. I am starting lose my interest with the show. The Voice is right now my favorite show. I love the artists and even the coaches (Adam & Blake in particular) delivered with their friendly rivalry. Have you watch a single season of the Voice?

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