Recap: The Amazing Race 30, Episode 9 – “God, I want to rip my shirt off.”


Recap: The Amazing Race 30, Episode 9 – The First Rule of Amazing Race Club (Hour 1)

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After Jessica buys sneakers, teams are off to Manama, Bahrain for the first time ever. All teams have tickets on the same flights via Addis Ababa and Dubai.

Upon arrival in Dubai, Lucas seems to have lost his passport. He and Brittany are now scrambling to try and find it. Lucas believes he left it on one of the planes between Harare, Addis Ababa and Dubai.

The other teams all sit together, discussing what’s happening. Jessica laughs that this is karma for U-Turning them. But Lucas & Brittany are ultimately unable to find the passport in time and the other teams fly off to Bahrain without them.

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Upon arrival in Bahrain, teams must pick up a marked, non-sponsored Nissan and drive themselves to the dhow shipyard. Lucas & Brittany, meanwhile, are on their way to the U.S. consulate in Dubai.

At the shipyard, teams must deliver 300lbs of wood across the dhow shipyard for their next clue.

Kristi & Jen finish first and must now make their way to Showaiter Sweets. Alex & Conor and Henry & Evan are next to finish with Cody & Jessica in last after everyone’s left.

At the candy shop, teams must taste King of Halwa, a sweet treat. Kristi & Jen and Alex & Conor enjoy the treat and get the next clue telling them to drive to Delmon Pottery Industry. With Henry & Evan lost, Cody & Jessica are able to slip into 3rd.

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Checking in with Lucas & Brittany, they are able to get Lucas a temporary passport and can now try to find the first flight to Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the other four teams struggle to find their way to the pottery. That allows Cody & Jessica to move into 1st and arrive at the pottery yard.

Here, teams must search hundreds of pots for 10 matching relics they will find in a chosen pouch.

The four teams are at the pots and frantically search for their items. Cody & Jessica maintain their lead and can now head to Bahrain Endurance Village. Kristi & Jen are close behind followed by Alex & Conor and Henry & Evan.

Driving continues to trip teams up and Alex & Conor move into the lead. They open the next clue telling them to milk a camel.

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Kristi & Jen arrive next, but Alex & Conor stay in 1st and can now make their way to the Pit Stop at the Tree of Life. They officially check in as Team #1 and win $7500 each.

Kristi & Jen are Team #2 and Henry & Evan are Team #3. After being very lost, Cody & Jessica finish as Team #4.

Lucas & Brittany arrive in Bahrain and drive to the dhow shipyard where Phil meets them to eliminate them.

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Episode Thoughts

So this Leg was very HaMerotz LaMillion/TAR China 2 with no Detours or Road Blocks. I will assume one of the tasks was a Detour, but only presented as a Route Info task.

But as a first (and likely only) visit to Bahrain, I kind of expected a little more.

The tasks were all fine on their own. A task involving dhows is a must of course. The needle in the pottery task was very generic and could’ve easily been staged in numerous other countries. And the camel milking obviously is not new to TAR, but wasn’t even all that fun or amusing. Of course, we won’t have a TAR12 repeat. But with only four teams, it was actually kind of boring. Teams didn’t even have to drink the milk.

The driving and getting lost seems to have been the only thing keeping the episode interesting. And even then, Lucas & Brittany’s passport drama helped to fill about 5 minutes worth of episode as well.

Overall, an underwhelming Leg and episode featuring a country that should’ve been visited a long time ago.

My Subjective Team Rankings

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It’s a shame that Lucas & Brittany had to be eliminated like this. They’ve Raced so well and really stepped up with each Leg. They were invisible at first and really made their way up the ranks to be one of the better and more competitive teams. They could’ve easily survived this Leg, most likely, had they not lost their passport.

Moving forward, I think I’m rooting for Henry & Evan and Kristi & Jen the most for the win. Kristi & Jen are definitely the strongest, most consistent team. There is no question about that. Alex & Conor have been quietly (literally) doing well and could easily move into a position to win now with only four teams left.

Cody & Jessica are okay. But out of the remaining four, are probably my least favorites to win. Sometimes the comments from Jessica can be very negative even if only snarky and as jokes.

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