Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 4, Episode 10 – “Who needs deodorant the most?”

The 10th Leg of the Race begins with teams departing two minutes apart. Each team member must first paddle a traditional dugout canoe 1km down the beach in Leopard Bay. For Viv & Joey, they must empty the water out of their dugout canoes for their Speed Bump before they can set off onto the lake.

Conditions are making the waters rough for the teams. Nick even loses his paddle when his boat flips over. Rod also capsizes. Joey, meanwhile, is frustrated his canoe keeps filling with water. Viv, however, is already far out into the water, no problems. Jasmin & Jerome are struggling to even get far.

Tom & Tyler reach the next Route Marker and find the Detour: Dirty or Smelly. In Dirty, teams must wash 30 items of laundry with local ladies. In Smelly, teams must carry a bucket of fish to a drying table and sort them into three separate species. But teams will not know how many species there are.

The Footy Bros choose Smelly while Tim & Rod and Femi & Nick choose Dirty.

Tom & Tyler sort their fish into two groups, but they realize there are actually three species. But even then, the judge gives them the thumbs down.

Viv & Joey choose the fish while Jasmin & Jerome choose the laundry.

All the teams are at their respective Detours. Tim & Rod are the first to finish and open the next clue revealing the Road Block: Who never tyres out? For this Road Block, teams head to Lizulu Market where they must make two pairs of rubber sandals using recycled materials including an old tire.

Tom & Tyler finally get the thumbs up on their fish. Before they leave, they help Viv & Joey by telling them how to distinguish the three types of fish. Femi & Nick are next to leave followed by Jasmin & Jerome. Viv & Joey are in last.

Tim, Tyler, Nick, Jerome and Joey choose to do the Road Block.

While Tim cuts the materials, he also cuts his finger and needs a medic to wrap him up before continuing.

All the teams are now at the Road Block.

Tim and Tyler ask for checks, but don’t get the full thumbs up. Joey works carefully and he gets his sandals approved on his first try.

Viv & Joey can now make their way to the Nsapato Section where they must listen for their next clue being broadcast on loudspeakers. That clue tells teams to make their way to Harry’s Bar.

Tom & Tyler and Tim & Rod are right behind the siblings. All three teams hear the clue but pretend to each other that they have no idea.

At Harry’s Bar, teams must take part in a two-minute quiz about the Race so far. Teams must match their answers. They will get a one-minute penalty for each incorrect answer and that penalty will be revealed to them and assessed at the Mat.

After the quiz, teams must learn and perform a Chichewa song.

Tom & Tyler get the clue after their first attempt and can now make their way to the Pit Stop by the banana trees at Kumbali Lodge. They take a while to find a cab. That allows Viv & Joey to catch up to them and even pass them on the way to the Pit Stop.

Viv & Joey are the first team to step on the Mat. But they got 13 wrong answers at the quiz and must serve out a 13-minute penalty. Tom & Tyler come running up behind them and must serve out an 8-minute penalty. Jasmin & Jerome are next to arrive and must serve out a 6-minute penalty.

Meanwhile outside the bar, Tim & Rod are struggling to find a cab. Femi & Nick, who only get two wrong answers, easily finish their performance. They quickly find a taxi as soon as they leave the bar.

Back at the Pit Stop, Beau calls Tom & Tyler back to the Mat and officially checks them in as Team #1. Jasmin & Jerome check in as Team #2 with Viv & Joey settling for 3rd.

Tim & Rod arrive at the Mat and Beau tells them they have a 9-minute penalty. And they are able to serve out that penalty before Femi & Nick arrive. Beau officially checks them in as Team #4.

That means Femi & Nick are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

A great Leg and episode!

The canoe task was interesting since initially I thought they had to paddle across the bay. But it appears they just had to paddle down the beach. Of course, that isn’t easy either especially with the rough conditions. It’s a good task to start off the day.

The Detour was good and pretty balanced. Both tasks are tedious tasks and really depend on how fast you can work. The laundry especially just needs you to get through it. The fish needs you to stay focused and have attention to detail. If one grows frustrated, you’ll be sure to miss the small details and it’ll trip you up.

The Road Block is certainly a familiar TAR task and a good one to get teams in the middle of the market. As was the listening task. Another familiar TAR task, but a great one in such a bustling market. The scene between Tim & Rod and #TeamMelbourne was pretty funny (pretending not know) and some of nice lighthearted, yet competitive moments on the Race.

The quiz was a little confusing. The clue said team members must match their answers. So that obviously was like those familiar “match opinions about other teams” tasks from the past. But the questions were fact-based about things that happened on the Race, including at Route Markers where teams weren’t even involved. Very strange.

The concept itself was much more interesting and something very different for the Race. All teams serving out penalties at the Mat based on something earlier in the Leg. That definitely throws things up in the air and makes things a little more tense at the end of the Leg.

The song task was just an extra task to help fill out the Leg and give teams time between the quiz and the Pit Stop penalty. Which was absolutely the right decision from a Leg design standpoint. As we saw, teams could have trouble with the song but could also have problems finding a taxi. There’s a lot of variables that come into play like this instead of if teams went straight to the Pit Stop after the quiz.

The tension at the Mat with all teams having to sit out penalties was actually great. It really was a very different dynamic that actually wasn’t annoying like many other twists TAR (US especially) tries to attempt.

A positive for TARAu4 has been that the Leg Design has improved as the season has moved along. The Korea Legs, for example, were very basic and barebones. Kind of a waste of a country that (inexplicably) rarely gets visited on TAR. But the Legs and episodes have gotten much better since then. And these last few Legs have been the best. Especially these two Malawi Legs.

So overall, this episode was great, exciting and fun. TARAu4 is wrapping up in a very positive way.

My Subjective Team Rankings

Tom & Tyler somehow win another Leg. It’s pretty crazy. But again, it’s hard not to like them. They’re very likeable guys. Tom’s story at the Road Block with Femi and Rod believing it was hilarious. And they’re having fun and winning Legs without stepping on anyone else’s toes. They’re doing their own thing and a few of their wins have come with the help of other teams messing up. So again, the combination of skill and luck has really helped them this Race.

This was a great Leg for Viv & Joey and definitely more reminiscent of their early Race domination. #TeamMelbourne seems to be back on top! lol But they really did well this Leg on the tasks they had control over. They got some help from Tom & Tyler at the fish of course. But Joey absolutely smoked the other teams at the Road Block. It’s things like that that can really turn things around for a team.

Jasmin & Jerome also recovered very well this Leg. It was a close Leg and I feel like they needed a little bit more hustle at points. But they’re definitely in the thick of it and are doing well enough to keep it going. If the last two Legs are as close as this one, they’ve definitely got a shot.

With the way Ten and TARAu loves to spoil their episodes, their tease of “a contender” getting eliminated made me think Tim & Rod were the ones with that clever editing at the end. They seemed to be in dire straits after the bar on the way to the Pit Stop. But Femi & Nick were really that far behind. So Tim & Rod are safe and very much have a shot at making the Final. They’ll have to do better than this Leg though. I feel like it might have been a step back after their good Legs recently.

I actually felt bad for Femi & Nick. They actually hustled pretty well this Leg. Nick stumbled at the Road Block, but actually had an okay rest of the Leg. I was actually expecting them to survive this one considering the show made a point to highlight they had the shortest penalty time of any team. But alas, it was their time to go. They’ve made it this far and that’s a major accomplishment.

Episode Quotes

Local: “Come and buy nice dresses here.”

Beau: “Who needs deodorant the most?”