Recap: The Amazing Race 3, Episode 10 – “Don’t Try to Play the Moralist Now!”

Recap: The Amazing Race 3, Episode 10 – “Don’t Try to Play the Moralist Now!”

The Final Four is set and they begin the 11th Leg during the 10pm hour by learning they must fly to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. They have $100 for this Leg of the Race.

During the Pit Stop, Ken & Gerard had ordered two cabs so at least one would be ready as soon as the left that evening. Derek & Drew, having left the Pit Stop first, try to steal one of the Oh Brothers’ waiting cabs. But the driver wants to make sure they are the ones who called ahead for him. Drew tries to convince him, but he is unsuccessful.

“Yeah, but you are not Mr. Ken.”

Ken & Gerard end up getting on the second cab that arrives.

Upon learning the next Leg will be run in Vietnam, Ian expresses mixed emotions about returning to Vietnam after having served in the War.

All the teams borrow their driver’s mobile phone to call ahead to airlines hoping to find the best flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Ken & Gerard find a flight via Kuala Lumpur departing in the next hour. It’s a tight window and the Oh Brothers have to run to the gate within minutes in order to make the flight. Which they do.

On the way to the airport, Flo tells Zach to reserve seats for Derek & Drew on a morning flight as well.

In Kuala Lumpur, Ken & Gerard buy their tickets to Ho Chi Minh and end up confirming all the other teams will be on the same flight to Vietnam anyway.

At customs in Ho Chi Minh City, Flo joins Derek & Drew in one line while Zach stays in a slower line. That angers Flo who wanted Zach to cut in line. Instead, they end up last out of the airport. Flo expresses her displeasure on the taxi ride.

Teams must now make their way to Rex Square to find Bac Ho. That clue tells teams to head into the Mekong Delta and find the floating market in Cai Be.

As they drive through Vietnam, Ian continues remembering his time in Vietnam and the sad memories of the War. Meanwhile in the other cab, an emotional Flo continues berating Zach about not cutting in line. Zach grows annoyed and begins to finally defend his decision.

Ken & Gerard arrive in Cai Be at the same time as a big storm. They open the next clue revealing the Detour: Easy Buy or Hard Sell. In Easy Buy, teams choose a sampan and head into the floating market to find the one stall selling water coconut. They must buy one bunch to receive their next clue. In Hard Sell, teams must take a shoulder basket of fruit and head through the land market to sell 40,000 dong worth in order to receive the next clue.

Oh Brothers choose Easy Buy and hop into the sampan as the rain starts to fall.

Teri & Ian and Derek & Drew, arriving next, both choose Easy Buy as well. Ken & Gerard are struggling in the rain, so they decide to switch Detours and head back. They run into their fellow teams on the way back, but make it seem that they’ve already gotten their clue so as not to tip them off and possibly join them with the Hard Sell.

Flo & Zach finally arrive in Cai Be and Flo’s frustrations are reaching a boiling point. They see Ken & Gerard just getting out of the sampans so they also decide on Hard Sell instead.

Teri & Ian and Derek & Drew finally find the water coconuts and must now make their way back to Ho Chi Minh City and find the next clue at a specific address by the Saigon River.

Ken & Gerard decide to sell whole baskets for 10,000 dong each while Flo & Zach continue to sell by piece. Flo is in good spirits while they’re selling the fruits. But when they go in for a check, the lady says they are short 500 dong. Flo tells Zach to just grab a few pieces of fruit to sell to anyone close by, but Zach goes to grab an entire basket, frustrating Flo all over again.

Teri & Ian are firmly in the lead when they arrive at the Road Block. For this Road Block, that team member must hop on a cyclo and transport their teammate along a flagged course onto a ferry across the Saigon River. There, teams will ride to the Pit Stop, Café Thu Thiem.

Ian decides to do the Road Block and they easily make their way across the River. On the ferry, Teri & Ian make some new friends. Being his first time in Vietnam since the War, Ian says he likes the people and the culture. He appreciates how the Vietnamese people have welcomed them and believes that wounds can heal.

Teri & Ian arrive at the Pit Stop and Phil checks them in as Team #1. No Fast Forward required. They win a seven-night cruise vacation to Europe on Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas.

Meanwhile, the two brother teams are struggling to find the cluebox where the cyclos are waiting. Last place Flo & Zach immediately find the clue and get on their cyclo. They pedal onto the ferry. Ken & Gerard, having seen the flags leading up to the ferry, run to the dock.

Having thought they were last, Flo & Zach are surprised to see the confused Oh Brothers running up to the ferry. Flo tells them to follow the flags back up the road. Ken & Gerard can’t believe Flo would give them that critical bit of information considering she had been in a very close, romantic alliance with Derek & Drew.

When the ferry leaves, Derek & Drew come running to the dock asking Ken & Gerard if they saw Flo & Zach on the boat. Ken & Gerard lie and say they did not and carefully sneak away back up the street to the cluebox location. After Gerard clips the cyclo over with Ken inside it, they continue on to the ferry.

Having seen Flo & Zach on the ferry, Derek & Drew decide they must hop on the next one to get to the other side.

Flo & Zach run to the Mat and Phil checks them in as Team #2.

Derek & Drew come running up, following the flags and arrows to the Mat. They know this is not correct since they never found the next clue. Phil informs them of such and they hurry back to try and figure out what’s wrong. Flo, who has been watching this play out with Zach, yells to the twins that the clue is back on the other side.

Derek & Drew get to the dock just as Ken & Gerard disembark on their cyclo. Oh Brothers tell the Twins where to find the clue and try to encourage them by saying this might be a Non-Elimination Leg.

Ken & Gerard head to the Mat and check in as Team #3.

That leaves Derek & Drew in last. And unfortunately for them, this IS an Elimination Leg and their Race ends here.

Episode Thoughts

The BEST Leg and BEST episode so far this season. This is classic TAR. Exciting competition, fun drama and a truly unexpected ending.

It’s very interesting to see Ken & Gerard’s taxi maneuvering during the Pit Stop. Back then, teams would be working even during the Pit Stops. Whether it’s calling ahead for cabs, researching, etc. These days, I think TAR discourages or even bans teams from doing such things.

But as we saw here, it can provide some fun dynamics. Teams not being able to hop in to a cab since they were reserved for Ken & Gerard. Not sure how appropriate or nice it is now to do that, ordering several cabs and never taking them. Poor drivers! But Oy vey, this gives me horrible memories of the literal trash Penultimate Leg from TAR Canada. So let’s just move on. lol

It was interesting that Flo & Zach were able to book seats for Derek & Drew (and their crew members, I would assume). That’s another thing that wouldn’t happen today.

I will always remember the very profound moments from Ian during this entire visit to Vietnam. Watching it again now reminds me of the controversy over the TAR22 visit to Vietnam (from both liberal and conservative commentators, let’s be clear). And it really made me so frustrated knowing that TAR has taken such care with their visits to Vietnam. Contrary to what people were saying about the show. From this first visit with Ian, a Vietnam Vet. And the tribute to John McCain on TAR10.

This episode saw the birth of Ian’s iconic “numba one taxi driver” line!

The Detour was great. It was able to feature daily life in Vietnam and both sides were challenging for the teams. The water coconut was a needle in a haystack task and the selling fruits got teams to interact with locals. Even better was the downpour as the teams were completing the tasks. That’s always awesome!

The Road Block was pretty straightforward, but I think the show intentionally hid that cluebox behind some shrubs. And they were right to do so! I don’t think you could script this sequence of events any better though. Teri & Ian, who have been on their own all Race, win the Leg. And Derek & Drew, who worked with both Ken & Gerard and Flo & Zach at separate times during the season, would end up deciding their fate.

It was crazy! And definitely one of the most memorable and perhaps iconic moments in TAR history. Writing about it doesn’t even give it the justice it deserves. It’s just as impactful watching it now.

I have a question though. What happened to Teri & Ian’s bags during the Road Block. One moment they have no bags, the next moment, they have them. Very interesting. I wonder if they stopped by the taxi on the way to the ferry. Or worse, they went all the way across the river to the Pit Stop and had to go back because they didn’t bring their bags along!

Anyway, absolutely the best Leg and episode so far this season. And a perfect representation of classic TAR. This Final Four on this Leg was perfect. But how exciting would it be to have more teams running this Leg?

My Subjective Team Rankings

An excellent Leg for Teri & Ian and a very meaningful one too. Ian’s return to Vietnam is such a wonderful moment. Something that goes beyond the Race. The Vietnam War is obviously a painful memory for so many people. And the show did such a great job allowing both Teri and Ian time to reflect on this moment for them. So that just made their win even better here. A little bit of luck and the right skills got them a well-deserved win.

Ken & Gerard proclaimed that the Brotherhood crumbled a few Legs ago. But there’s no denying they were still friendly and close enough this Leg to make the final scenes of the episode that impactful. They were very much the alliance to beat this season. Strong Racing from them for half the Race. So it was only fitting that it came down to this moment. It was the right decision though. Knowing they are Final 4 and knowing they were fighting for last place, this is no place to be friendly to other teams. So they made the right decision.

The tension has been building and this episode was just one step closer to Flo & Zach‘s ultimate meltdown. Well, moreso Flo’s meltdown lol. I get both Flo and Zach in this episode though. Flo’s annoyance really only had to do with Zach not “cutting in line”. And I understand her frustration. I don’t get why they would go in different lines though. The only reason they should do that is to see which is faster and if one is, then their teammate would join them in it. For me, I would be like Zach and be embarrassed to switch lines. Especially if it was a long wait. But I understand Flo as well. It’s the Final 4, so they gotta do what they can. We saw Flo at the Detour though having fun selling fruits. And then a little more calmed down at the Road Block. So she wasn’t completely upset at least. That will change next Leg of course lol

It was a stunning end to Derek & Drew‘s Race. And I think a fitting end too. The dramatic finish suits their relatively great Racing this season. A prolific team like them can only either win the whole thing or crash and burn in the most dramatic way possible. And that’s what happened here. Such great drama. Obviously, sad for them. But the episode ended so memorably.

Episode Quotes

Flo: “You can’t win this Race without cutting lines, Zach.”

Flo: “Are there any physical risks associated with cutting in line?”