Recap: The Amazing Race 32, Episode 10 – “I currently hate their guts.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 32, Episode 10 – Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty

Despite Phil saying Riley & Maddison are the first to leave India, ALL teams are on the same flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Upon arrival in Siem Reap, teams must head to a market, find a tuk-tuk and the Travelocity Roaming Gnome who will have a basket of donations which they must keep until further notice. The ReaLaLLiAncE move to the front of the pack and gleefully cheer about having alliances on the Race. *gag*

Once teams pick up their new Roaming Gnome friend, they must “help” their driver put their tuk-tuk together (not really) and then make their way to Chong Khneas Pier. From there, teams must then hop on a boat to take them to Chong Khneas village and find a floating Buddhist temple where they will donate their items.

Riley & Maddison’s boat appears to break down and the show makes it seem like some huge dramatic moment in which they are going to get eliminated because of it. But the boat driver gets the motor started within seconds.

After teams make their offerings to the Buddhist monks, teams open the next clue revealing the Detour: Fish or Farm. For both Detours, the Travelocity Roaming Gnome will have items they will need. In Fish, teams must haul in a long net and gather 15 kg of fish to receive next clue. In Farm, teams must correctly plant a floating farm garden.

Hung & Chee choose Fish, but their boat driver takes them to the Farm instead so they end up doing it. Will & James joins them at Farm while the other teams choose Fish. Hung decides to offer tips to Will & James, of course.

Riley & Maddison are first to finish the Detour and they make their way to the final Double U-Turn of the Race. They wanted to U-Turn DeAngelo & Gary, but since the NFL bros are right behind them, they think it would be stupid. So they decide to U-Turn Eswar & Aparna instead so the ReaLaLLiAncE will remain safe from the U-Turn.

However, DeAngelo & Gary reach the U-Turn first and decide to U-Turn Eswar & Aparna, saying that it is what they deserve thanks to the alliance. “That’s what you get.” Riley & Maddison “burn the board” and U-Turn DeAngelo & Gary all in the name of the almighty ReaLaLLiAncE.

Eswar & Aparna reach the U-Turn and realize they’ve been screwed. They are especially angry at DeAngelo & Gary and say they have no brains.

Before Hung & Chee leave the Farm Detour, they again offer directions to Will & James on what to do with the task. Will & James are very annoyed at DeAngelo & Gary for getting to the U-Turn first.

The next task is the Road Block: Who thinks they can fit the mold? For this Road Block, teams must learn the complex process to make an intricately designed tile. When approved, the Roaming Gnome will give them a key that will unlock a box of already completed tiles which they will use to complete a slide puzzle.

Riley and DeAngelo decide to do the Road Block. Will and Chee are close behind.

DeAngelo is not watching the whole example so he is missing what he needs to do. Riley, who decides to watch the whole demonstration, finishes his tile on his 6th attempt. Will gets it on his 4th attempt.

Riley & Maddison stay in the lead and make their way to Angkor Thom, the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race. They officially check in as Team #1 and win a trip to Norway. Will & James are Team #2.

Eswar & Aparna arrive and Eswar decides to do the Road Block. Aparna lets them know she is not happy about DeAngelo & Gary U-Turning them.

DeAngelo says “Whatever happened to sportsmanship, man! It’s a Race!” Despite he and Gary being part of an alliance that spits in the face of competition, not to mention them leeching off of that alliance without contributing to it.

Aparna: “Hey DeAngelo, if you want to mess up a few more hours, that’d be great. That’s called karma. Why didn’t you use your brain to U-Turn a team that’s been ahead of you.”

Hung & Chee head to the Pit Stop as Team #3 followed by DeAngelo & Gary as Team #4.

That means, SURPRISE, not really, Eswar & Aparna are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Well, this has to be one of the most predictable episodes and Legs of The Amazing Race ever. Eswar & Aparna were doomed from the start. In a way, they brought it upon themselves by being at the bottom of a FIVE-team alliance. In another way, it’s the show not doing enough to drive competition on the show. Instead, merely putting the bare minimum of tasks that can actually be easily completed by having the answer or solution spoon-fed to you.

But ultimately, the overwhelming predictability and lack of excitement this season lies at the feet of the Mine Five alliance. I’ll whine about that in detail at the end of the season.

And don’t tell me “It works!” since the Mine Five all ended up as the Final Five. There’s a big asterisk to whoever wins this season. And I will be honest, if there ever were a season that gets me to a point where I become apathetic to The Amazing Race, it might just be Season 32. I didn’t even feel this way after TAR24 which is absolute trash except for getting the chance to watch Brendon & Rachel own the show again.

The ReaLaLLiAncE cheering about alliances on the Race while in the tuk-tuks was so gross. Like, that’s something to be proud of?

Anyway, this Leg was so barebones. Just a Detour and Road Block? Typical contemporary TAR. And essentially a recycle of many TAR Legs in the past. I think Cambodia is more than just floating villages, after all.

After the teams picked up the Roaming Gnome, they were supposed to “help” the driver put the tuk-tuk together. They didn’t. It was like the show knew they had no tasks this Leg, so to fill out the episode, they added that fake task.

The faux drama with Riley & Maddison’s boat “breaking down” was so laughable. WTF was that? Editing on TAR has really gotten so bad over the years. Definitely far removed from the golden days of the series.

The Detour was Meh. It probably took less than half an hour, if that, to finish them. The Road Block was okay. But certainly straightforward. If it weren’t for a bitter Aparna, there would be no reason for the show to spend more than a few minutes on it in the episode.

In other nitpicking… Again, TAR needs to fix the writing for Phil’s spiels. No, Team #1 is NOT the first to leave a country.

Phil: “Riley & Maddison will be the first to leave India…”
Seconds later…
Riley & Maddison: “We’re all on the same flight.”

The fact that the show contradicts itself within seconds is just such an illustration of the devolution of The Amazing Race US.

Next week’s episode in Manila looks to be very predictable as well. A task involving flags that teams could help each other with? We all know how that’s gonna turn out.

My Subjective Team Rankings

GAP

Well, Eswar & Aparna were my last hope on the Race. Just barely. But it’s definitely not a surprise that they were eliminated this week. They’ve been running behind much of the Race. BUT they were also at the bottom of the alliance. So of course they were going to get cut first. Especially when DeAngelo & Gary are still oblivious to the fact they’ve rubbed everyone the wrong way. I wish Aparna had that fire in her all season. Then maybe we would’ve have had this Mine Five dominance that has ended up ruining what could’ve been one of the best HD Era seasons.

Hung & Chee really can’t help themselves. They really just have to hold everyone’s hand. Must be that parental instinct. But on the Race, it’s probably going to cost them if they keep it up. Just stop helping others! It’s not that hard. There’s only five teams left. Just tell the others to f- off and Race. Or just ignore them. Don’t need to be parents to grown children on a competition.

I was sort of rooting for DeAngelo & Gary only as a way to spite the ReaLaLLiAncE and teach them a lesson about the hand-holding, spoon-feeding to each other. But their attitude is so cocky and so misplaced, it’s so off-putting. They act as if they’ve been some dominant team on the Race when they’ve been dragged along by the ReaLaLLiAncE as a number. They probably would’ve been eliminated long ago with the Mine Five.

Riley & Maddison and Will & James are essentially the four-headed alliance monster of the season. They really think they’re on Survivor or Big Brother and it’s just completely upended the Race. I sincerely hope that if TAR survives past this season (who knows if TAR33 will ever continue), no one emulates this style of Racing because it will kill the TAR mothership forever. (Just look at the united opinion of casuals and die-hard fans.)

Episode Quotes

Chee: “I’m sweating a lot.”

Aparna: “I currently hate their guts.”