Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 5, Episode 4 – “Get in, get out and don’t get lost.”

Teams will start the 4th Leg in Townsville after magically flying there from Longreach during the Pit Stop and will depart in the order they finished the last Leg. Jaskirat & Anurag, who skipped the last Leg, need to pull out a number to determine their departing position on this Leg and they pull #10. The Super Sikhs are annoyed that they immediately went from first to 10th.

Teams run out of Townsville Airport and must make their way to Castle Hill Lookout where they will find a Road Block: Who’s ready for a face off? For this Road Block, teams must abseil down the cliff face, in the dark. Along the way, they must clip their team photo onto a board under either Brains or Brawn. This decision will play an important role in the future.

Dolor has chosen to do the Road Block and does not want to do it after finding out what it is as he is majorly afraid of heights. He wants to switch with Holly somehow. But after all the hemming and hawing, he eventually goes down anyway.

Jobelle & Rani have finished the Road Block, but have forgotten a lantern. They decide they must go all the way back up to grab one so as not to get a penalty. That seemingly pushes them to last leaving the Road Block, based on what it says on-screen.

After the Road Block, teams must head back to the airport where they will sign up for one of four charter flights to Palm Island. On the first flight at 8:30am are Shane & Deb, Brendon & Jackson and Ashleigh & Amanda. On the 9:15am flight are Holly & Dolor, Skye-Blue & Jake, Chris & Aleisha and Sefa & Jessica. Leaving at 9:30am are Dwes & Katharine and Jobelle & Rani. And finally at 10:15am are Jaskirat & Anurag, Jordan & Violeta and Malaan & Tina.

Upon arrival on Palm Island, teams must head to the Story Tree where they will receive a traditional welcome. After the ceremony, teams must head to Fred Clay Freedom Park.

At the park, teams will choose a necklace (red for men and yellow for women). The symbol on the necklace will be the traditional Imbala dance they must learn and perform.

Ashleigh & Amanda are currently in first place as they begin learning the dances. They go for a first attempt, but get the thumbs down. That allows Shane & Deb and Brendon & Jackson to pass them.

After the Imbala dance, teams will choose between On Air or On Time for the Detour. In On Air, teams must memorize a radio script word for word and record it under 25 seconds. In On Time, teams must make a pizza named after a footy team, wait 15 minutes for it bake and then deliver it to a local footy fan’s home.

Shane & Deb and Ashleigh & Amanda choose the pizza while the Cowboys choose the radio spiels.

Shane & Deb stay in first place and open the next clue pointing them to the Palm Island Airport where they must check-in at the first U-Turn of the Race. On the bus ride over, Shane & Deb and the Cowboys agree that Holly & Dolor should be U-Turned. The married parents, arriving at the U-Turn first, decide to pull the trigger.

Afterwards, teams must go to the runway and cut a 20 meter long-section of grass using a tiny pair of scissors. Once they cut all the grass to below a guide string, they will get the next clue.

Dwes & Katharine think they can run to the airport, but it is too far so they hop into a private vehicle.

Shane & Deb maintain their lead and can now make their way to the Catholic School to find Beau at the Pit Stop. But it is Brendon & Jackson who step on the Mat first and win a trip to a resort off the coast of Townsville. That means Shane & Deb are second. Ashleigh & Amanda check-in as Team #3.

Sefa & Jessica are 4th. Jobelle & Rani run past the Mat, so that allows Skye-Blue & Jake to check-in as Team #5. The father and daughter settle for 6th. Chris & Aleisha are 7th.

Beau tells the schoolchildren greeters to go back to class.

Jaskirat & Anurag are Team #8. Dwes & Katherine arrive in 9th, but because they hopped into the private vehicle, they must wait out a 10-minute penalty. That allows Holly & Dolor to check-in as Team #9. The cousins end up as Team #10.

Jordan & Violeta step on the Mat as Team #11. That means Malaan & Tina are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

First of all, it was definitely weird for the Super Sikhs to get just a passing mention last episode. But it was pretty hilarious that apparently a First Class team has to choose a random number to determine their departure position. lol Of course with Network 10’s TARAu, teams are released in order of their Pit Stop check-in at a set interval. Unlike the normal procedure where the time differences are maintained upon Pit Start. So it is conceivable that a First Class team could get eliminated in the next Leg because they pulled a bad number and get stuck on a linear Leg.

Anyway, I loved the idea of a rappel in the dark. I’ve wondered why TAR never does it. (Or they have and I just don’t remember lol) I guess it can’t always be safe.

The only negative here was that the Road Block eventually did not matter anyway. And if it wasn’t for Jobelle & Rani not grabbing a lantern, the flight positions would’ve been exactly the same as the airport release order.

Perhaps the Road Block was just their opportunity for that Brains or Brawns board which is probably for the T-Junction team split? Who knows.

The reverence for the Indigenous people of Australia the Race has is wonderful. And it is a great treat to have teams be welcomed in this way everywhere they go. The dance task is a good Active Route Info task. Simple, straightforward.

Also simple and straightforward was the Detour. Not the most challenging pair of tasks, that’s for sure. So in that sense, a good spot for a U-Turn. Though having the U-Turn at the airport instead of somewhere in the area of the Detours is kinda meh.

It was weird hearing Shane & Deb discussing the U-Turn though as if they had no choice. I really felt like they thought they were required to U-Turn someone because they were the first ones there. Very strange! lol

The grass cutting has to be the most random task ever though. I honestly expected something else before the Pit Stop. That’s when I wondered maybe this was a Non-Elimination Leg. I mean, what a horrible task to have right before the Pit Stop.

Alas, it was an elimination Leg.

Overall, while the tasks themselves were nice, the Leg itself was not very good. A poorly designed linear Leg that really didn’t provide much competition.

My Subjective Team Rankings

Great to see Jobelle & Rani pop up to get on the 3rd flight. Though maybe I doubt a little if they were really last to leave the Road Block lol Anyway, as long as they are safe, I’m happy. And other than that small mistake, they ran a solid Leg.

Ashleigh & Amanda are definitely a strong team. They do so well. They might stumble a little bit that keeps them out of first place, but they can fight their way into the lead during Legs. And that’s a positive for them moving forward.

I was definitely rooting for Malaan & Tina. I think they had great potential. But they honestly haven’t had much opportunity to get themselves up the ranks so far. They were a fun team to watch. It’s too bad they got stuck on this horrible Leg.

Yay for more Sefa & Jessica this episode. They’ve been sorely missed in Episodes 2 and 3. So getting to see them more and even seeing them do well again is great. Love Jessica’s reaction to Holly & Dolor’s U-Turn lol

Well, it was great to see Jaskirat & Anurag again. WhErE hAvE tHeY bEeN? Lol But I much enjoyed seeing them not in first place for a change and seeing them have to deal with the pressure of the Race.

I never would’ve expected Shane & Deb to be one of the top contenders, but they definitely are. Them and Brendon & Jackson have become two of the more consistent teams. Not dominant, but doing very well.

It’s still kind of weird to see Dwes & Katharine because they were pretty invisible last episode. So it’s like they’ve been gone for two Legs instead of just the one. And that’s just very strange.

Of the young, non-Power Couple MF teams, Jordan & Violeta are the most interesting at this point. Though not by much. I think it had to do with them being in danger of elimination. Skye-Blue & Jake and Chris & Aleisha are alright. They aren’t causing any waves. They haven’t been at the top. And they haven’t been in danger. They’re okay. But again, when there’s so many bigger personalities, they can get lost in the shuffle so far.

Ah, Holly & Dolor. They are shocked to be U-Turned since they thought only threatening teams were targeted. But hasn’t it been Dolor who has told us everything he’s good at? Though at the same time telling us everything he is afraid of as well. Lol (Gotta point out though, Dolor completed both the synchronized swimming and rappel perfectly fine after whining about them both beforehand. Lol) They’re at the bottom of my list, but they’re definitely the biggest personalities of the season. And seeing more teams expressing their opinions on them, you know they’ll be a fixture on the Race for some time yet.

Episode Quotes

Rani: “Get in, get out and don’t get lost.”

Jobelle: “I don’t know if we have time for comedics.”