Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 5, Episode 8 – “I thought I was gonna die.”

The Racers are given a traditional welcome by TARAu4’s Jasmin & Jerome to start the 8th Leg. Afterwards, they will depart in the order they arrived and encounter the Detour: Stomp or Chomp. In Stomp, teams will learn a traditional Chinese lion dance. In Chomp, teams will eat an entire barramundi fish using only chopsticks.

Skye-Blue & Jake choose the fish at Lazy Susan’s Eating House while all the other teams head over to the lion dance at Chung Wah Society Temple.

Jaskirat & Anurag, Holly & Dolor and MJ & Chelsea all fail their first lion dance attempts. Chris & Aleisha, however, pass and they open the next clue revealing the Road Block: Who’s got a sinking feeling?

For this Road Block, teams will undergo helicopter crash simulator training while blindfolded and upside down. Aleisha decides to do the Road Block as Chris has done most of them so far. And she has no problem doing it.

While Dwes & Katherine clash after their first attempt, MJ & Chelsea get the thumbs up on their second attempt. Brendon & Jackson and Ashleigh & Amanda get it on their first attempts, Jordan & Violeta on their 2nd and Holly & Dolor on their 3rd.

Chelsea has no problem performing the Road Block. But Jackson struggles. He ends up needing to get rescued. He has to wait while Amanda goes for her first attempt and passes. Jackson passes on his second attempt. Jordan and Holly get it on their first attempts.

Back at the lion dance, Jaskirat & Anurag are struggling because they are grabbing the lettuce under the mouth instead of through. They finally correct it on their 7th attempt and can head to the Road Block.

As they leave, Jaskirat & Anurag see Dwes sitting by himself outside and decide to encourage him and cheer him up. Katherine comes out and they hug her as well.

The Cousins go back inside for their 2nd attempt and get the thumbs up.

After the Road Block, teams can drive themselves to Humpty Doo Barramundi Farm where they will have to catch barramundi by hand.

Chris & Aleisha maintain their first place lead as they arrive at the farm. But not for long as MJ & Chelsea arrive soon after. The footy friends quickly catch a barra first. But Chris & Aleisha are close behind.

After catching their barra, teams can drive to the end of the road and find the World’s Loudest Burper Neville Sharp. His home is the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race.

Stowaways MJ & Chelsea end up winning on their 2nd Leg of their Race. And this is apparently a Non-Elimination Leg because the footy friends win a First Class Pass as well as the Salvage and Sabotage of course. Chris & Aleisha have to settle for 2nd. Ashleigh & Amanda are 3rd followed by Holly & Dolor and Jordan & Violeta in 4th and 5th, respectively.

Back at the Road Block, already in last, Katherine panics during her first attempt and she is unsure if she can do it. So she decides to take the penalty. Skye-Blue & Jake and Jaskirat & Anurag, meanwhile, are lost on the way to Humpty Doo. That allows the cousins to arrive at the farm before the two teams.

Brendon & Jackson had been struggling catching a barra. Dwes, however, is able to grab one quite quickly and he and Katherine hurry to the Pit Stop.

Dwes & Katherine step on the Mat in 6th, but will have to wait out their 30 minute penalty. That allows Brendon & Jackson to officially check in as Team #6.

Skye-Blue & Jake and now last place Jaskirat & Anurag arrive at the farm. And they are neck and neck on the way to the Pit Stop.

With four minutes left in the cousins’ penalty, Skye-Blue & Jake officially check in as Team #7.

Jaskirat & Anurag arrive with three minutes left in the cousins’ penalty. They are officially Team #8. Dwes & Katherine are last. But now it’s time for MJ & Chelsea to grant the Salvage and Sabotage.

MJ & Chelsea decide to give Jaskirat & Anurag the Sabotage since they think they are a big threat. That means Dwes & Katherine get the Salvage.

Episode Thoughts

Like the last episode, this one felt more like normal TAR. Even with the Non-Elimination shenanigans at the end.

It was fun to see Jasmin & Jerome at the start of the Leg. Though it just reminded me that Network Ten likes to disregard the first three seasons. =(

The Detour was good. Again, both Detour tasks had their unique challenges. It was a nice cultural Detour even though they’re home in Australia. And the locations being close together was good as well. This would’ve been a good spot for a limited stations Detour. A good spot for a U-Turn too.

The Road Block was straightforward and can be easy for many teams. It’ll depend on teams being able to swim well and not being claustrophobic.

The barramundi task was fun. Though I would’ve had teams catch more than just one just to prolong the agony for the teams and provide more entertainment for us. lol

I don’t think it was a surprise that this was a Non-Elimination Leg. But that just makes MJ & Chelsea’s win all the more hilarious. They’ve already skipped six Legs. They get to skip another one. Lol. I don’t know if that will go over well with the fans.

But their decision at the end? Honestly, I don’t like it. Yes, Jaskirat & Anurag are a strong team and like I said last night, this is their Race to lose. But they finished the Leg in 8th fair and square.

I mentioned during the 2nd Leg I think that it would be likely that the Sabotage would always be given to the last place team. And I think that’s the fair thing to do. The last place team on a Non-Elimination Leg should get penalized. Period. End of discussion.

That’s why I thought it would’ve been better to have the Salvage be a Non-Elimination Leg 1st place prize instead. No First Class Passes.

The fact that a team that has already been eliminated and is last on a Non-Elimination Leg gets an advantage next Leg is not good at all.

Anyway, it was another solid episode and much better and more enjoyable than the more hectic earlier ones. Good Leg design, solid tasks. More of this please. At least, everything except the Non-Elimination nonsense that is.

My Subjective Team Rankings

Ashleigh & Amanda were back to their “normal” selves this Leg. They were Racing like they had been before last Leg. It was nice to see them back doing well. I wasn’t a fan of Jaskirat & Anurag saying they wanted to be too helpful to other teams early on in the Race. But they did a nice thing with Dwes this Leg. Also seeing them in last (!) allows us to see how well they can really Race. They made a simple mistake at the Detour. But we’ll get to see how they overcome this and if they have what it takes to go all the way next Leg.

Holly & Dolor have really become the comic relief team of the Race. I kind of want to see them get in more heated confrontations with other teams. I want more drama from them. Lol At least their Racing has improved so that might ensure they are here for a long time. I liked Chris & Aleisha this Leg. They had a good one and I would’ve liked to have seen them with the win instead.

Brendon & Jackson have really regressed. They had been one of the top contenders. But are now looking like they are just hanging on. Not a good stretch of Legs for them. Skye-Blue & Jake were fun this episode. Not necessarily a good Leg for them Race-wise. But we got to see nice character moments from them.

Dwes & Katherine definitely owned this episode. Of course, I’m not a fan of the quitting. But the drama was fun. And them being able to move ahead at the barramundi was nice. Now, I’m not really a fan of them getting the Salvage either. They were already eliminated and are last on a Non-Elimination Leg. I honestly don’t think they deserve to get any kind of advantage at this point in the Race. Nothing against them though. It’s just the crazy rules of this season.

Jordan & Violeta only ever pop up if they get lost which is weird. They’re definitely getting overshadowed by the other teams. MJ & Chelsea, meanwhile. It’s hard to form an opinion on them. They’re great Racers and it would’ve been nice to see them from the start. But jumping into the Race at Leg 7 definitely clouds my opinion of them. And then they go and do that with the Salvage and Sabotage. Not a fan.

Episode Quotes

Skye-Blue: “Holy chicken puff pies!”

Brendon: “I’m not water, I’m land.”

Katherine: “I thought I was gonna die.”