Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 5, Episode 14 – “It was a dysfunctional, but functional family.”

Teams have flown to Sunshine Coast and the Glass House Mountains where they will encounter an Intersection as soon as they arrive. For this Intersection, half the teams will be stranded on the mountains and get themselves to the highest point. They will then contact their teammates who must figure out their locations on a topographic map and join the Land Rover Life Flight Special Mission crew to rescue them.

Chris & Aleisha debate whether to team-up with Holly & Dolor or wait for MJ & Chelsea. They end up choosing the next team behind them, the Power Couple.

The Intersection teams and splits are: stranded Ashleigh & Brendon and rescuers Amanda & Jackson, stranded Jaskirat & Jake and rescuers Anurag & Skye-Blue, stranded Chris & Dolor and rescuers Aleisha & Holly and stranded Stan & Chelsea with rescuers Wayne & MJ.

Having spotted a lookout on their way to the mountain, Chris and Dolor think it would be too easy if that’s where they’re supposed to go. But that is actually the correct location and they end up going the complete opposite way. Stan and Chelsea, meanwhile, take the most difficult path up to the lookout.

Because Ashleigh & Amanda spend a lot of time on the Glass House Mountains for fun, they and the Cowboys easily get the correct location. The Super Sikh Siblings teams are next to get rescued.

Stan and Chelsea arrive at the lookout, but Wayne and MJ seem unsure how to answer the phone. Chris and Dolor manage to catch up and Aleisha and Holly actually do know how to answer the phone. The couples move into 3rd.

Meanwhile, the first quartet open the next clue revealing a Road Block: Who’s a ginger ninja? For this Road Block, teams must head to Templeton Ginger Farm which supplies Bundaberg Brewed Drinks with ginger. Teams will have to clean and sort all the ginger in a five square meter section of field while their partners enjoy some beer.

Amanda, Brendon, Jaskirat, Skye-Blue, Chris and Dolor decide to do the Road Block. Super Sikhs arrive at the farm first followed by the Cowboys and the siblings because the formerly first place Gold Coast Girls get lost.

Jaskirat finishes the Road Block first, followed by the Cowboys. Amanda is done with her Road Block, but she decides to stay and help Skye-Blue for five minutes, solidifying The Original Foursome alliance of Gold Coast Girls, Super Sikhs, Cowboys and Siblings.

After the Road Block, teams will face the Detour: Cuckoo or Candy. In Cuckoo, teams must head to the biggest cuckoo clock shop in the country and find a clock with a small German flag. In Candy, teams must make lollipops.

The Super Sikhs and the Cowboys both choose cuckoo. But Brendon & Jackson arrive first and finish first. Telstra helps deliver a message from loved ones at home in their cars along with their next clue: Make their way to the Pit Stop at the Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World.

As a storm arrives, Brendon & Jackson step on the Mat as Team #1 and Beau tells them they have won a First Class Pass and of course the other two nonsense passes… I mean, Salvage and Sabotage Passes as well.

Ashleigh & Amanda arrive at the cuckoo shop with Jaskirat & Anurag right behind them. They decide to work together to find the flag. The Gold Coast Girls see the flag first and Jaskirat & Anurag just follow them out the door after checking with the shop owner.

Chris & Aleisha catch up to Skye-Blue & Jake at the shop. The Siblings manage to find the colored flag first and are happy to leave before the “fake” team.

Holly & Dolor arrive as Chris & Aleisha are struggling. Dolor suggests they work together. Chris & Aleisha are unsure, but Dolor says working together will make it faster. He assures them that he will tell them the answer if he finds it. Aleisha doesn’t think it’s smart to team up and she and Chris decide to switch to the lollipops where MJ & Chelsea are already working.

As soon as Chris & Aleisha leave, Holly & Dolor find the flag and are able to leave.

Jaskirat & Anurag check-in as Team #2 with Ashleigh & Amanda taking 3rd. Skye-Blue & Jake take 4th with Holly & Dolor finishing 5th.

Chris & Aleisha finish their lollipops with MJ & Chelsea right behind them. Both think they are the last two teams as they head to the Pit Stop. Chris & Aleisha make a wrong turn and that allows MJ & Chelsea to check in as Team #6.

Chris & Aleisha step on the Mat as Team #7.

Stan & Wayne are so behind that both Detour locations are closed. They make their way to the Pit Stop.

Brendon & Jackson decide to Salvage Stan & Wayne and Sabotage Chris & Aleisha.

Episode Thoughts

The Intersection might be one of the best tasks of the season. I think they could’ve made it a little more challenging instead of having teams go straight to the lookout. Perhaps give the stranded teams a set of random coordinates and then they would have to describe their locations to their teammates. Chris and Dolor had a better idea than the way the task was designed. Lol But it was a good task on its own and even better as an Intersection. Having one-on-one Intersections (not TAR30-style partner swaps) can be fun, depending on the task. And I think they did a good job here.

The Road Block was fine. A good, physical task for our Race sponsor.

But the Detour was just like last Leg’s. Very simple and not interesting. Seemed very unbalanced as well. The cuckoo clocks are Active Route Info at best.

Jaskirat & Anurag and Ashleigh & Amanda even treated the Detour like an Intersection. It’s certainly one of the few tasks where working with another team would help (and be acceptable). But I don’t think the Super Sikhs even gave the lady the answer. They just followed the girls out the door. At least Dolor suggested he would tell Chris & Aleisha. Though we will never know if they would’ve done the same thing as the other two anyway.

And why do the stores have to close? Does TARAu not pay them enough to stay open?

I feel like many Legs on this season have good parts. But then they get dragged down by really bad parts. Like it could be a great Leg and then the Salvage and Sabotage pops up at the end. Or a good Leg is ruined by one poor task or poor Leg design in one specific section of the Leg.

Anyway, the Intersection and Road Block were good. The Detour was meh. Overall, an above average episode compared to the rest of the season.

My Subjective Team Rankings

GAP GAP

I want Holly & Dolor to win! Is that crazy? lol But they’re definitely Racing well lately. They’re also showing that they are smarter than they originally let on. Which is great. Solid Racing and still the biggest personalities on the Race? Perfect combo.

I definitely want to root for Chris & Aleisha as well. They’ve become the underdogs and that endears them to me. Especially against a *shudder* alliance. But I don’t know about that decision to snub Holly & Dolor at the cuckoos. That was a situation where you should accept help. They were there for 20 minutes. If they had stuck around, they wouldn’t have gotten another Sabotage Pass. Hopefully they can overcome it though.

My goodness. It would take an alliance triggering TAR32 flashbacks that make me want to root for the Stowaways! Lol I definitely will put both Stan & Wayne and MJ & Chelsea above the Original Foursome. (Boring alliance name lol)

I mean, at least have a comical name like tRuE aLLiAnCe that we can all make fun of.

Probably the most laughable thing about the Original Foursome is that they try to justify their alliance as wanting to box out the Stowaways. Yet Brendon & Jackson decide to Sabotage an original team.

The four teams made no secret about their distaste for Chris & Aleisha and Holly & Dolor. They might as well be honest and say they dislike Chris & Aleisha and Holly & Dolor (currently the most interesting teams on the Race) so much that they want them eliminated over the two teams that popped up in the middle of the Race. The animosity Ashleigh & Amanda and Skye-Blue & Jake have for Chris & Aleisha especially feels unwarranted based on what the episodes have shown. At least early on, we saw how annoying Dolor could be. (Fun for us viewers though.) But Chris & Aleisha have minded their own business, to be honest.

What a joke. I definitely hope the other four teams form an opposition alliance and weed Original Foursome out. And I think I’m even rooting for another Stowaway team so they somehow gain the upper hand over the originals.

The stuff in this episode like stopping your own Race to help someone else for FIVE minutes? That’s so TAR32 that if it continues, they will absolutely ruin what has been a crazy, but mostly fun season.

Episode Quotes

Amanda: “It was a dysfunctional, but functional family.”