Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 5, Episode 21 – “We quit the Amazing Race!”


The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

The 21st(!) Leg begins as teams must fly to Dubbo, New South Wales via Sydney. Upon arrival, they must drive to the Old Dubbo Gaol where a guard will throw them into a dark cell. Teams must escape that cell and scale the wall without being caught by patrolling guards.

Ashleigh & Amanda escape first, followed by Chris & Aleisha, the Cowboys and the Super Sikhs in last. The next clue reveals the Road Block: Who’s got the X-Tractor?

The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

For this Road Block, teams must drive to Kickabil. One team member must drive a tractor one metre parallel with a harvester which will be harvesting wheat. Teams will then deposit the grain in a silo.

Jackson gets started with the Road Block first while Amanda waits for him to finish. The Sikhs arrive and they discuss how whatever it takes, they must ensure it is the three of them to the end. They cannot stand Chris & Aleisha. Jaskirat & Anurag say they have been shady from the very beginning. Ashleigh & Amanda say the turning point was Chris & Aleisha’s actions at the oyster Intersection. They want to compete with people “who play fair” and not hinder other teams.

The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

After the Road Block, teams must drive to the Prince of Wales Opera House in Gulgong, the oldest in the country. Teams will listen to a tune and learn the words to one of the songs of Dame Nellie Melba before performing it.

Before the Cowboys leave, Ashleigh and the Sikhs go to ask them what the next clue is. Aleisha, knowing she’d get rebuffed anyway, goes to see if they’d throw her a bone. But of course they don’t.

The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

Chris & Aleisha are now last leaving the Road Block, but are hopeful they can catch up at the next task.

After the singing, teams will face the Detour: Crack or Corral. In Crack, teams must eat a total of eight eggs, two each of four different types and sizes, RAW. In Corral, teams must herd ten emus using props.

Ashleigh & Amanda get themselves lost so the Cowboys arrive at the emu farm first. They plan on U-Turning Chris & Aleisha since as vegans, they can’t eat eggs. Brendon & Jackson choose the corral and easily finish first.

The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

They check-in at the U-Turn and of course U-Turn the team that isn’t in their clique. They then make their way to the Pit Stop on a paddock and claim a Telstra video call and $5000 Telstra package each.

Jaskirat & Anurag choose the eggs. Jaskirat struggles with the emu egg so Anurag swallows it for him. They check-in as Team #2.

Ashleigh & Amanda finally arrive at the Detour and choose the herding. Chris & Aleisha arrive in last, but are able to finish the herding before them. They quickly head over to the egg side of the Detour and struggle with the decision of whether or not they should even attempt it.

Thinking that it could be Non-Elimination, Chris decides to down the eggs himself. His first time eating eggs in six years.

Ashleigh & Amanda finally corral ten emus and hurry to the Mat to check-in as Team #3.

The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap The Amazing Race Australia 5 Episode 21 Recap

It takes Chris a while to keep the eggs down, especially the huge emu eggs. But he does it. He and Aleisha can now make their way to the Mat where they check-in as Team #4. But of course this is a Non-Elimination Leg. (There’s still 32 Legs left, after all.)

Episode Thoughts

The gaol break was kind of silly. There’s cameramen and sound techs following the teams as they sneak around. It’s all about the guards doing their best acting. There’s really no point to this task other than to fill the Leg with, to be honest. As fun as a jailbreak task could be, there’s really no competition aspect to this one as designed.

The Road Block as a task was fine. But not the fact that teams had to wait in line. It only just made it more obvious that this was a Non-Elimination Leg.

The singing task was also a fine extra task for the Leg. But again, another processional task. And knowing there’s a U-Turn ahead, there’s really no opportunity for a team to get ahead. Unless you’re Ashleigh & Amanda who decide to get themselves lost out of nowhere.

The Detour though was a good spot for a U-Turn. Eating raw emu eggs or herding emus? That’s alright. I heard a team though saying they were allergic to eggs. Lucky for them, they had a choice whether to do it or another task. But it’s okay to force teams to eat anything right, even if they can’t? Hello?

Anyway, it was a pretty boring Leg. Knowing it is a Non-Elimination from the start certainly removed any kind of tension or excitement. And the teams’ annoying behavior just made it a chore of an episode to watch.

The only fun thing about this episode was finding out that “gaol” is actually an alternate spelling of “jail.” Strange!

My Subjective Team Rankings

The Amazing Race Australia 5 GAP The Amazing Race Australia 5 The Amazing Race Australia 5 The Amazing Race Australia 5

Was it kind of shady for Chris to force himself to eat the eggs when he and Aleisha balked at eating oysters? Yes! Was it also hilarious that they did eat the eggs when they balked at eating oysters? Also yes!

Like I said after the Intersection, as someone who enjoys eating as much meat and animal products as I can, I can’t relate to Chris & Aleisha being vegan. So whatever their choices are when it comes to eating whatever they eat, I have no idea. I hate quitting and I didn’t like them doing it. But it eez what it eez.

Alright, so let’s talk about that infamous Intersection. Ashleigh & Amanda brought up how they did not like Chris & Aleisha hindering other teams. What? Chris & Aleisha gave the Cowboys the option to quit as soon as possible so they could continue on the Race. They were upfront about not being able to eat oysters, so the Cowboys knew exactly what they were getting into at that Intersection. And must we remind them, Brendon barely ate one oyster himself before wanting to quit. So all this “we want to play fair” is absurd. Especially coming from a team that has intentionally hindered other teams numerous times this season.

I’ll even argue that while First Class Passes and all that is part of the arbitrary rules of this mishmash of a season (remember the thankfully abandoned T-Junction idea?), I have more respect for teams that actually Raced every single Leg rather than teams who skipped Legs thanks to luck. I don’t care if it’s “in the rules.”

Then there’s sharing answers and actually performing tasks for other teams that may be within the “rules” of the game, it doesn’t make it fair. It actually shits on the actual competition.

But whatever. It’s just really gross to see sanctimonious people.

The thing is we as viewers can only judge what they show in the episodes. Forget all the rumors and whispers that have popped up online or the shade from teams on their Instagram Stories or whatever which vary from stuff that is merely cringeworthy to stuff that is absolutely disgusting.

Just judging from what they’ve shown in the episodes, for as much as they seem to want to make Chris & Aleisha into evil villains or something, there has been NOTHING to warrant the derision from the ruling alliance towards them. (The show has very obviously played fast and loose with editing. More than the usual TAR series does.)

If anything, the alliance’s hateful side comments that have actually made the show are much more negative to watch and come across as petty and childish from teams who are supposedly the noble and self-proclaimed most deserving to make it to the end.

Episode Quotes

Amanda: “It was my first time in prison.”

Amanda: “We quit the Amazing Race”

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