Recap: The Amazing Race 4, Episode 12 – “He’s A Couple of Ticks Away From Having a Heart Attack”


The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12 The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12

The Final Three begin the Penultimate Leg with only US$1 and by driving themselves to the Australian Woolshed in Ferny Hills. With an HOURS OF OPERATION, teams all arrive with hours to spare.

After a nap, the teams hurry inside the woolshed when it opens to search through giant piles of wool for their next clue.

Kelly & Jon are first to find the clue directing teams to fly to Cairns from Brisbane Airport. Reichen & Chip are next to find the clue, while David & Jeff fall to last when they have to dig back through the wool they’ve already searched.

At the airport, Kelly & Jon check with Qantas whose ticket agent says there is no earlier flight than their 7:45am. Reichen & Chip and David & Jeff also get on the same flight.

The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12 The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12

Upon arrival in Cairns, teams will choose a car and drive themselves to Wild World Zoo. Here, teams must choose a Kodak EasyShare digital camera and follow a marked path to the crocodile pen. One team member will choose a feeding stick and feed a fish to Sultan while the other team member will take a picture of them. Then, teams will print their photo out at the souvenir shop using a Kodak printer to receive their next clue.

Kelly & Jon grab number one, but they do not grab the camera before walking down the path. That means they have to go to the back of the line behind David & Jeff and Reichen & Chip. But Chip & Reichen don’t know how to use the printer and drop back to last.

The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12 The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12

Teams must now drive to Wangetti Beach where they will face the Detour: Saddle or Paddle. In Saddle, teams must hop on a horse and find one of four flags on the beach. They must then search on foot within a 25-mile radius for a cluster of clues. Only one cluster has the actual clue. In Paddle, teams must inflate their own kayak and paddle to an orange buoy to retrieve their next clue.

David & Jeff choose Saddle. With Kelly & Jon passing the flagged parking lot, Reichen & Chip move back into 2nd and also choose the horses. Kelly & Jon arrive just as Reichen & Chip are heading back after failing at two clusters on the opposite site of the beach.

That bunches all the teams up again as they can now drive to the town of Julatten and find Off Road Rush.

Before leaving, Chip accidentally runs over Reichen’s foot, annoying him for the rest of the Leg.

The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12 The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12

At Off Road Rush, teams will encounter the Road Block. Teams will be accompanied by a racing instructor as they drive an off-road buggy through a marked course.

David decides to do the Road Block. He finishes before Chip even hops in a buggy. And when he does, he crashes into a ditch and has to wait for a new buggy to finish the course.

David & Jeff and Reichen & Chip are well on their way to the Pit Stop at Ellis Beach where they check in as Teams #1 and #2, respectively.

Kelly & Jon arrive at the buggies. Kelly wants to do it since it’s her turn, but Jon is much too excited so she lets him do it. Jon has a slow start. But he gets revved up and his speed causes him to flip over after a turn.

The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12 The Amazing Race 4 Episode 12

Kelly screams in horror as everyone runs toward the buggy. But Jon’s alright. He laughs as they pull him out and he continues to finish the course.

They head to the Pit Stop where they are last, but of course this is a Non-Elimination Leg.

Episode Highlights

Episode Thoughts

As far as Penultimate Legs go, this has to be one of the most bland and boring Legs. Obviously, that has to do with it being a Non-Elimination Leg.

It’s so interesting to see a Non-Elimination Penultimate Leg for the first time in a long time. Phil mentions in the recap how this Leg is all about positioning for the Final Leg. But of course in contemporary TAR, that’s absolutely not applicable. And I think it’s for the better. Considering what happens on the Final Leg on this season, it’s actually for the best.

Anyway, the Leg begins with a needle in a haystack task. Which is alright at the start.

After two minutes on airport drama, the real Race begins in Cairns. The Kodak-sponsored task was alright. Again, at essentially the start of the Leg, having a processional task like that is okay.

The Detour was a little uninteresting. And the Road Block was so easy since teams weren’t even timed.

All the drama or excitement came from teams getting lost to their locations or having some kind of vehicular-related accident.

The competition was exciting, relatively speaking. As teams were neck and neck all Leg. But it would’ve actually been more impactful had this been a Final Four Leg with an elimination at the end.

Overall, an okay Leg. But really diluted thanks to it being a Non-Elimination Penultimate Leg.

My Subjective Team Rankings

The Amazing Race 4 The Amazing Race 4 The Amazing Race 4

On such a bland Leg, nothing much from the teams. We saw the dynamic for each team quite well here though. Kelly & Jon’s frequent, but lighthearted bickering. There’s Reichen & Chip’s sort of uptight, uber-competitive personalities. And then David & Jeff being the steady almost-Racebots just doing well.

Episode Thoughts

Kelly: “What happens on the Race, stays on the Race.”

Kelly: “Good morning Chipper! Are we feeling chipper?”

Jon: “He’s a few ticks away from having a heart attack.”

Reichen: “Kelly’s mouth is definitely the biggest of all the crocodile mouths in Australia.”

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