Recap: The Amazing Race 33, Episode 8 – Souvlaki
All teams board their charter flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. Teams will stagger start from Perea Beach. Kim & Penn and Raquel & Cayla depart at 9am. Ryan & Dusty and Lulu & Lala depart at 9:15am. Arun & Natalia depart at 9:30am.
Teams will drive themselves in manual cars to Constantinos Olive Grove and search amongst the olive trees for their next clue. That clue tells teams to drive to Marianna’s Vineyard in Nea Gonia.
At the vineyard, teams find the Road Block: Who likes to wrap? For this Road Block, teams must use rice, vegetables, spices and grape leaves to prepare 60 dolmades. Kim and Raquel start the Road Block. Dusty and Lala are close behind. Arun is in last.
In the middle of making her dolmades, Kim double checks the demonstration and realizes she was doing some of hers wrong as the veins of the leaves must be on the inside. Raquel, unfortunately, does not realize her mistake and gets half of hers rejected.
Kim asks for a check and Marianna gives her the thumbs down because they are not arranged in the same way on the platter. Once she corrects her mistake, Kim gets the next clue. Dusty noticed the veins from the beginning and he finishes next.
Raquel again gets the thumbs down, but Lala gets approved as does Arun. Raquel & Cayla are now in last place.
After the Road Block, teams can drive to Heraklea Beach and search for Mamo’s Kantina Stand. There, teams must first correctly spell “souvlaki” before getting one to eat. Their next clue is on the inside of the wrapper.
Kim & Penn maintain their lead as they arrive at Mamo’s and correctly spell souvlaki. They order a pork souvlaki and quickly eat it all. But they immediately throw the wrapper away. Penn realizes their mistake and picks the wrapper from the trash telling them to find Saint George Church in Nea Moudania.
Ryan & Dusty arrive next and also order a pork souvlaki.
Kim & Penn arrive at the church and open the next clue revealing another Road Block: Who wants to be iconic? For this Road Block, teams will experience a Greek Orthodox service. They will first listen to a priest who will talk about iconic saints integral in the church. After the 15-minute lecture, teams will then need to identify five saints in the correct order via a quiz to receive the next clue.
Meanwhile, Raquel & Cayla arrive at Mamo’s in 3rd and are unsure if St. George Church is really their next clue. They decide to just go to it as a previously lost Arun & Natalia arrive and ask around for how to spell souvlaki.
Penn goes for his first attempt and gets it correct after a last second substitution. They can now make their way to the Pit Stop at Nea Kallikrateia on the Aegean Sea.
Lulu & Lala, meanwhile also lost, somehow find Phil at the Mat already. They quickly get back in their car to find the souvlaki, but they grow a bit frustrated.
Over at the Road Block, Ryan starts the task. Dusty is sure Ryan’s brains will come through. Because the clue mentions five saints, Ryan leaves the lecture after the first five saints. And when he gets to the quiz, he gets three incorrect.
Ryan has to go back to the lecture and Cayla joins him. Both are about to leave after the first five saints again, but they realize there’s more. Natalia arrives and joins the lecture two minutes in.
At the souvlaki, Lulu & Lala eat their first one, but have no idea what to do next. They’ve already thrown their wrapper and decide to eat another one, but have trouble keeping it down. They throw the second wrapper away before realizing the clue is printed on it.
Meanwhile, Kim & Penn arrive at the Pit Stop and officially check-in as Team #1. They win $7500 each.
Ryan & Dusty and Raquel & Cayla finish the Road Block next. But it is Raquel & Cayla who arrive at the Mat as Team #2. Ryan & Dusty have to settle for 3rd.
Natalia gets three incorrect saints on her first attempt, but gets the thumbs up on her second attempt. She and Arun hurry to the Pit Stop, but appear to be lost.
Lulu & Lala arrive at the church and Lulu gets started with the lecture. She gets the quiz right on her first attempt.
It looks to be a self-drive Race to the Mat. But it is Arun & Natalia who check-in as Team #4. Lulu & Lala are last and unfortunately eliminated. They decide to jump in the water to celebrate their gratitude for the experience of being on the Race.
Episode Thoughts
So, the show is definitely using self-driving to make up for the lack of potentially more interesting tasks during the Legs. But one positive about that is all the different Route Markers this Leg. Teams actually had to go to more than two locations which is great.
I feel like they could’ve had a task at the olive farm though. Something physical, maybe. And it would’ve been perfect since there would be no locals around to interact with. Instead, it was merely a Route Marker to drive to and from.
The first Road Block was okay as it was a traditional attention to detail-type task and obviously that can trip up some teams. As we saw.
The souvlaki was a fine extra task in the middle of the Leg. And I like the secret wrapper clue. That’s also a TAR staple task as well.
The second Road Block was a typical memorization task. I definitely know I would struggle with it. But I am surprised Dusty and Cayla would just leave thinking the sermon was over. I don’t know that would be an expected challenge for this task lol
Overall, this was one of the better Legs of the season. Lots of Route Markers and, other than Kim & Penn maintaining their lead all day, a very competitive Leg.
My Subjective Team Rankings
Definitely sad my two favorite teams of the season were behind all day. And of course even more sad that one of them got eliminated.
I really liked and enjoyed Lulu & Lala. Probably one of my favorite teams of the last few seasons. They were great characters and could Race very well sometimes. But it just wasn’t their day today. It’s always great to have a fun twin team on TAR you can root for.
As much as I also like Arun & Natalia, they haven’t stepped it up enough to be able to match the top 3 teams. So I hope they can peak at the right time. But I sadly think they’re the next to go. But not before another Non-Elimination or KOR Leg though, I assume. Hehe.
Kim & Penn are really the stars of the season though. Probably one of the most dynamic teams who have that perfect mix of personality and Racing skills. They’ve done so well and I can definitely see them winning it all.
Ryan & Dusty and Raquel & Cayla, again, are fine teams too. I have no problem with either of them. I might not be excited about them enough to actively root for them. But I certainly wouldn’t mind them winning, And both teams certainly have very good chances of doing so.
Episode Quotes
Penn: “Babe, I’m just down here lovin’ you.”
Greek Orthodox Priest: “Don’t talk to the priest.”
Greek Orthodox Priest: “Why in such a hurry?”