Recap: The Amazing Race 2, Episode 7 – “I’m really starting to feel very masculine.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 2, Episode 7 – I’m Gonna Throw Up On Phil’s Shoes
Original Airdate: April 17, 2002

Beginning Leg 7, Mary & Peach depart at 8:55pm and open the next clue telling teams to drive to the Seven Spires of Chiang Mai armed with $180 and a map. Gary & Dave depart at 8:56pm, Blake & Paige at 9pm, Oswald & Danny at 9:08pm, Tara & Will at 9:22pm and Chris & Alex at 9:23pm.

Gary & Dave arrive at the temple and open the clue telling teams to make their way to the top floor of the tallest building… in Hong Kong: Central Plaza. Teams must drive back to Chiang Mai and fly to Hong Kong via Bangkok.

With all the counters at the airport closed for the night, Gary & Dave and Mary & Peach decide to call for tickets. Oswald & Danny find internet and go online while Blake & Paige, Tara & Will and Chris & Alex arrive last.

While Gary & Dave and Mary & Peach book a 10:30am flight, the others manage to book tickets on an 8:40am flight to Hong Kong. Gary manages to find this info out from Blake and he quickly scolds Dave for booking the later flight. They correct the situation and secure seats on the same 8:40am flight, as do Oswald & Danny.

Tara is annoyed by Wil and says she gets along better with Chris & Alex. The Boston bros have no problem stringing them along and leaving them in the dust when they have to.

Next morning, teams arrive in Bangkok at 8:10am and just make the 8:40am flight. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, teams scramble for the first train to Central Plaza. Gary & Dave make the first train, Blake & Page, Chris & Alex and Tara & Wil make the second train. Oswald & Danny get on the third train and Mary & Peach fall behind not knowing how to buy tickets and end up losing their maps too.

Gary & Dave have a nice local pointing them to the right building and they maintain their lead as they open the next clue. Teams must now use provided binoculars to search the city for the green and white Star Ferry terminal which will take them across the harbor to their next clue.

Gary & Dave cannot find the “star,” so they decide to go for the Fast Forward. To win this Fast Forward, teams must make their way to Wong Tai Sin Temple where they must find Amelia Chow who will give one team member a face reading and the other a palm reading.

While the other teams also arrive at Central Plaza, Mary & Peach go to Center Building instead and have to make up time. They consider going for the Fast Forward as well.

Chris & Alex, Blake & Paige, Tara & Will and Oswald & Danny finally find the green and white star ferry and make their way over. The next clue reveals the Detour: Wishing Tree or Herbal Tea. In Wishing Tree, teams must take a taxi 18 miles to find the wishing tree at Lam Tsuen. Once there, teams must write a wish on a scroll and throw it into the tree’s branches to receive the next clue. In Herbal Tea, teams must walk to a nearby herbalist shop on Reclamation Street and ask for a bitter herbal tea that both teams members must drink to receive the next clue.

Chris & Alex, Blake & Paige and Tara & Will choose the nearby walking Detour. Oswald & Danny go for the tree.

Meanwhile, Gary & Dave find Amelia Chow. She reads their face and palms before giving them the clue telling them to find the Pit Stop on a junk in the middle of Hong Kong Harbor.

Mary & Peach find Amelia Chow, but she gives them the bad news that they’re ten minutes late. They now ask around for the solution to the cryptic green and white star clue. Peach is annoyed that Mary is asking for directions, but Mary manages to figure out that the clue refers to the ferry. She is hopeful that they are on the right track, but Peach is much less so.

On the other end of the spectrum, Gary & Dave find Phil and step on the Mat as Team #1.

Mary & Peach find the Detour clue and decide on the nearby tea. Tara & Wil are already there. They drink the tea and get the next clue directing teams to the busiest container port in the world, HIT Terminals. Chris & Alex are close behind with Blake & Paige next. Meanwhile, Oswald & Danny choose the wishing tree and have no problem completing the task. But Oswald is hungry and wants to stop for food and use the bathroom before continuing on. Danny thinks that would get them eliminated.

Teams arrive at the shipping terminal and are given hard hats before searching through the maze of shipping containers for the next clue. That clue reveals the Road Block. For this Road Block, teams must hop in and use a crane to move a shipping container from a truck to the ground. Once they return the crane into position, their partner can grab the clue.

Chris and Tara decide to do the Road Block. Wil is proud of Tara. Once completed, teams can head to the Pit Stop on the Chinese junk on Hong Kong Harbor.

Danny does the Road Block next followed by Blake who has a bit of trouble being careful with the crane.

Mary & Peach find the tea shop. Mary has no problem drinking it. But an exhausted Peach refuses and vomits after drinking. Mary tries to get her to relax and breathe, but Peach has had enough of this and doesn’t want to do this anymore.

Chris & Alex, Tara & Wil, Oswald & Danny and Blake & Paige all reach the Pit Stop as Teams 2 through 5.

Mary & Peach decide to go to a restaurant and have dinner before heading to the shipping terminal. The clue there tells them to instead go directly to the Pit Stop where they are officially eliminated by Phil.

Episode Thoughts

Wow! This was actually a pretty good Hong Kong Leg. It really highlighted both the cultural side of Hong Kong and its business/industrial position in the world as well.

And it seems like there was a lot of navigating through Hong Kong’s bustling streets too. So that is also good. I believe there was even another Route Marker that was cut. So this was really a very full Leg, much different from what we see today of course.

The first Hong Kong Route Marker at the top of the building is definitely a TAR staple. Getting teams up a huge high rise also speaks to Hong Kong being a big metropolis and business center. And having to guess the riddle was great.

The two Detours and the Fast Forward were all great cultural tasks. The Fast Forward being a bit out of the way, though still simple was very much in line with what Fast Forwards were like at first. The two Detours being far & easy vs near & hard are also typical of early TAR. But it looked like both sides of the Detour ended up being pretty balanced.

The Road Block was great as it highlighted Hong Kong’s position in the shipping industry. Especially for the many goods to and from Asia.

Because of the solid tasks and Leg design, the teams were able to Race neck and neck most of the Leg. That was exciting and fun to see.

It’s too bad about Peach giving up. But I can understand the exhaustion. Back then, the Race was loooong and much more challenging than the Race today. So it’s understandable, but still sad to see teams just giving up like that.

Overall, a pretty good Hong Kong Leg. The first ever one on TAR of course. And it honestly feels a bit different and refreshing from the usual Leg this season so far. It’s like a good balance of modern TAR and the TAR of that time.

My Subjective Team Rankings

All of the teams were okay this Leg. I don’t necessarily have a team I’m actively rooting for, nor do I have a team to root against either. Though the teams were pretty reserved this Leg, personality-wise, they Raced hard and were competitive all day.

Very interesting to see Chris & Alex, Tara & Wil and Blake & Paige sticking together most of the day. The teams were pretty balanced most of the Leg, but seeing them actively working together (though loosely) was an interesting bit of foreshadowing, I think.

Gary & Dave, meanwhile, separated themselves from the pack by winning the Fast Forward. And Oswald & Danny fell behind as they have been one to do often this season, I’ve noticed.

But it’s all about Mary & Peach. I like Mary a lot as she was really competitive and had no problems going for it. Peach, you can tell she was struggling and not necessarily enjoying much of the Race. And with the way the Race was structured back then, I don’t blame her for being exhausted. But still, essentially quitting is still not okay in my book, unfortunately. Their stopping to eat dinner reminds me of RR & Jeck on TARPH2 (the real one lol). I wasn’t a fan of their lackadaisical attitude even though other times, I enjoyed their bickering and funny quips. And I feel the same about Mary & Peach here.

Episode Quotes

Peach: “I see it on the map, but that doesn’t mean I know how to get there.”

Blake: “Everyone’s a little hot and no one smells very good.”

Gary: “Using the Fast Forward is like losing your virginity. You can only use it once and you can never go back to it. And that’s why we’re a little scared, but also feeling giddy.”

Wil: “Sometimes girls are better than guys. I can’t believe it.”

Danny: “I’m really starting to feel very masculine.”