Recap: The Amazing Race 35, Episode 7 – “Let’s pray to baby Jesus that we can drive.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 35, Episode 7 – “Like Two Cats Fighting in a Car”

The 7th Leg of the Race begins with teams learning they will fly to Frankfurt, Germany. Teams head to a local travel agency to pick up tickets for the flight which they will all be on.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt, teams will hop into CUPRA Leons and drive themselves to a car ferry that will take them to Burg Rheinstein. While on the ferry, teams must exchange five euros for a bag of historical coins which they will need for the Road Block.

In this first self-driving Leg, some teams have trouble finding the ferry terminal. Todd & Ashlie, Joel & Garrett, Morgan & Lena and Steve & Anna Leigh make the first ferry. Robbin & Chelsea end up driving onto the wrong ferry and have go back. Greg & John and Rob & Corey make the second correct ferry while Robbin & Chelsea take a third ferry.

At the castle, teams find the Road Block which requires the teams to pay a robber baron a witten from the coins they received on the boat. Once teams figure out how much a witten is, using a provided formula, and pay the toll, they can rappel back to their partners.

Todd, Lena, Joel and Anna Leigh run up to the castle and they try to figure out the moneys. Morgan is the first to go for an attempt, paying 15 witten. And she is let through into the castle.

Todd, Joel and Anna Leigh decide to work together. When Anna Leigh gets the thumbs up, she tells the other two and they all proceed to the rappel. They leave the castle just as Corey and John arrive and quickly get through the task. Chelsea decides not to use the calculations and instead just add one coin with every attempt until the robber baron lets her through. Robbin & Chelsea decide to follow Greg & John.

After the Road Block, teams must drive to the Gurzenich Koln in Cologne. Meanwhile, Andrea & Malaina are in last, but they think they are in first when they drive onto the ferry. They ask the ferry conductor to exchange their five euros and he hands them euro coins.

Teams have more troubles with directions and all the teams get testy with each other as they try to find their way. That allows Greg & John and Robbin & Chelsea, who followed them, to arrive at the next cluebox first.

Here, teams will dress up and then one team member will ride a horse-cycle and the other will throw roses into the crowd. After they complete a lap around the festival ballroom, they will get the next clue.

That clue points teams to Hohenzollernbrucke where they will find another Road Block. For this one, teams must find a marked love lock on the bridge and then use the number of Cologne’s favorite cologne (No. 4711) to unlock it. Greg and Robbin have to do the Road Block. Both of them ask locals to Google the “oldest cologne produced in Cologne” and with the correct number, they begin searching the bridge.

Meanwhile at the festival, Todd & Ashlie arrive in 3rd, followed by Rob & Corey. Steve & Anna Leigh, still a bit annoyed with each other, arrive in 5th.

Greg finds the lock first and exchanges it for the next clue revealing the Detour. In Just for Kicks, teams must play soccer darts and score exactly 66 points within four shots. In Matter of Taste, teams must identify nine mustards using their German names. Greg & John decide on the mustards.

Ashlie arrives and begins the Road Block. Robbin finally finds a lock and runs to get her clue. Ashlie asks what the lock looks like, but Robbin just tells her to go further down the bridge. Rob arrives and quickly finds a lock. He sees Ashlie asking some locals for information so he goes over and she instinctively just helps him by writing down the 4711 code onto his clue.

Morgan & Lena and Joel & Garrett finally arrive at the festival. But Andrea & Malaina are still at the castle. Andrea, choosing to do the Road Block, gets to the calculation, but realizes she doesn’t have witten. They hurry back to the ferry and speak to the guy from earlier, but then they realize it was the completely wrong boat. They keep going and finally find the witten man.

Back in Cologne, Greg & John finish the Detour on their 2nd attempt and can now head to the Pit Stop at Das Schokoladenmuseum. Robbin & Chelsea get their mustards correct right behind them. Greg & John claim the Leg win and their $4000 prize, each. Robbin & Chelsea finish as Team #2.

Todd & Ashlie decide on the soccer darts. But then quickly decide to switch to the mustard. Steve & Anna Leigh catch up to them at the mustard. Rob & Corey arrive and give the soccer a try as well. They are able to get the needed score after a couple of attempts. Morgan & Lena get the correct mustards just as Steve & Anna Leigh leave.

Todd & Ashlie claim 3rd followed by Rob & Corey, Steve & Anna Leigh and Morgan & Lena as teams 4 through 6.

Joel & Garrett choose the mustards and finish the Leg as Team #7.

Andrea & Malaina arrive at the festival ballroom where Phil has to eliminate them on the spot.

Episode Thoughts

This was a good episode. Thank goodness we got more tasks! Surprising! Lol Also a Leg that didn’t last a few hours. It seemed more like a Leg that at least lasted most of the day.

I think when the 90-minute slot was announced, this is the kind of Leg many people expected. Myself included. At least they’re recognizing that they need more tasks as there are less teams. And more tasks and Route Markers definitely add more potential for mistakes and triumphs. More team shuffling. So those are all positive things.

First up, lol at the plane tickets. I thought we were going to have more ticket scrambling! Lol But it’s okay. The Race really is different now. So I think we’re past the airport drama of the past.

The self-driving definitely delivered. Teams really had trouble all Leg. And of course the most trouble for Andrea & Malaina. But nice cars though! I had to Google them to find out more hehe

Great to have more of these mini-tasks, just like the coin exchange. Of course, as we saw, it could have a major effect if you make a mistake on it. Pairing it with the relatively easy Road Block is good as well. That’s how you can build a Leg with even simple Road Blocks like this.

Next, the festival task is a perfect example of Leg filler. A simple, straightforward task. But as an extra Route Marker, it’s just extra opportunity for teams to mess up somewhere, especially driving to it.

The next Road Block (wow! TWO Road Blocks!) was another simple task and in a good spot here. I think the difference between how teams attacked the task (getting the code first before looking for the lock or vice versa) was the key in how teams did on this task. But even then, it was a straightforward task definitely far from a bridge lock task like TAR4 or something like that.

Finally, the Detour was again a bit more simple and straightforward than other tasks might be. The soccer darts was a creative task and suited to the location. And the mustard too is a familiar, staple TAR task of identifying foods. Simple choice, but again on a full, longer Leg like this, it provides more opportunity for teams to fall behind or get ahead.

And that’s what I think most people have been looking for. Just have full Legs and let the teams loose. If they are good and competitive, they’ll deliver some exciting Racing. And I definitely think that’s what this Leg was. The first time this season that all the pieces came together to really bring about a complete Leg and episode. Let’s hope the rest of the season can now follow the good momentum of this Leg and episode.

Team Thoughts

The teams were good this Leg. I definitely enjoyed seeing almost all of them fighting just because they got lost. Lol Wonderful to see some actual drama on TAR after so long.

First up, sad way for Andrea & Malaina to go. They were a great underdog team who had been showing some nice Racing. But one huge mistake really doomed them. And that’s too bad. But making it to the 7th Leg is definitely a great accomplishment.

Greg & John are definitely emerging as a top contender. A string of really good performances and they are stepping it up with each Leg.

I’ve seen some comments about Robbin & Chelsea and how they are apparently nasty and horrible. I haven’t seen it, to be honest. And I quite like that they are Racing for themselves and not really giving out free info to other teams when they don’t need to. I will say, I was not a fan of how Chelsea did the Road Block with trial and error. That’s definitely on the Race for allowing that loophole. But I mean, come on now. Do the task.

Morgan & Lena had some fun bickering this Leg! But they also showed some signs of their early Racing too. Hope to see them really pick it back up in the next Legs. And loved seeing Lena not help the other teams at the castle. Joel & Garrett, meanwhile, kind of slid into the background for this Leg. But still consistent and not making any big mistakes.

Todd & Ashlie had maybe their most solid Leg this time around. I have no problem with Ashlie giving Rob the answer. As long as it’s just this one time. And it wasn’t really a big factor in either of their placements.

Rob & Corey did alright this Leg. Similar to Joel & Garrett that they were a bit under the radar. And finally Steve & Anna Leigh! Fiery comments from both of them at each other. I like it! haha. Parent-child bickering on TAR is so rare. So it’s fun to see here. And they still did alright as well.

Episode Quotes

Morgan: “Let’s pray to baby Jesus that we can drive.”

Chelsea: “He looks like a special little Amazing Race gentleman.”

Lena: “Stop screaming. It’s annoying.”

Steve: “I’m sorry for being so passive and listen to your smart-ass mouth.”