Recap: The Amazing Race 35, Episode 11 – “It’s been a nice ride.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 35, Episode 11 – We’re Finding Our Pot of Gold

The Penultimate Leg of the Race will have teams Racing through Dublin, Ireland. Upon arrival, teams hop into Dacia cars to drive themselves to The Forty Foot in Dublin Bay. They will put on swimsuits and swim to a buoy for the next clue.

On the way there, the parent-child teams talk about the Road Block counts. Steve only has four Road Blocks while Rob & Corey specifically wanted to have Corey be left with the final Road Blocks.

Steve & Anna Leigh already get lost while the other three teams arrive first.

After the freezing swim, teams must drive to Gaiety Theatre. The father and daughter are able to catch up to Greg & John. Anna Leigh tries to get an exhausted Steve to hurry as they decide to follow the brothers.

Rob & Corey arrive at the theatre first and open the next clue revealing a Road Block: Who wants to get their steps in? For this Road Block, teams must learn and perform 30 seconds of a Riverdance routine.

Corey, of course, must perform this Road Block. Joel arrives next and immediately regrets choosing to do it.

Steve & Anna Leigh eventually get better directions than Greg & John and arrive at the theatre next. Steve is required to do this task. John decides to do the task.

Corey goes on stage for his first attempt, but gets the thumbs down from Riverdance‘s executive producer. John decides to go next and waits backstage as Corey has his second attempt. The EP gives Corey the thumbs up and the next clue.

John fails his first attempt, but passes his second. Joel goes for his first attempt, but gets the thumbs down, as does Steve. Both go for a couple more attempts. Steve finally gets the thumbs up on his 9th attempt. Joel is finally passed on his 8th attempt.

After the Road Block, teams must drive to Croke Park where their next clue awaits at the top of the stadium. And it is another Road Block: Who’s got the swing?

For this Road Block, teams must play hurling. They must learn skills and then score to get the next clue.

Corey has no problem finishing the task even before the next team arrives. Greg gets the task done before any other team arrives as well.

Steve & Anna Leigh get lost, allowing Joel & Garrett to arrive at the stadium before them. Garrett finishes the Road Block before Steve arrives to perform the task.

After the Road Block, teams must head to Toners Pub. Here, teams must memorize and recite two famous quotes from Irish novelist and poet James Joyce.

Rob & Corey easily pass on their first attempt and can now head to the Pit Stop at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. They claim the first slot in the Final Leg and win enough Expedia cash for a trip to Fiji.

Greg & John get it on their 2nd attempt and claim the second spot in the Final.

It is now down to Joel & Garrett and Steve & Anna Leigh. Joel & Garrett pass on their 2nd attempt before Steve & Anna Leigh even arrive.

The show makes it seem like there is a chance. But Joel & Garrett are too far ahead as they finish the Leg as Team #3.

That means Steve & Anna Leigh is last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

So this was the first episode this season since the premiere that I watched “live”. That is, not watching a replay which I could speed up or fast forward through. And omg. I literally could just leave the episode on for chunks of episode at a time, do something else and not miss a single thing. That’s how slow the episode was.

Can you imagine having just three tasks on a Penultimate Leg with four teams for 90 minutes? Well, you don’t have to imagine. Because this episode showed that it does not work.

You can’t be serious with the show saying they planned every Leg this season to be able to provide enough content for 90 minutes and then have a Penultimate Leg with two Road Blocks and a memorization task. I honestly think previous Penultimate Legs had more tasks than this one. That’s absolutely absurd.

This Leg at least needed a Detour somewhere. Instead, they spent half the episode on the Riverdance. (Thank you Riverdance for the extra sponsor/advertiser money I guess!) And then the next two tasks were so straightforward combined with it being very obvious how the Leg would end already.

Again, all the tasks are fine on their own. But put together in a Leg? It’s not enough. And really calls into question what Bertram and Co. were thinking when putting this season together. They cannot seriously think the Leg design on this season was worthy of 90 minute episodes.

Anyway, I’ll rant more in my Season Wrap-up next week. But this episode is probably the best example so far of the lack of foresight and understanding from the show into what they needed to do for 90 minutes.

Team Thoughts

Not a surprising Final Three. Greg & John are the frontrunners, but Rob & Corey and Joel & Garrett are certainly capable of winning. I think I’m rooting for Rob & Corey the most if only to try and help us forget who won TAR24. We deserve a better father-son winning team. Lol.

As for Steve & Anna Leigh, they were a fine team. I enjoyed their bickering which I think harkened back to the good ol’ days. Nothing wrong with it. Just a relatable example of typical families. And how the Race can stress those relationships, but have the Racers still love each other after. They were a solid team, as are the Final Three.