Recap: The Amazing Race 37, Episode 6 – “What does Wiz Khalifa have to do with Dubai?

Recap: The Amazing Race 37, Episode 6 – “It Smells Like the Desert”

All teams are on the same flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the 6th Leg of the Race where a Fast Forward will be available. At the airport, it is awkward between Jonathan & Ana and Carson & Jack for the perceived betrayal at the U-Turn vote.

Upon evening arrival in Dubai, teams must hop in a taxi to Platinum Heritage Desert Gate where they will find a Bedouin camp. They will choose a coffee cup with a release time for the next morning

After spending the night at the Bedouin camp, Alyssa & Josiah, Jonathan & Ana, Han & Holden, Carson & Jack begin the day at 5:10am. The rest of the teams depart at 5:20am.

Teams get on camels for a morning ride across the dunes to the cluebox. That clue reveals the Road Block: Who wants to drop into Dubai? For this Road Block, teams will skydive above the Palm Jumeirah.

Teams must run to the nearby Skydive Dubai. All four teams get on the first flight and the others have to take the second flight. For the first group, the order of jumping is Jack, Holden, Alyssa, Ana. And for the second group it is Brett, Nick, Pops, Melinda.

Josiah is very emotional for Alyssa as she jumps.

When back on the ground, the next clue reveals the Fast Forward. To get the Fast Forward, teams must hop into an orange luxury car. Han & Holden search for the car. But Carson & Jack find it first and hop in.

The rest of the teams have to head to Atlantis the Royal. The waiting clue there tells teams to prepare an afternoon tea of sweet and savory treats according to the example from Chef Kristoff.

All the teams are able to catch up at the tea. Alyssa & Josiah are first to have their tray checked, but get the thumbs down. Their second attempt gets the thumbs up. Jonathan & Ana are next followed by Han & Holden, Brett & Mark and Melinda & Erika. Pops & Jeff ask for a check, but they mess up one of the cakes and are missing one thing. That allows Nick & Mike to get the thumbs up and pass them.

Meanwhile, Carson & Jack arrive at Deep Dive Dubai. They must dive deep into the deepest dive pool in the world to find a Fast Forward clue somewhere in the submerged city. They find the Fast Forward plaque on a pool table and they exchange it for the clue directing them to the Pit Stop at Museum of the Future. They check in as Team #1 and win an Alaskan cruise from Expedia Key Cash.

The other teams have to make their way to Burj Al Arab Public Beach where they find another Road Block: Who’s ready to ride a wave? For this Road Block, teams must hydrofoil past three buoys: Get on feet by the second buoy and then ride to the third.

Josiah, Han and Jonathan decide to do the Road Block. Mark arrives next followed by Erika and then Jeff and Nick.

Josiah fails his attempt, but Han passes on her first. Han & Holden can now head to the Pit Stop at Museum of the Future via the Dubai Metro.

Josiah passes next followed by Mark and Erika then Jonathan. Jeff is able to pass before Nick.

It is now a metro and footrace to the Mat. Pops & Jeff arrive at the platform just as a train is about to leave, but they hesitate to get on and it goes without them. That allows Nick & Mike to catch up to them as the next train arrives.

Han & Holden step on the Mat as Team #2. Alyssa & Josiah are 3rd. Brett & Mark are 4th. Jonathan & Ana and Melinda & Erika are 5th and 6th.

And it’s now down to the last two teams. There is no running in the metro station, so both teams walk as fast as they can until they can run outside.

Nick & Mike are able to make it to the Mat as Team #7. That means Pops & Jeff are last and eliminated. The other teams cheer them on.

Episode Thoughts

Another slim pickings Leg carried by the teams and pretty scenery!

First off, the overnight stay at the Bedouin camp was alright. Just a logistical necessity, especially with starting the next day off with the skydiving. It was a creative way to basically dress up the Hours of Operation. But very good. Especially those sunrise shots of the teams on the camels. Very stunning!

Now this skydive might be one of the best edited skydive tasks since the early days of TAR. Back in the day, skydiving was such an incredible and awe inspiring thing to be watching on TV. Fast forward 25 years later, it’s a bit more common now. Not just because of TAR, but with the internet bringing these kinds of experiences closer with video and the like.

But this episode was able to highlight that similar awe and wonder of a skydive rather than having it be part of the competition itself. The Dubai skyline certainly helps too. But after 37 seasons, the show needs to find a different way to incorporate such previously unique TV experiences. And they found that way here.

Next, the Fast Forward. I guess it’s an okay spot to place the Fast Forward clue. You just wish there were more tasks after this point. But I guess part of the potential drama is the Fast Forward team not even winning the Leg with it. That didn’t happen of course. Especially when the Fast Forward task was not that difficult and no other team gets the chance either.

Amazing task. But at this point, it definitely made me realize this Leg is just one big commercial for Dubai tourism. Which is fine. They help to pay for the Race, after all. Hehe

So knowing the Leg is more of a tourism promo, the tea time task was okay. I could give it a pass. But even more so if there had been another task as well. Maybe even make this a Detour instead at least.

The foil surfing was okay too. It’s a good Road Block since it’s challenging enough for teams to need to take time on.

Again, my broken record self will say there should’ve been at least one more task in this Leg. But overall, it was okay. Competition was tight which is always good. But when they take up most of the final half hour of the episode on the metro travel, then you know they had to stretch and it could’ve used one more task to fill the time.

Anyway, thank you Dubai for helping to pay for a free Leg at least!

Team Thoughts

Good to see all the teams be competitive and really Racing this Leg. It’s a great and refreshing change from the last couple of years, to be honest.

Carson & Jack are definitely the frontrunners right now. And they look like they could easily maintain that position for the long term. Jonathan & Ana, their chief rivals, also have the capabilities of getting themselves back to the front of the pack too. So my money is still on either of them at this point I think. Two very strong teams.

Han & Holden have also been Racing very well the last few Legs. After a mostly quiet start for them, they are really stepping it up each Leg and that’s been great to see. The same can be said for Brett & Mark as well. They too had a bit of a rougher start to the Race. But they have also come into their own with every Leg.

As a testament to the parity on this season, Alyssa & Josiah and Melinda & Erika are both very strong teams too. Can’t call them underdogs because they have been consistent. While perhaps not as front-running as a Carson & Jack or Jonathan & Ana, they too have a good shot of making it far.

Nick & Mike, meanwhile, have struggled a bit. But even them, you can’t count them out easily. They will definitely need to step it up on the next Leg though.

And finally, Pops & Jeff have been a fun team to watch. It’s always great to have a parent-child and especially father-son team that you can actually root for! And they were very much that. It’s too bad they just missed out on surviving this Leg, but they’ve Raced very well and certainly nothing to be upset about with how they ran.

See how nice it is to have a season with good, fun teams who are all “nice” but still competitive and Race hard? That has even helped make up for the slim, almost barebones Legs. So Bertram and Co. should definitely take note of that! Good casting can make up for meh tasks and routes! Hehe