[Editors Note: This article and all others in this column WILL contain SPOILERS. If you have not seen the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 28, it’s highly suggested you do so before you read the below. You have been warned and may Phil Keoghan have mercy on your soul. And for a reminder of the super cool and descriptive nicknames we have for the teams, check out the coverage of Episode 1. You can also find all of our The Amazing Race recaps right here.]
We’re down to just six teams left on this social-media-star-studded season of The Amazing Race. We start this week’s episode with a flashback to Team JuicyDad07‘s elimination, which was full of tears for both teams that made it last to the mat (#Torey beat Team JuicyDad07 to the mat by seconds). The tears weren’t just because #Torey was relieved to still be on the mat, but because these two teams knew each other before the Race.
Brodie from Team Frisbee Boys chimes in, too, stating he’ll miss Blair but is confident they will reconnect after the Race (#Blodie may still live on!). So, if anything, the fact Brodie’s on camera like interest is gone will divert more of his energy and effort towards winning…not good news for other teams, as Team Frisbee Boys has been coming in first for many legs and still hold a coveted Express Pass.
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Gnomes, Camels, and Bicycles…Oh My!
Back to the present, teams are told the next leg of the Race will take them to Dubai where they will meet up with a long-standing guest star on the Race…the Travelocity Gnome. Now, please allow me a brief aside because I have a very very special place in my heart for the Travelocity Gnome. A few years ago I actually won my Honeymoon to Ireland through a Twitter contest where I had to tell the Gnome where I wanted to go and why. (Yes, people really do win those things!) Funny enough, when we were in Ireland with the Travelocity crew and the Gnome, we ran into some American tourists who thought my husband and I were on The Amazing Race…we had some fun with them by asking if they knew where the clue box was because, “WE’RE ON A RACE FOR A MILLION DOLLARS!!!”
The Travelocity Gnome is safe with Burnie.
But back to the real Race. Teams are all on the same plane, so teams are on equal footing again. Once landing, the teams have to pick up cars, as they will be driving themselves to wherever they need to go for the rest of the leg. This will prove to be a recipe for disaster as Dubai is NOT an easy city to navigate and getting lost can really test a team’s patience. Several teams take the opportunity to point out that Team Family Time is not really used to negotiating highways as they come from a small town.
Teams get themselves to a camp where they participate in the traditional Dubai greeting of touching noses while making eye contact and then pick up their Gnomes (who are suitably attired for the occasion with sunglasses and hats). They then receive their Detour clues, which tell them to choose between Oasis or Races.
Tyler perfecting his customary Dubai greeting.
In Oasis, teams receive charge of a small pack of camels. They must strap their respective Gnomes onto one of the desert animals and then guide the small pack a mile through the desert to another larger camp. There the teams are treated to some local foodstuffs – including camel milk – before getting their next clue. In Races teams have to RACE FREAKIN’ CAMELS WITH BICYCLES. Yeah, I already know there is a hashtag coming…#RacingCamels.
#RacingCamels is probably the most insane thing you could do
— Chelsea McBride (@OnWiscosin) April 16, 2016
I like this #RacingCamels detour on #TheAmazingRace 🐪🚲
— Claire Mezzanotte (@clairemezz) April 16, 2016
@PhilKeoghan @dubaitourism new type of cycling class #RacingCamels
— Joe Vinciguerra (@JoeVinciguerra) April 16, 2016
I mean, if was me, I would have definitely chosen to walk the camels because racing camels on bicycles sounds really, really hard. But five of the six teams (only Dancers initially choose Oasis) decide to race the camels. This ends up being a short-lived endeavor for Team Rooster Teeth and The Kings, who give up trying after their first go. Burnie actually makes the decision for their team once he sees how hard the challenge is on Ashley, while Zach is pretty frustrated that Rachel didn’t tell him BEFORE they started a bicycle race that she doesn’t like to go fast on bicycles.
Dana having a tough time in the desert. Watch out, Matt!
In the end, even with those teams switching tasks, the middle teams still finished in a cluster…while Frisbee Boys continued out in front because of their ability to beat the camels on their bikes in their first try (all the while there was a lackluster attempt by the social media producers at Race to get the hashtag #PhotoFinish into play…and while people are using it, they aren’t in reference to The Amazing Race…oops). Team Family Time heads up the rear because it got lost before even getting to the challenge. Those pesky United Arab Emirates highways…
Here is where team’s stand at the Detour and what tasks they did:
- Frisbee Boys – Races
- #Torey – Races (they get it on the second try)
- Team Dancers – Oasis
- Team Rooster Teeth – Races then Oasis
- The Kings – Races then Oasis
- Team Family Time – Races (they also get it on their second try)
Tiny Tiny Suits of Gold
“Let’s see if I can scare the fish” – @burnie #TheAmazingRace pic.twitter.com/omtwGrwDvV
— Peter Hayes (@peterhayesf1) April 16, 2016
Teams now head to this episode’s Road Block at a place called Atlantis, The Palm – Aquaventure. Yup, it’s a water park. And not just ANY water park, this is the water park with some Race history. On season 15 of the show it caused team Mika and Canaan to go home when Mika refused to take a plunge down a six-story waterslide. She was even offered water wings (as if those would have helped) and Canaan begged her to at least try and attempted to throw her down the slide. But no dice.
Teams who are fans of the show immediately spot that infamous water slide but (un)fortunately for them, they are going to be #SwimmingWithSharks instead! In the tiniest of tiny gold swimsuits you have ever seen! And not only that but immediately after getting out of a tank of sharks, they have to solve a complicated puzzle to boot! Did we mention the swimsuits were tiny and gold?
those swim suits are something else #SwimmingWithSharks #AmazingRace
— Emmett Pearce (@eppearce) April 16, 2016
Are those metallic gold bathing suits a staple at Dubai’s Atlantis? If so sign me up I want one! #TheAmazingRace #swimmingwithsharks
— Valentina Palladino (@valentinalucia) April 16, 2016
Frisbee Boys gets through the shark tank and start the puzzle before any other teams are even in the vicinity, but Brodie ends up declaring the puzzle way too hard and insists they use their Express Pass. Since they can only use the Express Pass in the next two legs, it’s not the most terrible play in the world, but it’s also not the best strategy to use it so late in a leg. Kurt, however lets Brodie make the call and adds that he’d rather use it before other teams arrive, so they don’t know it’s already gone before next leg. And off they go.
Told you these swimsuits were small. And tight. And gold.
Other teams arrive with minimal trouble with the sharks. The puzzle does prove tricky, especially for Dana of Team Dancers, it’s not the sphinx riddle Brodie tried to make it sound. The real issue is that Team Family Time has gotten lost AGAIN and even though they are fully aware of it, they also have a hard time finding a place to ask for directions. By the time they get to Aquaventure, they have some serious time to make up. Plus, for some reason, the shark tank employees choose this moment to start feeding the sharks. Don’t worry, Cole makes it out with all limbs attached.
I must say @Thesupercole got a great package after watching tonight’s episode. #RacingCamels
— Daley* (@xxDALE) April 16, 2016
Sure, he did…and we’re totally not referring to anything having to do with those tiny gold swimsuits…uh huh…
“You’re Psychotic”
Once teams solve the puzzle (which is essentially one of those water puzzles you’d do as a kid where you try to get the rings on the poles…only instead of rings and poles, it was the letters R, A, C, and E that had to get slotted into corresponding spots) the teams head to Poseidon’s Revenge, the parks newest water slide. Oh hey, remember when we mentioned that one slide that sent a team home on another season of the show? Well, this one is twice as long and twice as scary. And those teams weren’t wearing very tiny gold swimsuits. No teams have trouble with the side itself but let’s just say there was some…movement…of suits that inspired the title of this week’s episode. Yikes.
The teams now head to the Pit Stop for this leg of the race, which consists of them taking a water taxi to Deira Old Souq Station where Phil is waiting for them. This is where Team Rooster Teeth is able to catch up to Frisbee Bros as Burnie and Ashley do a better job of navigating to the water taxis (AKA, they don’t freak out and instead encourage one another). Unfortunately, in a foot race to the Pit Stop, Frisbee Bros are able to overtake Team Rooster Teeth and come in for another first place finish, winning them a trip to Helsinki, Finland.
Frisbee Bros aren’t the only ones that have trouble navigating to where the water taxis are stationed. I don’t think I even need to say it but Sheri and Cole get lost once more, but they don’t have the complete and utter meltdown that Dana from Team Dancers does when her team gets lost.
We’ve seen Dana snap at Matt before and seen her be disrespectful to locals, but this meltdown makes the rest of her behavior seem almost pleasant. At first, she seems honestly upset that Matt doesn’t seem to listen to her and makes her repeat herself over and over…but it quickly devolves into her telling him he’s psychotic and that she’s done with him. She then makes him pull the car over and it looks like she’s going to just quit right there.
It’s nighttime by the time Team Dancers get to the mat…but they still managed to beat Team Family Time and are still in the Race. In a cutaway, a much calmer Dana does state she feels bad about acting the way she did towards Matt, but it’s still very very hard for me to accept that someone that treats their partner so horrifically and basically tries to make the decision to quit for the both of them should get to keep going. ESPECIALLY since this is just the latest and largest blowup in a long string of bad behavior.
The only thing that improved my spirits about this is the fact Team Family Time is told this is not an elimination leg and that they would get to keep racing. They are still behind and will have to get through a Speed Bump somewhere along the next leg, but I like this team and I’m personally happy they get to go on.
The amount of the non elimination legs is too damn high but I really like sherry and Cole #TheAmazingRace
— Jessica Frey (@JessicaNFrey) April 16, 2016
There have actually only been two non-elimination legs so far, which is the standard amount on a season. One was the first episode, which saved Team JuicyDad07 and the other was tonight. Some people are confused because a couple of weeks back Team Family Time seems to have been “saved”…but that was actually just a double leg, meaning teams kept racing without a Pit Stop. The episode just happened to end in the middle of the leg.
Chances are there are no more non-elimination legs coming and the Express Pass is gone. So after this, teams really have nowhere to hide. And let’s hope teams don’t have to drive themselves again because let’s face it, that could be the straw that breaks the #RacingCamel‘s back for Team Family Time.
Would you rather take on #RacingCamels or go #SwimmingWithSharks? And would you do either in a itsy bitsy teeny weeny golden bikini? Let me know in the comments below and also be sure to Tweet during future episodes and you might see your Tweet featured in a future column!
