Wednesday, May 31, 2017

TAR 29, Recap Leg 11, 5/25/17

Welcome to Leg 11! Last time, on What’s Vietnam Without Gnomes and Flo?, five teams continued racing through Vietnam, this time on bikes in the scorching heat.  There were Flo Bikes, which Floyd couldn’t manage, got heat exhaustion, and basically took team fun out of the Race.  And then there were four.  Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)


Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Matt and Redmond, Team Athletic Men. #TheBoys
2nd – Brooke and Scott, Team Will and Grace, #TeamBrookeandScott
3rd – Tara and Joey, Team Old Folks, #TeamMomAndDad 
4th – London and Logan, Team Vapid Models, #TeamLoLo

Hang Mua Peak, Tam Coc, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

11:57 PM Matt/ Redmond (1st)
Clue: Fly 1600 miles to Seoul, South Korea!  Once there, make your way to Gangnam District and find the K-Pop performance at the Gangnam Style sign to get your next clue from one of the dancers.

(Toyouke: “If Psy shows up I'm gonna laugh.”)

1:48 AM Brooke/Scott (2nd) – Brooke: “We can do this!”  Scott: “Yeah, lots of teams with The Amazing Race without winning any leg but the last one!”  (Toyouke: “Really? I mean, Flo, so it's certainly not impossible they'd win.”)  Okay, history lesson!  In twenty-eight seasons of TAR this has happened a grand total of FIVE times: TAR 11, Eric and Danielle (I still maintain, not an All-Star Team but whatever); TAR 18, Kisha and Jen (but this was their second time); TAR 21, Josh and Brent (which I argue was a fluke because this was the hello / goodbye season where they had to put the languages in order and no one wrote them down); TAR 25, Amy and Maya (Also a fluke, as they should have been eliminated at the end of Leg 11, but for some reason, the twist that year was a mid-leg elimination on Leg 12); and TAR 27, Kelsey and Joey (after 5 second place finishes in a row).  Something tells me, Brooke and Scott, you are not on par with ANY of these teams, and no one will be doing you any favors.  End of history lesson / rant.
2:16 AM Tara/Joey (3rd)
2:26 AM London/Logan (4th) 

So teams make their way to Noi Bai International Airport and arrive in the following order:

1- Matt/Redmond  
2- Brooke/Scott
3- Tara/Joey 
4- London/Logan

Teams arrive at the airport and magically all end up on the same flight to Korea.  Woo.  So the Amazing Blue Line take use to Seoul, where teams arrive in the following order:

1- Brooke/Scott
2- Matt/Redmond –who, unlike the other teams, take the subway instead of a taxi.  (Toyouke: “Taking the subway depends entirely on what time of day it is, I think. And how much money you have left.“)  And miss their transfer train.
3- Tara/Joey 
4- London/Logan

Teams now arrive in Gangnam District and get their clues in the following order:

1- Tara/Joey  
2- Brooke/Scott
3- London/Logan
4- Matt/Redmond

Teams are now instructed to travel by taxi to Hanyang University Olympic Gymnasium to get their next clue.  They arrive in the following order:

1- Tara/Joey  
2- Brooke/Scott
3- London/Logan
4- Matt/Redmond – whose taxi driver takes them to the wrong University, twenty minutes out of their way.  But he gives them a discount on the fare!

Once they arrive, teams get the tenth roadblock clue.  

ROADBLOCK:

Who stacks up?

In this roadblock, one team member must participate in competitive cup stacking and recreate the 3-6-3 formation and take it down in 7 seconds or less.  If they do, the referee will give them their next clue.

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Joey
2- Brooke – (Toyouke: “So what you're saying is this is maybe the one thing Brooke ISN'T useless at?”)  And then her inner Flo comes out.  (Toyouke: “Oh wait, never mind.”)
3- Logan
4- Redmond – “It’s as easy as stacking cups!”

After much cup stacking, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Brooke/Scott  
2- Tara/Joey
3- London/Logan
4- Matt/Redmond 

Teams are now instructed to taxi to Mugyewon Arts and Cultural Center to get their next clue.  Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Brooke/Scott  
2- Tara/Joey
3- London/Logan
4- Matt/Redmond 

Teams are now instructed to make six servings of kimchi from scratch, bury it in the ground for fermentation, and taste the kimchi to get their next clue.  Teams complete the task in the following order:

1- Tara/Joey  
2- London/Logan
3- Brooke/Scott – even though Brooke insists on going super slow to get it right.  (Toyouke: “Is the order really important? I mean...you're just going to mix it up. What does it matter if you put the garlic in before the ginger or vice versa?  This isn't hard. Dump everything in and make sure it all gets covered! Come on.”)
4- Matt/Redmond

Teams are now instructed to travel by taxi to Seoul OGN E-Stadium to get their next clue.  Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Brooke/Scott  
2- Tara/Joey
3- London/Logan
4- Matt/Redmond 

Once they arrive, teams get the eleventh roadblock clue.  

ROADBLOCK:

Who’s going to take control?

In this roadblock, one team member must play Street Fighter V and win one round against a professional video game player.  After 10 rounds, the professional will start playing one handed, and after 20 rounds, the professional will play blindfolded.  Once a round is won, teams get their next clue.  The team member who did not participate in the other Roadblock must complete this one.

(Toyouke: “I've played plenty of Street Fighter but as I'm a button masher this would probably go poorly.”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Scott – who chooses Chun-Li.  (Toyouke: “You WOULD pick Chun Li.”)
2- Tara – who hasn’t played video games in 25 years.
3- London – who has never played a video game.  (Toyouke: “OK I have a sister and we played video games so whatever London.”)
4- Matt  - who has clearly had plenty of practice.  (Toyouke: “Of course Matt is good at this.”)

After much video game playing, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- London/Logan  
2- Brooke/Scott
3- Tara/Joey
4- Matt/Redmond 

Teams find now that they must return their bicycles and take a taxi to Gavit Some on the island of Sebit-seom, the PIT STOP of the eleventh leg of this racearoundtheworld.  The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

1- Brooke/Scott – who win a place in the final three.  Woo.
2- London/Logan 
3- Tara/Joey
4- Matt/Redmond

And Matt and Redmond are the last team to arrive and thus eliminated from the Amazing Race.  Redmond: “It’s not the way we wanted to lose, but at least we made it around the world!”  (Toyouke: “They all lucked out. A LOT. If the boys hadn't taken the subway they'd be in the final and you'd all be in trouble. “)

ORDER NOW:
1st – Brooke/Scott  
2nd – London/Logan 
3rd – Tara/Joey  

Next week: The finale is upon us!  There is auto racing in Chicago, and a visit to Wrigley Field.  (Toyouke: “The best part of that preview was Joey being unable to resist shouting "Go Red Sox!" in front of a bunch of Cubs fans.”  Kmanpat: “The only thing better would have been ‘Go Cardinals!’”)  Until next time!

No comments: