Lookin’ Like a Blue-Haired Lady on a Sunday Drive
One of the shorter (distance) episodes in recent memory picks up in Helsinki, Finland with Tyler and James at the base of the Olympic Tower after a face-first angel dive, and it looks like the other racers are hot on their heels. But as has happened so many times this race, it seems that the race has another flight ahead that will bunch everyone up again. Kudos to the producers for keeping things so tight.
Dustin and Kandice came down the tower in second place, and they moved a bit slowly, but seemed to still maintain a decent lead over the remainder of the teams, and along with Tyler and James, they made it to the airport only to find out that the next flight left at 8:25 the next morning for their next destination, which is the capital city of the country where the Chernobyl disaster took place. Arriving and finding out that they couldn’t leave until the next day didn’t make Tyler happy at all.
Rob and Kimberly managed to get to the airport third, only to find the windows were in the process of closing, so they were unable to secure seats on the same flight as the first two teams. But they were able to get on an alternate flight that seemed to arrive at the same time, so it looked like things would work out the same. Luckily for them they asked for help, because Rob thought that Chernobyl was in Russia (it is in fact in the Ukraine) – which would have had them going to the wrong place.
Unfortunately, scheduled arrivals don’t always work out as you would like.
An unexpected delay in Warsaw meant that the lead teams arrived in advance of the others, and got a jump on the competition by getting one of the stranger clues seen on the race – apparently written in the native tongue, which means no one could make it out. Quickly grabbing a taxi driver and paying him so that they could follow him, teams headed for the Oster Tank School – described as the premier tank training facility in the Ukraine. Frankly, I’m wondering how many tank training schools there are in order for them to have a premier facility.
Nonetheless, the boys and the girls arrived together at the Roadblock and quickly jumped into their tanks. James jumped into the lead when Dustin couldn’t get going, but when he stalled it out, she quickly passed him to finish first. When they received their next clue, they found that they had to go back into Kiev and find an apartment to get their next clue.
As the teams left, the passed Rob and Kimberly, who managed to pick up a bit of a lead on the other two teams. Those other two teams were locked in a bit of a struggle, as Lyn and Karlyn couldn’t seem to navigate for themselves, but Erwin and Godwin couldn’t seem to go more than a few minutes without stopping and asking for directions. If the former was complaining, the latter was stopping. It was really horrible to watch. At this point, neither of these teams deserved to be there, based on this viewing.
Finally both of them got to the training grounds, and the Cho brothers easily bested Lyn and Karlyn, and despite the fact that Lyn and Karlyn had effectively dissolved the alliance, Erwin and Godwin still waited around for them. It was excruciating to watch. The Chos are very upstanding, but to see the way that they were treated was just horrible. It would get worse for them. Far worse.
While all this was going on, the beauty queens had decided that they needed to ditch Tyler and James after they received their next clue. So when they arrived at the apartment and found that they had come upon the Detour, it was time. The Detour offered a choice between Make the Music and Find the Music.
In Make the Music, the team travels three miles to a hip-hop club, where they join Kiev’s underground rap movement. Working together, they write and perform a rap song that incorporated the names of the countries they have visited. No word on whether they were given the country names or had to recall them on their own. Their “judge” would be Kiev’s top rap artist, and once he approved their show, he would give them the next clue. In Find the Music, the team travels 2.5 miles to The National Musical Academy of Ukraine. Once there, they have to search among thousand of pieces of sheet music for the piano part to Tchaikovsky’s Concert Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra. When they have the music in hand, they could search the conservatory’s 120 practice rooms for one of six pianists waiting for sheet music. Once the pianist completed playing the piece, they would hand them their next clue.
Dustin and Kandice took Make the Music while Tyler and James took Find the Music, and both seemed to do well, but Tyler and James finished first. Rob and Kimberly came in third, while the final two teams duked it out for the final spot of the leg. Unfortunately, Lyn and Karlyn finally decided that they had enough of following Erwin and Godwin, so they went their own way to Make the Music. Erwin and Godwin tried to do the same, but got lost, so they went the other way to Find the Music. But in the process of getting to the Pit Stop, they went down a road that was closed to vehicular traffic. By the time they made it, it was dark and they were the last team to arrive, so they were eliminated.
- Tyler and James
- Dustin and Kandice
- Rob and Kimberly
- Lyn and Karlyn
- Erwin and Godwin
Tyler and James seem to have found their mojo again, while Dustin and Kandice are doing well too. Rob and Kimberly are right there, and I don’t think there is any doubt that these three will be in the final. The only way that this won’t happen is if one of the three makes a bad move or gets caught at a Yield. Strangely, I think the only team left that might use the Yield is Lyn and Karlyn – the other teams just don’t seem the type to use it, even if they are there first. But what do I know?
While I was sad to see the Chos go, it was just their time. Perhaps they were really bad on directions the whole time, and always stopped to ask so frequently, but it was downright painful to watch this episode. It seemed like every few minutes they were stopping to see if they were going the right way. I’m all for double-checking yourself, but this just seemed ridiculous!
