The Amazing Race picked up this week right where we left off last week with Kent & Vyxsin trying to get back to the gondolas to locate their fanny pack, passports and money, and Zev & Justin checking in at the Pit Stop believing they are going to be the last team to arrive and still be in the race. Of course, Phil told them they were still racing and when Kent & Vyxsin arrived they learned that they had been given a 30-minute penalty for taking an alternate flight after last week’s navigational mishap.
This leg of the race also gave us the dreaded Double U-Turn and everyone was well aware that if they didn’t arrive first, they stood a good chance of being U-Turned. Kent & Vyxsin, knowing they had an even larger target on them than usual decided to tell the other teams, all waiting for an equalizing train ride to the next location, that they had car trouble in Japan and that was why they missed the flight and that they had no idea if they had incurred a penalty. No one seemed to buy their explanation, but if they weren’t able to keep up with everyone they knew they were sitting ducks.
That Double U-Turn kept all of the teams on their toes this week and gave this episode a lot of action and tension … and one pretty funny moment. From the train, teams were to find the Golden Horse and Jade Cock Memorial Arches. Somehow, several teams thought they were supposed to find the Golden Arches and their cab drivers took them to McDonald’s! Luckily the Memorial Arches were across the street from the Golden Arches so the teams weren’t too off course, but when one thinks of Chinese culture those particular arches should not be the first ones that come to mind.
The Detour asked teams to Honor the Past or Embrace the Future. To honor the past, teams had to look at a group of Tibetan performers as they walked out and lined up on stage and then arrange a set of dolls in the same order from memory. Embracing the future required teams to unload from a truck and carry three heavy boxes up several flights of stairs and then assemble a solar power water heating system. It was a physical challenge, but ended up being the faster of the two as Margie & Luke managed to finish first and move on while the first two teams arranging dolls were going for a second or third try.
Everyone was frantic trying to complete their tasks because the Double U-Turn still had not shown up, but it was waiting for Margie and Luke as they got to it first. They and second team Jet & Cord chose not to U-Turn anyone. Kent & Vyxsin struggled with the water heating system but they managed to finish with Jaime & Cara hot on their heels. Both teams arrived at the U-Turn simultaneously, but Kent & Vyxsin were on the mat first. Jaime & Cara told them to U-Turn the Globetrotters but they chose to U-Turn Jaime & Cara because they were there so they knew the girls were the only team behind them. Jaime & Cara then U-Turned the Flight Time & Big Easy, so both teams had to go back and do the dolls task.
Teams then had to travel to the Stone Forest and build a dinosaur from pieces of pre-cut wood and this task ended up equalizing everyone yet again because if the pieces were put together or secured improperly, they had to figure out what was wrong and fix it. Jet took his time and actually consulted the large diagram several times and completed his dinosaur first while other teams had to rebuild many times. Gary and Mallory were the last team to arrive at the task and saw how difficult it could be so they chose to use their Express Pass — except Jet & Cord passed them while trying to get a cab and checked in first at the Pit Stop. The worst came for Zev & Justin and Jaime & Cara, the last two teams, as they pretty much had their dinosaurs built but had mistakes that needed to be fixed. Justin had a minor adjustment but Jaime had a crucial support piece out of place and had to take the whole thing apart and rebuild it. By that point she knew they were done but she didn’t want to quit. Unfortunately for them, that dinosaur – and the U-Turn – made them extinct … from the rest of the race.
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Mar 21, 2011 @ 10:35 EST5EDT
