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The Amazing Race Recap - Episode 10

Posted on 12/01/2008 by RealityWanted in The Amazing Race

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Amazing Race 13

by Arthur Perkins
 
This was a wild and wooly episode of Amazing Race 13. Nick and Starr were in front almost the entire way, so their first-place finish was never in doubt. What every Amazing Race fan wanted to know was "who lost their passports and money" as a result of the CBS promotion of that question. Would it be Ken and Tina, Toni and Dallas or Andrew and Dan. I was expecting it to be Andrew and Dan. Let's see how it turned out.
 
For the first time I can ever remember, CBS did not provide the pitstop release times for any teams. This was designed to heighten the uncertainty on the above question or it was to obscure the non-standard duration for that pitstop. What we already knew was Toni/Dallas then Ken/Tina then Nick Starr had little time difference between them. We also had Andrew/Dan starting probably quite a bit behind, say 1.5 hours. The first clue was available at the Duzhny submarine museum near the Skhodnenskaya metro station (although teams took taxis there). Andrew/Dan were lucky to get an English speaking taxi driver but he started by taking them to the wrong park. All three leading teams arrived there at the same time or before their hours of operation, I'm not sure which (see how not having that start time can limit you?). They all received their clues and headed off to Park Iskusst, where the Monument of Fallen Heroes Roadblock awaited. This was complicated. The non-active team member had to go ahead to the next spot (which was Bulgakov House). The active team member had to count statues which were labeled in Cyrillic to find the number of Lenin statues (6 was correct) and the number of Stalin statues (2 was correct). then they had to go to a designated bookshop cite  those results as consecutive digits (62 was the winner) to receive a book which had the address for the next clue on page 62 (6 story building on Sadayev St.). Any team that failed to get this right would wait 10 minutes until they could submit another number.
 
Here is where it got really interesting, as this was certainly the best Roadblock of AR13 and would be competitive with the best one of any Amazing Race. Nick took his time and carefully noted 62 as his result. He went to the bookstore, was correct, went to join Starr and they never looked back for the rest of the episode. Tina had the next shot and she was uncertain but chose 52. She had to wait 10 minutes. While that was happening, Dallas (who had been picked by Toni to do this) came and gave his number 36 which meant he had reversed Stalin with Lenin in the count order. It was wrong, so he had to wait. Tina then picked 62 as her next try and was rewarded. As she left, she took pity on Dallas (resulting in major and valid criticism when she reached Ken due to what it could have meant, going against their decision to not help any other teams) and gave him her insights about his reversing the numbers and being too high on the smaller one. He had one more bad guess and then got it right.
 
So now with Andrew doing the Roadblock, so Dan goes to the waiting area where he meets Dallas reaching there from the bookstore. However, Dallas had left his pack in the back of the taxi so he and Toni now had no money and no passports. He asked Dan for a loan, but Andrew had all their money so he had nothing to lend. After Dallas was out of earshot, Dan said to the camera that he would not have given it if he had it. So now Toni decides their only alternative is begging. They successfully get enough rubles for bus fares and they arrive at the Rizhki tram stop close to the clue in Sokol'niki Park. They go to the woman with the Shetland pony prominent inside the entrance, but she refuses to give them the clue. They presume that it means that they had to travel by taxi to get the clue (but how would she know?; obviously someone from World Race Productions is on top of this and giving her guidance out of the camera's view). so they raise more money by begging because they need the small fare back to Bulgakov House but also 400 rubles for the taxi fare. Before they can do this Andrew finished by trying first 61 and then 62(a lucky guess) and is out of there with only one 10 minute penalty. When they get to Sokol'niki Park by taxi and they find a sign for the SpeedBump, which for only them was dancing with a young Russian dance troupe and finishing only when the dancing master determined that they were good enough. They went through one and then a second try to complete it. They weren't very good (Dan being his uncoordinated self) but the dancing master obviously took pity on them.  The really good news is that this activity was adjacent to the Shetland pony lady, so they lost little time in transportation. They were certainly under 30 minutes in their total time. They were approximately in the same time frame as Toni/Dallas when they got their clue from the Shetland pony lady.
 
Next was a DETOUR of RIDE THE RAILS (take the underground metro from Sokol'niki Station to a specific stop after changing once to get to 1905 Street Station, maybe a few miles and then go a marked samsa sandwich stand  and the wrapper will have the clue, which sends them Kitai-Gordo Station where they find a statue and babuska, then trade her the samsa for a postcard with the name of the next place and instructions to find a cluebox near its metro station) or RIDE THE LINES (actually trolley bus which you have to take to another tram to Karnosel'skaya Station where you get a key from a specific keymaker and go to the Rizhskaya Station to a locker where the postcard is found). Nick when he got this clue says "Being a New Yorker has finally paid off." He and Starr do this without trouble and go to VDNKn Park, find the clue and enter the park where the pitstop is in an unusually busy area (for Amazing Race pitstops). They finish first and win one 5 night vacation for 2 in Anguilla compliments of Travelocity. All other teams choose RIDE THE LINES.
 
Back to the main event. So Toni/Dallas are now last and they have to keep begging to get anywhere. They chose RIDE THE BUS. Ken and Tina do RIDE THE BUS and make it to the final place but cannot find the clue box. Who knows how long this took, maybe only 15 minutes or maybe more than an hour. CBS/World Race Productions editing wants to make it look like they are only slightly ahead of Toni/Dallas, but that is clearly not true. Andrew/Dan passed them at Sokol'niki Park just after their Speedbump while toni and Dallas had to redo using a taxi. for Andrew and Dan finishing second in spite of their start time, taxi wrong park delay, and their requirement to do the Speedbump was a huge achievement. That was some really fine racing. Ken/Tina finally finish 3rd after their simultaneous arrival at the pitstop with Andrew/Dan was negated by their inability to find the cluebox and clue which sends them there. Phil goes out onto the course to do the mercy finish for Toni/Dallas. Both of the say they are very proud of each other and had improved an already-good relationship. Toni says she would have done nothing different the whole race. If so, she is nuts. If she had elected to do that Roadblock, I know she would have been quicker and more accurate in counting Lenins and Stalins and it is highly unlikely that she would have lost the bag with money/passports.
 
We are now ready for the Finale next Sunday night. It's Nick/Starr, Andrew/Dan(who nobody thought would be here except maybe themselves), and Ken/Tina. They still have several relationship issues to work out. Tina feels under-supported by Ken but who could provide enough support to this needy woman? He really appears to be trying.  I look forward to an exciting finish.

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