Recap of Amazing Race 13, episode 2
 
By Arthur Perkins

This episode starts in Salvador Brazil on its east coast. The first clue sends teams to Fortaleza Brazil, about a 2 hour plane ride north along the coast. Teams leave the pitstop at:
 
Nick/Starr 407am
Ken/Tina 413am
Terence/Sarah 418am
Mark/Bill 424am
Kelly/Christy 444am
Toni/Dallas 457am
Andrew/Dan 503am
Aja/Ty 505am
Anthony/Stephanie 511am
Marisa/Brooke 513am
 
Now, ask yourself what is strange about those departure times. World Race Productions decided to have teams enjoy a longer period of time at the pitstop, specifically 18 hours instead of the normal 12, 24 or 36 hours. They released teams so that even the lsat team could get on the same plane with the others. So all teams race to the Salvador airport. The first team to arrive finds out that the first airline visible, TAM Aeras Lineas, does not have a flight until 1130am. That won't do so teams go on to GOL. GOL's next flight is at 645am but there is only one seat available. Think about it for a moment. There are 10 teams x2 + 10 camera/sound crews X 2 = 40 individuals who all want to travel ASAP to Fortaleza. So what happens. Simple, GOL magically finds a bigger plane. Now I believe that they knew about the 40 passengers all along as a result of advance work by the World Race Productions people and GOL was just acting out a charade for TV. Tina really believes that her carping caused GOL to make the change and claims credit with anyone within her vocal reach. Ken is also defending her, particularly against that paragon Terence. However, it's obvious to the TV observer that Tina had nothing to do with that decisions and was delusional.
 
All 10 teams land a the same time and sprint for taxis. Anthony and Stephanie make a bad choice and their taxi won't run. It takes them several minutes of trying jump starts before they give up and get another one. The clue sends all to the Conbuco Village Market. Somehow Ken and Tina wind up even behind Anthony and Stephanie. Teams have to ride dune buggies to get to the next clue on the beach. they look like they are having fun for a change, particularly Terence and Sarah kissing. The DETOUR is Beach It (move a jangada large sailboat on wooden rollers for 100 meters with the help of a crew of 2) or Dock It (take a serial number for container in the container port, look it up in a database to find its general location - SUBU, then go that location and find the actual container among many that look similar). Only Mark and Bill elect Dock It although Marisa and Brooke think they are going there but find themselves on the beach instead. Mark and Bill make steady progress and end up in first place at the end of this episode, so Dock It appears to be the better choice for geeks at least.
 
The rest of the teams all struggle with the displacement of the rollers from the back after exposed to the front to keep the operation moving. Even a team that I would have expected to have trouble, Marisa and Brooke, seem to get through it with ease. Nick tells Starr to kiss their crew to motivate their best performance and that appears to work. Kelly and Christy were at the front of the pack but move way back when they misunderstand the nature of a DETOUR and think they have to do both parts and search needlessly; they finally just decide to go ahead. The Roadblock sends teams to a 600 foot section of painted wall. There are many different things on the wall. One
of them is the name of a place that is the pitstop. Teams find at the far end of the wall a group of 11 place names. Several correctly surmise that wriiting down all 11 and repetitively naming them to the painter will get the job done. That works. Ken and Tina finish first and are off to the Cidade de Crianca, the pitstop at a park back in downtown Fortaleza. Kelly and Christy made a huge mistake by not asking their taxi to stay. They search in vain for another taxi before they stumble on their own taxi which had waited for them. This cost them several places. Nick seems out of it for a long time, but finally uses the "list" technique. Dan (or maybe Andrew) has a very difficult figuring it out. The final three 3 are as can be expected are Andrew and Dan, Marisa and Brooke, and Anthony and Stephanie, all of whom leave at almost the same time but in that order.
 
At the pitstop, Mark and Bill suffer a luggage rip that causes them to lose their lead against Ken and Tina, who walk fast to the pitstop for first place. the total order is:
 
1. Ken/Tina
2. Mark/Bill
3. Terence/Sarah
4. Aja/Ty
5. Toni Dallas
6. Nick/Starr
7. Kelly/Christy
8. Andrew/Dan
9. Marisa/Brooke
10. Anthony/Stephanie, who are eliminated
 
The preview for next week shows teams having problems with high altitudes.