Amazing Race Fodder

New Twists on The Amazing Race!

TAR has come up with a new twist for all of us this week. Long with Detours and Road Blocks we now have Intersections! But we will learn more about them later. Things started just how they always do. Teams left ChÃ¢teau Bel Ombre in the order in which they left. Teams opened their clue to find out they were traveling 700 miles to the island of Madagascar. I guess that it is a good thing that most of them had seen the recent Madagascar cartoon, so they all had an idea where they were headed.

Since Dustin & Kandice were the first to leave, they were able to leave the car that they crashed for someone else, while they took a car that was not crunched. They were hoping that they took Lyn & Karlyn's car, but they actually took Tyler & James' car. Erwin & Godwin, ever helpful, took the crunched car. Teams got in their cars and made their way to the airport. It has become painfully obvious that James really has no idea how to read a map. I must point out that since this is true, Tyler must be just as bad because he actually asked Rob & Kimberly for help. Yikes. As usual, all of the teams were caught up at the airport and were all on the same flight to Madagascar.

The teams landed in the capital city, Anatananarivo, where they were to find a famous landmark called the black angel. They were not informed, however, that the black angel was recently painted white. Uh-oh. The six-pack actually took off first from the airport with Mary & David in the lead. As they are all traveling in their taxis, Kimberly remarks that all of the exhaust the cars are giving off is really bad for you. Ever intelligent Rob takes an opportunity to tell her "Babe, they die a lot younger than we do. Most of them don't get enough protein. So their brains don't develop as much. Your brain needs protein." Well, if that is all true, Rob definitely needs more protein too. He will get it soon, never fear. Almost all of the teams see the angel statue in the middle of a lake and say well there's the white angel and pass it up. The six-pack is lead astray by their taxi drivers. The other teams arrive to find a new kind of clue, an Intersection.

In an Intersection, teams must join with another team to complete a task. All four people must make all decisions and perform all tasks together until further notice. Tyler & James team up with Rob & Kimberly while Dustin & Kandice stand around wondering if they are the last ones to arrive. How can they have won any legs of this race if they cannot even count!?!?! Dustin & Kandice are stuck waiting for another teams to arrive. Once the first teams opened up their clues, they found a Fast Forward. Tyler, James, Rob & Kimberly decide to do the Fast Forward so that they can jump ahead and possibly shut David & Mary out.

In this Fast Forward, teams must travel 2.5 miles to a market where they will search for stall number 11, where they will have to indulge in a local gastronomic delight. Each teams member must eat an entire serving of cow lips. Yum. When all four team members have eaten, they will receive the clue that sends them directly to the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. Now, I have seen a few episodes of Fear Factor, and this was pretty close. Granted, the meat was not rotting or bloody or filled with fish guts, but you would not have been able to tell that from the amount of time it took all four of them to get it all down. There were ones that still had hair and teeth attached. Gross. Map-illiterate James managed to scarf down his quickly. Hence the name of the episode "He can't swim, but he can eat cow lips". Yuck. The action kept switching from the teams doing the Fast Forward to the teams doing the regular tasks, suggesting that it was taking a looooooong time for them to complete the Fast Forward. In actuality, this was correct. Convinced that the other teams would have to do at least a Detour and Road Block, they decided they had plenty of time to eat. Which is true......to a point.

Once the six-pack caught up with Dustin & Kandice, they found out that one of their teams would have to work with Dustin & Kandice. I was hoping that it would be Lyn & Karlyn. I haven't seen any good fights lately, but the ever-amicable Cho Brothers chose to go with them. They all opened their clues to reveal a Detour. In this Detour, teams had to choose between Long Sleep and Short Letter. In Long Sleep, teams had to travel by van 2.2 miles to an open market, where they will choose 8 foam mattresses, cover them with mattress covers and deliver them on foot to an address where the homeowner will give them their next clue. In Short Letter, teams must travel 3.5 miles by van to a paper making station. Once there they are to use traditional materials and techniques to create 28 sheets of paper with flowers on them. Once the artisan has deemed their work suitable, they will receive their next clue.

All of the other teams chose Long Sleep, as they thought they would be able to finish it more quickly. Mary tried to convince Lyn & Karlyn to go for the Fast Forward, but when they realized that the other two teams were probably already there, it would be a waste of their time. Considering how long it took the other groups to finish, it may not have been such a bad idea. Dustin, Kandice, Erwin & Godwin got their mattresses covered quickly and relied on the girls to find someone that would help them get to the address. It worked. On the way they got a little lost, but it all worked out for them in the end. David, Mary, Lyn & Karlyn got theirs done too and used their fanny packs to kind of bundle them together to make them easier to manage. Well, it was a good idea in theory, but I think in the end, it would have been easier for them to each carry two.

The clues received from the homeowners told them they were now released from the Intersection and all teams were once again on their own. This clue revealed that the teams must travel to Tohotohobato Ambondrona Analakely - try to say that fast ten times. Here they will search the open market for their next clue. Once they find the clue box, a Road Bock is revealed. In this Road Block, the team member elected to perform the task must find and use the tool most used by the government of Madagascar, a stamp. They must search among dozens of stamp vendors over six steep staircases to find four stamps matching the ones on their sheet. Once they get them all stamped, they will receive their next clue. Meanwhile, the other team member is sent to the Pit Stop to wait for them. This was a fairly benign task. All of them got the stamps without too much difficulty. The next clue they received told them to go to the Pit Stop at the Cathedral Andohalo.

The biggest thing I learned from this leg of the trip is, if you are ever in Madagascar and need a taxi; check the gas meter before you go. Almost every team had cabbies that stopped for gas. Most of them filling a tiny gas can or 20 oz soda bottle with the gas and then putting it into the tank. Nothing like running on fumes or pumping gas into approved containers. Maybe Rob is right, NAH. The order that the teams checked in was:
1. Dustin & Kandice
2. Tyler & James
3. Rob & Kimberly
4. Erwin & Godwin
5. Lyn & Karlyn
6. David & Mary

Technically, David & Mary should have checked in 5th, but as they were marked for elimination and had a 30 minute penalty for not checking in first, Lyn & Karyln were able to slide ahead. There was no joy in Mudville or Kansas as David & Mary struck out. My favorite team gone, I can whole-heartedly root for the Cho Brothers. Quite a change for me, as I think I called them idiots in my first review. Just goes to show, you don't really know someone till you see them on TV a few times.


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