Amazing Race Week 4: Jockeying for Last Place

This episode had probably the best challenges of the season, with three separate tasks that allowed competent teams to outperform incompetent teams.

In the beginning of the leg, teams flew to Siberia, Russia, in two batches. The first batch contained Christie and Jodi, Mark and Michael, and Kisha and Jen. The second flight had all the rest.

The first Detour option asked teams to build an enormous stack of firewood, which proved to be even harder that in seemed at first. The firewood was stacked so high (about 7 feet or so) that improper stacking technique resulted in the entire wall of firewood toppling over, which meant a ton of extra work. The other option was to assemble a pair of shutters and bring them to a house in the area that needed new shutters (as announced by a sign that said, in both Russian and English, "Repairs Needed").

Most teams tackled the firewood option, but Mark/Michael and Mel/Mike gave up on it after inadvertently triggering a wood avalanche. Mark and Michael came across as particularly hapless when they couldn't find the proper house, burning hours and hours of time.

Margie and Luke took the opportunity to employ a "blind U-Turn," which allowed them to send the team of their choosing through both Detour tasks rather than just one. They picked on another strong team, Amanda and Kris, and were rewarded when the young couple arrived at the Pit Stop in last place.

The Roadblock sent a member of each team down a bobsled track, where they had to read the seven letters posted along the track. If they completed the track in four minutes, they then had to unscramble the letters to form the name of a famous Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov. Victor, who has proven to have tons of knowledge (and not much common sense), got the answer immediately, while some other teams struggled. They seemed to rely on assembling the letters into vaguely Russian-sounding words until the name Chekhov emerged. Luke in particular struggled with the task, and seemed about to enter a state of panic before hitting on the right answer. Margie explained that, since English is essentially a second language to Luke, the task was psyching him out.


Finishing Order

1st: Christie and Jodi (+5)
2nd: Kisha and Jen (+1)
3rd: Tammy and Victor (+5 = most improved)
4th: Margie and Luke (no change)
5th: Jaime and Cara (-2)
6th: Mel and Mike (-5)
7th: Mark and Michael (-2)
8th: Amanda and Kris (-7 = biggest slide = eliminated)



The Standings

Christie and Jodi hit the Pit first, but no one predicted that surprising turn of events, nor did anyone think that Kisha and Jen would win the leg. So, the FT bonus points were awarded to those who picked Tammy and Victor as the Fastest Team of the leg.

1st: Kim 1014 (-30 +14)
2nd: Dawn 997 (-10 +0)
3rd: Paul 910 (-20 +14)
4th: Carl: 854 (-70 +14)
5th: Experts 820 (-70 +0)
5th: Matt 820 (-60 +0)
7th: Mom 806 (-20 +0)

There was no change in the standings. The race for first got a little tighter between Dawn and Kim. Carl, the Experts and I all plummeted on the Amanda/Kris ouster, but this essentially just means that Mom is now within sniffing distance of 5th place. As long as Kim and Dawn continue to do well, the rest of us are just hoping for 3rd.

Good luck, everyone, and please me sure to send me your FT picks for next week!