The race is done with Africa, and teams race each other to Copenhagen, Denmark. Seats are pre-reserved for them, but they have the opportunity to book something faster if they can. Thus Laurence and Zac get a huge jump on everyone else by transferring in London, while the rest of the teams go through Amsterdam per the default airfares. However, after landing in the Netherlands, the snowboarders and Jeremy & Sandy take an earlier flight out, with Ernie & Cindy and Bill & Cathi showing up shortly afterward. It wouldn't matter that much, because the church they arrive at doesn't open until the next morning, except for one thing: Marcus and Amani, after a lot of big talk about not being satisfied with fourth place, spent the night at the Amsterdam airport instead of looking for an earlier flight, so the next morning when the church opens they're the only team not in the correct country.
So the six remaining teams who actually possess something like wherewithal climb the church's bell tower to read a flag on the stairs and a flag on a nearby rooftop which, in combination, are sending them to a castle called Frederiksborg Slot. Jeremy and Sandy, misreading one of the banners, end up at the wrong place while the other teams get to the castle and have to do a Road Block where they have to dress, get made up, and dance as Renaissance characters. Going back to the church to re-check their clue, Jeremy and Sandy encounter Marcus and Amani at the church, so the gap is narrowed. Ernie aces the Roadblock, so he and Cindy are leading the way to "Frilandmuseet," with Bill & Cathi close behind while Zac struggles with the dance routine.
Frilandmuseet turns out to be a farm where the Detour is a choice between churning butter and leading a rabbit through an obstacle course. No, that's not a typo. Amani and Marcus get lost on their way to the castle (so much for a brilliant recovery) while Team Control and the grandparents get their churn on. After the Detour, there's the second Double U-Turn in a row, which Cindy decides to use on Bill & Cathi, probably making them the first old people ever to get U-Turned. In turn, Bill & Cathi U-Turn Laurence & Zac, and still finish the Detour in second place. Team NFL isn't far behind Jeremy and Sandy after the Roadblock, Ernie and Cindy finally win their second leg, and Bill and Cathi just beat the snowboarders to the Pit Stop, so they come in second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, Amani and Marcus manage to find their way to the farm before Jeremy and Sandy, who get lost in the Danish countryside while Laurence gets righteously indignant over being U-Turned the way he tried to U-Turn Amani and Marcus last week. So through no fault of their own, Team NFL reaches the Pit Stop in fourth place. Laurence and Zac finish their second Detour while Jeremy and Sandy are still making butter, but they get lost and hit a traffic jam on their way to the Pit Stop. As a result, Jeremy and Sandy come in fifth and Team Adventure is Philiminated. That's a surprising number of reversals for an episode without more excitement.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Over shots of the bustling capital city of Lilongwe, Phil narrates, "Malawi is a densely populated African country centered around Lake Malawi." Or bordered by it, but it's not like this show is about geography or something. Crowds and activity give way to scenic views of that body of water as he continues, "Its idyllic white sand beaches make it the perfect setting for a resort like this." Cut to Phil standing on the raised beach of the Sunbird Livingstonia, the start of the race's eighth leg, and what looks like a pretty comfortable place for the racers to have spent the night. Andy and Tommy, who won the previous leg (as usual) are leaving in first place at 3:12 PM. Also as usual, Andy is the hyperkinetic one, excitedly hopping up and down, and side to side, and in and out of phase with reality while Tommy opens the clue and reads, "Fly to Copenhagen, Denmark." Phil narrates that that'll be five thousand miles from Africa to Northern Europe, "and, for the first time in Amazing Race history, the city of Copenhagen, Denmark." Hard to believe there are still places they haven't been, after the total of seventeen thousand, eight hundred twenty-nine legs the Amazing Race has seen.
After landing, they'll hop into one of a fleet of product-placed vehicles to drive themselves to Vor Frelsers Kirke bell tower, a high spire attached to a church whose Danish name Phil clearly relishes wrapping his lips around. Tommy also reads from the clue, "Caution, Double U-Turn ahead." A second one in a row? And still no Fast Forwards? After three non-elimination legs? Who did the advance planning on this season, the creators of 24? In a pre-leg interview, Andy admits that after winning five legs, "People are not smiling at us as much." In their taxi to the airport, they further read from the clue, "Due to limited availability, you have pre-purchased airline tickets to Copenhagen. If you are able to book flights that you find more advantageous [which Andy pronounces "advantage-us"], you may do so." They thus resolve to get to Copenhagen before 8:20 the next morning, which is the scheduled arrival time of the flight they're automatically on. Think anyone else will try that?
Ernie and Cindy are opening their clue at, of course, 3:13 PM. Given the whisker-thin margin by which the snowboarders beat them in the last leg, it seems like they should get to go at 3:12:02, but it's not like it would make much difference. Cindy's excited about going to Copenhagen, and as for the Double U-Turn, she declares, "We're so using it." Ernie interviews how upset they were at basically having first place "stolen" from them in the last leg, even though they lost it fair and square. "But now we're gonna start fresh again and hopefully not make the same mistakes." How could they, unless they have another Express Pass to piss away?
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