The racers head to Surabaya, Indonesia. Morale is high, not least because the Express Pass is up for grabs after all. Amy & Daniel, having learned from last week's mistake, fully expect to win this leg. Rob & Kelley get a flight that leaves before everyone else's does. And James & Abba make a slick move at the airport that buys them an hour lead. We'll soon see how all of that works out.
Nine of the teams get to a bull-racing arena in Surabaya at night, only to find they have to take a number and wait for morning. So much for Team Metal's lead. But also, so much for the Monster Truckers' lag after they were the only team dumb enough to sign up for a four-hour layover in Hong Kong. In the morning, all of the teams take turns riding on the back of motorcycles during a bull race, a time-wasting activity that's more ride than task. From there, they pick up their next clue at a bridge, then proceed to the Roadblock, where they have to run pedal-operated carnival rides while simultaneously making balloon animals. There's not a lot of rank-switching here, but Team Metal does drop a few notches and Will proves constitutionally incapable of making balloon animals, landing him and Gary in a distant last.
The next part is where the real shuffle takes place, as the teams have to take taxis to a motorcycle dealer and only half of their drivers turn out to have the remotest idea where it is. Trey & Lexi and Natalie & Nadiya, who have formed themselves an alliance, are the first teams to get there and collect the clue for the Detour, in which teams either have to schlep giant blocks of ice across town or arrange barrels of fish to look all pretty. The twins opt for the latter (the only team to do so, in fact), and end up winning the leg and the Express Pass, with Team Austin in a close second. The Chippendales make a nice recovery and come in third, followed by Abbie & Ryan and Brent & Josh, the goat farmers. James & Abba and then Brittany and Caitlin check in (though not without some amusing ice transporting difficulty for the latter team), while the back of the pack struggles. Both Amy & Daniel and Team Monster Truck are saddled with clueless drivers, while the substitute teachers have that big time deficit after the balloon task. Gary & Will assume they're done and finish the leg accordingly. But Amy & Daniel are the last team to find the dealership, the last team to finish the Detour, and the last team to reach the mat, resulting in their Philimination. All things considered, they may have had the worst first two legs of any team ever.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Welcome back to Shanghai, which I still maintain has the dirtiest-looking clean skyline on earth. A familiar voice adds that it's also the "largest and fastest-growing city in the world... home to more than eighteen million people. And with its spectacular city views, the Bund Observatory." And with his sentence fragments, Phil Keoghan. Here at the first Pit Stop -- and the start of the second leg in a race around the world -- we get to relive Abbie and Ryan's arrival at the rooftop mat last week, which put them in the running for a two-million dollar prize, provided they also win the final leg. If anyone else wins the race, of course, that team gets only a paltry million. Phil tells us that Abbie and Ryan are also the first to begin this second leg, at 5:35 AM. Despite the early hour, it's full daylight, if a bit hazier than the day of the previous leg. Abbie nervously pronounces their next destination from the clue, "Surabaya, Indonesia," and doesn't do too badly. Phil narrates that that's across the South China Sea and that Surabaya is known as the "City of Heroes." Not for long. Phil goes on to say that after they land, they'll travel over the Suramadu Bridge (a beautiful suspension job that, in a helicopter shot, appears to span the entire Indian Ocean) and get to the Alun Alun Stadium, which, let's just say, is not a large, modern arena like we saw last week in Shanghai. It's more like the kind of sports facility where you may have watched a kid's soccer game. Outside is their next clue and a sign inviting them to take a number, which are marked on brightly painted riding crops. Between paddles last week and riding crops this week, I'm starting to wonder if this show needs to be on later. Abbie reads on that the winner of this leg will receive the Express Pass. I'm surprised that's still in there, having foolishly assumed that the new Double Your Money twist took its place. But unlike that one, there's no way the Express Pass costs the network any additional prize money, so I guess why not? Abbie and Ryan get in a cab and dub themselves "Team Number One." Hey, I do the team-nicknaming around here.
A minute later, at 5:36, Amy and Daniel leave the Pit Stop in second place. Amy interviews that they're bummed about not winning the previous leg, "because we had it." And then they gave it to Abbie and Ryan, as we see in a black & white flashback. Amy says that she's a strong person, but she does have prosthetic legs. However, she says that her past trials, like learning to walk and snowboard again, give her a drive that's a huge advantage in the race. As long as she quits helping other teams, sure.
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