Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Fare Competition
By M. Giant | Season 19 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.09.2011
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The race stays in Indonesia, where racers have to join a bicycle club to reenact a colonial patrol ride to a Dutch colonial fort, a task during which Ernie's bike loses a pedal and drops him and his control-freak wife nearly to the back of the pack. From there, it's off to a farm where they have to either feed rice farmers lunch and plant rice seedlings; or lead, feed, and water some very noisy and ill-behaved sheep. Both Detour tasks lead to a lot of spills in the rice paddy, especially for Cathi. Amani and Marcus, already in last place, mess up their first Detour choice and switch, widening their lag even further.
After the Detour, everyone heads to a Buddhist temple for a Road Block where they try to count the scores of Buddha statues, broken down by the statues' four different hand positions, which turns out to be quite tricky for most teams. The father-son team of Laurence and Zac, working with the snowboarders, finish first, but get a fifteen-minute penalty for a bucket-related violation in the Detour, allowing Tommy and Andy to win their second leg in a row thanks to other teams' screw-ups. Most of the other teams get terribly stuck on the Road Block, even Marcus, who got the correct answers from the snowboarders on the way out. Jeremy and Sandy, whose taxi broke down, actually catch a break in that they get to walk straight to the Pit Stop while other teams have to go back and pay off their taxis. Amani and Marcus come in sixth as a result of having fired theirs, and the race for last ends up being between twins Liz and Marie and showgirls Kaylani and Lisa. And it's the latter team who ends up last on the mat, suffering Philimination two-and-a-half legs later than maybe they should have.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Again with the no "This" at the opening, as Phil simply tells us that Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands, with Java being home to more than half its people, making it the most populous island in the world. Phil meets us back at Kraton Palace in the city of Yogyakarta, which he says will be the start of the race's third leg. He doesn't say these places were the Pit Stop any more, does he? I guess he's trying to keep us looking forward to the future. And that future begins now! Snowboarders Andy and Tommy, who won the previous leg, are leaving in first place at 7:38 AM, which is probably the earliest they've ever been awake in their lives. Their clue reads, "Take a ride back into the Dutch colonial era." Phil tells us that the Dutch colonized the islands more than 300 years ago, "and their cultural influence is still seen today, with bicycle clubs like this." Phil gestures behind him, where a column of cyclers in khaki uniforms and pith helmets are following him on his leisurely stroll through the streets. Phil says the teams will join these "local enthusiasts who reenact the bicycle patrols of the 1940s." "Enthusiast" being a euphemism for "dork." They're obviously not in it for the athletic aspect, as Phil observes that the riders are "clearly in no hurry." Upon their group's arrival at Fort Vredeburg (another colonial remnant), they'll get their next clue. So this leg of the Amazing Race begins with an Amazing Amble.
Andy and Tommy find the cyclists standing in rows, and pick their group based on the fact that one of its members is smiling. They change into matching uniforms (although they seem a bit disappointed not to get any "cool pins like this guy"), and get on their slow-moving way. They interview that they need to keep doing things right like they did during the last leg. And if eight other teams screw up like last time, so much the better. For now, they're just enjoying a bike ride that's so relaxed that they have time to pop wheelies and stand on their bike seats. Just like the Dutch in the 1940s.
Laurence and Zac are leaving in second place, at 7:57 AM. Zac interviews that his dad is the best traveling companion he could have, adding that Laurence met him at every port when Zac sailed around the world. Sounds a bit like Phil's gig. Laurence interviews about the challenges they've faced together on the ocean, and that the challenges of the race will bring out the best in them. They're on their way. "We're putting Lance Armstrong to shame here," Laurence lies.