Episode Report Card M. Giant: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Slumdog Would-Be Millionaires
By M. Giant | Season 14 | Episode 6 | Aired on 03.22.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.We go from Novosibirsk to Moscow to New Delhi to Jaipur, where the Racers get an eyeful of Indian-style poverty before the leg even begins. Then there's a scrum at a sacred tree, where a recording on a red phone sends them to Road Block to feed and water camels. Mel struggles with the physically demanding task, but since he's the first one in the bunch of teams to figure out how to use the baskets to carry the food, he makes up some time and finishes the task in second place. For the Detour, Tammy and Victor hold onto their early lead as they select the option to dance in the streets for tips, and easily win their second leg. Most of the other teams follow suit, except for the Stuntmen, who can never pass up a chance to show off their physical prowess. Which is fine when they're pedaling giant loads of hay across town, but not so much when they have to find a tiny elephant in there. The Flight Attendants are still in last place when they hit their Speed Bump, which requires them to paint up a live elephant. So those two teams end up in a race for last. But the Stuntmen beat Christie and Jodi to the mat by mere minutes, and the Flight Attendants are Philiminated.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Phil welcomes us back to Novosibirsk, which I am not surprised to learn is the largest city in Siberia. Phil addresses us from the now-empty stage of the Novosibirsk Ballet and Opera Theater -- which is also known as "The Siberian Coliseum" and happens to be the largest theater in Russia -- reminding us that this was the sixth Pit Stop. We flash back to last week's arrivals, when this beautiful and august place was granted even greater respect by having seven Americans run around inside it in their underwear.
Because Margie and Luke arrived first, at 12:18 p.m., they're leaving tonight at 12:18 a.m. "Fly to the Pink City in India," Margie reads from the clue, while Luke is struck mute with excitement and also from being deaf. In case you're like me and don't happen to know what India's "Pink City" is, other than that it is likely the ancestral home of Kelly Kapoor, Phil's here to help. With a nod to the fact that the Racers are leaving the "freezing Siberian climate," he narrates that they're off to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. As for its nickname, he explains, "It was "dressed in pink for royal visitors in 1876 and today is known as the Pink City." Wow, Jaipur, resting on your laurels much? At least a big gate they show is still being kept in fresh pink paint, even if the rest of the city isn't. Phil goes on to say that this isn't their final destination: from the Jaipur airport, they'll need to race by taxi to a remote village, there to find a sacred tree called Peepli Ka Pedh, under which they'll find their next clue. As Margie and Luke score a taxi, Luke solo-interviews, "I'm very happy with my mom as a teammate. It's good harmony. My mom is doing all the communicating and I'm doing all the strategizing." I wonder what Margie would say about that. Did I mention this is a solo interview? In the cab to the airport, they talk about how India is going to be a rather different experience for them. You know what would be different for me? A season of The Amazing Race in which they don't go to India.
Tammy and Victor are leaving in second place, at 12:24, and Victor seems pretty excited about going to the Pink City. I'm just saying. As they get in their cabs, Victor interviews about how he's always played the role that's expected of him as the eldest son in an Asian family. "The race is liberating, because this is an opportunity for me to be out there, to be extroverted, to do the unexpected." He's been out there, all right. Back in the cab, he reads the part of the clue that specifically instructs them to connect through Moscow. Normally I would assume that this means someone is going to screw up and make their transfer in Tokyo, but I keep forgetting that Kelly and Christie were on the show last season.