Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | 139 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Franked Again
By M. Giant | Season 21 | Episode 9 | Aired on 2012.11.25
After the ads, the captain comes back on and says the deicer is fucked, so they're all going to have to switch planes. "We're done," Ryan says. "We're done." Maybe next time you won't go on The Amazing Race without knowing how to fix a deicer, Mr. Boy Scout.
Natalie & Nadiya, however, are having a much better time in Amsterdam, and are shocked and amazed as their bus -- which, mind you, is clearly called the Floating Dutchman and looks like a boat on the bottom -- drives up to the marina, aims itself down a boat ramp, and deliberately crashes into the canal, water splashing all the way up the windshield. As the twins marvel at being aboard a boat-bus, Phil explains that to complete the Fast Forward, they'll have seven minutes to eat five whole herring each, "before the bus returns to shore." If they can't do it in time, the bus will drive all the way back to the Van Gogh Café and wait ten minutes before going back so they can try again. Which seems like it would suck, but I'd think that if you had to try putting five raw fish in your belly on top of four and a half that were already in there, those ten minutes might actually be appreciated. So here goes: a waiter on the bus serves each of them a covered tray and they tuck right in, with their hair tied to the top of their heads. They struggle with chewing and swallowing the full, raw fish, but Nadiya has finished one in a little over a minute. I think they'll probably be okay.
Jaymes & James quickly find the clue box outside the Central Station. They look at the Fast Forward and also the Route Info, which instructs them to go on foot to a dock, ride a boat to a bridge called Magere Brug, and supposedly "find" a pastry stand identified by subtitle as "Poffertjesboot." But the Chippendales decide to go for the Fast Forward instead, which means they're either idiots or they think they might be the first team in town.
Aboard the Floating Dutchman, Nadiya has downed two fish and Natalie one, and they have a little under five minutes left. Nadiya's coaching Natalie through it, and soon they both have three down, with two and a half minutes left. The Chippendales are getting directions to the Van Gogh Cafe, and then we see Natalie finishing her last fish with just under a minute left, and Nadiya finishes with 49 second still on the clock. That wasn't terribly suspenseful, even leaving aside how little I appreciate food challenges on this show in the first place. They get their clue and give the waiter a "fishy kiss." Nadiya has to use her teeth to open the slippery envelope, and sure enough the clue inside is sending them to the Pit Stop: Ransdorp, a town where they'll look behind the church to find a house that was supposedly the home of Rembrandt's mistress. Saucy! "We feel good and feel gross at the same time," one of the sisters says as the bus gets back on land. Just imagine how they'd feel if they had to do it again. Even grosser and not at all good, would be my guess.