Here's Bucky:
This week’s leg of "The Amazing Race" takes the contestants, first by bus then by train, (they all end up traveling together, natch) to Singapore, where they will have to taxi to a museum and find Allan Wu, the host of "The Amazing Race – Asia", to get their first meaningful clue. (Who knew there was a "TAR – Asia"? I wonder if those racers ever route through the United States and have trouble with our taxi drivers?)
We also learn there will be a U-Turn (ta-daaaa!!!) and of course the Detectives and Brent & Caite get excited at the possibility of eliminating Carol & Brandy.
The first clue gives them three choices: a Fast Forward (which can be completed by only one team and then is out of play) and the regular two Detour options. Fast Forwards allow the team that completes them to go directly to the Pit Stop. The Brothers are in first and decide to attempt the Fast Forward, which means they will have to ride to the top of a huge ferris wheel-looking thing (541 feet in the air) then exit the car they are in and shinny along a horizontal ladder to the next car.
The rest of the teams go for the Detour options which are:
Pounding Drums – the contestants have to successfully learn and perform a drum routine to get the next clue, and
Pounding Pavement– the contestants have to set up a sidewalk ice cream stand and sell 25 ice cream sandwiches (which in Singapore are made by wrapping a real slice of bread around a slab of ice cream…GACK!)
All the remaining teams go for the drum challenge.
The Brothers arrive at the Fast Forward and Jordan (who apparently didn't read the clue thoroughly) is surprised about the whole "exit-and-shinny part" of the challenge. He says he thought they just had to go on a ride. They get on the ferris wheel and he is a wreck.
The rest of the teams arrive at the park to learn the drums. Brent & Caite seems confident, the Cowboys seem confused, Carol & Brandy are whiners (this week's theme, apparently…"The Amazing Carol & Brandy Whine Their Way Through Singapore!") and the Detectives give up quickly and decide to go to the Fast Forward. There they discover the Brothers are on the ferris wheel. Assuming the Brothers will successfully complete the challenge, the Detectives head for the ice cream sandwich challenge.
Jordan is extremely shaky as he exits the ferris wheel and looks several times like he is going to fall off (no worries—they have safety harnesses) but completes the shinny. Dan does, too, with no problem and they head for the Pit Stop, where Phil tells him they each win a motorbike. One of them says, "We won't use them; our mother won't let us." What? But, we quickly know who is first this week, so the suspense will be in who gets U-Turned and who gets eliminated.
Back at the drum, the Cowboys give performing the routine a shot, but they fail. Brent & Caite try next and are successful. They get the next clue and are off to a park, by taxi.
The Detectives, meanwhile, do well with the ice cream challenge, primarily because when they have sold 15 ice cream sandwiches, their taxi driver buys the remaining 10 from them. It seems like cheating, but the producers let it go. (We never learn if the taxi driver added this cost to their fare.)
The Cowboys finish the drum task next and head for the park. Carol & Brandy keep practicing and whining.
Brent & Caite arrive at the park and find both the U-Turn and the clue to get them to the Roadblock. Of course, they U-Turn Carol & Brandy; however, this is not an anonymous act. They also have to disclose that they were the team invoking the U-Turn. Caite is ecstatic. I think this was almost as satisfying to her as winning the whole race, if you don't count the million-dollar prize.
Carol & Brandy finish the drum challenge and head for the park. The Detectives arrive and get the clue to the Roadblock, as do the Cowboys. When Carol & Brandy get to the park and see that they have been U-Turned, they start whining even more and dissing Caite, and then Brent.
The Roadblock takes place at a shipyard and the contestant doing the task will have to correctly count the links in a big anchor chain that has been laid out on the dock. Seems easy enough. Except there is a lot of distracting noise, including somebody who keeps saying numbers over a loud speaker. When they get the count they have to write it on a clipboard and present it to a guy for verification in order to get the next clue.
Brent counts correctly on the first try and he & Caite head for the next challenge (I guess it's a second Detour) where they will have to ride a 1,200-foot zip line to get the directions to the Pit Stop. (It turns out the Pit Stop is clear across the city from the zip line, so taxi problems potentially loom in the future of the racers.)
Carol & Brandy do the ice cream challenge (because of the U-Turn) and, considering all the whining going on, do it in what seems like a fairly short amount of time.
Back at the Roadblock, Michael is designated to count the links for the Detectives and pulls an umpire's pitch counter from his backpack. It seems like this should be considered cheating, but the producers let it go. The Cowboys arrive and Jet begins counting. Michael finishes and the Detectives are set to get the next clue, but when they tell their count to the race official, he reminds them about the clipboard requirement. Oh no! They have to go back and get the clip board.
The Cowboys finish and head for the zip line, which Brent & Caite have completed. They take off in a cab for the Pit Stop and make it without incident. I guess the taxi ride across the city was easy, because if Brent & Caite can do it without getting lost, anybody can.
Carol & Brandy arrive at the shipyard and…I didn't make a note of which one…starts counting links. The Detectives show up with the required clipboard, have the count verified as correct and take off for the zip line. Carol & Brandy follow in a while.
I'm not sure why they even had the whole zip line diversion in there, because there is no challenge to it. Strap in and zip down. Everyone does it without incident. The only remaining drama is whether the Detectives will beat Carol & Brandy to the Pit Stop. They do, and Carol & Brandy are eliminated. In their exit interview, they insult Caite some more and Mrs. Bucky and I agree that theirs is the most satisfying elimination of the season.
So, the final order of finish is:
1st – The Brothers
2nd – Brent & Caite
rd – The Cowboys
4th – The Detectives
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