The Amazing Race 9 – Recap – Episode 9-3

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Here’s the Leaderboard (Roadblocks performed are in parentheses after the Racer name):

Let’s look at the leg:

Roadblock – Fire Escape Climb/Rappel
There wasn’t anything tricky about the Roadblock, but I guess the Racers should’ve realized that the “choose one of three staircases” option had some significance later on. I don’t think Lisa and Joni lost the Race here, but it’s telling that all three lead teams took different staircases. Joseph was lucky to be first up staircase one, but Jeremy and B.J. were smart in choosing alternate staircases – in B.J.’s case noone else went up the same staircase, so he was almost assured of finishing quickly if he made good time up to the roof.

Bottleneck – Charter Bus
This is where thinking smart on the Roadblock came into play. The two teams in the lead in Leg 1 (That would be the Hippies and Frat Boys, poozers) opted to go for the second and third staircases, avoiding the logjam at the first staircase and allowing them to be the first two teams to grab the first charter.

Not so smart – Fran and Barry and Double D. The latter two were the last two teams on staircase one, and Danielle’s hesitation no doubt cost them some time. It also put them on the last charter, along with the sisters and Michelle and Lake.

Detour – Press It or Climb It
Climbing was obviously the better choice, but if you didn’t have the arm strength (as Lori and David and the sisters apparently don’t), then you needed to press, which was the more time consuming task. In Lisa and Joni’s case, the decision was fatal, since the other three teams on the last charter all opted for the climbing task, meaning that they would need some bad luck to stay in the Race. And while bad luck did strike our Token Older Couple, it wasn’t enough for the sisters to catch up.

And now, it’s time for LIVE coverage of:
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 3, I am in Russia Playing With the Dolls

Last week, Sao Paolo (not Rio, as I incorrectly stated) to Brotas in beautiful Brazil. Teams climbed up stairs, rappelled and ascended walls, and distilled some ethanol. The Frat Boys pondered playing for the other team, and Fran and Barry’s bug broke down. But in the end, it was Texan sisters Lisa and Joni who heard the fatal phrase from Phil, and were Philiminated.

Nine teams remain. Who will be eliminated, next?

Opening Credits

We are at Primavera de Serra, on the outskirts of Brotas, Brazil. This was the second Pit Stop in a race around the world. Here teams will eat, sleep and mingle for a predetermined amount of time before starting the next leg of the Race. While they were here, Double D and the Frat Boys hooked up.

BJ and Tyler, who were the first to arrive at 4:48pm, will be the first to depart at 4:48am. They’re told to travel 3 miles to a 300 foot zipline to get their next clue. Sounds like a bottleneck to me.

Eric and Jeremy, 5:01am. They have $307 for this leg of the race. They name their car Danielle #3.

Monica and Joseph have a new nickname suggested by Josh Clinton – the Razorbacks. They depart at 5:18am. Monica is impressed by the amount of calm Joseph has shown.

Lori and David, 5:28am. They’re happy to learn about the world together.

The Hippies find the route marker first, and it’s open from 0700 to 1800. Yep, bottleneck. Eric and Jeremy arrive and they pal around with the Hippies. Razorbacks and Nerds arrive.

Yolanda and Ray, 6:31am. Hey, they’ve been dating long distance. Yeah, we know.

Wanda and Desiree, 6:32am. Wanda is the pessimist, Desiree is the optimist.

7am, and the first four teams get ready to go on the zipline.

Michelle and Lake, 7:06am. Lake is dangerous, and Michelle plays it safe.

Danielle and Dani, 7:07am. They’re playing with their hearts, minds and butts. In that order.

Michelle and Lake are lost out of the gate.

Hippies take the zipline. They’re told to fly 7300 miles to Moscow, Russia. When they get there, they must head to Chaika Bassein, and Olympic diving facility. To get there, they mist get a chartered bus at Brotas bus depot (back to Sao Paolo, I guess).

Frat Boys, Razorbacks and Nerds all finish, as Yolanda and Ray and Wanda and Desiree arrive. Meanwhile, Lake and Michelle are still lost.

Fran and Barry, 8:24am. They’re not happy to be in last place. Well, duh.

Zipline. Yolanda screams all the way, and Desiree is afraid that she’ll pee in her pants.

Hippies arrive at the Bus Station, and notes that there are departure times of 10:45am, 10:00am and 9:15am. All four teams get 9:15am tickets.

Double D finish the task, as Michelle and Lake arrive. Yolanda and Ray and Wanda and Desiree get 10:00am tickets. Lake was hoping that they wouldn’t have to go to “freaking Russia”, but well, too bad.

Danielle and Dani get 10:00am tickets, and hit on by the Frat Boys.

The 9:15am charter departs. Lake and Michelle argue, but they get a 10:00am ticket as well.

That means that Fran and Barry are the only team on the 10:45am charter. Eh, I wouldn’t worry – that just means that you’ve got 90 less minutes to scramble around the airport.

Ad Break

Sao Paolo airport. Jeremy: “Are we in Moscow right now guys?”

The Hippies book on Luftthansa (arriveing at 12:10pm Moscow time), as do the other three teams. Everyone else gets on the flight as well, rendering the previous 20 minutes of the show irrelevant.

On the flight, some teams learn Russian, others sleep, others get directions, and others flirt (guess who?).

Nerds and Razorbacks share a taxi to save money, as do Double D and the Frat Boys.

The Hippies arrive at Chaika Bassein first, where they find a

Roadblock – Who wants to take the plunge – Team members must put on a bathing suit and jump off of a 10 meter platform, swim across the pool and dive to retrieve their next clue.

Tyler takes it.

Barry takes it, as does Yolanda, who doesn’t know how to swim.

Tyler finishes the task and the Hippies are told to travel 3 miles by taxi to Node Vichiy Cathedral.

Lake takes it. Eric, Dani, Monica, Lori and Wanda take it.

Barry has some problems, but eventually gets the clue. Yolanda is scared, but Michelle, Ray and everyone else encourage her. She finishes the task.

Eric and Lake finish, as does Dani. Lake was upset that he had to wear a Speedo. Frat Boys wait for the girls. Monica finishes the task. Lori finishes the task.

Wanda is freaking out because she’s afraid of deep water. She’s freaking out as we head to an

Ad Break – oh you knew it was coming.

Back, and after some coaching by Desiree, Wanda is still having problems. The Hippies arrive at the cathedral (beautiful, btw) and open the clue to find a

Detour – Scrub or Scour
Scrub – Teams must travel to a trolley depot and wash the trolley inside and out.
Scour – Teams must travel to a theatre and search through 1500 nested dolls to find one of ten “microscopic” clues.

Hippies decide to Scour. Yolanda and Ray arrive at the Cathedral Double D forget a backpack at the Roadblock.

Frat boys find the Cathedral, as do Michelle and Lake and Fran and Barry. Michelle and Lake decide to Scrub, as do Frat Boys and Fran and Barry. Yolanda and Ray decide to Scour. Eric and Jeremy decide to go to the closest one, but the driver doesn’t speak Engrish, so they decide to follow somebody.

Meawhile, Wanda’s still trying to dive. Encouraged by the Russian Men, she finally does it! Meanwhile, the girls head back to find their bag, as the Nerds and Razorbacks arrive at the cathedral. Both teams decide to scrub.

Hippies are lost. Fran and Barry meet up with them, and both teams decide to switch up and Scour.

At the theatre, Yolanda, Ray, Lake, Michelle and the Frat Boys arrive. They shrug and start looking, with some good natured banter going on between the teams.

Wanda and Desiree arrive at the cathedral and decide to Scour. And they forget that the driver speaks Russian, not Spanish.

The girls arrive, and naturally they can’t find a taxi when they get out of the cathedral, bringing us to an

Ad Break

We’re back, and the girls FINALLY get a taxi, and head to the trolley depot.

At the threatre, Eric and Jeremy find a clue. They’re told to take a taxi to St. Basil Cathedral at Red Square. Michelle and Lake find a clue as well.

Meanwhile, Nerds and Razorbacks aren’t finding the trolley depot. Wanda and Desiree and Double D arrive, and start cleaning, to so humourous Russian folk music.

Fran and Barry arrive at the theatre. Ray finds a clue. The Hippies arrive at the theatre. Ray’s happy.

At the trolley depot, the Nerds and Razorbacks arrive. Obviously, Double D and Wanda and Desiree are happy about that. They look to be almost done. Tyler finds a clue. Meanwhile, Fran and Barry are frustrated.

At St. Basil Cathedral, we see Phil and a Mat. It looks like the leg isn’t over yet. Eric and Jeremy are the first team to arrive, but Phil tells them that the leg isn’t over yet, and they get their next clue.

Obviously… To Be Continued

Next episode, Fran and Barry struggle through the Detour, while Eric and Jeremy have a smashing good time. Wanda and Desiree argue with each other, while teams get the ride of their lives on the wall… OF DEATH!

Kevin has been an Insider since 2003, writing on a variety of topics ranging from The Amazing Race to Mixed Martial Arts. His current hobbies include Fantasy Football, Sporcle, travelling, making liberal use of his DVR and wondering what the heck he's gonna do when his two daughters are old enough to date. You can follow Kevin on Twitter (@starvenger).