The Amazing Race 9 – Recap – Episode 9-5

Archive

I’m just curious, but do you guys notice that I put subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) spoilers in the teaser by way of song lyrics? Let me know.

It seems like the Frat Boys have the potential to be the most beloved AND the most hated winners in the history of the Amazing Race – an impressive feat, considering how hated Flo is. But the fact is, their “sexsexracesex” behaviour seems to have rubbed some people – mostly females – the wrong way. Guys, on the other hand, don’t have as much of an issue with Eric and Jeremy because we all either remember what it was like to be like them, are exactly like them, or are Frat Boys in training. It’s pretty much a phase that every guy goes through, and we can relate.

Let’s look at the leg:

Leaderboard (Roadblocks performed in parentheses after Racer name):



Top Teams
The Hippies and Frat Boys have over the course of three legs established themselves as head and shoulders above everyone else. Not only that, but they’re having fun while racing well! At this point, I think the only thing that will prevent these two teams from reaching the Finish Line are themselves.

Bottom Team
Danielle and Dani get the dishonour, because even though they weren’t eliminated, their “girls club” alliance backfired on them. When Wanda and Desiree got lost, they should’ve went on their own. Following is just going to hurt you at some point.

Airport Bottleneck – Moscow to Frankfurt
A bit of luck for the Frat Boys, a lot of luck for the Hippies, Lake and Michelle in getting earlier flights. For the Frat Boys and Michelle and Lake, the luck was a result of the Moscow Detour, as they managed to finish quickly and head to the airport earlier than the other teams. For BJ and Tyler, it was all about being in the right place at the right time.

Bottleneck – Wall of DEATH
Well, it was meant to be a bottleneck, but six teams weren’t able to make flights, and as a result, only three teams were around when the task opened. Still, it meant that a huge lead for the three teams was reduced to around three hours, but they managed to keep that lead to the end.

Roadblock – Gnome Hunt
A nothing task meant as product placement and that’s about it.

Detour – Break it or Slap It
Not much to say here. Slap it was obviously the better option, as the “needle in the haystack” task of breaking bottles was slowed quite a bit by the cuckoo clock. Teams that slapped found themselves done rather quickly.

And now, it’s time for LIVE coverage of:
The Amazing Race 9, Episode 5, Good Thing I Took That Human Anatomy Class in High School

Previously, teams continued racing from Russia to Germany. Three teams took a large lead, and Fran and Barry emerged from the back of the pack, while the two girl-girl teams ended up behind and Dani found the gnome first. In the end, Wanda and Desiree were eliminated. Who will be Philiminated… next?

Opening Credits

This is Munchen, Deutchland. One of it’s most famous landmarks is the Siegestor. This is the third Pit Stop in a race around the world Here, teams have a chance to eat, sleep, mingle and hook up before the start of the next leg

Eric and Jeremy, who were the first team to arrive 2:15pm, are the first team to depart at 2:15am. They’re told to travel 850 to Palermo, Italy in Sicily. Their goal is a 100 year old opera house

BJ and Tyler, 3:04am.

Michelle and Lake, 3:09am. The Hippies wait for them. They’re happy to be ahead.

Munich Airport, Eric and Jeremy find that AlItalia is the “fastest” flight (with one connections) to Palermo. The other two teams meet up with the Frat Boys, and Hippies and Frat Boys play with wheelchairs. Michelle and Lake and the Hippies look for flights online. Hippies get a flight departing at 6:35am and arriving (hopefully) at 10:15am. Michelle and Lake seem to have problems.

Fran and Barry, 5:03am. They’re learning from their mistakes.

Lori and David, 5:28am. They realize that they’re deeply in love.

Monica and Joseph, 5:52am. Monica’s uses her blondeness to her advantage.

Eric and Jeremy get to the ticket booth and find out the flight is booked. The book for standby. Meanwhile, Michelle and Lake take a Lufthansa flight that leaves at 9:30am and arrives at 2:00pm.

Fran and Barry arrive, and they get the same flight, but get an AiItalia connection that lands 30 minutes earlier. The Frat Boys get on the early flight.

Nerds arrive, and get the same flights as Fran and Barry.

Yolanda and Ray, who I’ve taken to calling Rolanda for the sake of brevity, 6:20am.

Monica and Joseph get the same flight as the Nerds and Fran and Barry.

Danielle and Dani, 7:05am. They’re not gonna stress out.

Rolanda get on the flights landing at 2pm. Danielle and Dani do as well.

Meanwhile, in Rome Eric and Jeremy find out that they’re on a slightly later flight than the Hippies, but they’re not stressing.

Palermo, the Hippies arrive and get a taxi. Meanwhile in Rome, Michelle and Lake discover that they’re on a later flight, and Lake is pissed. The combination of “f*ck” and “dang it” kills me, every time.

Because other teams will be on this flight, nothing particularly bad will come of this after the

Ad Break

At the Rome Airport, Rolanda and Double D catch up to Michelle and Lake.

The Hippies find their clue, which tells them to find marked cars and travel 42 miles to Castellamare, and search the seaside terrace for their next clue.

Frat Boys like the weather and Italian women. Flight 3 arrives, and then Flight 4, 35 minutes later.

Detour – Foundry or Laundry
Foundry – Teams must travel to a metal works, 110 lb bell, drive it to a church and install it.
Laundry – Teams must find an intersection, and find one of 16 items (out of hundreds of items) of clothing with a specific label. They decide to do Laundry.

The pack of teams reach the clue, led be Monica and Joseph with Fran and Barry trailing.

Hippies find their clue, and are told to travel 13 miles to the ancient city of Segesta and find the Teastro de Segesta. Caution: Yield ahead. The Hippies claim that they’ll Yield the Frat Boys.

Frat Boys arrive at the Detour and decide to do Laundry. Razorbacks arrive and choose Foundry. Frat Boys finish Laundry quickly and head out.

Hippies reach the Yield (the first of two), and Phil explains the rules. The Hippies choose not to Yield anyone.

Roadblock – Team members must assemble a Greek statue that has two extra pieces. Tyler takes it.

Monica and Joseph arrive at the task as Fran and Barry look for the cluebox and AGAIN blow right by it. Monica and Joseph finish their task and head out. Fran and Barry find the Detour and choose Laundry.

Nerds decide on Laundry. Lori: “We’re not the athletic peoples” Dave: “Yeah, no kidding”. Fran and Barry finish as the Nerds arrive.

Rolanda decide on Foundry. Michelle and Lake decide on Laundry. Meanwhile, Double D are starting to get at each other, and decide on Laundry. They try to stay positive. Rolanda drive to a church.

Michelle and Lake can’t find the lines as Double D pass them. I think Lake prays for help. Dave and Lori are frustrated, meaning that they’ll find what they need after the

Ad Break

Rolanda finish the task, and as predicted, the Nerds find the shirt. Double D are frustrated. Lori hopes that someone gets lost, and Rolanda are looking to do just that.

Eric and Jeremy reach the Roadblock, as BJ and Tyler finish the task and are told to travel 1 mile downhill to the Pit Stop. The last team to check in may be eliminated.

BJ and Tyler are team number one. They’ve won a Duracell digital imaging package.

Frat Boys choose to not to Yield, and Jeremy (I think. I still can’t tell them apart) takes it. They finish it and head to the Pit Stop as Monica and Joseph arrive. They choose not to Yield and Monica takes it.

Eric and Jeremy are team number two and fell that they made a lot of mistakes. Michelle and Lake find the clue and Double D are even more frustrated. The girls find the clue and they still feel positive. Meanwhile, Rolanda think they’ve lost 15-30 minutes going the wrong way. Fran and Barry arrive at the Roadblock, and decide not to Yield. Fran takes it. Meanwhile, Barry enjoys the view.

Monica finishes the clue and the Razorbacks head to the Pit Stop. Fran and Barry aren’t that far behind. Michelle and Lake catch up to the Nerds. Both teams are gassed reaching the clue. Monica and Joseph are team number three. Michelle and Lake head the wrong way to the Pit Stop and pass Fran and Barry, who are team number four. Rolanda think the Yield has already been used. Lori and David are totally gassed, choose not to Yield anyone, and Lori takes it. Michelle and Lake choose TO Yield Danielle and Dani, and Lake takes it. The girls hope that they can stay in this, because “payback’s a bitch”.

Rolanda arrive and head to the Roadblock. The girls are really upset and crying. Lori can’t figure out the two extra pieces. Lake finishes the task. Danielle and Dani finish the Yield, and Danielle takes it. Lori is melting down as Rolanda are still hiking. Lori is seriously freaking out.

You know, for nerds, their lack of “outside the box” thinking is somewhat embarrassing.

Ad Break – ooh, Sam Malone in the morning. The shining beacon of what’s wrong with Houston radio.

Back, and Lori is still freaking, and Danielle is calm and collected. Still, she finishes and they’re off. Michelle and Lake pass Rolanda, encourage them, and they’re team number five. Lake is WAY too enthusiastic. Ray takes the Roadblock. Danielle messes up with too many pieces. Lori and David are team number six. It’s a big race and Danielle can’t figure out the extra pieces. Meanwhile, Ray finishes. The girls finish and run.. Outrunning a collegiate sprinter is a tough task, and Yolanda and Ray are team number seven.

Danielle and Dani are the last team to arrive, and they’ve been Philimiated. They’re happy to have made it this far, and they were ok with it. Phil notes that they’ve had the most success hooking up, and they think that they’ll stay friends with the Frat Boys.

Next episode, Fran and Barry drum up business with the Sicilian locals, while Monica’s tantrum annoys Joseph.

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).