We start in Stechelberg, Switzerland the pitstop for the first leg of in a race around the world.
From the open, we learn of the massive respect the other teams have for Margie & Luke. Tammy calls her “the bionic woman” and says Luke, the race’s first deaf contestant “very observant”. All of teams say Margie & Luke are a force to be reckoned with.
Margie & Luke who arrived first at 2:56 p.m. in the last leg, will leave first at 2:56 a.m. in the second leg. They discover they’re going to fly to Munich, Germany. Once there, they’ll drive themselves to Ruhpolding, take a gondola to the top of a mountain and find their next clue.
Margie makes the point that Luke is not retarded, he’s not slow, he’s very capable and wants to prove he can run the race. No need to prove it to me. I’ve already seen what the hearing impaired can do and Luke is doing very well, thank you.
Leaving the mat next are siblings Tammy & Victor at 2:57 a.m. Thanks to them, we find that each team will receive $585 in this leg of the race. Victor begins the trend of teams using their cab driver’s cell phones to book flights. And he also talks about deprogramming the 26 years of him constantly beating on his little sister. Why do I see this being another Ronald & Christina situation? Remember in TAR12 when Christina harped on being heard by her hardened Asian dad? She finally got it, but here, we’re seeing signs of Tammy wanting to be heard in this relationship. Just like Ron & Christina had to hit rock bottom in the race in Amsterdam, it appears Tammy & Victor will have to have that confrontation for their relationship to be equal, but I digress.
The team that has the best attitude in this race are brothers Mark & Michael who are also showing us that a team under 5 feet can do well. And they’re having fun. They’re not stressing over little things. I like them and I want them in the final three.
Mel & Mike leave at 3:18 a.m. Mel injured his groin climbing up the tall slope in the last leg so he’s hurting. Mel’s not giving up and says he’ll limp his way around the world. I like Mel, too.
Dating couple Amanda & Kris leave just under a half hour later at 3:47 a.m. We didn’t see much of them in the last leg, but we will in this leg. Amanda says she has anxiety and the race is too intense. I have a feeling Amanda is one of those women who have a very positive exterior, but are very nervous inside. That’s my feeling.
Married couple Brad & Victoria head out at 3:56 a.m., while ex-Dolphins cheerleaders Jaime & Cara leave the mat three minutes later. Sisters Kisha & Jen who also have their own sibling issues take off at 4:02 a.m. Kisha also admits seeing Jen in the little sister role. Jen says being in the little sister role pisses her off. This is definitely a volcano brewing here and it’s going to blow.
Steve & Linda leave at 4:04 a.m. and he vows to do things differently in this leg instead of getting mad at his wife. Steve admits he was totally wrong for treating Linda poorly and making her cry. It takes a big man to do that. I give him total props.
The teams that are using their cab driver’s cell phones are finding that there’s a Swissair flight leaving at 7:10 a.m. and arriving in Munich at 8:15 a.m. Those that did not use a cell phone will find themselves on a later flight. And Linda is hoping that since Germany is known for beer, she’s hoping there’s a beer challenge. Funny!
And the very last to depart the first pit stop at 4:12 a.m. are flight attendants Christie & Jodi. They also borrow their cab driver’s cell phone, but they might be too late to get that first flight out to Germany.
Now we get a bit of airport drama. Not a whole lot, but it was enough to make me worried. Margie & Luke and Mark & Mike who did not use a cell phone to book in advance now have arrived at the airport and hope to book tickets on the Swissair flight. Luckily, mom & son have. Now Mark & Mike hope to do so as well, but Christie & Jodi are on the phone trying to book tickets. Because other teams have booked in advance, both teams will have to wait for the next flight which is at 8:45 a.m. And that’s it for the airport drama. Whew!
Phil then comes to tell us that Jaime & Cara, Kisha & Jen, Steve & Linda, Margie & Luke, Mel & Mike, Brad & Victoria, Amanda & Kris and Tammy & Victor are all on the 7:10 a.m. flight to Munich. Mark & Mike and Christie & Jodi will be on the 8:45 a.m. flight and the brothers acknowledge that they made a mistake in not calling ahead.
At 8:10 a.m., the first flight arrives and everyone makes a mad dash for the cars they will drive on the famous Autobahn to Ruhpolding. Luke makes a signal to cheerleaders Jaime & Cara to follow him. The cheerleaders just love Luke and they appreciate the help.
The team that needs a lot of help is Kisha & Jen. They somehow got off the Autobahn are now driving in an unnamed town. Tammy & Victor, however, have made it to Ruhpolding quickly followed by Amanda & Kris. The siblings get into a gondola and notice the dating couple not far behind. But Amanda & Kris will have to wait 15 minutes for the next ride up the mountain. This gives the siblings a nice head start. Tammy & Victor get their clue first and it’s a Road Block, “Who wants to fly like an eagle?”
In this Road Block, a team member will find an instructor, then paraglide to the bottom some 6,000 feet below. The other team member
will take a gondola to the bottom and wait for his/her teammate in the designated landing area. Once the teams are reunited, they’ll receive their next clue. If the wind conditions deem it too dangerous to glide, the teams do have an option to take a 60 minute walk to the bottom after a undetermined amount of time.
Tammy will do this task while Victor gets jealous.
In the meantime, Kisha & Jen are hopelessly lost in Germany, but Kisha is not acknowledging this. Kisha just tells to drive straight and Jen is just wondering what the hell is going on.
At the bottom, Margie & Luke and redheads Cara & Jaime have arrived to take their gondolas up to the peak. Mel & Mike have also gotten to the Ruhpolding meeting up with a disappointed Amanda & Kris who are still waiting for their ride to the top.
Up at the summit, Tammy is told by her instructor that the conditions are too dangerous for her to paraglide and she has to wait. The gondola carrying four teams is now coming up to the top. Tammy decides that she doesn’t want to wait and she’ll take the hour long walk to the bottom.
Now the other four teams have arrived and Kris, Margie, Cara and Mel all decide to do the Road Block. When Mel realizes that walking is the other choice, he knows with the wind, he’s stuck with gliding down. He can’t take a risk with his groin injury.
Back at Munich Airport, the last flight carrying brothers Mark & Mike and stewardesses Christie & Jodi have arrived and they know they have a lot of time to make up.
On the mountain, Brad & Victoria take a look at the Road Block clue and she decides that she will do this task. And the last of the first group is Linda & Steve and as she rides the gondola to the top, she feels she could do the task. Steve is impressed.
The line for the paragliding has now increased to five. Victoria makes the snap decision that she can’t wait for the wind to subside so she’ll walk down. Kris and Margie both join her and Mel becomes exasperated.
Luke then passes a note to Jaime which states “kick ass and don’t get eliminated.” Luke then tells us in his post-leg 1 confessional that he likes the redheads, that they’re friendly and nice and they communicate with him well. I think he’s smitten. Who can blame him? They’re hot and they’re nice to him. Don’t fall in love though, Luke.
Linda is the next to pass on paragliding leaving Mel and Cara the lone ones at the top. The wind conditions are not dying down, it leaves Mel fearing that he and Mike are going to be eliminated today.
Those walking or jogging down the marked path note the arrows clearly pointing the proper way to the landing area.
Meanwhile at the top, Kisha & Jen and Christie & Jodi have caught up. Cara has decided to walk. Mel is even more worried and Mike is fearing that with his dad’s groin injury, it’s going to leave them in last while the other teams walk or jog down the mountain. And now the last team, stuntie brothers Mark & Mike are getting ready to paraglide as well.
But with the wind not subsiding, Mark, Christie and Jen decide to walk down and it’s now Mel all alone. He correctly says he cannot ask for Devine Intervention for the wind. Mel thanks God for the beautiful area and his son, but he says God is too busy to help him with the wind. But suddenly, the wind dies down and the instructor tells Mel he can take his ride down to the bottom. Mel says, “It was … a miracle!”
Tammy is now the first to make it to the bottom and meets her brother, Victor. They open their clue and find that they’re to drive 25 miles to Schönau am Königssee where they will find their next clue.
At the top, Mel finally pushes off and takes his paraglide down. At the bottom, Margie has made it and reunites with Luke. Kris is the next to finish the walk/jog to the bottom and he gets the clue so he and Amanda can leave. Victoria is the fourth to finish her descent.
Mel is peacefully gliding down in his parachute and he loved the ride down. Mike felt they went from having no shot to having a sliver of hope.
Now Linda is walking down and gets to a fork in the path. She does not see the arrow telling her to go left and she goes right instead. LINDA!!!! GO LEFT!!!! Oh, it’s too late. She goes right. Cara sees the marker and goes left as do Mark, Jen and Christie. They all see the marker. How can you not see the marker, Linda? Glove to the ground! Boom goes the dynamite! Oh my goodness!
Mel is now landing as Jaime and Steve watch. Mel says he’d love to have a beer and a sandwich if he could stay all day, but he has to leave. Mark informs Jaime that the rest are hoofing it down the mountain which makes her angry. Steve says if it’s a footrace, he knows they’re going to be last.
Over to Tammy & Victor who have arrived in Schönau am Königssee. They get their next clue and find that they’ve reached the first Detour in the race. As we all know, a Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons. In this Detour, teams will choose among tasks that require precision. The choices, Bouncing Dolly or Austrian Folly.
In Balancing Dolly, teams must ride a Segway personal transporter over a two mile obstacle course. When they finish, they’ll receive their next clue. Riding a Segway over obstacles requires balance and skill, but teams who master the controls could find themselves pulling ahead.
In Austrian Folly, teams must go into a party tent and throw pies made of traditional Austrian schlog at a target.
That target will be their partner’s face. They have to keep throwing pies until they find one with a cherry filling. Teams will then present themselves to the bandleader who will provide them their next clue. The task depends on how long it will take the teams to find the cherry filling. Teams that don’t move quick enough could take a long time.
So Tammy & Victor decide to throw pies and find that they have hit each others faces. They throw pies. Tammy gets schlog up her nose and eye. Victor gets the cherry filling. And they can get their next clue.
Once they rip open the black and yellow envelope, Tammy & Victor discover that they’ll walk on foot to a woodcutter who will manually cut a small piece of wood. That piece will be stamped with their next destination, the pit stop.
So the siblings get some directions, find the woodcutters and they get their piece of wood. It’s stamped with their next destination.
They find that they’re to drive themselves across the border into Austria of Salzburg and find a German castle in the southern district of the city known as Schloss Hellbrunn.
Schloss Hellbrunn is the pit stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in may be eliminated. Victor is so happy to going to the pit stop that he annoys Tammy with his singing. He’s just giddy with excitement.
Over to Linda, she’s walking down the mountain, but in the wrong direction. She’s way off course. Back at the landing area, Steve says Linda is bad with directions. Mark & Cara have now finished their walk from the top of the mountain and can now head to Schönau am Königssee for the Detour.
Linda can hear traffic from the path, but then again, you’re not supposed to hear traffic from the landing area. Jen now makes it to the bottom, leaving Jodi and Steve waiting for their partners.
Linda has now made it to the bottom, but she’s just puzzled, looking at the highway. She feels Steve is going to kill her for walking the wrong way. She starts to cry. Oh my.
Christie has now finished her run down the mountain leaving Steve all alone. He knows a wrong turn could kill their chances to remain in the race.
Somehow, Linda finds a private vehicle to take her to the landing area (against the rules, but somehow, this is not addressed).
Siblings Tammy & Victor arrive at Schloss Hellbrunn and they’re greeted as the first team to arrive. They both win a hybrid go-kart. In their post-race confessional, Tammy says she hates to admit it, but their 26 year relationship is an advantage over the other teams. I love you, Tammy and I understand the Asian older brother relationship being an Asian older brother of two sisters, but I think that relationship is going to change. Just a hunch.
Well, Amanda & Kris reach the detour and they choose Folly. Kris reads the sign and you have the title of the episode. And they keep throwing pies while Germans inside the tent continue to get drunk on beer. When Amanda gets hit with the cherry filling, they get their next clue. As they walk to the woodcutters, Amanda takes a piece of cake off Kris’ shoulder and eats it while Kris says it’s delicious. That’s funny!
Linda finally makes it to the right path thanks to her ride and meets Steve. She thanks him for not getting mad, but he says he can’t imagine doing the race with anyone else. He’s eased up and realizes how much he loves Linda. I can’t kill him for that. And he shows he’s a different man from last week’s episode. Good on ya, Steve!
Amanda & Steve get their piece of wood and head off for Schloss Hellbrunn. He notes the schlog in his hair is “Something About Mary” times ten which is what the title of the episode should have been, but I digress.
Mel & Mike are the first to choose segways. Margie & Luke decide to do the pies over his objection. He didn’t want to do it knowing it take a long time. But he says, “What can I do? She’s my mom.” He’s funny as well. I’m really liking Luke thus far. So he gets his frustrations out by throwing the pies quite hard at his mother. Wow. He’s got issues as well.
While Margie & Luke are throwing schlog at each other, Mel & Mike are running their Segways over the obstacle course and unbeknownst to them, are making up some great time. They finish, get their clue and head to the woodcutters.
Luke now wants to switch tasks, but Margie says no. He’s covered all over with schlog and there’s no cherry in sight. This is going to take a while.
Brad & Victoria now have arrived at the Detour and they choose folly. Kisha & Jen are lost again and Jen is showing her frustration with her older sister. Christie & Jodi also appear lost as they don’t seem to be improving on their 10th place finish in the first leg. And bringing up the rear are Steve & Linda.
Over to the party tent, the Germans are getting drunk and really enjoying the show between Margie & Luke. Piles of schlog are lying on the floor as they keep throwing pies at each others faces.
Luke has plenty of icing in his hair. When he throws a pie at his mother, it has the cherry filling they’re looking for so they can finally leave the tent.
Just as they leave, Brad & Victoria are entering. They don’t seem to be taking as much time as Margie & Luke and they indeed find the cherry filling faster. Brad takes a lick from her forehead and says Victoria tastes pretty good. This is a pretty funny episode.
So the two aforementioned teams get their piece of wood and can finally head to the pit stop.
Cara & Jaime have decided to do the segways. Kisha & Jen finally find the clue box followed by Mark & Mike. Both choose the segways. Christie & Jodi have arrived, but park in a different spot and need help from Kisha & Jen to find the clue box.
Amanda & Kris are lost heading to the pit stop allowing Mel & Mike to arrive ahead of them.
But they reach a gate that appears to be locked so Mike tries to climb it leaving Phil amused.
Amanda & Kris have finally arrived at the pit stop, but Mel & Mike find someone to open the gate and they’re able to check in as team number 2! This leaves Amanda & Kris in 3rd.
Cara & Jaime finish the segways next and are able to get wood next. Over to the pit stop, Phil signs to Margie & Luke that they’re in 4th place. Brad & Victoria hit the mat in 5th.
Next, Mark & Mike and Kisha & Jen finish their Segway task and go to get their pieces of wood.
Christie & Jodi are in the tent and know they have to hurry to find the cherry filling.
Then, we’re informed it’s been 14 hours since the start of this leg. This means the teams checking in after Brad & Victoria are really going to be behind the 8 ball when next week’s leg starts.
Cara & Jaime check in 6th, still happy to be in the race.
Christie & Jodi have finally popped their cherry filling and can now go to the woodcutters. Not easy in the dark.
Steve & Linda arrive at the Detour and notice the stewardesses so they know they still have a shot to remain. And they start to throw pies at each other in a tent that is practically empty at this point.
Christie & Jodi get lost again, looking in a farm for their piece of wood. Not even close, girls. And while Linda & Steve were relieving some frustration by chucking pies at each other, the stewardesses just could not find the woodcutters. Christie was getting worried and indeed, Linda & Steve found the cherry and they’re heading to the woodcutter.
Christie & Jodi continue to wander aimlessly while Linda & Steve charge out of the tent seeing that they’re still in the race.
Over to Mark & Michael and Kisha & Jen who are lost on the way to the pit stop. Jen says Kisha is pissing her off with her navigating.
Christie & Jodi finally get help in finding the woodcutters and they get their clue for the pit stop. They’re followed by Linda & Steve who are now on their way to the castle.
So we have four teams struggling to get to the pit stop. One team will be put of its misery while the others have to hope for a massive bunching in the next leg. Kisha & Jen hit the mat in 7th, but Jen is just not happy and she’s about to burst.
Mark & Mike hit the mat in 8th so it’s now between Christie & Jodi and Linda & Steve for the last spot to remain in the race. This is like a broken record for Christie & Jodi who barely won a footrace over Preston & Jen last week. And they arrive within seconds of each other. And Christie & Jodi come in 9th, surviving again by the skin of their teeth.
So it’s Linda & Steve who get eliminated. They should have been out last week, but they stayed in a leg longer than expected and that is definitely good for them.
So our final order of finish for tonight.
1. Tammy & Victor – winners of hybrid go-karts.
2. Mel & Mike
3. Amanda & Kris
4. Margie & Luke
5. Brad & Victoria
6. Cara & Jaime
7. Kisha & Jen
8. Mark & Mike
9. Christie & Jodi
10. Steve & Linda
Overall, not a bad episode. Not as good as last week’s but still, Emmy-worthy.
Now, a preview of next week’s episode thanks to my sweetheart, puddin over at Reality Fan Forum.
See you next week.
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