Amazing Race: Afraid of Everything

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Amazing Race
Do It for the Hood! Do It for the Suburbs!

I’ve complained before about not understanding people with fear of heights going on the show since every season there is some task that has to do with heights. It shouldn’t be a surprised. There were so many people that didn’t like water in this episode either, which I don’t remember being such a big problem before. In the past some people go on the show to get over their fears, but the ones that aren’t interested in getting over any fears, why do they go on? Do they think they can avoid it and still win?

The teams left the pit stop in the following order:

  1. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball – 8:17 am
  2. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple – 9:59 am
  3. Flight Time & Big Easy – Harlem Globetrotters – 10:42 am
  4. Gary & Matt – Pinky & the Brain – 10:45 am
  5. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers – 11:34 am
  6. Maria & Tiffany – Poker Ladies – 11:47 am
  7. Mika & Canaan – Christians – 11:54 am

Clue: Teams had to choose a nearby locked briefcase and find the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. Teams had to search the marina boardwalk for their next clue.

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Tetherball were way ahead of the other teams due to the fast forward so they were on their own finding the next clue quickly. It was a road block.

Row Your Boat

Roadblock: A team member must row in an inflatable boat out to a yacht and get a watch from a sheik on board in an Arab custom of hospitality.  After returning to the dock, teams had to unlock the briefcase by cracking the combination. If teams could figure out the time on the watch (8:35) is the combination, they could open it and find their next clue.

Cheyne decided to do the road block since he had boating experience. With the wind, he was not rowing anywhere quickly. IR Couple left the pit stop when he was still rowing. The Globetrotters left the pit stop around the time Cheyne finally got to the yacht.  Pinky & the Brain left the pit stop when Cheyne was arriving back to the marina dock. They figured out right away that the watch time was the suitcase combination so they opened it for their next clue.

Clue: Take a taxi to the Abra Station, a water taxi port, in the old soup section of Dubai and search for the next clue.

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They were off to the next location before IR Couple arrived at the marina. Brian decided to do it since Ericka “does not do water.” He had some trouble getting the paddles to go the right way, but then he was off. The Gay Brothers left the pit stop around this time.  The Globetrotters arrived at the Dubai Yacht Club, but not the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club so they had to go to the right place. Brian had been to the yacht and was headed back to the marina. They also figured out the combination quickly and took off before anyone else showed up. Pinky & the Brain arrived at the marina and Gary decided to do it. He couldn’t figure out how to row the boat, saying he was a “canoe-er, not a row-boater.” He got on his stomach and started using one paddle on either side like a canoe. Oh that’s a lot of extra work.

Exchanging Hookahs

Tetherball arrived at Abra Station and found the next clue, which was a detour.

Detour: In Gold, teams had to find a jewelry store and use a precision scale to weigh out exactly $500,000 in gold. To figure it out, they had to divide $500,000 by the gold exchange rate shown on the market tv screen in the store. Since the exchange rate is constantly changing, teams would have to work quickly to get it right in order to get their next clue. In Glass, teams had to make their way to a spice market and choose a crate full of disassembled Middle Eastern smoking pipes known as hookahs.  They would have to assemble 12 hookahs using all the parts in the crate. They would have three display hookahs as their guide. They would get their next clue if they did all 12 correctly.

Tetherball thought the exchange rate sounded confusing so they decided to go with glass. Gary had arrived at the yacht and started canoeing back. The Poker Ladies were leaving the pit stop and Tiffany was hoping to be leaving Dubai. Too bad! The Christians left the pit stop around the time that Gary made it back to the marina to open up the briefcase. Pinky & the Brain left the marina just before the Globetrotters arrived. Big Easy decided to do it. He had a hard time figuring out the paddles.

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Tetherball arrived at the spice market and the hookahs. They picked a spot in the shade and slowly took their pieces out of the straw that was inside the crates. Then they started to try to put the hookahs together. IR Couple got to the Abra Station and picked gold. Big Easy was rowing with his hands since he couldn’t figure out the paddles. The Gay Brothers arrived at the marina and Dan decided to do it. He followed Big Easy’s lead by using his hands to paddle. Big Easy made it to the yacht. Meghan was getting really frustrated putting together the hookahs.  IR Couple found the gold place and started trying to do some math while Dan was at the yacht.  While Big Easy was almost back to the marina, Flight Time yelled at him, “Do it for the ‘hood!” and that’s when Dan yelled, “Do it for the suburbs!”  The Poker Ladies showed up and Tiffany decided to do it. Dan arrived back at the marina as she was pulling her boat into the water.

Big Easy got stuck on the combination. He thought the first number would be 8 and the second would be 7 (since it was on the 7 to signify 35 minutes past the hour). He thought the third number was the date, but he couldn’t read it on the watch. Dan figured it out and got the clue quickly.  They were off. Tiffany arrived at the yacht around the time the Christians arrived at the marina. Canaan decided to do it. Big Easy still couldn’t figure out the combination. Tiffany was back on the dock and Canaan was at the yacht. Tiffany had the clue and they were off. Big Easy was staring at the watch again.

Tetherball were still working on their hookahs. IR Couple thought they had an amount figured out and then the exchange rate changed. Ericka asked why it was changing and then wished they had a calculator. Canaan was back on the dock. Mika wondered if a Muslim clock worked differently. Oh dear. Canaan just ignored her and opened the briefcase. Big Easy was still struggling. Flight Time told him to just start over from scratch and think about it. Big Easy did and finally figured out the clue. They were off.

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Back at the gold, Brian was getting frustrated and said that he wanted to try the hookahs. Ericka said they should just stick with it.  Tetherball thought they were done, but they have a few pieces left over so they didn’t get the clue. They had to figure out what they did wrong. IR Couple tried what they thought was right on the scale, but it didn’t come out correctly so they had to try again. Brian asked again if she still wanted to do it.

Pinky & the Brain arrived at the detour clue box. They decided to do the glass one. Tetherball swapped two things around on hookahs and thought they were done, but didn’t realize that the pieces they didn’t use weren’t extra. They needed to use them. Meghan was on the verge of losing it. IR Couple tried one more time with the gold and then they decided to go build a hookah. Tetherball finally figured out where their missing pieces would go and finally got their clue.

Clue: Teams had to make their way to the Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai resort and search the water park for the Leap of Faith. After taking a six-story plunge at a nearly 90-degree angle through a shark tank, they would find their next clue at the bottom of the slide.

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Tetherball left just before IR Couple showed up. The Gay Brothers decided to do gold. Ericka thought the hookah one was much quicker. The Poker Ladies decided to do gold. IR Couple were done with their hookahs, but they didn’t get it right. The hoses weren’t the right colors, I think, but they weren’t told what was wrong, just that it wasn’t right. The Christians arrived at the clue box where Mika would rip something open and drop it, telling Canaan to pick it up, and he would actually do it. She did it multiple times. They decided to do the hookahs. Pinky & the Brain arrived at the hookahs. Ericka was getting frustrated at not being able to figure out the hookahs.

The Gay Brothers arrived at the gold place and happened to have a calculator with them. When they thought they had it figured out, the gold exchange rate changed. The Poker Ladies arrived. They were sent to another room. The girls asked to borrow the boys’ calculator. The brothers said if they figured it out, they had to tell them. They promised they would.  The girls got a number and shouted it to them. They both started loading gold on the scale but before they could hit the bell to say they were done, the exchange rate changed.

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The Globetrotters decided to do the hookahs. The Christians arrived at the glass place. Canaan thought it made sense to put the hookahs together. The Poker Ladies yelled out another number and everyone started piling gold on. They both rang the bell before the exchange rate changed and it was correct. They got the next clue.

Leap of Faith

Tetherball arrived at the water park, not really sure what the Leap of Faith meant. They were both scared of heights. Then, they saw the slide. They both did it. Meghan said it was best not to think about it and just do it. They got their next clue.

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Clue: Teams had to search the grounds of the resort for Dolphin Bay Beach, the pit stop for the leg of the race.

They didn’t run around long before they found Phil and the mat. They came in first place. Cheyne was excited and dragged Meghan into the water. Then they ran back to the mat to ask Phil what they won. They won a personal watercraft.

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Back at the hookahs, Pinky & the Brain seemed to be doing all of one kind of hookah before moving onto the next kind. Ericka kept saying that she didn’t think little details mattered that much, but I would think they would since they hadn’t received the clue yet. The Globetrotters arrived.  IR Couple got it wrong again. Ericka was losing it. She didn’t seem to be helping much and was just sitting around pouting in frustration. Brian was trying to figure out what was wrong with what they did. Brian got Ericka over to look at the sample hookahs more closely. Pinky & the Brain were missing the tops of their hookahs somewhere in the straw. Matt felt like he was about to pass out. Mika said she wished she was naked since she was so hot. Brian finally figured out that the striped hookahs needed the striped hoses. Ericka wondered if it was that simple. He said if that was the case, he was going to feel like an idiot. They were right and got the next clue. They were off to the Leaf of Faith in fourth place.

The Globetrotters decided to switch. They thought it took IR Couple two hours to complete the hookahs, but they didn’t know they had started out at the gold. The Poker Ladies were going down the slide when the brothers arrived. The Poker Ladies checked in with Phil in second place. The brothers were right behind them in third place. The girls said the boys looked like Baywatch running down the beach.

At the gold, the Globetrotters asked if they could borrow a calculator from another store and they just gave it to them. Is it that easy? They were figuring out the amount. Matt finally started to feel a little better so he got up again while Gary was still trying to find all the parts of the hookahs in the straw. The Christians seemed to be doing pretty well putting things together. Pinky & the Brain finally found the missing parts and got their hookahs approved on their first go around. They were off to the water park.

IR Couple were at the top of the slide. Brian said he was scared of heights and Ericka was scared of water. He told her he wanted her to go first. He didn’t think she would ever go if he went first. At the bottom, Brian said it was actually kind of fun. Ericka was shaking and saying it was not fun. They ran over to Phil and checked in with him in fourth place.

The Globetrotters were having trouble getting the gold on the scale before the exchange rate changed. The Christians finished their hookahs and got them approved the first time. In the cab ride over to the park, Mika said it was going to be some scary ride. Canaan said he guessed it would be jumping off of something. Mika said she felt like she was going to puke. Pinky & the Brain were at the top of the slide and slid down with no problems. Gary loved the water after being in the heat. They ran over to Phil and checked in with him for fifth place.

Christians had arrived at the slide. Canaan had told Mika she would wear her floaties and she had been wanting to wear them. She was frightened of both water and heights. Canaan tried to get Mika near the top of the slide, but she wouldn’t do it. She said she was “scared to death.” He said he didn’t want to lose because of it. The Globetrotters got the gold and were off to the water park. Canaan decided the yelling at her approach wasn’t working so he talked to her softly and said he would walk her over to it. He asked her to start by sitting down, but she started to cry. He tried to get her to sit, but she started to throw a tantrum. He yelled, “You are going to make us lose a race by not going down a water slide.” A poor slide worker looked on awkwardly.

Mika finally agreed to sit down when Canaan moved away from her. He was telling her that she would regret it if she didn’t do it. He was trying to coach her but she freaked whenever he got near her. The Globetrotters were at the resort looking for it. When they arrived at the top, the Christians only had two minutes to decide to go before they had to step aside and let another team go. Mika wasted two minutes sitting there so they had to move aside so the Globetrotters could go. As soon as they went, Canaan said he was going down first and just left her up there. She started to walk down the steps and didn’t do it! I can’t believe she didn’t finally do it. The Globetrotters checked in with Phil in sixth place. The Christians finally went up to Phil at the pit stop and were told they were eliminated.

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Order teams checked into the pit stop:

  1. Meghan & Cheyne – Tetherball
  2. Maria & Tiffany – Poker Ladies
  3. Sam & Dan – Gay Brothers
  4. Brian & Ericka – IR Couple
  5. Gary & Matt – Pinky & the Brain
  6. Flight Time & Big Easy – Harlem Globetrotters
  7. Mika & Canaan – Christians

Questions

  1. Do you think Canaan was being too mean with Mika or was she being unreasonable not going down the slide?
  2. Does anyone remember another season where so many people were afraid of water?
  3. Were you sad to see the Christians leave? Would you have rather seen the Globetrotters be the last team?
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