Amazing Race: Poop & Potatoes

Amazing Race
Run, Babushka, Run

At the end of the this leg, the contestants interacted with some locals in a small town. They were pretty friendly for the most part and that always intrigues me. I’m wondering if there are people that are annoyed by the camera crew invading on their space and the show doesn’t show it or if everyone is excited to have the show in their part of the world for a bit.

Leaving the Pit Stop

The doctors were the first to leave at 8:26 pm. They thought it was weird how late it was in the evening and it was still light out. They opened up the first clue.

Clue: Teams had to travel by car, train and plane to St. Petersburg, Russia. Once there, they had to find some columns and their next clue.

They got to the train station and found out that the office was closed and wouldn’t open until 6:00 AM. They knocked on the door to see if someone would sell them tickets anyway. I was thinking if the office was closed, who cares if you had tickets since I doubt any trains would be stopping at a closed train station. That is what they found out. The train they would need to take to Stockholm would leave at 10:26 am the next morning. Everyone would be on the same one. All caught up again!

While on the long train ride, the father/daughter team were bonding with each other and hanging out with Thomas & Jill. The doctors were hanging out with the home shopping queens and smelling each others socks and shoes. Fun?

When the teams got off the train, they all found cabs to the airport except Chad & Stephanie. Chad blamed this on Stephanie saying that if she got up earlier, she would have been ready earlier and they would have caught a cab. It looked like everyone left the train at the same time so I’m not sure what advantage that would have been to them if what he was saying was true, but she said it wasn’t. And when it came down to it, it didn’t matter since all the teams got on the same flight to St. Petersburg.

The Classics

While driving to the columns and the next clue box, Michael told Kevin the city was full of history and culture. Kevin said he was just worried about the next clue box. Silly boy. Nick and Vicki liked that the city kept its old buildings instead of blowing them up like Las Vegas. The home shopping queens were the first team to get to the clue box and found a detour.

Detour: In Classical Music, teams had to make their way to a historical palace and find the maestro with three gramophones to listen to three different compositions being played. Then, they had to enter a room of people playing pianos and figure out which three pianos were playing the same compositions. When teams think they have the right combination, they had to grab the sheet music and put it in a folder that matched the corresponding number of the gramophone. When all three are matched correctly, they got their clue. In Classic Cinema, teams had to make their way to a legendary film studio and the sound stage. They had to go through piles of film clips and find any part that matches what was playing on the screen.

The home shopping queens decided to do the movie. Brook said classical music sounds “gnarly.” Okay… The father/son team decided to do the movie one too. Chad & Stephanie arrived and picked the music one. Father/daughter team also went with music. Jill & Thomas decided to go with movie. Nick & Vicki went with music and the doctors chose music. Everyone was off to their various detour locations.

The father/son team were the first ones to find LenFilm Studio. When they inside, they were shocked at the huge pile of film clips. Jill & Thomas showed up too and started looking. The home shopping queens had a taxi driver that didn’t know where the studio was located.

Meanwhile, Chad & Stephanie arrived at the music place and started listening to the gramophones. It was a bit hard to hear since all three were playing at the same time, but they were trying to just concentrate on one at a time. Then they ran into the room with all the pianos playing at the same time and were wondering how they were going to figure out who was playing what. The father/daughter, tattoo couple and the doctors arrived and were running around trying to figure it all out too. The home shopping queens were still lost.

Chad picked up what he thought was the sheet music for number one. Stephanie thought she had number two and three. They went to go try to turn it in. They were wrong. They went back to the gramophones to try it again. Nat thought she found number two. Nick was confident that one piano was not playing any of the three that he had heard. Back at the film studio, the two teams were staring at the film clips. Kevin turned in what he thought was right, but was wrong. Jill turned one in but it was wrong too. Thomas told Jill to look for some wartime images, horses and Russian words since those seemed to be the main themes in the short that was playing on the screen. Then, he found one that he thought might be correct. He turned it in and it was correct. He got the next clue, which was a film reel with a picture on it.

Clue: The clue was an image on either the film reel or record of Palace Square. Teams had to figure that out and head there for their next clue.

While Jill & Thomas were leaving, the home shopping queens were arrive. Thomas showed their taxi driver the picture and he knew where to take them. At the music task, Stephanie was sure she had found composition number one. Mallory was also sure she had number one. The doctors thought they had number one also. They were all grabbing sheet music from different pianos. Chad & Stephanie turned their guesses in, but they were wrong again. Vicki was sure she had one of the pieces too and had Nick come listen to it to see if he agreed. He didn’t think it was it. The doctors were sure they had the second piece. Gary & Mallory turned their guesses in, but they were wrong. The tattoo couple and doctors turned in their guesses, but they were both wrong.  Kat said that after a while, all the songs started to sound the same. After getting another wrong guess, Chad asked Stephanie if she wanted to switch. She just wanted to stick with it.

Over in the movie task, Brook and Kevin were turning in various film clips, but they weren’t right. Brook finally found a piece that had the Russian words in it so she knew she probably had the right one. She turned it in and was correct. After they left, Kevin finally found a piece that had the words at the top. They were on their way too. Those teams might have all thought they spent a lot of time at the task, but they were ahead of everyone on the music task.

Jill & Thomas were the first team to arrive at the clue box in Palace Square.

Clue: Teams had to take a taxi to Alexandrovskaya. Once there, they had to find the marked road to a neighborhood store where they will find their next clue.

The teams back at the music task were getting frustrated since no one had the sheet music correct. The father/daughter team decided to switch tasks. The tattoo couple and doctors decided to switch tasks too after they got another wrong guess. They decided to leave before Chad & Stephanie saw them so they would think the other teams got it right. Chad thought the teams were gone and wanted to switch again, but Stephanie wanted to stay.

Stinky Manure

Jill & Thomas were in Alexandrovskaya and looking for the marked road around the time that the home shopping queens arrived at the clue box. The daughter/father team arrived at the film studio around the time that the father/son team arrived at the clue box. The tattoo couple and doctors arrived at the film studio and then wondered if the task was going to be easier than the music one. Chad was getting more and more frustrated at the music task, but they were still sticking with it.

Jill & Thomas were lost since they couldn’t find the marked road. The home shopping queens found it quickly though so they were at the clue box, which was a road block.

Road Block: It asked who was ready for a Russian drag race. A team member had to become a babushka and do some field work like the older Russian ladies did. The team member would have to plant a row of 50 potatoes. They will also have to fertilize their crop with cow manure. Once they were done, they would get their next clue.

Brook decided to do it. She was very excited once she got changed into her outfit. She went to an address to pick up her back of potatoes. There was a note that said take them to the wheelbarrow on Duck’s End. On the wheelbarrows, it said to fill them with manure. Brook started doing that saying that Claire wasn’t going to like the smell of her when she was done. The father/son team arrived. Kevin thought they needed to get ahead so he said he would do the roadblock and started putting on his dress. Brook had her wheelbarrow filled and was looking for the marked path when Kevin was carrying his potatoes to the wheelbarrows and manure.

Brook couldn’t find the marked field so Kevin got there first. When Kevin arrived, he said to the other Russian ladies there, “Hello beautiful ladies. I have your poop and potatoes.” They showed him how to do it so he could copy. He had to dig a hole, put some manure in it, throw in the potato and cover it up. He did it after they showed him and were also teaching him Russian words while he did it.

Hard Time

Back at the detours, the film people weren’t having any luck finding the clip. They were hoping Chad & Stephanie were still struggling. Stephanie was asking Chad what was his gut telling him to do since he was so frustrated. He said he felt they should have left a long time ago. She asked what he wanted to do now and he said that he felt like they were done. She said they should be productive instead of talking about quitting. They were both convinced one piece was number two. Chad tried his guess first and it was wrong. Instead of immediately trying what Stephanie thought, he wanted to give up again. She finally convinced him to try it and it was right. A team finally completed the music task! They were handed the record with the image of Palace Square on it. They jumped in their cab to head to it. Around the same time, the doctors finally got the right film clip and were headed to Palace Square too. That left the father/daughter and tattoo couple still working on the detour.

Back at the roadblock, Jill & Thomas finally found the marked path and the Russian ladies. Jill decided to do it.While Kevin was working, the Russian ladies were loving his hard work. They wanted more workers like him. Brook finally found the field and the babushkas were showing her how to do it. Kevin was almost done while one of the ladies was cheering him on in Russian. He didn’t know what she was saying, but he knew it was motivational. While Kevin finished, Brook was freaking out about stepping in poo. The Russian ladies were laughing at her.

Chad & Stephanie and the doctors got their clues that would lead them to Alexandrovskaya. Mallory finally had a film clip that was correct so the father/daughter team were on their way to the next clue. That left the tattoo couple in last place. After the father/daughter team left, Nick wanted to switch back to the music task.

When Kevin finished, Brook had about 10 potatoes left to do and he passed Jill who was pushing her manure in the wheelbarrow. When Kevin got back to his father, they opened up the next clue.

Clue: Teams had to make their way to the next pit stop, St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

They took off. Brook finished up her potatoes while Jill was just getting started on hers. While Jill was planting her potatoes, the Russian ladies told her she was being professional. Then they commented that the skinny girls can do everything. When Brook got back to Claire, they got into the cab and Claire told her she smelled ripe. Good ol’ manure. Jill finished up and got back to Thomas. He told her she did it super fast. They were off the pit stop too. No other teams had showed up in the time the first three were at the roadblock.

The home shopping queens had to pause for a bit on the way to the pit stop since their cab needed to get gas. Chad & Stephanie’s cab driver was trying to get directions to the roadblock. The doctors made it to the roadblock first out of the remaining teams. Nat decided to do it. Chad & Stephanie arrived and Stephanie decided to do it. She had her potatoes and was trying to find the wheelbarrow area. She was asking a local who didn’t speak English while Nat rolled by with her wheelbarrow right behind her. That’s some stealth!

The father/daughter team got their clue to head to Alexandrovskaya and the tattoo couple were finally back at the music place to try to complete the detour. They decided to just concentrate on one recording at a time and when they turned in their guesses, they were correct! They got to move on with the game finally. They were in last place though.

Pit Stop


The father/son arrived at the pit stop but they couldn’t find Phil. They were looking inside the building and then around it. Michael said there was a park across the street, but Kevin said it wasn’t at the park. The cameraman showed us Phil across the street in the park. Meanwhile, Jill & Thomas had arrived at the pit stop too. They went to look inside first. After they didn’t see him there, they decided to look across the street and found Phil. They checked in with him for first place. As the winners, they won a trip to San Paulo, Brazil.

Across the street, Kevin was being stubborn about checking out the park across the street. He said the clue said it was at the cathedral. Michael said that they had already circled it. The home shopping queens were pulling up to the cathedral. They saw Phil before they got out of the car so they ran into the park. Around that time, Kevin finally agreed to cross the street. They had barely started looking around the park, when Kevin said that Phil wasn’t there. Then Michael saw him and started running. The home shopping queens got to Phil for a second-place finish and the father/son team came in third.

At the roadblock, Nat was cruising along planting her potatoes. Stephanie still couldn’t find the road that had the wheelbarrows. The father/daughter team showed up and Mallory decided to do it. Mallory ran across Stephanie when she picked up her potatoes. Mallory asked if she wanted to find it together, but Stephanie said no. They went off in different directions. Stephanie finally found the road and started filling up her wheelbarrow with manure while Mallory was running around somewhere else.

The tattoo couple got the clue to the roadblock so they were headed in that direction. Mallory was asking every local in the neighborhood where Duck’s End was located. She thought she found it when a couple of guys were helping her over their fence into their backyard, but they were just trying to invite her inside for some vodka. While she ran away from her new friends, Nat finished up planting her potatoes. She ran by Mallory while she was heading back to Kat. Mallory asked her where Duck’s End was located. She told her she was going the wrong way.

Stephanie finished shoveling her manure into her wheelbarrow. Then she nicely tossed the shovel on top of the manure pile so the next person (Mallory) would have to climb up on the pile to retrieve it. Mallory did have to climb up on it. She also lost her shoe in the manure. She called that a “special moment.” She wasn’t too far behind Stephanie in getting to the potato field though. Stephanie finished while Mallory was about halfway done. The tattoo couple were still heading to the roadblock. Mallory finished and as she sat in the taxi with her dad, she said she would chew her nails off with manure under them, not to get eliminated. Then she seemed grossed out by what she just said.

At the pit stop, the doctors checked in with Phil for fourth place. That tattoo couple arrived at the roadblock and Nick decided to do it. He asked, “Is this how I’m going to go out?” while he was wearing the dress. He also had problems finding Duck’s End. He was trying to ask the locals but they weren’t helping. They kept wanting to take pictures with him wearing the dress. The father/daughter team arrived at the cathedral just before Chad & Stephanie did. Chad & Stephanie saw them and told their cab driver to let them out at the park. Gary & Mallory decided to go check the park too. Chad & Stephanie got to Phil just before Gary & Mallory did so they came in fifth and sixth places.

Nick finished up the roadblock and headed to the pit stop, expecting to be eliminated. They got to the pit stop in last place. He did inform them that it was a non-elimination leg so they got to continue the race.

The order teams checked into the pit stop:

  1. Jill & Thomas – dating
  2. Brook & Claire – home shopping queens
  3. Michael & Kevin – father/son
  4. Nat & Kat – doctors
  5. Chad & Stephanie – dating
  6. Gary & Mallory – father/daughter
  7. Nick & Vicki – tattoo couple

Questions

  1. Did you think the detour challenges were too hard or was it good they were difficult? Did you like that one of the detour tasks wasn’t an athletic task like one of them usually is?
  2. Are you glad that Nick & Vicki didn’t get eliminated? Or did you wish it was their time to go?
  3. At this point in the race, do you have a favorite team you are rooting to win it all?
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