The Amazing Race -- The Double U-Turn Redux
Original Airing: April 28, 2013
It was a Double U-Turn redux as Max and Katie, Bates and Anthony and Caroline and Jennifer decided to target Joey and Meghan and Mona and Beth, again. Last time it didn’t work and this time it did. At least it wasn’t Bates and Anthony who U-Turned Mona and Beth. I think may set a precedent with future racers using the Double U-Turn to target teams the majority doesn’t like.
Before that, teams learned they had to fly to Edinburgh, Scotland. Joey and Meghan and Mona and Beth were crowing because they believed they’d gotten on the earliest flight. What they didn’t discover until landing was Katie and Max, Bates and Anthony and Caroline and Jennifer managed to get on an earlier flight than them, giving them a tremendous lead and helping them to successfully pull-off their Double U-Turn scheme against Team Mom and Team You Tube, this time.
The first destination was Gosford House, which was really a castle, where one team member had to dress in full Scottish kilt regalia and manage to maintain a note on a bagpipe as they marched around the castle for 2 minutes. Caroline had a real problem with the bagpipe and it took her several attempts to finish the task. This allowed Max and Katie and Bates and Anthony to become the front runners. Tied for last place were Mona and Beth and Joey and Meghan. Meghan whined so much about having to play the bagpipes it allowed Mona and Beth to get a slight edge over them. She got it on the first try, so if she had shut her whining yap and had just done the task, Mona and Beth might have been in serious trouble. They needed that slight time lead so they could do their Speed Bump and not fall way behind Joey and Meghan so they could stay in this.
Next teams had to go to CraigmillarCastle and search the huge fireplaces for their next clue. It was a Detour to take place at the Sheep Heid Inn called Tasty Puddin Or Whiskey Rollin.
In Tasty Puddin’ you had to use the intestine of an Ox to stuff the Haggis in and then sample it. Some liked it while others thought it was disgusting. The intestines almost looked like sausage casing, and if you didn’t know what it was, you might not have been seriously grossed out by it.
In Whiskey Rollin’ teams had to transport 8 large whiskey barrels to a nearby party. Bates and Anthony actually managed to heft them on their shoulders. I kept thinking they might break one like they did with the neon letters, but they delivered the barrels safely. They were then directed to Duddingston Kirk where the Double U-Turn board was located.
I thought the Double U-Turn was located in a trick spot. You didn’t come to it until you finished either Tasty Puddin’ or Whiskey Rollin’ and instead of being able to go to the pit stop you had to go back and do the other task you didn’t want to do.
The Speed Bump was to play Skittles at the Sheep Heid Inn. It’s basically bowling with a twist. The bowling balls have no holes in Skittles. It took Mona and Beth several times to get a strike, which ate up their lead and when they went into the big task of the evening they were neck-in-neck with Joey and Meghan who finally caught up with them.
Max and Katie U-Turned Mona and Beth, while Bates and Anthony did the same to Joey and Meghan, then both teams headed off to the pit stop.
Mona and Beth and Joey and Meghan went into the Haggis task neck-in-neck, but the Moms were able to finish faster. Then they discovered they had to go do the barrel rolling task. What got me about this task was Mona and Beth were each managing to roll a barrel, while Joey and Meghan just couldn’t do that. Joey declared if they rolled one barrel at a time together that would be faster. How? Especially when your opponents are doing two at a time?
I was going to be so pissed if Mona and Beth got sent home, while Joey and Meghan remained. For the barrel-rolling thing alone Joey and Meghan deserved to be eliminated and they finally were.
The pit stop was located on Niddy Street South in Old Town Edinburgh. The teams checked in as follows:
- Katie and Max who won $10,000 each
- Bates and Anthony
- Caroline and Jennifer
- Mona and Beth
- Joey and Meghan –eliminated.
Of the final four teams, I feel like it’s kind of split down the middle. Bates and Anthony and Max and Katie seem the strongest and Caroline and Jennifer and Mona and Beth seem a bit weaker. This leg of the race seemed to prove that in tasks that require physical strength, Bates and Anthony have the edge over the rest of the teams. I doubt Katie and Max would have come in first if they had had to do the whiskey barrel task. So Mona and Beth may have been right that teams should have been trying to get Bates and Anthony out, instead of a weak team like Joey and Meghan. Unfortunately, this was never about strategy and getting the strongest team out; it was about having a grudge because the Moms and You Tubers had been part of an alliance with the top five teams in the first leg.
Even though the Country Singers came in third, I think it’s purely because they got lucky and got on an early flight. If they had been on the same flight as Mona and Beth, I think The Moms would have beat them. So the final three teams I’d like to be are: Mona and Beth, Max and Katie and Bates and Anthony.
I don’t really have a preference over who wins, but if I had to pick a winner, I’d probably pick Mona and Beth. Both Katie and Max and Bates and Anthony have won stuff for coming in first. It won’t be like they’ll be going home empty-handed if they don’t win.
Ultimately it’s all going to come down to picking the right tasks and making the right travel arrangements. Not to mention reading the clue correctly and doing what it tells you to do. For example: if it says transport a cheese wheel down a hill on a sled, don’t roll it down the hill instead. And if it doesn’t say walk to the next pit stop, don’t walk to the next pit stop. And carry your passport on you in case someone steals your bag while you’re sleeping.
