So much for that big cliffhanger! After leaving us on the edge of our seats last week, Sunday's episode of The Amazing Race was relatively normal. Kent and Vyxsin found their missing fanny pack, breezed through the remaining challenges and caught up with the other teams, who were all waiting together for a nighttime train back to Kunming, China. In fact, all the teams appeared downright relaxed, shooting hoops and playing cards in a quiet train station until their ride arrived.
But once that train stopped in Kunming, the competition became cutthroat. After hopping cabs and grabbing clues in a chaotic flower market, teams sped to the Golden Horse and Jade Cock Memorial Archways. But the cowboys' cab went missing, so they stole the Globetrotters' ride, stranding the tall teammates in the middle of nowhere. Though they found another cab, it put them dangerously behind in the very tight pack.
At the Archways, teams faced the Detour: Honor the Past or Embrace the Future. In Honor the Past, which Ron and Christina, Zev and Justin, Jen and LaKisha and Gary and Mallory chose, teams had to watch a traditional Tibetan performance, and without taking notes, memorize the order in which the 15 performers hit the stage, then recreate that sequence using dolls.
In Embrace the Future, chosen by Margie and Luke, the cheerleaders, Goths, cowboys and Globetrotters, teams had to unload a complete solar water heating system from a truck, carry the boxes up to the roof of a building and install the system. Everyone pretty much flew through the tasks – though the Goths did a lot of bickering – and sped toward the next clue, which contained the dreaded Double U-Turn.
The first two teams to arrive chose not to use it, but the Goths, who hit the box seconds before the cheerleaders, U-Turned the redheaded duo right then and there. In turn, the girls U-Turned the Globetrotters, and set out to complete the other half of the Detour. Neither of the U-Turned teams fell far behind, though, and caught up with the rest of the racers at the nearby Stone Forest, where they faced a particularly frustrating Roadblock.
Here, nearly everyone fell apart. One member of each pair had to grab life-sized "bones" and recreate a dinosaur skeleton piece by piece. If it wasn't perfect, a paleontologist, who oversaw the challenge, would tell them to stop and restart. Faced with the daunting task, Gary and Mallory decided to use their Express Pass and breeze to the finish line – though they were knocked into second place by the cowboys, who finished in first place after Jet rocked the Roadblock.
Sadly other teams weren't so lucky: Christina had to restart her structure several times, Justin couldn't separate some of his pieces when told to rebuild, Kent kept messing up and Jaime was just completely overwhelmed. But one by one, teams managed to finish, and Margie and Luke slipped into third place, with the Goths not far behind. However, they faced a 30-minute penalty for missing their mandatory flight last week, and fell into fifth place, behind LaKisha and Jen. The Globetrotters ended up in sixth, followed by Ron and Christina and Justin and Zev. The cheerleaders checked in last, and though pleased that Jaime ended up finishing the Roadblock, were eliminated.
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