"The Amazing Race": Double U-Turn and driving drama in Indonesia
The third leg of "The Amazing Race" picked up with teams in Surabaya, Indonesia, and ended with another pair heading home.
Sunday's episode also brought the return of the Double U-Turn. But this time around, teams could U-Turn another team anonymously. Doesn't that take some of the drama out of it?
The market in Surabaya, where teams finished last week, was the jumping off point for this week's leg of the race. Teams were told to find Antika Jaya restaurant, where they'd pick up their next clue.
Twins Natalie and Nadiya continue their alliance with Texas couple Trey and Lexie, immediately grouping together to try and figure out where to go. When that gets them nowhere, they loop in the Chippendales. But James and Jaymes don't know where they're going either, and eventually the teams all find cabs and race off.
The restaurant had a Roadblock: "Who wants to serve a balanced meal?" Of course, this being "The Amazing Race," "balanced" had nothing to do with nutrition. One team member had to serve up 20 plates of padang food to a table of customers all at once. Drop any plates, and you have to go back to the kitchen and start again.
Sure enough, Lexi drops her plates at the table and has to give it another try. Most of the other teams seemed to have an easy time with the task, even if they ended up with food all over their clothes. Unfortunately for the twins, who started this leg in first place, a lost taxi driver meant that they got to the restaurant late.
The next clue sent teams to Surabaya Gubeng station, where they had to catch a train to Bangil. The teams to make it on the first train were Abbie and Ryan, James and Abba, Josh and Brent and Trey and Lexi. The twins just missed that train, and had to wait three hours for the next one and ride with the other teams at the back of the pack, which they referred to as "The Stragglers."
Once on the train (both the first and second), teams had to keep an eye out for a young man who had the next clue. It was a Detour, and the challenges were Lion's Head or Egg Head. In Lion's Head, teams had to take part in a procession while wearing 40-pound masks and doing traditional dance steps. In Egg Head, teams had to pick up four eggs at the market and let locals place coconuts on their heads, light the coconut on fire and use the flame to cook the eggs, which the racers then had to eat.
The divorcees, Texans, Team "Long Hair, Don't Care" and the Chippendales all choose to dance, while the Beekman Boys opt to eat some eggs. The teams then arrived at the Double U-Turn, but all five teams play nice and decide not to U-Turn anyone else. They all race off towards a school, where host Phil Keoghan is waiting at the Pit Stop.
All the second-train teams choose the Lion's Head challenge. The twins, driven by their desire to break away from the Straggler pack, finish first and also choose not to U-Turn anyone. The monster truckers weren't feeling as kind, and U-Turned the substitute teachers.
Caitlin and Brittany had trouble finding the U-Turn spot, and the teachers got their first. After trying to figure out which teams were behind them, they chose...wrong. They U-Turned the monster truckers, who had already finished, instead of the blondes. Brittany was still screaming at their lost cab driver, even as the subs finished their second Detour task.
Divorcees Abbie and Ryan finished at the Pit Stop, followed by the Texans, the Chippendales, Long Hair Don't Care and the Beekman Boys. Then came the twins, the monster truckers, the teachers and finally the blondes, who were eliminated from the race.
In next week's preview, teams move on to Bangladesh and monster trucker Rob is seen telling a local, "You just cost me a million dollars."
Tell us: Who do you think will win "The Amazing Race"?