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Amazing Race 19 Commentary – Ep 3 – 263 Buddhas?!?


Now that’s how you get a good twist!

Instead of the manufactured drama from last week, this episode had a challenge-based and organic drama which led to surprises, comebacks and some lighthearted moments. Lesson to this 800 time Emmy winner – don’t force it. You’ve been doing pretty well so far.

I’ll make this post somewhat short; being that it is rather late. I am still waiting for that 25th hour in the day to be invented so I can catch up on all the crap I don’t do in time. The main points for this second Indonesian leg – the Dudes emerge, the Peytons recover, and the Showgirls get upended.

The Dudes. They are BJ/Tyler except minus the pretension. If BJ had approached the Dutch cyclists to ask which one was “feeling it,” he’d have completely hammed it up and made all about him. Look at me!! I’m a free spirit!! Not Andy and Tommy. They are truly fantastic dudes. Their rug really does tie the room together. They made it about the Dutch guy. And the offhand “nice work guys” remark to the rice workers? Again, it felt like natural politeness rather than desperate posing. These dudes are just dudes.

Having them say that they didn’t have enough grass made me wonder – just how commonplace is that dilemma for these guys? Yeah, that’s me making a 1970s era pot slang joke.

The big moment for the Dudes was during the detour and their team up with the Magellans. The clue said they can only use two buckets for the task, but Laurence used more. The Dudes saw this and said aloud, “read your clues, guys.” They could have said nothing, they could have called attention to themselves, and instead they gave a little clue of their own. Not their fault it was ignored.

Yet again, as they entered the majestic old temple we got a “that’s why you do the Amazing Race, stuff right here.” I got authentic and not self-promotion.

The Peytons started the leg in last place and stayed there through virtually the entire leg. They even switched Detours and swapped out their cab. We did get the hysterical image of Marcus during the first detour scooping up the little lamb under his arm like a football. They had a great comeback up their sleeve which actually intersected with the Dudes’ awesomeness.

After the Dudes and Magellans finished the Roadblock together, the Dudes actually crossed paths with the Peytons, who were headed towards the Roadblock in last place. The Dudes actually gave Amani the correct answer to the Roadblock challenge. Amazing generosity – borderline idiotic, but still generous. And incredible luck for the Peytons. Unfortunately, Marcus was not paying close attention and due to the grueling nature of the arrival at the Roadblock, he took the challenge instead of Amani. If only they could get some more luck…



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…wait, they did! And it dovetails nicely with the Showgirls’ demise. The Peytons caught up to the others after the middle of the pack failed to adequately read their clue. Instead of counting the Buddha statues with the hand gestures, they all seemed to count the statues and the carvings. Just as long as it had a Buddha displayed. Instead of a 17,17,17.18 count for the four poses, the teams came back with crazy answers ranging from 47 to 68 to 71 to 263! This evened the playing field. All of the teams basically figured it out at the same time. Bill got his on his own – kudos to him. The others all joined forces to answer it, with Marcus seemingly struggling by himself.

However, one final task remained – settling up with their cab. Teams cannot check in to Pit Stops without doing so – as we learned during the Finale of AR7. With the Pit Stop found on foot, teams no longer needed their cabs. New Jeremy had no issues since their cab broke down and they went the rest of the way on foot. The Peytons had already settled with the cab – a potentially fatal move should they have needed to travel to another location. However, it worked as they had no cab to settle with either. This gave them yet another dose of luck and earned them a berth in the next leg.

Unfortunately for the Showgirls, they were the last team to find their cab. This turn of events was a natural pitfall of the Race, and they paid the price as a result. This team barely made it out of the U.S. after dropping a passport at a gas station, so really the visits to Taiwan and Indonesia were gravy for them. They were not very strong, but they will be missed. And yes, that means what you think it means.

Route Markers
• The Dutch Bicycle Club – the first task for the Racers – required teams to cycle with a leisurely bunch to another part of the city. This group re-enacts the 1940s Dutch bicycle patrol and if I had those bitchin uniforms, I’d do it too.
• I knew the Showgirls were doomed when we started getting the kid photos early on. Kiss of Death on reality shows.
• Cindy made her packing list three months prior to the Race, had the two of them study geography and languages, which doing an exercise routine. Insane and obsessive? Yes. But in this case, more teams should learn from Cindy and come to the Race with more knowledge than shouting “Arriba” in random countries.
• Did Cathi really joke about dying soon? Really?
• Indonesian taxis are labeled as “taksi.” Gotta love phonetics.
• When sent to the “restaurant in the wilderness,” I was totally expecting a classic Amazing Race food challenge. Instead, the somewhat boring Detour.
• Marcus chanting “buma aye” made me laugh. If anyone didn’t get that reference – here you go
• Ernie’s broken pedal knocked them down to the bottom, but they made a heck of a good comeback via taxi. Pointless in the grand scheme of the Race, but still, good for them.
• Can we get a long Cathi falling down montage? Because that would be comic gold.
• Zac to Dad at the Roadblock – “Take your time.” Andy to Zac – “Take your time? What are you guys doing?” HA!
• Marcus yelling “shoot” in a sacred temple just doesn’t seem like a good idea.
• Dudes get a Dubai trip because Magellan’s error at the Roadblock got them a 15 minute penalty. This despite Laurence essentially getting them both through the Roadblock. They could give up the trip, but as Andy jokes, “Then we gotta face our wives…” HA! At least they offered them some snowboard gear assistance. Not the gear, but assistance. Heh.

Detour – Rice Field or Grass Fed – Rice Field had them deliver meals to field workers, and then plant 300 rice seedlings in the thick mud. Grass Fed had them fill two bags of grass, gather up two sheep and use two buckets to full up their water basket. Rice – Showgirls and Twins. Grass – Dudes, Magellan, Control Freak, New Jeremy, Geritol, Siblings, and Peytons (who flipped to Rice after starting here). Surprising to me, but Rice turned out to be easier than Grass. I saw the thick mud and expected the worst.

Roadblock – Counting Buddha statues which were featuring four distinct hand gestures. They had to count each one, mimic the gesture and get the clue. Laurence, Tommy, Marie, Lisa, Bill, Ernie, Justin, Jeremy and Marcus.

Order of Finish – Dudes, Magellan, New Jeremy, Siblings, Control Freak, Peytons, Geritol, Twins, and Showgirls (ELIMINATED)

Next week – Back to Thailand and something with umbrellas.

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