LEG 11 (Philippines) EPISODE ANALYSISBETTER TITLE QUOTE: "RePhil" - Jim
"Crash", "point shot", and "breathtaking" are slang terms that can wholly characterize this penultimate Leg's power. Leaving the Naic rice fields, the teams head back into the city life of Manila unready to compete against the streets. As high stakes are increasingly popular, we are introduced with a new race-changing twist claiming a FINAL FOUR FINALE! Now how shocking is that? Guess we will find out more about the surprise along with the peculiar manila folder next week.
SPEED BUMP: (Roadside Assistance)
Brooke & Robbie had to transfer the cargo of a buggy driver onto the roof of a new buggy to continue racing the standard route. Short and concise side-task, but this Speed Bump wasn't precisely unique to the Philippines nor Manila in general and I enjoy SBs which feature a cultural value to the visited region. Sufficient to say the least.
SPEED BUMP SCORE: 7.8/10
DETOUR: (Nothing but Net or All but the Brakes)
In Nothing but Net, teams had to score a total of 21 points in street basketball to receive their next clue. Adam & Bethany and Brooke & Robbie made this task very ebullient with the stunning 2-point shots by Adam and Brooke respectively. It is a fun task to watch, yet challenging if one is not experienced dipping into basketball knowledge. In All But the Brakes, team had to navigate a padyak through a 4-lap course in under the allotted time to receive the next clue. Amy & Maya and Misti & Jim sped through this task - but not without smashing into people and property. A cool task to do in person with plenty of action.
DETOUR SCORE: 10/10
ROADBLOCK: (Who is cuckoo for coconuts?)
In this Roadblock, one member from each team had to deliver sets of coconut products (brooms and husks) to three different intersections in exchange for a receipt. After turning in the receipts to the merchant will teams receive ther next clue. I did not expect this task to be overwhelmingly challenging, even exhausting Amy to the brink of collapsing like Margie in Thailand. With teams not noticing the paper on the jeepney, overheating, and dealing with language barriers, this happened to be an awesome task.
ROADBLOCK SCORE: 10/10
OTHER SCORES:
TEAM DEVELOPMENT: 10/10
TEAM DRAMA: 8/10
EDITING: 10/10
SOUNDTRACK: 9/10
PIT STOP CONFIGURATION: 10:10 (Finally, back to normal!)
FINAL 4?!: 8.5/10 (That kind of crossed the line, but interested in how everything will play out in L.A. considering how shell-shocked I am, lol)
BASKETBALL BOSSES: 11/10
OVERALL: 9/10
See all of you next week for the SEASON FINALE + leaving for a TAR retrace adventure in less than 12 hours of the end of the finale!