Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 3, "We're making big moves"
Film date: 2018-11-14 - 2018-11-15
In the previous on the race segment Phil highlights the yield hourglasses, the alliance between the first five teams and how Leo & Alana helped Kaylynn & Haley.
This episode then has a strange start. We see teams booking flights for the next leg using the Travelocity app. This is done in daylight, probably right after they checked in after the last leg. Then teams are released in the middle of the night.
At the starting line we get an interview with Will & James where they say they want to knock out Leo & Alana. The "crime" the latter did was to help Kaylynn & Haley in the previous leg.
Teams are released in the following order:
| 1. | Hung & Chee | 03:36 | |
| 2. | DeAngelo & Gary | 03:58 | +0:22 |
| 3. | Riley & Maddison | 04:22 | +0:46 |
| 4. | Eswar & Aparna | 04:29 | +0:53 |
| 5. | Michelle & Victoria | 04:34 | +0:58 |
| 6. | Will & James | 05:11 | +1:35 |
| 7. | Leo & Alana | 06:28 | +2:52 |
| 8. | Kaylynn & Haley | 06:31 | +2:55 |
| 9. | Jerry & Frank | 06:33 | +2:57 |
Teams must now fly to Manaus, Brazil. They get $285 for this leg of
the race.
"We learned from the last leg that reading your clue is very helpful", Alana
"We also learned that on the first leg, so hopefully this time the lesson will stick", Leo
At the airport Will & James talk to the other teams of their alliance to really formalize it. They all go for it so we have one alliance made up of Will & James, Riley & Maddison, Hung & Chee, DeAngelo & Gary, Eswar & Aparna.
All teams are on the same flight to Manaus via Sao Paulo with arrival early in the morning on the 15th.
Once in Manaus there is the normal race to the taxis and then on to Mercado Municipal.
"It's serious when I have my hair in a bun, no matter how sweaty I get it's still gonna look good", Michelle
"Let's follow them, they might know where they are going", Jerry decide to follow Michelle & Victoria (who do not know where they are going)
Teams are looking for box 13 in the Hortifruti granjeiro at Mercado Municipal, they find it
in the following order:
1. Eswar & Aparna
2. Riley & Maddison
3. DeAngelo & Gary
4. Will & James
5. Leo & Alana
6. Hung & Chee
7. Kaylynn & Haley
8. Jerry & Frank
9. Michelle & Victoria
Route info: "Search the market and purchase all of the items on the enclosed list". The enclosed list reads:
1 kg Macaxeira Com Casca
1 Tipiti located at box 48 in
Mercardo Municipal
2 pares de luvas locate at
box 48 in Mercado
Municipal (NOTE: Make sure
they are not too small)
2 litros garrafa Tucupi
2 Redes
1 sacola de Tucumã
descascado
1 Terċada
1 kg Goma
10 Murupi
2 kg file fresco de
Pirarucu located at box 35
in the Mercado Manaus
Moderna fish market
1 sacola térmica located at
box 35 in the Mercado
Manaus Moderna fish
market
Fun fact; when Phil present the task he shows a slightly different shopping list (3kg of the first item instead of 1kg).
Teams also get a shopping bag to keep all their stuff in. Once done they must show their haul to the dock manager. Once he has confirmed they got everything he will give them their next clue.
The five team alliance comes into play here and they all help each other.
"The market was pure mayhem", Riley
One of the items on the list is a steel machete and this is sharp and comes with no protection. I wonder if this is the reason we see multiple racers with bandages on their hands later in the episode?
Teams complete their shopping in the following order:
| 1(+3) | Will & James | |
| | Riley & Maddison | missing one pair of gloves (pares de luvas) |
| | Eswar & Aparna | missing one pair of gloves and flour |
| 2(+4) | Hung & Chee | |
| 3(+2) | Leo & Alana | |
| 4(-1) | DeAngelo & Gary | |
| 5(+2) | Kaylynn & Haley | |
| 6(-4) | Riley & Maddison | |
| | Eswar & Aparna | still missing the flour |
| 7(-6) | Eswar & Aparna | |
| | Jerry & Frank | got a wooden machete instead of the real one they need |
| 8(+1) | Michelle & Victoria | |
| 9(-1) | Jerry & Frank | |
The next clue is a route info telling teams to travel deeper into the Amazon by boat to the Dessana tribe. The extra info here tells teams to keep their shopped items with them until they are directed to use them.
What follows is even more chaos and confusion. Most of the teams miss the part about keeping their stuff. What happens is:
Will & James, bring their bag to the boat but forget their machete and the fish
DeAngelo & Gary, forget their bag but realize it in the boat
Riley & Maddison, bring their bag
Hung & Chee, forget their bag but are told that they need it by Riley & Maddison
Kaylynn & Haley, forget their bag but realize they need it
Leo & Alana, forget their bag but realize they need it
Eswar & Aparna, bring their bag
Michelle & Victoria, forget their bag
Jerry & Frank, forget their bag
There was much confusion as teams went back to the judging table to collect their stuff. Things got mixed up and items got missing. In the end nobody got penalized but some teams had to go back to the market to buy more of some things.
"We never got our scarf, but the judge checked it", Chee
"So that's ours then", Hung, pointing to another scarf
"No these are ours, we had the checkered green", Gary defends their things
Kaylynn & Haley feel lucky. They spread their stuff on the sand and had the judge to check it there. It therefore did not get mixed with the other teams and was easy to scoop up when they realized their mistake.
Going back to the market to buy more stuff includes climbing a lot of stairs to get up from the beach. And did I mention that it is really hot and very humid?
In the end two teams leave the market in the boats without their shopped goods.
"Don't tell them that they need their stuff", DeAngelo & Gary when they see Michelle & Victoria about to leave
Eventually Michelle & Victoria's boat catches up with DeAngelo & Gary's. Now the boys feel they have a big enough cushion so they let the girls know that they need their stuff. The girls have to turn around and go back to the dock, which is by now 20-30 minutes behind them.
As the girls are on their way back they pass Jerry & Frank going the other direction. They yell "Did you bring your stuff?", but the boys does not hear what they say.
"They weren't that far ahead but they are already on their way back so they knocked it out", Jerry
Jerry & Frank do not realize they need their stuff until they arrive at the village and see that the other teams brought theirs. To be certain they also ask the teams already on shore. In the end they have to go back.
The episode does not say how long the boat ride was. But in the extra scenes we see that Jerry & Frank had to stop to refuel on the way. I also found one tour company which said their boats take 90 minutes (no idea if they are faster or slower though).
Teams arrive at the Desana tribe in following order:
1(+1) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) Will & James
3(+4) Eswar & Aparna
4(+1) Kaylynn & Haley
5(-3) Hung & Chee
6(-3) Leo & Alana
7(-3) DeAngelo & Gary
8(+0) Michelle & Victoria
9(+0) Jerry & Frank
Once teams arrive they have to find the chief who will give them their next clue. Finding him is not hard but it turns out that their next clue hangs high up in a tree. The chief takes his blow pipe and shoots down a clue for the teams (we never get to see him miss and the teams sound impressed).
I should probably also mention that the CBS blurrers had to work overtime on this episode. All the Desana women we see are topless (and blurred).
Detour: "Shelter from trees or well done please"
In shelter from trees teams must carry a bunch of palm leaves from the shore up to the chief's new house and then use them to cover a section of his new roof.
In well done please teams must use the items they bought at the market to prepare a meal.
The build task is trickier than it looks. The palm leaves must be tied down in a particular way. Fortunately the judge is nice and he shows teams what they have done wrong.
Riley & Maddison spot the small details at the build and they tell DeAngelo & Gary who did not.
"We have an alliance with them, we looked at each other like 'Do we help them?' 'yes'", Riley
At the building challenge Eswar & Aparna are having a difficult time.
"Turns out, coding is very different from putting together a hut", Aparna
"We're used to his heat and humidity", Maddison is happy they are from Hawaii
"I can't think of anything better than a cooking challenge because I'm all about it. They don't trust me with knifes but I'm ninja in the kitchen", Michelle
Michelle & Victoria proceed to have a mini meltdown at the cooking challenge where Michelle yells at Victoria for not collecting the juice they got when straining things.
Leo & Alana are not happy about being U-turned but they do not hang around to went their frustration. Instead they immediately head to the build detour.
"Will & James either see us a real long term threat or they are really dumb", Leo
Leo & Alana make one crucial mistake at the build. They do not realize that the palm leaves must face a certain way. Alana almost breaks down when they have to redo the task. Fortunately Leo keeps his cool and they get through it.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
| 1(+1) | Will & James | cook |
| 2(+3) | Hung & Chee | cook |
| 3(+1) | Kaylynn & Haley | cook |
| 4(-3) | Riley & Maddison | build |
| 5(+2) | DeAngelo & Gary | build |
| | Leo & Alana | cook |
| 6(+2) | Michelle & Victoria | cook |
| 7(-4) | Eswar & Aparna | build |
| 8(-2) | Leo & Alana | build |
| | Jerry & Frank | cook |
| 9(+0) | Jerry & Frank | build |
The editing shows Jerry & Frank completing the cooking before it shows Leo & Alana getting approved at the build. But we never get to see both teams in the same shot so I am fairly certain that all other teams had left for the pit stop before Jerry & Frank returned to the village with their goods.
The next clue is a route info which tells teams to make their way on foot to the Molokai beach hut. Here they will find a double U-turn and their next clue. The clue also tells them that there will be only two U-turns in this race.
Finding the U-turn board is easy so no placements change on the way there. At the board Will & James U-turn Leo & Alana because they feel more threatened by them than the rest.
"We're making big moves", Will 7 James get the title
Kaylynn & Haley feel they owe Leo & Alana a service after the help they got in the previous leg so they U-turn Jerry & Frank.
The next clue sits in a urn on the ground next to the U-turn board. This is easy to find for everybody but Michelle & Victoria who spend 34 minutes to look for it. They are passed my Eswar & Aparna while they are searching for the clue down at the beach.
The clue tells teams to travel by riverboat to another boat named Barco Correa Filho where Phil awaits.
Teams reach Phil in the following order:
1(+0) Will & James, win a trip to Bali
2(+0) Hung & Chee
3(+0) Kaylynn & Haley
4(+0) Riley & Maddison
5(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
6(+1) Eswar & Aparna
7(-1) Michelle & Victoria
8(+0) Leo & Alana
9(+0) Jerry & Frank, are eliminated
"You have to make every experience a winning experience and we had a winning experience, I wouldn't trade it for the world", Frank
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 10, "Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty"
Film date: probably 2018-11-29 - 2018-11-30
The last pit stop was at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, India. Teams are released from a different place, probably the pit stop hotel garden, in the following order:
| 1. | Riley & Maddison | 15:25 | |
| 2. | Will & James | 15:42 | +0:17 |
| 3. | DeAngelo & Gary | 15:58 | +0:33 |
| 4. | Hung & Chee | 16:26 | +1:01 |
| 5. | Eswar & Aparna | 16:52 | +1:27 |
Note that in the last leg Eswar & Aparna arrived at the pit stop just after Hung & Chee. Apparently Hung & Chee got a time credit due to a production issue in the last leg, which is why they are starting earlier.
Route info: "Fly to the city of Siem Reap in Cambodia."
The clue also tells teams that when they land they must take a taxi to Psar Cha Old market where they can find a Tuk Tuk with a gnome in it.
"The three kids love the Travelocity roaming gnome with all his different accessories", Chee
On the way to the airport we get to hear some U-turn plans. Teams think there may be one this leg and the plan is for the core alliance (Will & James, Riley & Maddison and Hung & Chee) to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary. And then block the board by U-turning the team who did the first U-turn.
The trip is, as usual in this season, already booked so all teams are on the same flight. Which probably is:
TG 330 HYD-BKG 01:36 - 06:25
PG 903 BKG-REP 08:29 - 09:36
"We're getting down to the nitty gritty here", Riley gets the quote
In Siem Reap teams jump into taxis and make it to the market. Some teams have an easier time finding the Tuc Tucs than others. Once they found them there was a task which has mostly been left on the cutting room floor. Apparently teams got a license plate number and given that they had to find the driver and his motorcycle. Then connect it to the Tuc Tuc before they can use it to leave.
The Tuc Tuc also contains a basket with donations which they must keep with them until further notice.
Teams leave in their Tuc Tucs in the following order:
1. Will & James
2. Hung & Chee
3. Riley & Maddison
4. DeAngelo & Gary
5. Eswar & Aparna
It seems as if the first three teams leave more or less together and the last two are trailing behind.
Teams must travel with their Tuc Tuc and Gnome to Chong Kneas pier where they will find their next clue.
Teams reach the pier in the following order:
1(+2) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) Will & James
3(-1) Hung & Chee, seconds after #2
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary, just a couple of minutes after #3
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Teams must now travel by boat to Chong Kneas village and visit a floating Buddhist temple. Here they must donate the basket of everyday items to get their next clue.
There are small life vests for the gnomes.
The clue seems to give detailed instructions about how to behave in the temple. We see Riley & Maddison practice the temple ceremony in the boat on the way there. And as they do this the engine of their boat breaks down. Fortunately their drive soon manages to get i going again but two teams do pass them while it is broken.
Teams reach the temple in the following order:
1(+2) Hung & Chee
2(+0) Will & James
3(-2) Riley & Maddison
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Only one team at a time is allowed in the temple so the other teams must wait for their turn.
Detour: Fish or Farm
In fish teams must pull a net, which is more than half a mile long, through a spinning wheel which will separate the fish from the net. After that they must measure 15kg of fish. To do that they need to get the arrow for the scales from the satchel which their gnome is carrying.
In farm teams must complete a small floating garden. They must mix the soil and plant local produce to replicate an example. At the end they must plant the seeds which the gnome is carrying in his satchel.
Hung & Chee ask their driver to take them to the fish detour but when he delivers them to the farm detour they decide to do it instead. The floating gardens are actually small rafts and they do move quite a lot so in the behind the scenes videos we see that teams had problems with seasickness on this task.
Chee turns out to know all of the plants they are planting.
"This is definitely backbreaking work", Chee on the gardening
We also get the hear more about the plan to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary.
Nobody struggles with the detours. They just take a long time. From the outgoing placements we can see that the farming side was slower, or farther away. But the difference can not have been that big because both teams doing the farm side had left before the U-turned team arrived.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+2) Riley & Maddison, fish
2(+2) DeAngelo & Gary, fish just after #
- Eswar & Aparna, fish
3(-2) Hung & Chee, farm
4(-2) Will & James, farm
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, farm
Teams must now travel to a nearby floating restaurant where they will encounter the final U-turn of the race.
On the way to the U-turn Riley & Maddison realize it would be stupid to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary as they are right behind them.
"If we U-turn DeAngelo & Gary they could U-turn Chee & Hung or the boyfriends", Maddison
It seems as if Riley & Maddison do not want to find the U-turn board first, they search the lower level of the restaurant so that DeAngelo & Gary can pass them. In the end teams reach the U-turn board in the following order:
1(+1) DeAngelo & Gary, U-turn Eswar & Aparna
2(-1) Riley & Maddison, U-turn DeAngelo & Gary to burn the board
- Eswar & Aparna
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) Will & James
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
A lot can be said about the strategy here. IMHO DeAngelo & Gary did the strategically right thing here by U-turning a team they knew was behind them. Riley & Madison's blocking of the board shows that they are very committed to their alliance. A IMHO better move would have been to do nothing, this would have allowed Eswar & Aparna to U-turn another strong team wile still letting Riley & Maddison keep their hands clean.
"That sucks", Aparna's reaction to the U-turn
"This is so frustrating", James wanted to see DeAngelo & Gary U-turned
Route info: "Travel by boat back to Chong Kneas pier, once there tell your Tuc Tuc driver to take you to the Khmer floor handicraft in Siem Reap to receive your next clue"
Teams arrive to the floor handicraft place in the following order:
1(+1) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) DeAngelo & Gary, seconds after #1
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) Will & James
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Road block: Who thinks they can fit the mold?
In this road block contestants must make a floor tile. There is a ongoing silent demonstration they can watch. Once they have crafted a tile they can get a key from the satchel their Gnome is carrying. This key unlocks a chest with eighth additional tiles in it. It also has these instructions on the lid:
1. Fit these eight tiles into their
proper places on the puzzle
tray.
2. Once you have properly fitted
the eight tiles into the tray
your slide puzzle is ready to
be solved.
3. Solve the slide puzzle you
have just created.
4. When you think you have
solved the slid puzzle, place
your finished decorative tile
into the open slot to receive
your next clue.
The pieces in the chest have small pegs on their back and these fits into holes drilled into the slide puzzle pieces. I assume that each tile only fits in one location and in one specific orientation.
To make their tile they place a jig in a form, then fill the various areas of the jig with the correct paints. Then remove the jig and sprinkle cement over the paint. After that they put it in a press, which a local operates. Finally they just need to remove the finished tile from the form.
This all sounds a lot easier than it turns out to be. The tiles keep crumbling when teams try to remove them from the form. The crucial step which they all initially miss is that the form needs to be liberally waxed before being assembled. The whole process for making one tile takes 10-15 minutes.
DeAngelo struggles with this task, his tiles keeps breaking when he tries to remove them from the mold. Gary also struggles to keep quiet as he knows what DeAngelo is missing.
"All you need to do is watch the guy one full time", Gary talks to himself
"I think there is something key that I'm missing here", Riley
Riley decides to watch the entire demonstration.
In earlier seasons we have seen teams struggle mightily with tile puzzles but this one is a dud. Nobody seems to struggle with it. Perhaps because it is just 3x3 tiles?
Eswar & Aparna arrive two hours after the first teams got to the road block and by that time the first two teams have left. Eswar is doing the road block while Aparna talks trash at DeAngelo.
"DeAngelo, if you want to mess up for a few more hours, that would be great, Aparna
"I'm just hoping you keep on messing up over there",Aparna
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
| 1(+0) | Riley* & Maddison | (5-4) | On his 6th attempt |
| 2(+2) | Will* & James | (5-4) | On his 4th attempt |
| 3(+0) | Hung & Chee* | (4-5) | On his 6th attempt |
| 4(-2) | DeAngelo* & Gary | (5-4) | On his 12th attempt |
| 5(+0) | Eswar* & Aparna | (5-4) | On his 4th attempt |
Route info: "Race to your next pit stop at Angkor Thom" The clue also warns that the last team to check in will be eliminated.
Teams rush back to their Tuc Tuc drivers and tell them to drive to the east gate of Angkor Thom.
As usual the editing shows the next to last team struggling with everything and the last team flying through all obstacles. For example we get to see DeAngelo & Gary get stopped by a bunch of monks while some workers bring down a tree.
In interviews after we learn that it was not nearly as close as it was made to seem. The last team was about 45 minutes behind the next to last team.
Teams arrive at the mat in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison, win a trip to Bergen, Norway
2(+0) Will & James
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, are eliminated
"I'm just happy that I got to spend all this time with my brother", Aparna