Racing report
Amazing Race Season 21, Episode 11.1, "Take down that million"
Film date: 14-15/6 - 2012
The episode starts as last episodes tend to do with a look back at the season and a presentation of the final four teams.
The Chippendales Jaymes & James, struggled in beginning but came back with a positive attitude. And they are motivated by their family situation.
Goat farmers Josh & Brent, are the contestants with nine lives. They have narrowly escaped elimination many times and never won a leg.
Dating couple Trey & Lexi, started without any travel experience but got stronger as the race progressed.
The twins Natalie & Nadiya, race loud and proud.
Teams depart from the castle Belver in Palma in the following order:
| 1. | Trey & Lexi | 09:32 | |
| 2. | Jaymes & James | 09:46 | (+0:14) |
| 3. | Josh & Brent | 10:27 | (+0:55) |
| 4. | Natalie & Nadiya | 11:14 | (+1:42 |
Route info: "Make your way to the garden of France, the Loire valley". Teams must now fly back to Barcelona and from there travel by train to St Pierre de Corps in the Loire Valley, France. When they arrive they will find their next clue on a brand new car, provided by a race sponsor.
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I know we can rely on Trey & Lexi and Jaymes & James to help us", the twins wants help to overcome their speed bump
Teams seem to fly on different flights to Barcelona. At least one team seems to fly:
VY3995 PMI-BCN 13:40-14:29
From Barcelona teams travel by a night train to Paris. All teams travel on the same train. One the train the twins gather their allies to make a plan.
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The Beekmans, they're here taking up a spot, and we want it way more than them.", the twins wants the other to help them get ahead of Josh & Brent.
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Just remember, six heads are better than two so you'll be fine", James reassures
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What's going on? Why did we get quiet all of a sudden", Jaymes eventually realize that the goat farmers have turned up
The Beekmans overhear this gathering, but when they happen to make themselves known Jaymes invites them over. It seems like he wants to include them in the group.
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We had a real sort of mental decision point when we overheard that there actually was an official alliance that we weren't a part of", Josh
"
It's almost like High School all over again", Josh has some bad memories
From Paris teams travel on a local train to St Pierre de Corps. This trains arrives around 09:37. At the station there is a chickens with their heads cut off moment until the teams find the provided cars. On the windshield is their next clue:
ROUTE INFO
Pick up eight empty
crates outside of the
Brasserie de la Tour
located next to the
station. Then, using the
Hands-Free Liftgate,
"kick" open the liftgate
... crates into
...
Teams must now pick up some empty crates and use a fancy feature to open the boot and load the car. Finally they must drive themselves to Chateau de Villandry where they must find a stone dog statue, which holds their next clue.
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There's no need for us to fret about how to get there. We might as well just stay in the pack 'cause we know they'll be working together.", Brent prefers waits while the other teams get directions
"
If we finish first today, I hope we win a car. My mom has kind of needed a car for a while", James realizes there is a good chance that they can win a car today
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The Sri-Lankans are going to start panicking during this leg, so let's just play to it", Brent expects the speed-bump to help them
As teams drive towards the castle the twins start getting anxious. They ask the others for help to loose Josh & Brent. But no help is forthcoming.
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This place is gorgeous", Lexi as she runs through the very large ornamental gardens of Chateau de Villandy
In the gardens teams start asking a gardener for directions. They have communications trouble until Josh appears and start talking French.
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Sneaky", The twins finally learn that Josh speaks French
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Ohhhh, whoa, Josh just starts spitting French at somebody. That was a little scary to know that he knew that", Jaymes was also surprised
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You guys starting to sweat a little bit?", Josh taunts the twins
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Wait a minute. These boys are pulling all kinds of tricks.", Jaymes is surprised by the speed the recently injured Josh can move at, and his knowledge of french
The twins encounter their speed bump next to the stone dog. They must find a specific room in the castle and once there lace a corset worn by the lady of the house. There is an example on a mannequin which they can look at.
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Can't believe we're gonna lose 'em and they're gonna get to follow them", the Twins are stressed when they get separated from the pack but the Beekmans can stay in it
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Guys, please lose them, don't let them follow you", The twins try to elicit help from the other teams
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You guys don't need to lose us. Play nice and don't listen to these bitches", The Beekmans bites back
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Have fun at the speed bump", Brent, ironically, to the twins
Teams reach the stone dog in the following order:
1. Trey & Lexi
2. Jaymes & James
3. Josh & Brent, a second after #1
4. Natalie & Nadiya, after having performed their speed bump
Route info: "Find Da Vinci's final resting place for your next clue". Teams must now figure out that Leonardo Da Vinci is buried at Chateau D'Amboise, and drive themselves there.
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It was very interesting how quickly the alliance broke down because as soon as the twins were no longer in the picture, Chippendales and Lex & Tex where like whatever we wanted to do", Brent suddenly find the other teams cooperative
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We'll follow Josh, if you want to bring your French skills on in and help us out then, hey you know, Bonjour", Jaymes gladly accepts the help
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The only thing that worries me is that they're not really good with directions", Lexi doubts it is a good idea to follow the Beekmans
Lexi is soon proven right when the Beekmans get lost and have to stop and ask for directions.
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Can they not use the map that we have?", Lexi wonder why the Beekmans are asking for directions
Teams find the next clue on the side of a pot of flowers in the castle church in the following order:
1(+0) Trey & Lexi, a few minutes after noon
2(+0) Jaymes & James
3(+0) Josh & Brent, within a minute of #1
4(+0) Natalie & Nadiya
DETOUR
Detour: 'Plow' or 'Chow'
Plow: Using a one
horsepower "tractor", till
the soil to create 4
furrows in the fields
adjacent to Chateau de
Cheverny.
...
Both options takes place at or near Chateau de Cheverny.
In Chow teams must sort, weigh and cut various meats to create a well balanced meal for a pack of hunting dogs. In the process they must debone the the meat and remove all foreign objects.
In Plow teams must use a horse and plow to till a field. The area is set up with three 'lanes'. One is used for a demonstration and the other two are for the teams. Making the furrow straight is a lot harder than it looks. But it doesn't matter that much since the judge approves all teams doing it on their first try.
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Do you think our cookbook skills will stretch to dogs?", Brent wonders if they can do the Chow option
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Ok, we can do Chow with you. We can help each other through it", Brent plans to work with Trey & Lexi
Initially Trey & Lexi plan to work with the Beekmans, but their competitive side kicks in and they decide to just go and not wait while the Beekmans fetch their car.
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Their allegiance may be to the twins at this point. So we just have to be extra cautious, you really can't trust anybody at this stage of the race", Brent when they realize Trey & Lexi have left
On their way to the detour Trey & Lexi change their mind and decide to go with Plow instead. They think this will let them forge ahead of the other teams.
Teams arrive at the detour location in the following order:
1(+0) Trey & Lexi
2(+2) Natalie & Nadiya
3(-1) Jaymes & James, less than a minute after #2
4(-1) Josh & Brent, less than a minute after #3
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This is why we stay by ourselves baby, we're rocking it", Lexi when they arrive first
"
Being born and raised in Texas, I have horses on my ranch", Lexi is used to working with horses
"
We have no cushion anymore", Jaymes feels the pressure when the twins have caught up
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Oh well. You know, we do what we can", Josh has a more fatalistic world view when he sees the twins
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We have made dog food with our grandfather before", The twins on why they choose chow
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My forearms are killing me", James finds the plowing hard
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This is so awesome, us country people doing the country detour", Lexi is enjoying herself
The twins arrive at the meat cutting tables seconds before the Beekmans. A great amount of trash talking ensues as both teams try to distract the others. All of it is however in god humor and the teams are good friends even after the race.
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We're competing against goat farmers who use their knives regularly, stabbing people in the back", Natalie
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The nice gays became the evil gays today", Natalie implies that Josh has faked his injury
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We've always been evil, we've never been nice", The twins admit they are not nice
The Beekmans have a strategy to pick meats which do not need to be deboned, while the twins just seem to take whichever piece of meat is on top.
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You guys can cut and talk at the same time, we can not. Evil gays!", Natalie realizes that the Beekmans are trying to distract them
When teams are done with the meats they must weight and bring 20kg of pellets as well.
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Oh my god, this is what we wanted to avoid", The twins realize they are way behind in the detour
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The Gays bloody beat us", The twins admit defeat
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+0) Trey & Lexi, plow
2(+0) Jaymes & James, plow
3(+0) Josh & Brent, chow
4(+0) Natalie & Nadiya, chow
ROUTE INFO
Make your way to Bourre
and find La Cave des
Roches.
Teams find the clue by the caves, in a basket of mushrooms, in the following order:
1(+0) Trey & Lexi
2(+0) Jaymes & James
3(+0) Josh & Brent
4(+0) Natalie & Nadiya
The twins arrived at the caves before the Beekmans, but ran into the cave to search for the next clue there. Which was wrong since the clue is in the shop at the parking lot.
ROAD BLOCK
Who's a 'fun-guy'?
Note: Jaymes, Lexi and
Brent must perform this
Road Block.
In this road block teams must search a vast underground limestone mine which nowadays is used to grow mushrooms. Teams are shown three different kinds of Champions and must find and pick 10 of each kind in the cave. The cave is vast, there are no signs and the sparse lighting tends to go on and off randomly.
Teams must first unload the crates from their car and bring them to the boutique.
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Freezing up in here", Lexi find that the caves are cold
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That cave was enormous, and it was dark and a little bit scary", Lexi
"
There is a ton of different mushrooms down there", Lexi realizes the task is harder than it seemed at the surface
"
Am I running in circles? I'm so confused", Lexi is having a hard time
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That's to easy, it can't be right", Jaymes thinks he found the mushrooms immediately
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Don't get excited, it is really confusing down there", Jaymes to James when he is the first to emerge form the cave
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I usually try to be very Zen. But when I saw the twins there I knew this was neck and neck. I was so frantic I didn't know exactly what I was trying to do", Brent start looking for mushrooms under rocks etc
Teams complete the road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)
| 1(+0) | Trey & Lexi* | (6-6) | |
| 2(+0) | Jaymes* & James | (6-6) | Failed once |
| 3(+1) | Natalie* & Nadiya | (5-5) | |
| 4(-1) | Josh & Brent* | (6-6) | Ten minutes after #3 |
Route info: "Drive yourselves to the next pit stop, the castle of the ladies". The clue also tells that the last team to check in will be eliminated.
The real name of this castle is Chateau de Chnonceau. And like all the other castles in this episode it looks gorgeous.
Trey & Lexi get directions to what turns out to be the wrong castle. They arrive at the right castle close on the heels of the Chippendales. Both teams start searching the grounds for the pit stop. This time there is no talk of working together.
It is a tense race to the pit stop between the last two teams. They both know that it is about a spot in the final, and they both want it. On the way both teams encounter the same real detour, which just adds to the heart rate.
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I hope they're going the wrong way", Josh has a wish when the twins leave the road block
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Now we're just kind of heading in this direction, hoping it's right", Nadiya has issues navigating
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We should have followed the detour arrows", Brent practices hindsight
Teams find Phil by the river, they have to run through the castle to get there, in the following order:
1(+1) Jaymes & James, win a new car each
2(-1) Trey & Lexi
3(+1) Josh & Brent
4(-1) Natalie & Nadiya, are eliminated
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Momma needed some wheels bad, I can't wait to see the look on her face. She's probably gonna drop just there from excitement", James is going to give his car to his mom
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We're certainly gaining momentum and confidence, at the point we need it the most", Brent
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I'm telling you, the Beekmans have tricks up their sleeves", the twins respect the Beekmans
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If we can take anything from this race it is to say that we need to harness the potential we have into a more positive reaction instead of only crazy", The twins have some insight
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We had a lot of fun on the race", The twins have happy memories
