The Amazing Race 30 - Episode 4: Gotta Put Your Sole Into It

I don't know about you but I'm very addicted to this reality show since its first season. I've been watching it for years & I never get tired of it. I love the idea of racing around the world with someone you care about & doing simple to challenging tasks just to make it through each leg. It doesn't hurt that there's a $1,000,000 prize at the final pitstop. So it's a win-win for the competitors. You get to travel & see the world while trying your luck in winning trips, material things & the money.

So anyway, I'm not going to update from the very beginning since I've already missed out 3 episodes in total & additional 2 episodes after this. They've been doing 2-hour episodes lately so I can't keep up with the updates. I'll just start with the one I've just watched since it's still fresh from my memory.

The remaining teams now are:

1. Henry & Evan (Team Yale) who won a trip to Switzerland in Episode 3.

2. Alex & Conor (Team IndyCar)

3. Kristi & Jen (Team Extreme)

4. Trevor & Chris (Team Well-Strung)

5. Cody & Jessica (Team BigBrother)

6. Joey & Tim (Team Chomp)

7. Eric & Daniel (Team Firefighters)

8. Lucas & Brittany (Team OceanRescue)

9. Cedric & Shawn (Team Slam Dunk) - saved by a non-elimination leg

These 9 remaining teams traveled from Tangier, Morocco to Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France for leg 4. All teams directly went to Sailing School Water Company De Saint-Tropez for their Roadblock Challenge. Team Slam Dunk, on the other hand, needed to do the Speed Bump Challenge first before doing their Roadblock Challenge as a penalty for arriving last in Episode 3.

For their Speed Bump, Team Slam Dunk stacked a set of 15 Optimist dinghies in numeral order. This was a fairly easy task & they didn't have any problem carrying the dinghies since both of them are physically strong. They were done just in time to catch up with the rest of the pack.

For the Roadblock Challenge, one member of each team needed to operate a much smaller wind-powered optimist dinghy & learn how to sail without proper instruction. They navigated their boats to a set of 2 buoys, far from the shore & from each other to retrieve their next clues. Both were needed before returning to their partner to read it together.

Joey of Team Chomp trying to learn how to sail

I would say this was probably one of the hardest tasks I've seen in the show. It was challenging enough to stay afloat but it got even harder because no help was offered in learning how to sail. Each team member figured it out by themselves. It took some of them a long time to learn it. Evan of Team Yale had a chipped tooth after completing the task. It was accidentally hit as she was learning how to move the sail around. Cedric of Team Slam Dunk capsized several times since the boat was too small for him. Even the younger men who performed the task like Alex of Team IndyCar had a hard time figuring it out at first.

Kristi of Team Extreme was the first to do the Roadbloack & was also the first one to complete it. Quite a feat for this team. She outperformed the men who did the challenge. 

After finishing the task, they all proceeded to their Detour Task - Bread or Tread.

In Bread, teams made their way to La Tarte Tropézienne to meet the baker that will teach them how to make a baguette. After that, the teams needed to make 50 baguettes from a 30 lbs of dough. They needed to cut it & shape it according to the baker's standards to receive their next clue.

Team BigBrother making baguettes in Tread Detour Task

In Tread, teams made their way to Sandales Tropéziennes to make sandals. Each of them needed to make a pair of Tropézienne Sandals to receive their next clue.

Team Chomp learning how to make sandals for their Tread Detour Task

Both tasks needed patience & attention to detail. Most teams did well in their chosen task.

Their next stop was a Head-To-Head Challenge in Place des Lices. Teams needed to play a game called pétanque. Each team member rolled 3 boules alternately to try get it close to a smaller ball in the field called Jack. The closest one to the Jack will win & could check-in at the Pit Stop immediately while the last team will be eliminated.

I'm not really sure if I'm liking how they placed the Head-To-Head Challenge almost at the end of the leg. It's too near the PitStop. The last team needed a lot of luck to beat out the other team ahead of them in one try just so they can run ahead to the mat. It's making it predictable. It would be best if they place the Head-to-Head Challenge between the Detour & Roadblock Challenge. I think it might drastically change the rankings even more. Or maybe put somewhere they would never expect, a route marker at a gasoline station or even in an open field just before they head out to do their other challenges. It will be less predictable & it will give the last team a slight chance to not be eliminated for sure.

Team BigBrother vs Team Extreme in Head-To-Head Challenge

Head-To-Head Face Off:

Team Extreme vs Team IndyCar

Team Extreme vs Team BigBrother

Team Extreme vs Team Well-Strung

Team Well-Strung vs Team Chomp

Team Well-Strung vs Team OceanRescue

Team OceanRescue vs Team Yale

Team OceanRescue vs Team Firefighters

Team OceanRescue vs Team Slam Dunk

In this alone, you can tell who had the hardest time in Head-To-Head Challenge & who were the teams bound for elimination. Team Slam Dunk was an obvious choice since they were the last one to arrive in the venue which meant that they needed to beat Team OceanRescue in their first try to survive.

FINAL RANKING:

1. Alex & Conor (Team IndyCar) - won $5,000 each

2. Cody & Jessica (Team BigBrother)

3. Kristi & Jen (Team Extreme)

4. Joey & Tim (Team Chomp)

5. Trevor & Chris (Team Well-Strung)

6. Henry & Evan (Team Yale)

7. Eric & Daniel (Team FireFighters)

8. Lucas & Brittany (Team OceanRescue)

9. Cedric & Shawn (Team Slam Dunk) - ELIMINATED

The Roadblock Challenge was fun to watch because they all looked like chickens with their heads cut off. They had no clue how to handle the sail. It looked easy but difficult. I felt bad for Team Slam Dunk. Their Speed Bump was easy but the Roadblock was difficult considering Cedric's size. It took him a while. Alex of Team IndyCar didn't read the clue well. He took off after getting the 1st clue without realizing that he needed 2 of them. He had to go back & sail again. Evan of Team Yale had an accident resulting to a chipped tooth but she finished the task which was a good thing. It showed how competitive they were as a team.

I like Team Well-Strung, Team Extreme & Team Yale. So far, Team Extreme is the team to beat this season. Team Yale is the dark horse. Team IndyCar & Team BigBrother are good too but it depends on whether they're having a good race. Team Well-Strung are just fun to watch. Chris is definitely good. Trevor was bad at that Head-To-Head game. I still can't tell though who could win. The time difference were pretty close. Anyone can still take the lead.

If you want to watch the Amazing Race 30 in Asia, it's at AXN channel every Thursday night.