The Amazing Race 30 - Episode 9-10

Note: I think I messed up the titles of the episodes. I'll have to check it first then I'll change it as soon as I can.

Again, the show lasted for 2 hrs with 2 legs combined.

In the 9th leg of this season, the 5 remaining teams traveled from Harare International Airport to Bahrain International Airport. All teams were in 1 flight but during their layover in Dubai, Team OceanRescue realized that one of their passports was missing. This got them delayed from racing with the other 4 teams who proceeded to Bahrain. Lucas tried to get a new one from the US Embassy but they lost so much time from doing it.

Meanwhile, the 4 teams arrived in Bahrain and immediately traveled to Dhow Shipyard where a couple of tasks were waiting for them. 

In the first task, each team needed to carry and place a total of 300 lbs of timber onto a weighing scale to receive their next clue. All teams tried their best to finish the task as fast as they could but the thing about this task was that the teams lost so much time in navigating the roads. Every wrong turn that the team made while performing the task took 15 more minutes to correct thus making the whole thing difficult and unpredictable.

Team BigBrother doing the first task
Photo: Inquisitr

Next, the teams went to Hussein Mohammad Showaiter Sweets and looked for the asked for the "King of Halwa" which is actually a type of local jelly dessert in the country. Each team member were given a sample to eat before they proceed to their next task. 

Team BigBrother was the last out of the 4 teams to finish this task but they were the first ones to arrive in the next task.

Then all teams went to Delmon Pottery Industry where each team chose a pouch containing 10 various small items to memorize. They then had to search inside hundreds of clay pots around the shop for the matching items and bring a pot back to the starting point, one at a time, to be verified. Once all the matching items were collected, they received a pot to break open containing their next clue. 

And just like Team BigBrother in the other task, Team IndyCar were one of the last teams to leave this task but they were the first one to arrive in the next task.

In their last task, teams went to Bahrain Endurance Village where they had to choose a camel herder, who would show them how to milk a camel. One team member then had to collect enough milk in a measuring cup, while their partner helped keep the camel calm, to fill a glass to receive their next clue.

Once done, all teams went to Al-Hafirah for the pitstop.

FINAL RANKING:

1. Alex & Conor (Team IndyCar) - won $7,500 each.

2. Kristi & Jen (Team Extreme)

3. Henry & Evan (Team Yale)

4. Cody & Jessica (Team BigBrother)

5. Lucas & Brittany (Team OceanRescue) - ELIMINATED

Team OceanRescue
Photo: CBS

Team OceanRescue did try their best though. They were improving each leg but that passport problem made it difficult for them to catch up. Many racers in the past seasons of the show lost their passports while racing and it eventually led to their elimination so this didn't surprise me anymore. They were able to reach Bahrain but all teams were already done for the day and since it wasn't a non-elimination leg, they finally bid goodbye to the race.

So far this leg was very challenging. It didn't have those usual Roadblocks and Detours. This leg contained task after task which was something new in the race and it made things exciting because their ranking keeps changing as they finished one task after another.

Now in the 10th leg of this season, the 4 remaining teams travel from Bahrain to  Chiang Mai, Thailand. The teams were instructed to travel using a cheap transportation called songthaew and direct their driver to Royal Park Ratchaphruek. This made the teams frustrated a bit because it was very difficult to communicate to their drivers while riding the provided transportation.

Once they arrived in the place, all teams had to find elephants with flower wreaths on them, then deliver those wreaths to ladies strolling around the park with umbrellas for their next clue which happens to be their Detour Task.

SEIZE IT or SIZE IT

In Seize It, teams went to Baan Kaew Rice Field and had to catch 20 bullfrogs in a flooded rice paddy to receive their next clue. 

This was an easy task but with children playing around the area, the frogs seemed nowhere to be found in those murky water. Team Extreme tried this task but decided to switch. Team IndyCar tried to search the frogs for a long while until Team BigBrother decided to join. In the end, Team IndyCar found the spot where most frogs were hiding and they caught 20 of them followed by Team BigBrother.

In Size It, teams had to travel to Patara Elephant Farm, where they would calculate the height and weight measurements of an elephant while in the presence of her calf. If the veterinarian deemed their measurements to be correct, they would ride their elephant along a trail and feed it to get their next clue.

Team Extreme doing their Detour Task
Photo: CBS

Team Extreme did well in this challenge and was able to leave the area before Team Yale arrived. Team Yale, who I was expecting to be good in this challenge, had to try a few times before getting the right measurement.

Once all the teams were done with their Detour Task, they all proceeded to Original Khum Khantoke Restaurant for their Roadblock Challenge: Thai Something New.

In this Roadblock, one team member had to consume three cooked scorpions and a bullfrog. For the duration of the task, the non-participating team member would have to stand with live scorpions crawling on them. Once the team member finished eating, they received their next clue.

Conor of Team IndyCar begged his partner Alex to finished eating the challenge so he could remove all the scorpion crawling on him. Same thing happened to Jessica of Team Big Brother who begged her boyfriend Cody to eat faster which the man did. Jen of Team Extreme did well in finishing the scorpions and bullfrog while Kristi endured the scorpions crawling on her. Evan did her best in the challenge while Henry cheered his girlfriend as scorpions crawled up on his torso.

Alex of Team IndyCar trying to eat the scorpions and bullfrog.
Photo: CBS

When they finished the task, they all rushed to Wat Chedi Luang for the Pitstop.

FINAL RANKING:

1. Alex & Conor (Team IndyCar) - won a trip to Curaçao.

2. Cody & Jessica (Team BigBrother)

3. Kristi & Jen (Team Extreme)

4. Henry & Evan (Team Yale) - NON-ELIMINATION

AFTERTHOUGHT:

Anything related to exotic food challenge is exciting. In this leg, the challenge was even better because in the past seasons, the other team members usually just cheered for their partners. But now, while one member is doing the gross roadblock challenge, their partner is also having a difficult time which I think is fair. It annoys me sometimes when a team member had to nag or rush their partner in eating an exotic food like it's the easiest thing to do. It's never easy that's why I like it that they also had to do endure something while their respective partners had to finish the task.

Anyway, I think Team IndyCar, Team Extreme and Team BigBrother are somewhat friends while Team Yale is more like an outcast of the 4. I'm not sure why but maybe because Team Yale is such a young team that they tend be on their own most of the time. They were asked to who they want to be in the final 3. The 3 teams answered the same thing which means they all didn't want Team Yale to push forward. If there's a U-Turn in the next leg then it's pretty obvious who will be their target.

I'm still not warming up with Team BigBrother but I do like Cody's tenacity. Team Extreme is still the team to beat this season but since they're all very competitive and their time difference aren't really that far from each other, there's a huge possibility that anyone can win this. It only takes 1 mistakes from Team Extreme or any other teams to be eliminated. When this season started, I wasn't really into Team IndyCar since my first impression with Conor wasn't good. But they're actually a pretty good team. I also like how Conor showed his true personality in the entire race. He's crazy but in a fun way. 

I have no problem on who will be the Top 3 to race in the finals.I think these 4 teams deserve to be there. Let's just hope that Team Yale can do things faster in the next leg since they have a Speed Bump to finish and let the other 3 "close friends" teams handle U-Turning each other. I think that will be fun.

By the way, the final 2 episodes will be next week. No idea why they're rushing it but hopefully this will not be the end of the show for good. I still want the reality show to continue for a long while. I just hope that they'll be more creative in giving tasks and choose teams that are worthy to watch.

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