Amazing Race: Watermelon Face

Amazing Race
They Don’t Call It the Amazing Race for Nothin’!

Physical comedy is excellent. It should be mean to laugh at the person getting hit in the face with the watermelon but she was okay and it was awesome to watch! I love this show.

Introductions

The teams started out in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They were sailing in on lobster boats while the show introduced the teams to the audience.

  • Brook & Claire – Home shopping television hosts talking about how they were great communicators, great saleswomen and great manipulators
  • Chad & Stephanie – Dating for eight months and just purchased a home. Chad planned on asking her to marry him on the race.
  • Katie & Rachel – Beach volleyball partners for five years. They said they were smart, tough and athletic.
  • Connor & Jonathan – Ivy League acapella singers. They said they were the manliest guys in the acapella world.
  • Nat & Kat – Doctors. They are used to working together and working on very little sleep.
  • Michael & Kevin – Father & son internet sensations. Growing up, he started posting videos of his dad on YouTube and has a million subscribers. They conflict a lot since his dad is an Asian immigrant and the son is first-generation American.
  • Nick & Vicki – Tattoo artists that say they are also very athletic.
  • Ron & Tony – Best friends for 25 years.
  • Jill & Thomas – Dating couple. He’s very competitive and she said he likes to be right all the time so she wants to show him she can be right sometimes too.
  • Gary & Mallory – Father & daughter. She’s Miss Kentucky from 2009. They wanted to get far by hard work and being good people.
  • Andie & Jenna – Biological mother & daughter recently reunited.

After the introductions, Phil explained the rules. They started out the same with 8 legs would end with one team being eliminated that got to the mat last. He said the first place team gets a prize, but at the end of the first leg,the first place team’s prize would be an Express Pass. They could use that pass at one point in the race before or during a task that they did not want to do. They would be able to skip it and get the next clue. It could be the difference between staying in the game and being eliminated. He added that there were two planes waiting for them at the airport. The first plane only had room for three teams and it arrived 30 minutes ahead of the second plane.They were sent off to get their first clue off their backpacks.

Clue: Fly to London, England and drive to Stonehenge.

Airport Fun Times


The teams piled into Smart cars and took off to find the airport. The home shopping girls got to the airport first, but they missed the turn for Pre-Flight Parking. They weren’t sure if they should turn there. The best friends got there first. Chad & Stephanie pulled in the parking lot second and were very excited when they only saw one Smart car parked there. Jill & Thomas were the third team parked so they could be the first three teams on the first plane. The volleyball girls just missed the shuttle that Jill & Thomas were on. They were going to try to see if they could get the first plane anyway since they knew it would be close.

The best friends got to the airport first and found the flagged American counter first. Chad & Stephanie got into the airport second, but she wanted to wait in a long line while Chad said they should look for flags. While those two were waiting in the wrong line, Jill & Thomas were the second ones on the flight. The volleyball girls got off the shuttle bus and were looking for the counter while an American Airlines person told Chad & Stephanie they wanted to look for another counter way down at the other end. Chad & Stephanie still got to the counter before the volleyball girls did so they got the last tickets on the first flight. The other teams all got on the second flight and met each other in the line. The only team missing was the acapella singers who went the wrong way to the airport. They knew they were in last place, but were laughing about it. They did eventually make it to the airport before the plane left.

Stonehenge

The first three teams arrived in London. Jill & Thomas were the first team to find their car except that Thomas got into the wrong side of the car to drive away. The best friends were the second team to take off, but needed to stop and get a map somewhere. Chad & Stephanie were the third team to arrive and Stephanie tried to get in on the wrong side of the car too. Chad said, “Wrong side, goofy!”  The best friends got a map and then got stuck in traffic. Chad & Stephanie started arguing in the car right away where she was trying to drive, but also look around. That’s what I do! He said he didn’t care about being there, but getting to where they needed to go. Dude, you are missing half the fun of being on the race! Stephanie told him he was going to make them both miserable if he kept that attitude.

The second plane arrived and the home shopping queens were the first team to leave the airport. Most of the teams seemed to handle driving a stick shift, but the birth mom & daughter team had some issues. Andie was grinding the gears like crazy and burning the clutch. The acapella guys were behind the car saying it smelled awful. The doctors were shown where Nat was pricking her finger since she’s diabetic. She said it might be a little crazy on the race since she’ll be eating at odd times, but she was determined to race.

The best friends realized they were going the wrong way. Chad & Stephanie stopped to get directions. Andie burned the clutch so much that she killed the car. It died in the middle of an intersection. The acapella guys tried to help, but couldn’t get it moved. She thanked them, but told them to move on.  Then somehow, she figured something out and the car moved without grinding. They were on their way. Jill & Thomas stopped to ask for directions and sounded like they were close. The doctors were shown getting close to Stonehenge since they saw a sign for it. They managed to be the first team to arrive to the clue, even though they were on the second plane. Wow!

Clue: Find the castle that is the opposite of Nor’easter.

They had to figure out they were looking for Eastnor Castle for their next clue. The doctors went off searching. Jill & Thomas and the volleyball girls showed up at Stonehenge next. The doctors found a local that thought it was Eastnor Castle and told them he thought it was near Tewkesbury. They took off. The volleyball girls asked someone for information, while Jill & Thomas asked to search the web from the information desk. The home shopping queens got to Stonehenge in fourth place, but left before asking anyone for help.

One of the volleyball girls was having trouble staying in first gear on a hill. She kept stalling out. Katie was getting out to push the car. I don’t know why anyone thinks that is going to work. She told Rachel that she thought she just needed to give it more gas. She did and took off with Katie chasing her down the street yelling “Wait!” The home shopping queens ran into the doctors at a gas station. The doctors offered that they try to find the castle together. Why would the doctors do that when they were in first place? Maybe they didn’t realize they were in first.

The best friends were still lost so they had to stop to get some directions. They had a map! Someone sucks as navigating. That would be Tony.  The father/daughter team and acapella guys got to Stonehenge next. They decided to work together to find the castle. The mother & daughter team arrived just before Chad & Stephanie. Chad realized they were much farther behind than they thought. The tattoo couple were almost to Stonehenge when Vicki said it was the first time she had heard of Stonehenge and then she found out it was a bunch of rocks. Ah, American education at work!

Eastnor Castle


Jill & Thomas were the first team to arrive at the castle, followed closely by the doctors and home shopping queens.

Clue: Teams had to storm the castle by climbing up a ladder while peasants fought back by pouring liquid from above onto the ladder. Then the team members had to get a medieval flag and travel across a moat in an ancient boat that looked like a giant turtle shell to a knight in armor waiting on the other side.

The home shopping queens were the first ones on the ladder. They got a little hood to put over their heads before they started climbing and before the liquid started to be dumped on them. Jill & Thomas started up next. Thomas told Jill not to look up too much so she wouldn’t be drenched in the face with the mixture of water and dirt. The doctors got up soon after. All three teams had their flags and were running off to their turtle boats.

Back on the road, the father/daughter team found out they had a flat when they stopped to get directions. The acapella team decided to move on. For a second, I thought they were going to be nice and wait with them, but they did decide to leave. Dad changed the tire, but they had to drive slower since they were on a donut.

Turtle Boats

Over at the castle, I was discovering that Brook is a spaz. She was yelling nonstop for Claire to hurry up and they “Need this! We need this so bad!” It didn’t seem to push Claire to run any faster than she was running. All three teams arrived at their turtle boats around the same time, but the home shopping queens did get into the water first. What the teams discovered was when they got into the boat, there was rope to help pull them across, but they also sank immediately. They had to get back to shore and figure out how to stay in the boat and get across. They had to balance themselves perfectly on the shell and them slowly pull themselves across. Jill & Thomas figured it out first.

Chad & Stephanie and the volleyball girls got to the castle next. Chad & Stephanie got up first. The volleyball girls were about to get on the ladder when the best friends were shown finally arriving at Stonehenge in last place. They went from first to last within one clue. oops!

Back at the moat, Thomas was cheering Jill on while she was concentrating on getting them across using the rope while he made sure they stayed balanced. The doctors figured out the balancing thing next and started cruising across. The home shopping queens finally figured it out after Brook quit being a spaz. Chad & Stephanie got to the moat right when Jill & Thomas made it across. The doctors and home shopping queens made it across at the same time. The volleyball girls made it up the ladder and had their flag. Chad & Stephanie got into the turtle shell slowly grabbing on to the rope, but then Stephanie got too close to Chad and they tipped over. They tried to balance again, but sunk. Chad was freaking out and stressing instead of calmly trying to figure it out.

The birth mother/daughter team stopped for directions, but it didn’t help them since they were looking for the Nor’easter castle and not reading the clue correctly. The tattoo couple had the right name for the castle, but couldn’t find anyone that knew how to get there. The best friends were still dealing with Tony being a horrible navigator and talking about how the roads weren’t clearly marked.

Watermelon Toss

Jill & Thomas found the knight that matched their flag. The knight gave them a clue, which was a road block.

Road Block: It asked, “Who is ready to battle with a knight in shining armor?” Teams had to defeat the warrior. They entered the tournament field and used a medieval weapon known as a ballista to fire watermelons at a knight standing 50 feet away. Once they knock over the knight, they had to find the jester for their next clue.

Thomas decided to do it. He got on the back of a horse with a knight on it and road into the tournament field with him. When the home shopping queens arrived, Claire decided to do it since she thought it would have to do with horses and she grew up around horses. When the doctors arrived, Nat said she didn’t mind horses so she would do it. Thomas launched his first watermelon way over the knight. Claire arrived and she shot her watermelon pretty close to the knight.

In the moat, the wind started to pick up, which made it more difficult for Chad & Stephanie who were halfway across the moat. The volleyball team were surprised they were still there when they got to the moat.  At some point, Chad started yelling at Stephanie, “Go! Go!” She asked him where he wanted her to go. They were on a tiny turtle boat so I’m not sure where. Then, their turtle boat promptly sunk. It was their 12th attempt and they had to go back and try again. Chad was getting a bit pissed. The volleyball girls passed them and said they had passed Tinkerbell and Pan. Then they saw the acapella guys getting the turtle boat ready. They said, “The nerds are so nerdy. Glee!” Volleyball girls aren’t very nice it seems.

At the watermelon toss, Thomas finally made contact with the knight and knocked him down. They got the final clue directing them to the pit stop.

Clue: Search the Eastnor Castle grounds for the pit stop.

Pit Stop


Pretty quickly, they found the meadow with Phil standing it. They also got the Express Pass. They could use it any time up until the 8th leg of the race.

The volleyball girls made it across the moat and the acapella guys were about to pass Chad & Stephanie were to making another go at it. Claire was still trying to hit the knight. Nat finally knocked the knight down so they started to search for the pit stop after getting the clue from the jester. Volleyball girls arrived at the road block and Rachel decided to do it. Rachel thought she was going to bounce off the horse that was taking her to the watermelon toss.

The doctors checked in with Phil for second place.The father/son team started storming the castle. Claire hit the flag next to the knight, but not the knight himself. Rachel started trying to hit the knight with her watermelons. Then, the best thing happened! Somehow, Claire managed to get the watermelon to go off the sling shot and right into her face. She said her face was numb, but she looked fine. The show nicely showed it happen again in slow motion. Claire asked what they were supposed to do now. Brook said they had to keep going. Claire couldn’t believe it. She apparently thought she was getting a free ride since she got watermelon to the face? Nope!

Over in moat land, Glee was passing Chad & Stephanie. Chad finally figured out he needed to calm down if he was going to make it across. They finally got across right after Glee did.  Connor decided to do the road block and announced when he got on the horse that he should have gone to the bathroom first. Rachel was still missing the knight with her watermelon and Claire was pressing an ice pack against her face. Claire then got back in there, but did announce, “I’m now afraid of watermelons!” After a few more tries, Claire finally knocked down the knight and yelled, “I made it my bitch!”

The home shopping queens ran off to find Phil. Connor finally hit the knight. Then Rachel yelled, “Die!” and that helped her hit the knight. All three teams were racing around trying to find Phil. Glee went running like crazy and slid right into the pit stop in third place. The home shopping queens got there in fourth place. That made volleyball girls in fifth.

Chad picked the road block and was tossing watermelons when the father/daughter team arrived at the castle. The father/son team were trying unsuccessfully to get into the turtle boat. They kept tipping over or sinking.

We were shown the birth mother/daughter team, which I had forgotten all about. They were still busy being lost and finally stopped to get a map. They saw the castle on the map. Was it the right castle? The tattoo couple and best friend teams were also still lost out there somewhere in England.

Chad finally got the knight down and they started searching for Phil. He said he guaranteed it was on the other side of the castle. I have no idea where it was in relation to the watermelon toss, but it didn’t seem that far from the watermelon toss for the other teams. The father/daughter team were having fun storming the castle up the ladders. They got their flag and headed to the moat where the father/son were out part way in the moat sinking. The father/daughter figured out the balance thing and started going across. That gave the son/father team a clue of how to balance so they were trying again. Chad & Stephanie ran by the moat looking for Phil. Since none of the other teams ran by the moat, I don’t think they were going to the right place. He was still talking about it was over on the other side of the castle.

The birth mother/daughter finally found the castle! They started storming. The tattoo couple finally got directions. The best friends finally stopped to ask for directions. They were told they were headed the wrong way. They are so horrible with directions!

Dumbness Abounds

Andie & Jenna thought climbing the ladder was easy and then they experienced the dumping of water on them. Chad & Stephanie were still running around the wrong area of the castle grounds looking for Phil. They decided to check inside the castle. The father/daughter team made it across the moat and never tipped in the water once. Amazing! The father/son team were halfway across around that time. Then, they finally made it!

Tattoo people finally arrived at the castle when the mother/daughter got to the turtle boats. The tattoo people got to the top of the castle and then didn’t understand the clue. It said to retrieve a medieval flag from the battlement. They kept walking past flags and asking people if they were battlements. Oh dear.

Father/daughter got to the road block and Gary decided to do it. Nick even stopped and touched the flag before wandering off. Then they finally figured it out! The father/son got to the road block and Kevin decided to do it.

While Gary and Kevin were tossing watermelons, guess what Chad and Stephanie were doing? Wandering around the wrong area of the castle grounds. It would be hilarious if they came in last due to that error. The tattoo people were having trouble finding the turtle boats. This did not surprise me after the flags. They were standing right next to the turtle boats and wondering where the boats were. Nick said that maybe all the boats were gone and they were probably going to have to swim over and pull a boat back.  Then, they finally saw the turtle boats! I now want them to continue on the race due to their entertaining dumbness.

I didn’t think it wouldn’t ever happen, but the best friends found the castle! They were about to storm the castle when the mother/daughter team got to the road block. Jenna decided to do it. Tattoo people started sinking right away. The best friends made it up the ladder. The tattoo people figured out how to balance pretty quickly, which was surprising, and were cruising across. Chad & Stephanie were somewhere in the forest. Gary and Kevin finished the watermelon toss and were heading to find Phil. Chad & Stephanie finally decided to go back to where they got the clue and try again. The father/daughter team checked in with Phil in sixth place with father/son in seventh place. Two teams passed Chad & Stephanie while they were off somewhere else.

Damn! Chad & Stephanie found Phil quickly after they made their way back to where they got the pit stop clue. Chad said he realized that arguing affected the way they played the game. He was humbled.

Jenna was hitting the knight, but not hard enough to knock him over. The tattoo people made it across. The best friends were trying to get in the turtle boats and falling over. The mother/daughter finished up the watermelon toss. Nick decided to do the road block. The mother/daughter checked in with Phil in ninth place. Nick wasn’t too good at the watermelon toss while the best friends were falling over and over again. Nick finally got it and they were off to find Phil. The best friends were figuring out they needed to balance, but couldn’t figure out how to do it.

The tattoo people found Phil. He asked them if they knew what country they were in. Vicki said London. Phil said, “Yes, you are in the country of London.” Phil, you cheeky monkey. Then he asked if they knew what team they were. Nick said 10 and Phil told him they should gamble in Vegas since he was correct.

The best friends somehow managed to get across the moat and do the watermelon toss since the next time we saw them was talking to Phil. They came in last place and were eliminated.

The order the teams checked in with Phil:

  1. Jill & Thomas – Dating
  2. Nat & Kat – Doctors
  3. Connor & Jonathan – Glee
  4. Brook & Claire – Home Shopping Queens
  5. Katie & Rachel – Volleyball Girls
  6. Gary & Mallory – Father/Daughter
  7. Michael & Kevin – Father/Son
  8. Chad & Stephanie – Dating
  9. Andie & Jenna – Mother/Daughter
  10. Nick & Vicki – Tattoo Couple
  11. Ron & Tony – Best Friends

Questions

  1. Did you find it hilarious when Claire was hit in the face with the watermelon? Or did you feel bad for her? Or both?
  2. Did another team annoy you more that you wish they were in last place instead of the best friends?
  3. What do you think about the tattoo people that can’t see flags or boats and think they are in the country of London?
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