Amazing Race: Sheep’s Head

Amazing Race
Tastes Like a Million Dollars

This leg reminded me what I first thought when I started watching the show. I really thought that if people did well early on, their times they got to the pit stop would make a big difference in future legs. Then, I came to find that wasn’t true when you had to wait for airplane flights or places that were closed when you arrived. I found there were many equalizers to the game, which makes it more interesting to watch. This leg involved a lot of driving around not too far from where they started, which makes it somewhat not as exciting to watch. There were opportunities for teams to get seriously lost or make huge mistakes, but if that doesn’t happen, then there isn’t a lot of tension about who will win and who will lose.

Leaving the Pit Stop

The doctors were the first to leave the pit stop at 6am. They opened up the first clue.

Clue: Teams had to drive across the border into Narvik, Norway and search for the gondola station. Once there, they would have to ride to the top of the mountain to find their next clue.

The father/daughter team were the second team to leave at 6:04 am. The home shopping queens were right behind them at 6:05 am. Leaving at 6:30 am was the father/son team. Jill & Thomas left next at 6:48 am.

The father/daughter and home shopping queen teams were shown in some town, trying to find the gondola station. They were driving around a roundabout pointing in random directions yelling out the car windows to each other if they thought it was this way or that way. The father/daughter decided to follow the home shopping queens in some random direction.

Back at the pit stop, the tattoo couple were leaving at 7:11 am. The doctors had arrived in the correct city and at the gondola station waiting for a gondola to come back down the mountain so they could go up it. At the pit stop, Chad & Stephanie were leaving at 8:12 am. That left mean volleyball girls leaving the pit stop last at 8:34 am.

Gross Eating

Nat was terrified of heights so she was tearing up while they were going up the mountain on the gondola. They made it and found the clue box, which contained a fast forward. The first team to complete the fast forward can skip all challenges and go straight to the pit stop.

Fast Forward: Teams would have to go to a restaurant and perform an old Norwegian Christmas ritual. What they didn’t know until they got there was that they had to eat an entire sheep’s head. When each team member ate half the head, they got the clue to direct them to the pit stop.

The doctors decided to go do it. When the doctors got back down the mountain, they passed the home shopping queens and the father/daughter team. The father/daughter team got in the gondola station too late, so they missed the one that the home shopping queens got on and had to wait for another gondola. That gave the father/son team time to catch up and get on one at the same time. While they were heading up, Jill & Thomas arrived at the gondola station.

Up at the top, the home shopping queens were opening up the clue box. They figured the doctors went for the fast forward so they were going to move onto the regular clue.

Clue: Teams had to go to Skjombrua Bridge to find their next clue.

The home shopping queens got into gondolas going back down when the father/daughter and father/son teams got to the top. Kevin asked Gary & Mallory if they were going to go for the fast forward. Gary said no, but Mallory wanted to do a Christmas ritual since she loves Christmas. If only she knew what it was!

While driving to the restaurant, the doctors wondered if it was an eating challenge. Kat is a vegetarian. Of course she is. She said she hadn’t eaten meat in 22 years. Jill & Thomas waved at the other teams coming back down the mountain while they were in a gondola going on up.

At the restaurant, the doctors walked in and realized they would be eating. Nat asked Kat if she thought she could do it. Nat said they should peel all the meat off the skull, cut it up into tiny pieces so they won’t think about what they were eating. They did say the texture was pretty nasty. Kat said it tasted like money before shoving some in her face followed by a drink of water.

Bridge Repel

Meanwhile, the other teams were finding the clue at the bridge. It was a roadblock.

Roadblock: It asked, “Who has strength, stamina and guts?” A team member had to step off the deck of the bridge and into the water below. When they were the end of their rope, they had to signal to one of two boats to bring them their clue. Once they had their clue, they used a mechanical ascender to haul themselves up over 130 feet to the bridge again. Then, they could open their next clue.

Kevin chose to do it since his dad said that he didn’t have any of  those qualities that the roadblock asked. Gary also decided to do it. The home shopping queens arrived and Brook convinced Claire to do it. While walking to the bridge after being suited up, Claire said she had a wedgie and then had to explain to the Norwegian guy what a wedgie was. Haha!

Back at the restaurant, the doctors were saying the food was something else while they were eating it, like romaine lettuce, calamari and cucumbers so they wouldn’t think about what they were actually eating. They were doing it though!

Kevin repelled down to the bottom of the rope at a pretty decent rate, but not as fast as Gary who just cruised all the way down. He said getting down was easy, but getting up would be tough. I think he also made some comment about his balls to Kevin, which was censored, but he did tell Kevin that he knew what he was talking about. He was probably saying all of this before Claire got down there.

When the doctors were close to finishing, they tried to talk to the guy who was watching them eat. Nat said, “Are we eating like real Norwegians?” Nothing from the guy. She said, “Thumbs up?” He just stared at her. She said, “You are very inspiring.” They were on their last bite then. They cheered each other and finished! Then, stoic guy actually said something! He said that it “looked good” and gave them their pit stop clue. They were able to skip all other tasks and head directly to the Ankenes Marina, the next pit stop. Nat asked Kat if she wanted to get sick. She said she just wanted to get to the pit stop now and they could worry about that later.

While they were heading off to the pit stop, the tattoo couple were getting to the clue box on top of the gondola mountain. They decided to go to the fast forward thinking that all the teams would be there competing for it. They obviously never watched previously seasons. As they went off to waste their time finding the restaurant, the last two teams were still driving to Narvik.

At the bridge, Kevin and then Gary were lowered in the boats and had the clues attached to them. Kevin got the hang of the ascender and slowly started to go up. Gary was still getting the hang of it. Claire finally got to go down. Thomas arrived and was doing the road block. Claire was trying to get the hang of the ascender while Thomas flew right by her. He got the clue and started going. Kevin was almost to the top with Gary right behind him. Thomas was gaining on Claire and probably going to pass her soon.

Over in Brilliant Land, the tattoo people had arrived at the restaurant saying that everyone probably did the fast forward. They didn’t see why people wouldn’t do it since it didn’t sound too hard. I don’t think they understood only one team could complete the fast forward and then it is gone. They got there and saw the sign on the door that said “Fast Forward Taken.” Vicki asked Nick what that meant while she wondered if someone was already inside. He said he had no idea what it meant. Vicki said she didn’t understand if that meant if it was taken now or if it would was taken for good. She was wondering if they should wait. Nick said he didn’t want to wait so they should move onto the other clue. Oh wow, they are dumb!

The doctors showed up at the pit stop and checked in with Phil for first place. As the first place winners, they won a trip to Costa Rica.

Chad & Stephanie got to the clue box on the mountain and figured many teams were ahead of them so one of them must have done the fast forward. They just went on. They passed the mean volleyball girls when they got back down the mountain.

While the four people that were coming up the ropes on the bridge were getting closer to the top, Claire was talking about being exhausted. Brook tried to cheer her on by telling her to just breathe. Claire told her to shut up. Kevin made it up to the top first so they got the next clue.

Clue: Teams had to locate a remote field in the region of Harvika where they would find their next clue.

Soon after the father/son team took off, Gary and Thomas got up to the top. Father/daughter and Jill & Thomas took off while Claire was complaining about her arms falling off. Brook kept encouraging her and Claire wasn’t telling her to shut up so it must have been working. The mean volleyball team got the bridge clue and were on their way there when Claire finally got done with the bridge.

While they took off, the tattoo couple showed up. Vicki decided to do it. She was excited about it. Chad & Stephanie showed up next and Chad wanted to do it really badly. Vicki was down at the bottom and got her clue while Chad started to go down. Vicki was almost to the top by the time he was picking up his clue in the boat.

Stinky Fish

The father/song teams were the first ones to Harvik and found a detour clue.

Detour: In Bike, teams had to pick a pair of mountain bikes, making note of their bicycle lock color. Then they had to ride a grueling course to a sign and memorize the combination color-coded to match their bicycle lock. Then they had to go back to the starting line to open up their lock and retrieve their next clue. In Boat, teams had to go to a fishing trawler and using a map, direct the captain to a certain spot on shore. While on shore, teams would have to deliver two large cod and a chainsaw to a summer lodge up on the top of a hill to receive their next clue.

Kevin didn’t think his dad could do the biking, so they chose to do the boat detour. The father/daughter and Jill & Thomas teams showed up next. They both chose the bikes. Mallory was complaining about the bike seat being too high. Adjust it? The home shopping queens arrived and picked the boat activity. They said they were used to wearing suits to work, full makeup and going to parties. The activities on the race were very different for them. They thought the boat was more their style than the bikes.

Back at the bridge, Vicki was back up at the top while Chad was still halfway down. He hustled the rest of the way to the top once he saw Vicki finish. The mean volleyball girls got to the bridge as both the tattoo team and Chad & Stephanie were leaving. Katie decided to do it. They were hoping she could do it quickly so they could catch up.

At the detour, Kevin & Michael directed their captain, who never stopped smoking, to the island. Kevin had the fish while Michael carried the chainsaw. They had to use a combination of ladders and rope to help them up a steep part of the hill and then they had to walk up an incline to the summer house. The two bike teams were slowly going up a hill. Parts of the hill were pretty slippery so Gary fell down. He warned Mallory to get off and push her bike on that part, but it was too late. She fell too. Jill & Thomas passed them. They got to the top first where Thomas said their color was yellow. Jill asked if it was important, which color they had to memorize. Thomas told her it was important. Gary & Mallory got to the top next and Mallory was memorizing the red combination.  They were both headed back down.

At the bridge, Katie was at the bottom and getting her clue. Now she just had to get back up to the top. Jill & Thomas arrived back a the start of the bike trail and remembered their combination correctly. They got the next clue, which directed them to the pit stop.

Clue: Teams had to drive to the coast and search for the Ankenes Marina.

Soon after they took off, Gary & Mallory arrived at the bike combination and got the next clue. When they were headed to the pit stop, Kevin & Michael made it to the summer house and turned their fish and chainsaw in. They got the pit stop clue. They were running down the hill. Kevin told his dad he could rest of the boat and he actually jogged a bit down the hill. They passed the home shopping queens on the boats. Brook carried the fish  while Claire carried the chainsaw since her legs and arms were dead from the roadblock earlier.

Jill & Thomas were having problems finding the marina. They were coming up to a bridge and Jill thought it was the one they were at earlier. Thomas said it wasn’t since they weren’t driving around in circles. Jill said, “Oh, I forgot that you know every bridge.” Ah, young love. Kevin & Michael were also worried they were lost. Gary & Mallory didn’t have any problems finding the marina and checked in with Phil for second place.

The tattoo couple showed up at Harvika and chose the bike task. Nick used to compete in BMX races as a kid so he just took off while Vicki yelled at him to wait up for her. Chad & Stephanie arrived and chose the boat task. The home shopping queens finally arrived to the top of the hill and the summer house. They got their clue and almost left without kissing the old guy at the summer house, but they did that before running down the hill.

As Jill & Thomas got closer to the bridge, it turned out Jill was right and it was the bridge they were at earlier. The mean volleyball girls were still there. They drove over the bridge. Rachel saw them and thought they were just getting there. They had some hope in them, but no, they were still in last place. Kevin decided to follow Jill & Thomas so they both went over the bridge and drove off somewhere. I wonder if it was the right direction. Katie finally got to the top of the bridge and they were off to the detour. The mean volleyball girls really thought there was a team behind them. Jill & Thomas finally pulled over to get directions to the marina with Kevin & Michael still following them.

Back at the detour, Mr. BMX was having problems going up the hill. He was getting tired while Vicki was having no problems going up the hill. They got to the top, remembered their combination and went back down. The home shopping queens got back to the detour starting place and took off to the pit stop. The mean volleyball girls got to the detour and chose the boat. Jill & Thomas and father/son team finally found the marina around the same time. Jill & Thomas got to Phil and the pit stop in third place with the father/son team checking in with Phil for fourth place.

The tattoo couple got to the bottom of the hill and found their combination. They were headed to the pit stop. The home shopping queens got to the marina and Brook managed to open the back door right into her face. They ran to the pit stop and checked in with Phil for fifth place. Then Phil was asking about the gash above her eye. She was just laughing about it.

Chad & Stephanie showed up at the island and were done climbing up the ladder & rope when the mean volleyball girls were getting closer to the island. They turned in their fish and were headed back on the boat when they passed the mean volleyball girls. They were off to the pit stop. Meanwhile at the pit stop, the tattoo couple were running towards it when Nick said he thought they were in second. Where did that thought come from? Phil informed them they were team number six.

The mean volleyball team dropped off their fish and were headed back towards their cars when Chad & Stephanie were asking for directions to the marina. The mean volleyball girls could see the marina but were not at the pit stop when Chad & Stephanie got there before the mean volleyball girls. The mean ones were in last place and were informed they were eliminated from the race.

Order teams checked into the pit stop:

  1. Nat & Kat – doctors
  2. Gary & Mallory – father/daughter
  3. Jill & Thomas – dating
  4. Michael & Kevin – father/son
  5. Brook & Claire – home shopping queens
  6. Nick & Vicki – tattoo couple
  7. Chad & Stephanie – dating
  8. Katie & Rachel – mean volleyball girls

Questions

  1. Anyone else as happy as me to see the mean volleyball girls leave? I really don’t think that they could have done anything to move up though. It was most likely the time they lost on the previous leg that killed them on this one.
  2. At the end of the race, Vicki & Nick were still confused about the fast forward. Did it make sense to you how Vicki was confused by the “taken” sign? How do you think that Nick thought he was in second place?
  3. Do you think you would have been able to eat the sheep’s head for the fast forward?
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