Amazing Race: The Big Kid

Ron turned into a child in this episode in China. He wanted to stop and eat every chance he got. His daughter had to keep yelling at him to get him to focus on the task at hand. When he got upset that he got on the wrong bus and was trying to signal the correct one, he did it by throwing rocks at it. He was out of control! It was like he didn’t care he was on the race anymore, he just wanted to play in China all day.

The teams learned they would be headed to China on the next leg. They needed to find Jade Dragon Mountain once they arrived. Due to limited flights, all the teams would be flying to one city and then they would figure out how to get to Lijiang from that one city.

Goth Panic Attack

The goths started out by saying they were thinking good thoughts that day since they were leaving in seventh place. They said their theme for the day was PMA = Positive Mental Attitude. That lasted about 30 seconds since they couldn’t find their car. They tried to get in a few other cars and thought someone had taken it. When they finally found it, Vyxsin was on a verge of a panic attack. She was telling Kynt to open the hatchback, but he couldn’t figure out how to open it. She said, “Do you know how to open a door?” He was flustered, but figured out he was hitting lock instead of unlock on the remote entry. Things didn’t end there. They were having a hard time finding a freeway. Vyxsin kept saying, “Get on the highway!” and Kynt would calmly tell her that he would if there was one to get on. Apparently he needed to create one. He kept saying, “Calm it down!”

Teams started to arrive at the airport at 4:30 am. By 6:30 am, they were all there except the goths. The flight left at 9:50 am, but the goths were not there. After having multiple meltdown, Vyxsin finally realized they had been heading away from the airport the entire time. I’m not sure why they didn’t pull over so Kynt could look at a map either. Probably because he couldn’t figure out where they were too so he was going to blindly follow her lead, even though she kept saying, she didn’t know where they were. Kynt said they were going to miss the flight, but the amazing race is about tragedies and also about miracles. Okay! They found another flight that left that afternoon.

In Kunming, China, the plane landed with all the other teams. Teams did research to figure out if a plane or train would be faster. Other teams looked online while Ron & Christina used a “gentleman’s internet” to find out the same information. They got the info first though since they got on the first train while everyone else got on the second train. While everyone was on a train, the goths arrived, but the airport was shut down. They couldn’t catch a fight or a train until the morning.

Ron & Christina arrived in Lijiang arrived at 6:00 AM. They had to find a marked shuttle. They made a pit stop on the way since Ron wanted to find some steamed buns on the roadside for breakfast. That didn’t affect their lead, but what did was the bus transfers didn’t leave until 8:00 AM. They lost their advantage though since all the other teams showed up before 8:00 AM. At the airport, the goths got their tickets to a flight to Lijiang, but Vyxsin lost her passport in the process. She left it on a ticket counter. Wow! She found it and they were off.

No Yakking Around

The goths arrived in the city and were off to the marked shuttle, hoping to see other teams because it had been days since they saw any other teams. The other teams, arrived at the mountain and saw yaks all lined up with saddles on them in a river. The clue had the teams saddle a yak and ride it across the river to get the next clue. The cowboys said there was “no yakking around”. They saddled up quickly and got across the river.

The next clue had the teams riding a gondola up to Spruce Meadows to find their next clue. The cheerleaders were the first ones off the yak and up on the gondola. Everyone realized while running up to the gondola that the altitude was high. People were losing their breath easily. Everyone talked about it. We learned that altitude is no joke. The next clue was a road block.

Elmer Fudd Hat

Team member had to search through thousands of charms to find the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and put them in the correct order from a mobile, they would get the next clue. They all had a model to view the correct order and animals. As teams were picking who would do it, Ron said he would do it, if it had to do with eating. Oh, he was all about eating in this episode! Christina was exasperated so he finally said she could do the task. Good thing too since he would have been disappointed to learn about the lack of eating during it.

The teams all started looking for the zodiac animals when the goths finally showed up to the yak task. Christina listed off all the animals by memory in Chinese since her mom made her memorize it when she was a kid. Big Easy was asking a yak that was standing nearby if he knew where the animals were. Luke got all the animals first, but he didn’t put them in the right order. While he was trying to figure out what he did wrong, Mallory got there and did it right. She tried to explain to Luke what he needed to do before she took off with the clue. Christina and Cord finished up next.

Jen, Cara and Big Easy were trying to get their stuff in order while Zev was still looking for his animals. Justin was laughing at Zev’s Elmer Fudd’s hat while he looked. Big Easy was very excited the entire time he did the task, which helped him finish it before the sisters and cheerleaders, but they were right behind. That left Zev alone at the task. The goths finished riding their yak so they were on the gondola to the zodiac. Zev could not find the last animal and was getting frustrated. Justin told him to not give up while he still looked. He finally found the rabbit and hung up all his animals. He was told it was wrong and he didn’t know why.

The other teams got off the gondolas and had to find a marked bus that would take them to Old Town Jiang where they had to find a prayer wheel. Ron & Christina didn’t get on a marked bus but on some other cart. Christina said she didn’t think it was right, but they kept driving since Ron said they should just see where it went. The goths arrived at the roadblock and Justin freaked out. He yelled at Zev to show him they were there. Justin asked Kynt what happened with them and Kynt said they had car trouble. Justin didn’t look like he believed it. He pointed out that they didn’t take the required flight so they both wondered if they would get a time penalty for that. Vyxsin was checking through Zev’s animals to see which ones he had and he wasn’t having any of it. He yelled at her to get away from his stuff and quit trying to steal it. She wasn’t trying to steal it, but I don’t know why she wasn’t looking at the model that was hanging up instead of looking at another players stuff.

Ron Spaz Attack

While going down the hill in the wrong cart, Christina was trying to point out that they should be a bus while Ron was yelling they were going the same direction and they were going to waste time by going back to get on a marked green bus. What about a time penalty for not taking the right transportation? They finally passed a marked bus so Christina just jumped out while the cart was moving since her dad wouldn’t listen. That got him to get out of the cart too after it stopped and he threw rocks at the marked bus, hoping it would slow down so they could get on. Luckily, the Globetrotters were on it and they got the bus driver to stop. They helped the team that gave them a time penalty in the leg before. The Globetrotters are so nice when Ron & Christina are not. Christina did thank them a lot when she got on. Ron didn’t. Of course not.

Back at the Chinese Zodiac, Zev was telling the judge he was correct with his animals, but he wasn’t. The judge was the best one ever. He must have been standing for a while so he just sat there saying, “No” every time Zev tried to turn it in.

The other teams arrived at the prayer wheel. They had to write a wish on a piece of paper and then put it into their correct Chinese zodiac sign to get their next clue. After they did that, they got their next clue, which was a detour. In hammer, they had to take turns pulverizing hot molten candy and then break it up into pieces. In horn, they had to pick up a really big horn and lead a procession of dancers to a palace.

Gary & Mallory, Margie & Luke, Ron & Christina and Cowboys did their wish and got the clue. The Globetrotters did not get to move on since Flight Time did not know his zodiac sign. I think he went around the entire thing before they got the clue. The sisters and cheerleaders passed them by as they were trying to figure that out. Meanwhile, the laziest judge was still telling Zev no on his charms. He finally figured out he had two goats and he needed one of them to be a horse. He finally got his clue. Vyxsin was on the verge of another mental breakdown as she couldn’t find all the animals.

Candy Smashing

While walking to the detour, Ron wanted to stop at every food cart on the way to get some food. He also wanted to take a tram. All you could hear was Christina saying, “Daddy! Daddy, no! We don’t have time!” Gary & Mallory started making candy. They were soon joined by Margie & Luke, cowboys and the sisters. Ron kept eating the candy that they had to turn in while Christina yelled at him to stop. The cheerleaders got to the horn and saw how big it was and went off to the candy. Vyxsin was crying and calling herself stupid while she tried to finish the road block. Then, she finally found the last charm she needed and pulled it together.

Gary & Mallory, Margie & Luke and the cowboys finished the candy and got the pit stop clue at the Eternal Tower on top of Lion Hill. The sisters finished up next and Ron was still trying to eat the candy. Then he tried to cut the candy but it didn’t fit in the bag since he couldn’t cut it right. They finally finished and Christina had to yell at him some more for eating when they had to gather their stuff up to go. She said he could eat at the pit stop.

The Globetrotters were cruising with their horn. When they stopped to ask for directions, a little girl blew into the horn. The cheerleaders got to the candy and started working on it. Zev & Justin got to the prayer wheel and moved on to get the detour clue. They picked the horns and headed that way. The goths finally finished the road block and headed to the gondolas.

Pit Stop?

The first team to make it to the pit stop was Margie & Luke. They won a trip to Aruba, but also got the news that the leg wasn’t over. Again? Oh tricky show! When they found out, Luke said, “Noooooo!” Phil responded with, “Rip and read it!” Margie said, “You don’t know what I want to say right now.” They moved off the mat to read the clue.

The cowboys checked in next and Cord said, “Sweet” to still racing. They have stamina! Gary & Mallory checked in third place and Mallory said, “Awww nuts!”. When Ron & Christina checked in, she said, “Oh my God” and Ron was probably sad that he couldn’t sit down and eat all the treats he bought. Kisha grunted when the sisters checked in. I have no idea what Big Easy said when they checked in, but he mumbled something. The cheerleaders just smiled and took the clue.

The episode was wrapping up by showing Zev & Justin carrying the horns through the town, trying to find the palace. The goths got off the gondola and onto the marked bus. Kynt said, “We know the odds are against us but the Pink and Black Attack are ready.”  Then, they realized they left a fanny pack on the gondola. Vyxsin was trying to get the bus driver to turn around, but they were on a hill so they would have to wait until they were at the bottom to turn back around. Being clear headed, she said, “You are never going to see that bag again.”

Until next time…

Questions

  1. What do you think about the goths and their panic attacks? Or really Vyxsin’s panic attacks? She never blames anyone but herself, which is good, but she gets so worked up that she can’t think!
  2. This is the second time they have had a leg not finish. Are they going to do this every other leg? Are they trying to kill the teams since they have been on the show before? I say go for it!
  3. What about Ron and his behavior. He was still yelling at Christina like old times, but what about him wanting to stop and eat every five seconds, even during a detour?
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