Episode Recap: Amazing Race 10, Week 4

Episode: I Know Phil, Little Ol' Gorgeous Thing! Original Air Date: October 8, 2006 At the beginning of this episode, we find out that Rob (of the Bickering Couple) had collapsed of heat exhaustion at the end of the last challenge and had received medical attention. He was then "deemed fit enough to continue". He must have strained himself with all that yelling at Kimberly. The teams' first assignment is to run to a table where the old Master from the Kung Fu TV show is waiting (or maybe the man just looks like the old Master) to give them their "Dong". That's not nearly as gross as it sounds - the Dong is the Vietnamese currency. The teams are then to proceed by taxi back to Hanoi for their first challenge. The Brainiacs, Erwin and Godwin, are the first to leave since they were the first to arrive at the Pit Stop at the end of the last challenge. Erwin tells us how as Asian Americans, he and Godwin have a big responsibility on this race to show all sides of Asian Americans. And really, what better way is there to represent one's race to the world than going on a realty show? It's not as if anyone is ever cast in an unflattering light on one of these shows. Pretty Boys Tyler and James can't resist commenting on the Dong once they're in the taxi. "I want to see how much Dong you got," one of them says. Then, about the taxi driver, the other one says, "He's honking for Dong." Uh, heh, heh. Beavis, you said "Dong". On this day, Kentucky couple David and Mary are once again dressed identically, with matching denim shorts and t-shirts. How cute. There's nothing like a man being dressed exactly like his spouse that says, "My wife dressed me," or, "I've completely given up on retaining any of my dignity." Mary, who describes herself as a "couch potato" and is dealing with a sprained ankle at this point says she doesn't know how she and David are still in the race. "I'm doin' it for my kids," she concludes. She probably means that all the ridicule her kids will receive from their schoolmates once this show airs will somehow be good for them. As the teams progress in their taxis to their designation in Hanoi, the Braniacs lose their lead as their cabbie takes them in the wrong direction. They eventually have to stop and ask for directions. Once at the designation, the teams are supposed to "listen" for their next clue. It turns out there is a loud speaker set up on a corner that booms out directions to the teams' next designation. The Doublemint Twins are not the first to figure this out (surprise) as one of them stops to listen to crickets, thinking their chirping may contain the next clue. I swear, I am not making this up. Later, Rob and Kimberly drop all the way to last place due to the fact that their cabbie speaks absolutely no English. That's good for the cabbie, who doesn't have to listen to all of Rob's insults. After circling the same location a couple of times, Rob and Kimberly stop the cab and find another one. "I'm done talking to foreigners," says Rob. How fortunate for the rest of the world. Some of the other teams start to have similar trouble with their cabbies, but all arrive at the bus station, where of course they will have to wait because the first bus doesn't leave until five. All of the teams end up on the same bus. So once again, all of the previous drama was pretty much for nothing. Their next designation is Hao Long Bay, where they find their next "Roadblock" (a challenge that only one team member may do). Their next challenge is to scale the side of a huge rock mass using rope ascenders. Only three teams can do this challenge at a time as there are only three rope ascenders. The written clue for this challenge doesn't tell all of those details, but does say specifically that whichever team member does this challenge should have "strong arms and legs". Not getting the hint, Bionic Sarah with the malfunctioning artificial leg says, "I'll do it!" In order to get to the rock face, each team much catch a different speedboat. The Doublemint Twins cut in line and hop aboard a boat meant for Single Moms Lyn and Karlyn. I think they learned to do that in charm school. In an act of poetic justice, one of the Doublemint Twins cuts her leg while jumping on to the boat. Repeating what probably most of the viewers are thinking, one of the Single Moms says, "She got what she deserved." At the rock face, Sarah is waiting for her turn on the rope. Peter, still in the boat, is once again doing his annoying cheerleader routine, "You can do it, Sarah! It's all in the mind!" At one point, Sarah has to shut Peter up so she can listen to instructions the guide is giving her. As Single Mom Karlyn is scaling her way up the rock, Lyn yells up, "Take your time! If you can have a baby with no anestesia, you can go up this rock!" The Bickering Couple, Rob and Kimberly are the first to finish this Roadblock and move on to the next location. The rest of the contestants, including Bionic Sarah, manage to finish this task as well, with the Doublemint Twins in last place. The teams must proceed from here to a cave where they will have to search for their next clue. No one seems to have any trouble finding the clue, which states that the next challenge is a "Detour" (a choice between two tasks). In this case, the teams must choose between "Over" - loading produce into a small rowboat and delivering the produce to the proper addresses in a floating village, and "Under" - rowing to an oyster farm and harvesting 30 buckets of oysters attached to buoys. Kentucky Dave chooses "Over" because he's afraid of deep water. Dave's a coal miner, which means on a daily basis he works miles under ground in pitch black darkness while worrying about developing Black Lung. Yet, he's afraid of deep water. But his wife Mary agrees, "We're from Kentucky. We ain't never been in no real ocean. If the water's over your head, you're dead." Poetry to live by. Once on the rowboat, Rob and Kimberly start yelling at each other even more than usual. If there were ever a couple in need of Dr. Phil's help, it's these two. But I don't know if they could stop yelling at each other long enough for Dr. Phil to yell at them. The challenge progresses, and apparently most of the teams can't figure out that rowing a small rowboat is a one-man job. It is hilarious to watch these people row in circles while yelling at each other: "No! Your oar has to go down! No! DOWN!" "We're going around in circles! You must be doing something wrong!" Peter and Sarah are one of maybe three teams to figure out the complicated workings of two oars and a boat, while some of the other teams end up rowing to the wrong locations. While Peter rows, Sarah has now taken the role of cheerleader, "You can do it, Peter. You're doing fine." Peter actually tells Sarah to be quiet. "I need you to not be talking right now. I need to concentrate." I wonder if Sarah was doing that on purpose. No, I hope she was doing that on purpose. Rob and Kimberly, who chose the oyster farming, finish first, and arrive at the Pit Stop way ahead of everyone else. As a result, Phil tells them that they have each won a jet ski. It's a good thing they'll each have their own jet ski, since they'll probably be doing a lot of things seperately after this show. Meanwhile, Peter starts to complain while pulling up oyster buckets, "I am done after this. I want to quit." The man just watched his one-legged girlfriend scale a rock cliff and he wants to whine about pulling up a few oysters. It's too bad there's no way Sarah can win this season of Amazing Race while Peter loses at the same time. They need to make a new rule. In spite of all the whining, Peter and Sarah finish second. Pretty Boys Tyler and James would've finished second, but the boat they were taking to the Pit Stop seemed to be moving very slowly for some reason. It turns out the crew of the boat forgot to raise the anchor when they took off. The Pretty Boys finish third. It comes down between the Doublemint Twins and the Obligatory Gay Couple in the race for last place. Though Dustin and Kandice arrive at the oyster farm long after Tom and Terry, finish harvesting the oysters first. Unfortunately, they can't figure out the rest of their written clue, which is now badly torn. Tom and Terry finally finish harvesting the oysters, but can't row their boat to save their lives. Out of desperation, Tom jumps out of the rowboat and starts trying to pull it across the bay to the larger boat (called a "junk"), which will take them to the Pit Stop. Back on their seperate junks, both teams cry the whole way to the Pit Stop. The Doublemint Twins arrive first, far ahead of Tom and Terry. Tom and Terry are eliminated. Next week - Alligator hunting and Sarah gripes at Peter.