The Amazing Race 4, Episode 4: The Confusion of Firsts

The first plane carrying The Supremes, the Models, and Reichen & Chip lands in Frankfurt. As they board their connecting flight that will take them to Paris, Reichen realizes that they have business class tickets. The Amazing Race rules state that teams are only allowed to fly coach. They don’t have time to get new tickets, so they get off the plane and watch as it takes off with The Supremes and the Models. Reichen & Chip sweat it out for a little, but quickly get on another flight that will take them to Paris, in coach class, of course. In Munich, the Clowns and Chillie get a flight to Paris. They worry about Steve & Dave because they are their friends. Steve & Dave however, are having problems of their own. They finally book a plane with Jon & Kelly and are slowly on their way to Paris.

All this is going on at the airports; meanwhile, the first plane to Paris has just landed. As the Models lollygag around the airport, The Supremes quickly get a cab and head off to the trains. Their hustle pays off because they just make an early train headed for the race track. Tian & Jaree move so slow that by the time they get to the train station, Reichen & Chip, who were on a completely different plane, catch up. Geeze, they REALLY must have been moving slow, or Reichen & Chip are just that fast!

Arriving at The Le Mans Race Track first, The Supremes find that it is a detour. The clue states that the person must be comfortable with tight spaces. Monica decides to do it for their team, and reads the instructions. She has to change all four wheels of a race car, then get in the car and do a lap around the track as a passenger with a professional race car driver in control. Now THIS sounds like fun! Monica struggles at first but then realizes that they are losing their lead. All of a sudden, she gets her second wind and breezes through the tire part. She then climbs in the car and does her lap. She says she enjoyed the ride even though she was terrified. They get their next piece of route info, which tells them to select a marked car and drive to Marseilles – 556 miles away! Once there, they must find Port 4 on the river and then make their way to a lighthouse located on the Port. The route marker there will tell them were to go next.

Chillie, the Clowns, Dave & Jeff ,and Weezer & Geezer just get to France and head for the train station to get to the race track. The Models, along with Reichen & Chip, just get to the roadblock. Tian and Chip choose to do it. Let me say this about Tian: For being a pretty small lady this girl can move. She was banging those tires out one by one. I’m really starting to like her. Chip finishes first but Tian is right behind him. Both finish pretty quickly and head for Marseilles. While all this is going on, Kelly & Jon and Steve & Dave get to France. Kelly tells Jon that no matter what the next roadblock is, she wants to do it. Jon agrees, again begrudgingly. He’s pretty good at agreeing. I like Jon; he knows when to keep his mouth shut in order to keep Kelly pleased.

Speaking of the roadblock, two more teams have gotten there. Millie, as usual, can’t breathe. Chuck does the roadblock but Millie worries because she says Chuck has a tendency to sometimes move slowly. Al does the task very quickly and is off to the next route marker! Chuck finishes the tires but has problems getting into the car because he is claustrophobic. After a quick prayer to God, Chuck climbs in the car and conquers his fears.

At this point, Reichen & Chip are driving to Marseilles and so are the Models. Dave (from Jeff & Dave) and Weezer have just done the roadblock. Pan to The Supremes who think they took the long way to the next route marker. They should have taken the highway like most of the other teams have done. Instead, they opted for the back roads. Not a smart idea. Kelly & Jon get to the roadblock and Kelly decides to do it. Right after she finds out what it is I think she knows she made a big mistake. Even Jon is laughing about it as she is trying to change the tires on the race car. By that point, Steve & Dave have caught up and Dave is right behind her. They both quickly get their acts together and finish the task. Jon compares Kelly doing the roadblock to a woman’s orgasm because it may take awhile for her to do, but when she does, she is good for a week. I think I spit out my Dr. Pepper on that one. I love you Kelly, and Jon, you’re the man.

Finally, some teams get to Marseilles. They get to Port four, which is their destination, and find out it is closed. After being told they cannot just park in front of the gates and wait, Reichen & Chip, along with the Models, figure they will come back in the morning and decide to get a hotel. Dave & Jeff get there next and decide to sleep in the car right outside, along the road rather than right in front of the gate. The Supremes do the same and so do four other teams. In the morning, the Models and Reichen & Chip pull up and see the line. The guy at the gate tells them to pull up to the front because the other line along the road is too long, and all of a sudden they are in the front again. The other teams get pissed and start talking. They decide to confront the other two teams as a group. The best is when Monica goes over to the Models and tells them that they have another thing coming if they think they can stroll around and just cut in line. I love this. Steve from Steve & Dave goes as far as to say they better “check their tires” and it really seemed like a threat to me. Who knows?! Tian & Jaree don’t want to move because they were put there. Reichen & Chip give in and move to the back of the line, making sure everybody else knows they didn’t have to and that the others should not question their integrity! After a few minutes, when the Port is opened up, the Models let all the other teams go before them. All the teams scurry once inside to try and find the lighthouse. Kelly & Jon are fighting again. I think I somewhat admire their love/hate relationship because the bulk of it is love. They end up getting to the route marker first and Kelly apologizes to Jon for thinking they were going the wrong way.