The Amazing Race 4, Episode 8: You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It

To acquire the next clue, they have to go through some kind of cleansing/good luck ritual. Millie says it’s unusual to go through all this for a clue and states she is Christian and it worries her about what they may be saying as they perform the ritual. They finish and read the next clue: it tells them to get to Kota Kinabalu Boat Jetty and there they will find marked boats that will help them find the next clue. The Clowns go through the ritual and say they enjoyed it because it was something different. They get their clue and head out. Reichen & Chip are right behind both teams and also go through the ritual and get the clue. At this point, the second plane arrives with the Goats and Kelly & Jon. They both head for the village.

At the Boat Jetty, Chillie arrive first. They choose a boat and head off. The Goats get to the village and do the ritual for the clue. Jon & Kelly arrive as the Goats are leaving. Chillie find the fishing boat with the next clue and find out it’s a Detour. Net or Trap? In Net, teams have to take the boat to a platform and use nets to catch 15 fish in marked areas. It does not require a team to be strong, but using the pole net takes skill. In Trap, teams must take their boat to a lobster boat and pull up a weighted trap. This doesn’t take much skill, but will take a good deal of force. Chillie choose trap. The Clowns also get to the detour and choose trap. By this time, Kelly & Jon finish the ritual. Kelly says she was moved while Jon was sitting there looking at his watch. Reichen & Chip get to the Jetty and head out on their boat.

Let’s check in with Chillie. They are dropped off at the Trap Detour – oh wait, no they aren’t. Their boat driver takes them to Net! Chillie just decide to do that instead. The Clowns get to Trap and start pulling. Reichen & Chip get their Detour clue and take Trap. Chillie are having problems. The Clowns pull the lobster trap up and get their next clue. It tells them to have the boat driven to Manukan Island and proceed to the next route marker. Reichen & Chip are also taken to Net instead of Trap, but get back in the boat and head over to the correct Detour. They get there and start pulling. Chillie are fighting while Reichen & Chip quickly finish Trap and head off. Chillie are at 10 fish and need 15 to finish the task. Then, Millie picks up the basket and drops ALL the fish in the water (this after previously catching fish and having them jump out of the bucket and back into the water – the titles are pretty amusing as it charts their progress, both positive and negative). Chuck looks like he is going to poop himself. They quickly regroup.

The Clowns and Reichen & Chip are headed for the island while Chillie finally finish the Detour. On Manukan Island, the Clowns arrive first. Roadblock. The task is using three traditional weapons to hit targets and move on. The weapons are a bow and arrow, blowpipe, and a spear. Once all are done, the team can race right to the pit stop, located just down the beach. Jon does the Roadblock for the Clowns. He says it’s tough to use the bow and arrows. Reichen & Chip get their clue and decide Chip will do it. Chillie arrive and Chuck does the Roadblock. All three teams are now there shooting away.

The Goats get to the Boat Jetty just ahead of Kelly & Jon. Jon from the Clowns finishes bow and arrow and heads to blowpipe. Chip hits it as well and moves on. Jon finishes that and heads to the last stage, spears.

Meanwhile, the Goats choose Net for their detour and Kelly & Jon take Trap. The Goats get to Net and start gathering fish while Kelly & Jon begin Trap. The Goats get fish that are too small – and not in the marked area – and are told to start again. Chuck is still shooting the arrows and is starting to get worried as Millie does the same from the sidelines. Kelly & Jon are pulling the trap, but it’s too heavy for them. Jon from the Clowns is still throwing the spear and Chip joins him. Chuck finally hits the target with the arrow. Chip hits with the spear and they head for the pit stop. Jon finishes too and they also run off.

The clowns barely beat Reichen & Chip to the pit stop because Reichen & Chip start to run in the wrong direction. So Jon & Al finish as team number one and win a vacation to exotic Mexico! I’m glad, they deserve it. Chuck hits the target with the blowpipe and is off to spears. The Goats are almost done with the Detour while Jon & Kelly are still struggling. The Goats finish and head off to the island. Jon & Kelly let the trap go and it falls to the bottom. They decide to do the other Detour. Chuck is doing spear when the Goats get to the Roadblock. Jeff will do it. Kelly & Jon quickly finish Net and head to the island to join the other teams. Chuck finishes the Roadblock and Chillie check in third. Jeff is doing the Roadblock and finishes the bow and arrow and blowpipe portions like a pro! On the spear part, Dave is coaching Jeff and it’s starting to get on his nerves.

Kelly & Jon finally arrive and Kelly will do the Roadblock. The Goats finish the spear part and are team number four. Kelly starts the Roadblock with Jon saying, “Be the bow, be the arrow.” She hits it and Jon collapses. I laugh. Jon is coaching more while Kelly finishes up the blowpipe and spear parts. She is happy that she did it. They scurry to the pit stop and find out they are last. However, this is not an elimination round! It’s the first of three non-elimination legs. Kelly looks so relieved but says she wanted to slap the smirk off Jon’s face for being right – that they wouldn’t be eliminated.

Jon says that he and Kelly are ready to give it their all. Chuck says that Reichen & Chip are relentless and will do whatever it takes to get an edge over the other. Reichen & Chip say that Chillie aren’t as innocent as they claim to be – their halos are a little bent. Jeff states that it’s ever team for themselves from this point on. Kelly says that the other teams think her team is weak, but they are ready to kick some ass. Next week, teams struggle to gain the lead. Tensions are going to run high between Kelly & Jon because of mistakes, and several seconds will separate who stays for the next leg and who will be eliminated. This should be pretty exciting.

Now, time for my opinion: Kelly & Jon were lucky this wasn’t an elimination round, but just because you pretty much know it’s not doesn’t mean you should take your time and not worry about things. Reichen & Chip were lucky that they got that flight to Kuala Lumpur. If they didn’t, they surely would have been hours behind everyone. I like the fact that they march to their own drummer though and don’t always follow everyone. The Clowns ran a solid leg as usual while the Goats seemed to slide a little bit this leg. Chillie are not on my bad side anymore, but Millie has to learn to be less domineering and Chuck has to let loose a little more. Once they can get a middle ground to work on, they will be set. Next week is going to be crazy as the teams fight to be in the final four. The finish line is getting closer every week!

Phil Kural is a senior at Temple University, and can be reached at pkural@temple.edu.

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