The Amazing Race 20, Episode 8: Bee-have Yourself

Previously on I Thought Children Weren’t Allowed On the Race, six teams traveled from Azerbaijan to Tanzania. Rachel R. and Vanessa turned catty. Well, cattier. J.J. & Art challenged Jamie & Nary’s claim that they’re kindergarten teachers. Teams “hunted” and jumped. Rachel B. & Dave fought some more, again, but also won the leg some more, again. Nary & Jamie got to the mat last but weren’t eliminated.

With all the animals in Tanzania, you’d think they would have had the racers do a challenge with animals last week. But I guess there was enough wild behavior among the humans. Dave & Rachel B. leave at 6:03 a.m. to descend into a crater. After that they’ll need to go to a town called Safari Junction and find Hillary Clinton. Hold up. What now? There’s also a double U-Turn up ahead, and Rachel B. & Dave are considering using it on J.J. & Art.

Bopper injured his leg last week, but he’s willing to cut it off to get through the race. Mark thinks the other teams are seeing them as threats now. J.J. & Art have been waiting for the U-Turn for a while now. They made a deal with Dave B. & Rachel back in leg 5 to use it on Rachel R. & Brendon (Radon). Speaking of them, they don’t care if other people hate them. They’ll just feed off of it and race well. Or as well as they’ve raced so far, I guess. Speaking of haters, Vanessa & Ralph leave next.

The teams drive to the crater and take in the scenery. Dave sees monkeys and calls out, “Coo coo cachoo!” Rachel B. tells him that’s not their mating call. Mark & Bopper are seeing things they’d never see in Kentucky. Bopper says his daughter would love this. Art would love to use the million-dollar prize to come back here. Rachel R. likes this more than going to a zoo. This is what she thinks of when she thinks about Africa. Brendon appreciates taking a few minutes to stop worrying about racing and just enjoy the animals. Vanessa’s happy that she got to do one of the things she’s always wanted to do: go on safari and see an elephant.

Back in civilization, the teams run around town looking for Hillary Clinton. It’s actually a stall (which originally said “Hillary Clington,” but now has the G painted over), and it holds a Detour. The choices are Water Supply and Air Supply. In Water, teams gather empty water containers, fill them, and take them to a home. In Air (no singing, please), teams fix a punctured tire at a bike shop. This involves removing the inner tube, finding the leak, and repairing it. That’s what Rachel B. & Dave and Mark & Bopper choose. Art & J.J. make Hillary Clinton jokes, then pick Water.

As the two Air teams get started, Rachel B. tries to make a deal that they won’t U-Turn each other. I don’t think anyone’s listening to her. Mark tells us that he actually made a bike when he was young. He and Bopper seem to know exactly what they’re doing. Dave compliments his and Rachel’s teacher, who winks at the camera.

Art & J.J. reach Water. Art sees that it takes at least 30 seconds to fill a bucket with water from a hose, and the line to get to the hose is 30 to 40 minutes long. So maybe that’s not the best option. Radon get some directions, then spot the Detour stall on their own. They opt for Air. Vanessa & Ralph are close behind them but don’t see the stall.

Mark & Bopper pretend they’re at a NASCAR pit stop. They’re moving about that fast. Dave & Rachel B., however, are getting to the bickery part of the task. J.J. & Art are still in line, and will be for a while. Bopper & Mark hand their bike off for a test ride; Bopper yells for the rider not to ride over any glass. Heh. They’re done, and they’re off to the Jack Stelzer Pub, where the double U-Turn is waiting. They ask for directions but only get nods in return. Finally someone points them in the right direction.

Radon join Rachel B. & Dave at Air just as the latter team is finishing. Rachel R. worries that she and Brendon will be the target of the U-Turn. Meanwhile, two hours after Vanessa & Ralph, Jamie & Nary leave the pit stop. They’re willing to fight to stay in the race.

Mark & Bopper get to the double U-Turn, where Phil reminds us that two teams can send two other teams back to the Detour task they didn’t do. The guys decide not to use us. Instead they’ll be going to the Gem Gallery & Arts. As they leave, Rachel B. & Dave arrive and also decide to skip the U-Turn.

Jamie & Nary take their drive past the animals as Ralph & Vanessa try to figure out what to do. They’ve reached Air without finding the Detour clue. Rachel R. is pleased that the other team is wandering around, confused. Ralph tells Vanessa to make a decision. They decide to head back the way they came. Finally a kid shows them the stall and they then go right back where they were to do Air. By the way, Jamie & Nary are now in town.

Art & J.J. have finally made it to the hose to fill their containers. I’m sure those will be fun to transport. Rachel B. & Dave discuss the animals they saw before; he questions her pronunciation of “baboons.” They get their next clue, noticing Jamie & Nary’s Speed Bump there. The other racers’ clue says to go to Margaret’s Farm. Mark & Bopper are right behind them.

J.J. & Art get some help from local kids. They deliver their water with little trouble and collect the clue sending them to the pub. They feel a little bad about having to run off so soon. They reach the U-Turn and see that no one’s used it yet. They quickly use it on Radon. Art & J.J. note that Rachel B. & Dave were supposed to use the U-Turn on Radon if they got there first, so they must not have been there yet. They hope Rachel B. & Dave will U-Turn Nary & Jamie.

Instead, Rachel B. & Dave are on their way to the farm. Mark & Bopper share a smile over their driver, who’s yelling into a pink cell phone. Radon’s Detour time is over, and they leave just as Ralph & Vanessa get there. Nary & Jamie head toward the Hillary Clinton stall while Vanessa & Ralph snipe at each other. J.J. & Art get their farm instructions and see that they’re at least the third team. They don’t think Rachel B. & Dave have been by because they would have used the U-Turn.

Speaking of which, Radon find out that they’ve been U-Turned. They take a moment to use the second one on Vanessa & Ralph. As they head off to Water, Jamie & Nary reach the Detour and pick Air. Ralph & Vanessa are done and spot Nary & Jamie arriving as they leave, so they lost a lot of time. And they’re going to lose more, since they have to go do Water.

Jamie & Nary are already working diligently on Air. They’ll definitely be done with this before the other two teams do Water. Even with their Speed Bump, they’ll probably make up a lot of time here. Mark & Bopper reach the farm clue next, and it’s a Roadblock. One of them needs to put on a bee suit and harvest 500 grams of honey from a hive. Mark takes it. Dave & Rachel B. are seconds behind, and Dave does it. Bopper tells us that he had knee surgery a few months ago, and until now he was doing fine.

Mark and Dave are sent to deal with the bees, with the warning that they could get stung. They open the hives, spray the bees away, and grab chunks of honeycomb. They’re pretty calm, so they get the job done quickly. Art & J.J. are on their way, wondering what happened with Dave & Rachel B. at the U-Turn. They also know Radon won’t be happy.

Speaking of Radon, their water transport doesn’t go well. A couple containers fall, which leads to fighting. Then their cart tips and more containers fall. Yeah, this is going well. Vanessa & Ralph are now in line for water. They realize how much people will do to get something the two of them are used to having on demand in their house. Dave and Mark get more honeycomb, and when Mark goes to weigh is, he’s given the okay to move on. That means a trip to Lake Manyara, the Pit Stop. Dave’s done, too, so once again, these two teams are neck and neck.

Art & J.J. arrive and see that Rachel B. & Dave are there. Ruh-roh. Art takes the Roadblock. As Art gets ready, J.J. confronts Dave & Rachel B., who say that Jamie & Nary will be so far behind that they won’t be able to pass them. J.J. announces that they’re not working with any other team.

The confrontation has slowed Rachel B. & Dave a little, and even with Bopper’s injury, he and Mark are able to make it to the mat first. That makes them the first team to win a leg other than Rachel B. & Dave or Art & J.J. They’re still on the mat when Dave & Rachel get there. Instead of celebrating their second-place finish, Rachel says Dave’s being a sore loser. Freaking A, can’t everyone just shut up? Phil gives Mark & Bopper a trip to Hawaii. Bopper’s amazed by the opportunities he’s gotten on the race.

Art channels his inner Winnie the Pooh by getting his honeycomb. Then he ruins the moment by saying “hakuna matata” to the task judge. They’re less than thrilled to get to Phil in third place, since they’re still mad at Rachel B. & Dave. Okay, get over it. It worked out. Radon got U-Turned. Let it go.

I guess Jamie & Nary are taking longer than expected, because Radon are done with Water. How in the world did they do that so quickly, especially with their spills? Vanessa & Ralph are also done. Okay, Nary & Jamie, step it up. Their bike is done, but they still have a Speed Bump to do. They run into Radon, who tell them they were U-Turned, but also U-Turned Vanessa & Ralph, so Jamie & Nary have a shot. Not really, but they don’t know that. Ralph & Vanessa head off to the mat behind Radon, and Vanessa totally jinxes them by saying, “We have the best luck with cabs.” Cue the flat tire. Womp womp. Fortunately for them, their driver fixes it quickly.

Radon get the next clue. Jamie & Nary and Vanessa & Ralph get to the art gallery at the same time. For their Speed Bump, Nary & Jamie have to set up a display stand of art, as instructed by a poster. Vanessa & Ralph know they’ll get through it soon, so they need to move as quickly as possible. Rachel R. takes the Roadblock for Radon, trying to respect but also confuse the bees. They’re around her, so I’m sure they’re confused. Then she and Brendon are off to the Pit Stop, checking in fourth.

Ralph & Vanessa are at the Roadblock now. Vanessa wants Ralph to do it since he’s better under pressure. Yes, he’s definitely proven that. Nary & Jamie move quickly and work well together, and they’re done with the Speed Bump in no time. Jamie thinks they still have a chance. Probably not, though, since Ralph is done with the Roadblock. And since there are no more car problems, Vanessa & Ralph get to Phil fifth. She notes that they had all sorts of complications this leg but are still there.

It doesn’t really matter who does the Roadblock for Nary & Jamie (it’s Nary, for the record), since they’re last to check in with Phil and are eliminated. He compliments them on how well they raced today. Jamie says the usual things about this being the opportunity of a lifetime and being happy to share it with Nary. They both faced lots of challenges, and Nary wouldn’t have done the race with anyone else.

Next week: more Art & J.J./Rachel B. & Dave trouble. Mark dances and cries in India. Fun times.

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Jenn Brasler, an associate editor of Reality News Online and a writer/book enthusiast/secret spy from Falls Church, Virginia, has e-mail (jennbrasler47@gmail.com),Twitter (@jennb47), and a blog about ‘90s YA books and TV shows (‘90s Flashback). She wants to take home one of the baby monkeys the racers saw on safari.

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