The Amazing Race – Muscles in Brussels

The 9th leg of The Amazing Race was one crazy, topsy-turvy ride for everyone … not including the amusement park ride at Legoland that spun them all around while trying to piece together a puzzle (with pieces flying all over the place!). The leg actually began in Copenhagen as teams had to locate a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, memorize a poem on the statue (with tourists flocking about), then find a theatre on a round map attached to a bicycle wheel, recite the poem to an Andersen stand-in … with feeling … and get the next clue. Failure to perform the poem satisfactorily meant starting over, from the beginning back at the statue!

Ernie & Cindy were the first to depart, and they completed the task before Bill & Cathi had even started the leg! It was very interesting to see how widely divided the teams were. Bill and Cathi, in second place, started about 90 minutes behind Ernie & Cindy, with Andy & Tommy just minutes behind them. Marcus & Amani began the leg an hour-and-fifteen minutes behind Bill & Cathi, and I had completely forgotten Jeremy & Sandy were even in the race until they finally departed a little more than three hours behind Ernie & Cindy. That’s a pretty wide spread and it seemed that the only real jostling for position would be for second and third place at the Pit Stop.

Things got crazy at the Road Block as Amani, in fourth place, passed Cathi and Tommy (who both got lost), completed the poem with feeling, and pushed herself all the way to second. Ernie & Cindy were long gone and on their way to Hamburg to catch the train to Brussels. It was interesting to see the distraction tactic Marcus used with Amani to help her memorize the poem and not be distracted by the bike ride. Cathi finally arrived, but after being lost and having to ask for directions, she missed a word and had to start over. Poor Andy just recited the poem, correctly, but had to start over, and Sandy was not far behind, but she also had to start over, giving Ernie & Cindy and Marcus & Amani a huge lead.

I thought this was going to put a big distance between the first two and last three teams, but guess what? The dreaded equalizer made all of the frantic memorization, bike riding and performing a moot point as everyone ended up on the one and only train heading to Brussels at 12:30 AM!  More than twelve hours after Jeremy & Sandy started the leg in last place. It’s a little frustrating to be so invested in how the teams are doing — for the viewer and the teams — only to find out that all the hard work was really for nothing. Bill & Cathi were last to arrive at the train station after getting lost on the way to Legoland, but they were first off the train in Brussels. Seems a little unfair to me. I’m also wondering if Ernie & Cindy will face any consequences for losing their train tickets. I suppose if a conductor had actually checked for tickets, they might but they seem to be off the hook. (Which begs the question — is there no one checking for tickets on that train, or did the producers intervene so Ernie & Cindy wouldn’t get thrown off in Cologne? Of course, the camera and sound person also had to have tickets so they probably let them slide since they were all traveling together).

In Brussels, teams had to strip down and oil up to compete in a body building competition, hilariously demonstrated by Phil and his eyebrow (although he chose to forego the Speedo and spray tan). Each team had to practice their moves and go on stage one-by-one in front of a trio of judges and a hooting crowd of (mostly) women, earn 12 or more points and go to the Pit Stop. Ernie & Cindy got 9 on their first try, but a 12 on the second. Marcus & Amani scored 12 right off the bat, and Jeremy & Sandy scored a 13. Andy & Tommy had problems doing the poses due to snowboarding injuries and only scored a 4 and a 5, while Bill and Cathi (in surprisingly great shape) only scored a 3.

Marcus & Amani checked in first at the Pit Stop (with Ernie & Cindy not far behind) and were shocked to learn that the next leg began immediately. Meanwhile, Andy & Tommy and Bill & Cathi are still posing and the dreaded “To Be Continued …” appeared on screen. Will either team be eliminated at the Pit Stop, or will they continue to race? Tune in again next week to find out!

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Nov 21, 2011 @ 01:24 EST5EDT