THE AMAZING RACE 18 “I Feel Like a Monkey in a Circus Parade” Recap

THE AMAZING RACE 18 “I Feel Like a Monkey in a Circus Parade” (Kolkata, India) Episode 6 – Tea and traffic are the themes as the eight remaining teams travel from Kunming, China to Kolkata, India in the “I Feel Like a Monkey in a Circus Parade” Snapple commercial, I mean episode of THE AMAZING RACE.

Leaving Green Lake Park:

Jet/Cord leave first at 2:14pm. Gary and Mallory are second, followed by Margie/Luke, Kisha/Jen, Kent/Vixsyn, Flight Time/Big Easy, and Ron/Christina. Zev/Justin are the last to leave at 4:10pm.

Since it’s tea time, teams must go to the Jin Fu Yi Zhan Tea Shop and take part in a traditional tea tasting. The papaya mango tea used will haunt them in the Roadblock. I love everyone’s disappointment when they think they’ll be in China for a third leg.

Tea Shop:

Gary and Mallory arrive first, drink their tea, and find out they must fly to Kolkata, India. After the teams all have their tea and Christina is the only one to learn it’s papaya mango, everyone takes the same midnight flight to Kolkata. The consensus is that this is a meaningless task. Little do they know.

Kolkata:

After the usual mad rush out of the airport, teams find cabs to take them to Town Hall drive through some crazy traffic. Since it is the middle of the night, of course it’s closed, though there is an awesome fake out where poor Mallory is convinced she needs to sign in. I know Mallory can be-overly exuberant, but she just makes me smile because she is so darn happy to be racing. “Hooray for tea!” She takes the prank as cheerfully as she does everything else. When the town Hall does open, it’s Roadblock time.

Roadblock:

Who’s ready to drink in the scenery? We go from tea tasting in China to tea tasting in India. Racers must bring a tea master a mango and a papaya and then, out of hundreds of cups of teas set out on intimidatingly long tables, they need to find the same tea they drank in the Chinese teashop. When they show the tea master the right cup, they get the next clue, which happens to be under the cap of an unlabeled Snapple bottle. Hello, product placement.

Kent, Jet, Mallory, Kisha, Ron, Flight Time, Zev, and Luke do the task, and super-sniffer Ron picks the right tea quickly to get his clue first, which says teams must deliver their bottles to the Tiwari Tea Stall. Once Jet realizes smelling is the way to go, he finds the right cup and leaves second, followed by Kisha. Kent finishes fourth with Mallory in fifth. Flight Time, Luke, and Zev all have wrong guesses, with Luke and Zev getting especially frustrated. Zev even smashes his cup, but his next try is right, putting him in sixth. Flight Time, after approximately fifty cups of tea, finishes seventh, which makes Luke’s frustration spiral until he breaks down, crying. This is tough to watch. On the one hand, between killer fatigue, the sheer frustration of trying to find the right tea while running up and down those long tables, and actually drinking all that tea, I completely understand him being upset. On the other hand, this is not the first time he has broken down and caused bigger problems for himself by not focusing on the task at hand. That said, Big Easy cheering him on and the locals applauding him at the end is quite touching.

Tiwari Tea Stall:

Most teams quickly realize they must open their bottles to get the clue, but Kisha and Jen think they need to go to where Snapple is locally bottled and find a cab driver who will take them. Luckily, the cab driver takes them to the right general area and when they finally, hilariously, open the bottle (“Shut the f-!”), they’re close by.

Kent/Vixsyn deliver their bottle first, followed by Gary/Mallory, Ron/Christina, and Kisha/Jen. Jet/Cord seem hopelessly lost, but are the fifth to find the tea stall, followed by Zev/Justin. After a lag, Flight Time/Big Easy arrive, then finally Margie/Luke. Detour time.

Detour:

Hindu Art or Bengali Literature: In Hindu art, teams must go to a statuary shop and paint, dress, and adorn a statue of the Hindu God Ganesha (Love that Kisha/Jen think it’s a fertility goddess). When their work matches the example, the shopkeeper will give them their clue. In Bengali Literature, teams go to a bookstore where they get eight stacks of children’s books. They need to put the books and themselves into a rickshaw school bus and direct the driver to a school, where the headmistress will give them their next clue

Hindu Art:

Kent/Vixsyn, Christina/Ron, Kisha/Jen, Flight Time/Big Easy, and Margie/Luke choose this task.

The noise level here seems to be the biggest issue, especially for Ron, who is back to his ADD ways after rocking the tea roadblock. Flight Time/Big Easy spill brown paint all over their nearly finished statue and have to repaint most of the bottom half so it doesn’t look like it has diarrhea. Kent/Vixsyn are the funniest, as they exclaim that this is what they do to themselves every morning.

Kent/Vixsyn, of course, finish this task first and get their clue telling them teams must go to the Kolkata Maidan park and find the Pit Stop at the Fountain of Joy across from the Victoria Memorial Hall. Ron/Christina finish next, followed by Kisha/Jen, Flight Time/Big Easy (Flight Time hugs Luke and encourages him on-awww!), and Margie/Luke.

Bengali Literature:

Gary/Mallory, Jet/Cord, and Zev/Justin are the only ones to choose this task, which surprises me. Yes, the traffic is nasty, but this seems like the much simpler task, as Gary/Mallory prove by cruising through it. Zev/Justin awesomely get a rickshaw driver wearing a Red Sox hat and finish second, while Jet/Cord, who get lost (again) finding the bookstore, finish it last.

Pit Stop:

Gary/Mallory win the leg and get to taste a new Snapple Amazing Race Tea first (only Mallory would be excited about drinking more tea after all the tea she already had), have a sumptuous Indian feast complete with entertainment, and share one million rupees (over $20,000.). Best winning leg prize The Amazing Race has given out, I think.

After some more chaotic traffic, Jet/Cord, Ron/Christina, and Zev/Justin land on the mat together in second, third, and fourth. I’m still not sure how Jet/Cord ended up in second because it looked like they were more lost than that. Anyway, Kent/Vixsyn join the happy group to take fifth (unless you’re Jet, in which case they’re fourth). Kisha/Jen are sixth and Flight Time/Big Easy land in seventh and make me sniffle. Margie/Luke are eliminated and make me sniffle a little more.

Notes:

The Town Hall prank is awesome not just because it shows how great a sport Mallory is, but we see-again-how much these racers seem to enjoy each other, which makes me giggle.

I’m sure Zev’s cup smashing is related to his Asperger’s, but it’s rude and I’m concerned that his frustration level is increasing too much each leg. I hope he has a chance during the pit stop to refocus and relax.

Five out of the eleven teams on this Race were from season 14. Four of those teams have now been eliminated, leaving only Kisha/Jen. I would not have pegged them to be the last ones standing from that season, that’s for sure.

What did you think of the India leg? Are you sad/happy about the Margie/Luke elimination? Let me know in the comments.

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