Recap, Episode 5: Amsterdam, Netherlands
AWAY TO AMSTERDAM With a rip of the envelope, models and friends Tian & Jaree, departing first at 2:26 am, discovered they were heading to Amsterdam, where they must find the Magere Brug, a famous bridge on the Amstel River. The models' lead quickly dissipated at the Marseilles Airport as the other Teams caught up and everyone waited for the ticket counters to open up at 5:00 am. Capitalizing on being first in line, Tian & Jaree booked a 6:25 am Air France flight to Amsterdam via Paris and were joined by engaged couple Kelly & Jon. Third in line, married couple Reichen & Chip discovered the flight was now booked, but got onto a 6:50 am British Airways flight via London with dating virgins Millie & Chuck, circus clowns Jon & Al, and NFL wives and moms Monica & Sheree. Arriving last to the Marseilles airport, best friends David & Jeff and air traffic controllers Steve & Dave found that Air France flights through Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris were booked. Both Teams decided to take a chance by getting on 7:14 am Air France flight that landed at Orly airport just outside of Paris, but connected through Charles de Gaulle Airport to Amsterdam, leaving them an hour to drive across town to make the second flight. Hurrying off their flight at Orly, David & Jeff got a jump on Steve & Dave by hopping into a cab and onto the expressway. Soon, both Teams found themselves trapped in gridlock traffic because of an accident. With only five minutes until the connecting flight left, the Teams arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport. By the time they reached the counter, the flight had departed without them. Now squarely in last place, both Teams booked a KLM flight that departed Paris at 11:45 am. Meanwhile, just after 11:00 am, the other six Teams, led by Kelly & Jon and Tian & Jaree, landed in Amsterdam. After asking a local in the terminal for advice on the quickest transportation, Millie & Chuck decided to take a taxi to the Magere Brug, while Reichen & Chip, Monica & Sheree, Kelly & Jon and Jon & Al all opted for the train. After spending a good deal of time at the information desk, Tian & Jaree also elected to take the train, but missed the one carrying the other Teams. Having received a great tip from the local, Millie & Chuck arrived at the Magere Brug in first place. The pair opened their clue, learning that they must navigate a boat to the Scheepvaart Museum, a 400-year-old warehouse turned nautical museum, to find the next route marker. After Millie & Chuck stepped into their boat, they immediately panicked, neither knowing where to go. With other Teams running onto the bridge, the virgins decided to leave shore hoping to find directions along the way. As the Teams selected their boats, Chuck told Millie, "I want to make sure we're going the right way." Millie pleaded, "I know where we are. You showed it to me . Please go, Chuck!" Chuck listened to Millie, and the two left the bridge and headed down the waterway, still unsure of which way to go. Kelly & Jon soon followed the virgins and discussed their nickname for the Team: Millie the Mole and the Werewolf. Kelly joked, "Chuck's got these funky muscles right here . He's very handsome, but he does look like second stage of werewolf." With Reichen & Chip also following Millie & Chuck and Kelly & Jon, clowns Jon & Al took their boat in the opposite direction. Al's map-reading skills paid off as the pair quickly found the Scheepvaart Museum. After docking their boat, the pair rushed to the clue box in first place and discovered a Detour. In this Detour, Teams must choose either "500 kilograms" or "15 feet." Teams choosing 500 kilograms had to drive 30 miles to an outdoor market, don traditional wooden clogs and use a wooden stretcher to carry cheese from the stockpiles to a scale. They would receive their next clue after weighing in exactly 500 kilograms of cheese. It would be a longer drive and more physically demanding, but Teams would stay clean. Teams opting for 15 feet had to drive 12 miles to a ranch where cow manure is processed into fertilizer for local farms, where they must search for their next clue barehanded in a 15-foot pile of cow manure. It would be a shorter drive and not at all physically demanding, but Teams would get very messy. Jon & Al instantly chose 15 feet and headed for the ranch in their car. WATER WARS Meanwhile, on the water and very lost, Chuck suggested they turn right into a canal. Millie responded, "Don't make a move until we know we're going the right way. When are we going to learn our lesson?" While Millie continued to chastise him about his decision, Chuck ignored her. He finally responded, "Instead of doing that, put your effort into reading the signs, please. Don't spend your energy doing that, please." In the boat behind Millie & Chuck, Jon wanted to continue following them, while Kelly disagreed, saying, "They're idiots. They don't know where they're going." Separately, Reichen & Chip reached the same conclusion as Kelly, prompting them to turn around. Kelly & Jon soon followed suit, leaving Millie & Chuck alone and lost. A troubled, weary Millie told Chuck, "I begged you back there not to turn. I said please, and then you don't even acknowledge that I have an opinion." While Millie protested to Chuck, Jaree experienced a similar situation with Tian. Incredibly lost, Jaree insisted to an unbelieving Tian that she knew where they were. Tian replied, "You tell me you can't read a map, and all of a sudden you can." Tian then held up the map and asked Jaree to point to their location. Jaree grabbed the map, calling Tian a "dumbass." DAIRY DETOUR With Reichen & Chip en route to the market to carry cheese and Kelly & Jon and Monica & Sheree choosing 15 feet, clowns Jon & Al arrived at the ranch to dig through the manure. They ran around the back of the barn to find a giant manure pill, prompting Jon to joke, "Something smells good!" After putting on boots, protective eyewear, and white jumpsuits, the pair gingerly walked onto the pile. Their trepidation soon gave way to playfulness as the pair began throwing large clumps of manure on each other. Amid the silliness, Jon & Al found their next clue instructing them to drive to the fishing village of Monnickendam and search a dock for the Smoker Statue to find the next route marker. SPINNING THEIR WHEELS Deciding to throw in the towel on finding the Scheepvaart Museum, Millie & Chuck grudgingly chose to go for the Fast Forward, knowing they would never have the option again. This Fast Forward required Teams to make their way to North Amsterdam and find the Molen van Sloten windmill. Each Team member would then be attached to one of the sails, and the windwill would be set in motion. After 10 revolutions of the windmill, the miller would give them their pass. In the car, Chuck simply said, "Sorry." Millie responded, "It's not your fault. It takes two." Once at the windmill, the miller strapped Millie & Chuck onto sails and set the windmill in motion. Millie exclaimed, "My gosh, the whole thing's shaking." On the experience, Chuck later commented, "We're frantic, but to be alone on top of a windmill was some needed peace during that exact time." After 10 revolutions, Millie & Chuck were removed from the windmill and handed the Fast Forward pass instructing them to next Pit Stop, the Kasteel Muiderslot, an ancient castle, in nearby Muiden. Over at the market, Reichen & Chip donned their wooden clogs and began loading up their stretcher with cheese. Between carrying the cumbersome stretcher and wearing the clogs, the pair found it somewhat difficult to walk. On their first attempt on the scale, the pair learned they had only carried 72kg. After a second pass, they had only brought 282kg. Finally, after several more attempts, Reichen & Chip weighed out exactly 500kg and headed to Monnickendam. Finally landing in Amsterdam, David & Jeff and Steve & Dave rushed to the Magere Brug and their boats. Meanwhile, Tian & Jaree still searched the Amstel River for the Scheepsvaart Museum. Finally, after an hour and a half, Tian pointed Jaree in the right direction and the pair found the Detour and chose 15 feet. Cruising down the river, David started paddling his Team's boat to help out. On his teammate, Jeff commented, "I think Dave gets a little more aggressive when he feels the chips are down." Even with David's effort, the Team made it to the museum only moments before Steve & Dave. The two Teams chose separate Detours, with Steve & Dave carrying cheese and David & Jeff sifting through manure. SLIPPERY ROADBLOCK Maintaining their lead, Jon & Al arrived in Monnickendam in first place and encountered a Roadblock at the Smoker Statue. In this Roadblock, one Team member must get onto a marked boat, catch 25 live eels and place them in a marked container to earn their next clue. Professing a love of seafood, Al volunteered to perform the task, but his excitement faded as he realized he would be touching live eels. With Jon cheering him on, Al got on the boat deck that was seething with hundreds of wriggling eels. While Al concentrated on completing his slimy task, Millie & Chuck ran onto the Kasteel Muiderslot grounds, where host Phil Keoghan awaited them. Learning they were first to arrive, a breathless Millie exclaimed, "Thank you, God!" For their efforts, Millie & Chuck won a seven-day Mexican Rivera cruise vacation on Royal Caribbean's "Vision of Sea." When Phil asked Millie how things were going, she replied, "It's hard for us to work together because he doesn't trust me." Chuck later added, "To Millie, I think, to trust is to always do exactly what she says, and I don't think that's necessarily trust." As Jon & Al finished the Roadblock and headed to the castle, Monica & Sheree completed the 15 feet Detour, and Monica quipped, "I'm never going to complain about changing my kid's diapers again!" On leaving the ranch, the NFL wives encountered difficulty when their car became stuck in mud as they tryed to turn around. Frustrated at watching valuable time slip away, the pair caught a break when some locals with a truck pulled them out. Tian & Jaree found themselves lost again as they searched for the ranch. Jaree, who was driving, grabbed the map from Tian and said, "I'm sick of you. You are just deliberately trying to make us lose." When Tian offered to drive, Jaree snapped, "Oh, shut up, because you are going to get your face punched, believe me. I'm sure everyone else found it with ease because they have partners who help them." In fact, both Steve & Dave and David & Jeff made it to their respective Detour locations before the models. The arguing continued as Jaree called Tian "evil" and added, "I'm gonna rip your head off!" Eventually, the pair found the ranch just as David & Jeff were leaving, having completed the Detour. As Jon & Al and Kelly & Jon arrived at the Pit Stop in second and third place respectively, Steve & Dave put on their clogs and carried cheese to the scale. Meanwhile, at the pile of manure, Jaree wondered aloud if she was permitted to throw some at her teammate. In a stroke of luck, Jaree happened to find a clue near the bottom of the pile, which prompted Tian to remark, "You didn't even get your hands dirty." With Reichen & Chip and Monica & Sheree finishing in fourth and fifth place respectively, David completed the Roadblock at the boat, and he and Jeff stepped on the mat in sixth place. This left only Tian & Jaree and Steve & Dave in a race to the Roadblock and Pit Stop. In Monnickendam, Tian once again performed the Roadblock for her Team. She later commented, "Jaree hasn't done a Roadblock yet, and I feel like I'm doing all the work." ELIMINATION As Steve tossed eels into the container, Tian & Jaree headed for the castle. With a directions-impaired Jaree driving, Tian commented, "I didn't want to be eliminated, but a small part of me said, 'Screw it.'" Steve & Dave, also on the road now, remained optimistic in light of the prior two legs and kept their hopes alive. Unfortunately, luck was not with the air traffic controllers. After night fell on Kasteel Muiderslot, Tian & Jaree walked onto the mat in seventh place. As Phil informed them of this, Jaree said, "We thought we were eliminated." Tian added, "Hoping, more like it." Finally, Steve & Dave arrived at the castle in last place, and Phil told them they had been the fifth Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. On the experience, Dave commented, "One thing I'm going to take out of THE AMAZING RACE is just how much I love my wife. I guess you just don't realize how good you got it until you don't have it for awhile." Steve added, "We're still going to be friends, best of friends. THE AMAZING RACE was a chance of a lifetime." MILLIE & CHUCK SPIN INTO FIRST; STEVE & DAVE ELIMINATED As Teams headed to Amsterdam, relationships within Teams began to crumble, as the stress of being lost proved overwhelming. Trying to maintain their lead from the previous leg, models Tian & Jaree were almost eliminated as Jaree accused Tian of sabotaging their Team. Hopelessly lost on the Amstel River, virgins Millie & Chuck also bickered amid charges from Millie that Chuck doesn't listen to her. Unable to find their way, Millie & Chuck opted for the Fast Forward, finishing in first place. Ultimately, air traffic controllers Steve & Dave couldn't overcome missing a flight connection in Paris and became the fifth Team to be eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race4/show/episode05/ar4story01.shtml