The Amazing Race 13: Please Hold While I Singe My Skull

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Guess what, people? It's India time! You know what that means: crowds, traffic, cows, and smells that nearly seep right through your television screen.

The teams are sent from Siem Reap to Delhi via a travel agency, where everyone ends up at the same time, and where everyone books the same flight and manages to have enough time to research their destination in India online before heading out. Oh, and Dallas and Starr try to flirt a bit without Toni and/or Nick salting their respective games.

In their cabs in India, teams comment about the cows, the heat, and the intensity of it all as they make their ways to their first Indian destination, Moon Light Motors. No one's cabbie seems to know where it is. Nick & Starr eventually make it there first, and it's a Roadblock that asks who's got an artistic flair. Starr quickly claims she does.

Roadblock: Go Green

Phil tells us the Roadblocking team member must help India's taxi industry go green... literally. Apparently, auto-rickshaws that run on natural gas now are to be painted green to indicate thusly--but just the grey part. The yellow upper part has to stay yellow, so they have to cover it over with newspaper and tape, then spraypaint the rest. The Rats somehow manage to arrive second, and Andrew takes the Roadblock. Everyone else is still kind of lost.

Dallas & Toni arrive next and Toni takes the Roadblock. Nick interviews that he thinks the "budding romance" between Dallas and his sister is kind of cute. Aw, that's nice. Kelly & Christy have arrived; Kelly is Roadblocking. Terence & Sarah finally find the place, but Ken & Tina's cabbie takes what seems to be quite awhile longer to get them there, although Starr is only just beginning the painting part of the task.

Sarah's doing the Roadblock, and Terence is all up in her grill like, "I need you do this fast, babe." Terence, to borrow a phrase from my childhood, one I think Sarah definitely should have utilized in this case, NO DUH. Meanwhile, Tina is henpecking Ken non-stop as he tapes up his rickshaw, though he is remaining remarkably calm, at least outwardly.

Dallas, on the other hand, is helpfully coaching his mom through the task, and she interviews about how much she appreciated it. Much better!

And guess who finishes the Roadblock first? Andrew! Amazing. The next clue directs teams to the Ambassador Hotel where they're to search the gardens for a doorman who will hand them their next clue. Nick & Starr are hot on the Rats' heels.

Dallas & Toni finish, and all of a sudden, Ken's done and he & Tina leave in fourth. Everyone finishing this task looks dirty and incredibly sweaty, so... ew. Kelly & Christy are done next, and Terence is still haranguing Sarah, all, "I need you to go faster, babe." He needs her to go faster, like as if it doesn't matter at all to her. Gah.

Nick & Starr get the doorman's clue first, and it's the...

Detour: Launder Money or Launder Clothes

Launder Money is... very complicated. It entails finding a banquet hall, and once there, decorating a traditional wedding necklace with Indian money using exactly ten rupee bills that add up to 780. Teams will have to figure out how to exchange their own cash (given to them at the beginning of the leg) for the notes needed to equal the correct total. Once their necklace is built, they will then find a waiting groom and exchange the necklace for the clue. Phew.

Launder Clothes: find a particular laundry shop and use a charcoal-heated iron to press 20 pieces of clothing. Ok, that seems like a far simpler, quicker choice to me.

Both Nick & Starr and Dallas & Toni (who've sure caught up quickly) choose the laundry. Toni says Dallas is a pro ironer, and I don't think she's being sarcastic. Ken & Tina are lost again because they didn't switch their cab driver. The guy was incompetent before; what made them think he would be any better later on? The Rats and Kelly & Christy also choose the laundry. Sarah & her big giant baby finally finish up at the Roadblock, while Ken & Tina are switching taxi drivers, finally.

Terence & Sarah choose Launder Money, and when Ken & Tina finally get the Detour clue, they also choose the money. Kelly & Christy actually arrive at the laundry place second, with Dallas & Toni close behind. The irons appear to be rather unwieldy, and the handles are too hot for some teams to touch without gloves (unsupplied).

Both teams at the money task are asking around on the streets, trying to get their large bills changed. Nick & Starr, meanwhile, have made quick work of the laundry task and the next clue sends them to the Pit Stop, Baha'i House, which is the national headquarters of the Baha'i faith. They hope the other Detour choice wasn't faster. Oh, no worries there. They check in, and they're first. They each win an electric car.

Terence & Sarah are building their necklace while Ken & Tina are still negotiating change with a taxi driver.

Kelly & Christy hit the Pit Stop in second. They're excited.

Ken & Tina start on their necklace, and Dallas & Toni are heading to the Pit Stop. Terence & Sarah hunt for their groom. Ken & Tina hunt for their groom. The Rats are still ironing. Apparently frat houses don't teach ironing skills; just how to do a sweetass kegstand, I guess. The necklace teams seem to get their clues simultaneously, but Terence & Sarah have better luck getting a taxi.

Dallas & Toni arrive at the Pit Stop and Dallas greets their greeter, who does indeed have a giant pot of fire on her head, with a duded-out, "You have fire on your head. That's insane."

Ken & Tina can't get a taxi; the Rats can't iron and are also being thwarted by the wind, which is blowing over their not-so-neatly stacked piles of semi-ironed clothes. This has got to be non-elim.

And here, in fifth, it's... the Rats! Whoa. They're totally stoked to be next-to-last, again, some more. And now, Ken & Tina... in sixth... and they are... not eliminated. Finally. The bad news is they're bringing the Speed Bump back this year: an extra task during the next leg that only they must perform. Well, at least they get to keep their possessions and their money. In their interview, Ken's all choked up talking about how this is about so much more than just the race for them. Oh, these two. I hope they make it work.

Next week: something with paint that looks really gross, even grosser than the paint task this week.

Tags: tar, the amazing race, amazing race, phil keoghan, india

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Original Comments Posted (1)

Sarahm says...

Oh my goodness. I am surprised that Tina's high pitched nagging didn't shatter all the glass in India.

"Please hold while I singe my skull." I was kind of hoping she would actually do it so we wouldn't have to listen to them anymore.

I sort of love Nick & Starr, even if Starr is a little bit whiny.

Nov 3, 2008 5:55pm

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