After coming in first last week, DuKa leave Cathedral Andohalo for Helsinki, Finland. Not the brightest when it comes to geography, DuKa wonders, "Don't they wear wooden shoes?" Oh, sweetie, that's Holland! At the airport, teams will be given tickets to Paris, where they'll be able to make their own onward plans. But all the teams decide that leaving at 9:40 PM is too late and suss out their own trip, via Jo'Burg, Addis Ababa and Frankfurt.
With fewer teams in the race, there's plenty of time for the racers to make fools of themselves in the airport: DuKa asks for a flight to "Helinski." Karlyn dons Dave's Kentucky University hat for solidarity. Rob and Kimberly start fighting again, and Rob asks, "For the sake of our team, stop telling me what to do." And, showing a surprising amount of insight about the race, Lyn and Karlyn realize "It's going to get very cut throat." In fact, on the other end of the three-stop flight to Helsinki, Lyn and Karlyn renew their feud with the Barbies: "They come out of airports with their boobs hanging out, arms hanging out and of course they gain plenty of attention." Their arms? That's a weird thing to say, no?
Teams head straight from the airport, by taxi, to the downtown cafe Kappeli. They get a hokey Internet clue from their families and loved ones, and Lyn and Karlyn have a Sarah-level cry after seeing their kids. Racers then head straight to the train station, where they have to grab tix to a school in Tampere. All the teams end up on the same train, and Tyler spends his trip hitting on the beauty queens. What happened to the Cho love connection, girls?
You can tell that we're in Scandinavia because of the orderly queue for taxis outside the train station in Tampere. That doesn't stop Lyn and Karlyn from jumping in front of the line to gain an advantage on their former Six Pack alliance members Erwin and Godwin. When they realize they've been usurped, Godwin gets philosophical: "Being polite sucks sometimes."
Teams find this week's detour clue on the grounds of the school: Swamp This or Swamp That. One choice is sliding on cross-country skis over a one mile of muddy track or, as demonstrated by a wader-wearing Phil, navigating a muddy obstacle course. OMG, Amazing Race is so classy right now! Oh, wait, it gets better: halfway through the course DuKa gets nervous: "It's gonna look like I pooped my pants! Boo!" While they're worried about their dirty pants, Rob and Kimberly get driven to the wrong school, leaving them in last with the Cho Bros. During the obstacle course, James slaps Tyler's butt during the "carry" section. Just. Amazing.
Tyler and James get to the end of the course first, and find a clue that tells them to get to Turku, ASAP. The male models waste some time changing into new clothes and let DuKa catch up with them. When the teams get to the train station, just Tyler, James, Dustin and Kandice get onboard. Rob, who hustled with Kim only to miss the train, realizes, "That was a race breaker." He, Kim, the Chos and Lyn and Karlyn end up on a train about 45 minutes behind the leaders. After getting to Turku, teams jump into cars and drive to Lohja.
The racers drive to the Tytyrin Limestone Mine for their next clue. (If only coal-mining Dave could be here for the mine challenge!) Tyler and James make it to the clue box first, where they find their Road Block: riding a bike down a mine shaft to retrieve a clue buried in a limestone block. The Barbies and Tyler and James have no problem finding the mine shaft, and Dustin has a theory about what's going on with James and Kandice: "I wonder what they're doing down there... Probably makin' out, huh?" It really is the end of the Barbie-Cho love explosion! While love is in the air, Rob and Kimberly take a wrong turn, going from third place to last in a heartbeat as the remnants of the Six Pack beat them into the mine. "I hate being lost," Rob says. But, hey, he makes up for it, getting vicious on his bike and destroying the lead the Six Pack teams were enjoying. The three teams all leave the mine together.
After completing the Road Block, racers jet to the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, where Tyler and James are already rappelling face-first down a 236 foot-high tower. DuKa and then the three lagging teams all show up together and hustle to gain even a small lead, but it's unclear who's ahead as teams get to the tower. We're just as excited as you to see what happens... but Phil comes with another twist! The leg isn't over after Tyler and James get to the bottom of the tower... and none of the teams are eliminated. Let's keep racing!
Best Bit of American Diplomacy:
Lyn and Karlyn cutting the line for taxis in Finland: "Forget the line. Let's jump."
The Scoreboard:
Tyler and James came in "first" this week, but can't be too happy about the lack of a pit stop. DuKa is right on their tail and hoping to keep their first-place-finish streak alive. Lyn and Karlyn looked a lot stronger than we expected--don't count them out yet.
Coming Next Week:
Hey, remember how the Cho Bros don't like heights? Let's see how they do rappelling next week! Also, the Six Pack alliance comes to a tragic end as teams set their eyes on the million-dollar prize. Oh, and teams drive tanks!
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