The Amazing Race Episode 23.09 Part Like the Red Sea

ER DOC DESPERATE IN INDONESIA

In Bandung, Indonesia, ER doc Nicole begged for help at the Roadblock from Afghanimal Leo, who refused. The Afghanimals cruised to victory while the married ER doctors barely survived thanks to dating couple Jason & Amy.

A LATE START

Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 12:38am, married ER doctors Nicole & Travis opened their clue instructing them to fly more than 4,000 miles to Bandung, Indonesia. When they landed, they had to find the ram arena in the village of Cikandang. As Nicole & Travis discovered at the airport that all five teams would be on the same flight at 8:40am, cousins Leo & Jamal emerged from their room at 1:58am, one minute before their departure from the mat. By the time they reached the lobby and ran into their friends NHL ice crew members Ally & Ashley, Leo & Jamal were two minutes past their check out time. Instead of leaving immediately, the cousins decided to wait an additional five minutes and rip open the start clue with their friends. Before both teams took off, Ally said, "First and second today. Let's do it." Arriving at the airport, Leo & Jamal anxiously awaited a conversation with Nicole & Travis, the team who U-Turned them in the last leg. When the cousins and married ER doctors finally spoke at the gate before boarding the flight to Bandung, Travis began, "You guys told us you did not U-Turn Adam and Brandon." On lying and how the Afghanimals have run the Race, Travis later added, "We live our lives differently. We're not gonna change who we are. We're not going to stoop to that level." Jamal came away from the conversation convinced that Nicole & Travis saw him and Leo as a huge threat, adding that the married ER doctors would eventually break under the mounting pressures of the Race.

RAM TOUGH

Landing in Bandung, Nicole & Travis and Ally & Ashley took the early lead in taxis to the village of Cikandang, while dating couple Jason & Amy and exes Tim & Marie fell behind in the congested streets filled with cars and mopeds. Arriving at the ram arena in first place, the married ER doctors ripped open their clue instructing them to search for nearby trucks, pick up two rams, and take them to a traditional West Javanese festival. Once their rams butted heads, teams had to load them back on the truck to get their next clue. With Ally & Ashley unloading a truck of rams right next to them, Nicole & Travis each grabbed leashes of a pair of white rams decorated for the festival. Maintaining a tight hold on the willful and strong animals, the married ER doctors led the rams into the arena filled with cheering locals. Nicole & Travis joined in the clapping as the rams quickly butted heads, which resulted in no injury to the animals. After returning the rams to the truck, Nicole & Travis ripped open their clue instructing them to make their way to Rancaekek Station and travel by train back to Bandung. When they arrived, they would find their next clue on the platform.

FRONT RUNNERS

At Rancaekek Station, Ally & Ashley boarded a train to Bandung with Nicole & Travis that would depart in twelve minutes. The NHL ice crew members savored the moment, the first time they were in the lead with usual frontrunners Nicole & Travis, telling the married ER doctors, "This is so cool!" Getting in a dig at the Afghanimals, Travis replied, "We'll tell you the truth." As time ticked down to three minutes before departure, cousins Leo & Jamal made their grand entrance onto the train, announcing, "We made it!" The Afghanimals relished seeing the disappointed looks on the faces of Nicole & Travis who admitted they would've preferred to see any other team. Leo later joked, "They can't get rid of us." With only one minute until departure, Jamal, in an attempt to get the train to move, shouted to the conductor that his wife was pregnant prompting a disapproving Travis to mutter, "No need to lie." Ally & Ashley nervously anticipated the doors closing, desperately wanting to keep their lead. When the train finally did pull away, the NHL ice crew members cheered with the Afghanimals about leaving Jason & Amy and Tim & Marie behind. Missing the train by a mere two minutes, Jason & Amy now faced being an hour behind the lead teams with exes Tim & Marie, whose taxi breakdown caused them to arrive at the station in last place. On the dire situation for two incredibly strong teams, Tim commented, "It's head to head right now. I'm pretty confident we can beat them." An equally confident Jason said, "I'm not afraid of being us versus them." However, Amy appeared far less certain, in near tears as she admitted to Jason how frustrated she was at the prospect of being eliminated.

BIRDS OR ELEPHANTS

Arriving at the Bandung Train Station, Leo & Jamal, Ally & Ashley, and Nicole & Travis ran off the train and across the platform to a cluebox where they found a Detour having to choose between For The Elephants and For The Birds. For The Elephants required teams to visit Simpang Market and pick up eight watermelons, two bunches of bananas, a dozen sweet potatoes, and five stalks of sugar cane before heading to the Kebun Binatang Bandung Zoo. Once there, after transporting the food on a hand trolley, they had to feed the elephants to receive their next clue. For The Birds required teams to pick up two peach-faced lovebirds from a market and deliver them to a bird song Grand Prix at Khitan Sumber Sari Bird Arena. Once there, they had to enter the competition arena and encourage their birds to sing. While Leo & Jamal showed no hesitation to feed elephants and Nicole & Travis easily chose to enter a bird song Grand Prix, Ally & Ashley took a moment on the train platform before making a decision. Ashley worried that the large fruits and vegetables would be heavy to transport, but Ally felt like that would be the easier task than delivering song birds. Ashley still believed that the bird task was easier, but she gave into Ally, especially when their taxi driver told them the zoo was closer. However, the NHL ice crew members failed to properly read their clue, instructing them to pick up the tasty treats for the elephants at the market first. Running into the zoo, Ally & Ashley spent time looking for the marked trolleys and then even more time searching for the fruit. Finally, standing in front of the marked gate they had their epiphany that the market wasn't near the zoo. As Ally & Ashley jumped into a taxi, cousins Leo & Jamal began collecting the needed fruits and vegetables at Simpang Market and loading them into the cab that waited along the busy street. Running across the street, dodging cars and mopeds with each delivery, the cousins had no problems fitting the sweet potatoes, watermelons, and bananas in the trunk of the taxi. However, the tall sugar cane stalks proved more of a challenge, but the cousins refused to make a second trip to the market, so they improvised by sticking the cane out of the backseat window next to Leo for the ride to the zoo.

SING, SING, SING

After picking up a pair of peach-faced lovebirds in a small store nestled within the massive Pasar Burung Sukahaji Bird Market, married ER doctors Nicole & Travis traveled by taxi to the open-air Khitan Sumber Sari Bird Arena, where hundreds of locals gathered with their prize birds entered in the Grand Prix. Walking into the arena, the married ER doctors lifted the cages above their heads and hung them in the spacious performing area alongside other competitors. Using handheld devices that mimicked bird singing, Nicole & Travis encouraged their peach-faced lovebirds to begin trilling a happy tune. Feeding off the energy of the cheering crowd, the married ER doctors kept using the device, along with verbal praise, until finally their bird starting singing as it flew around its cage. Before opening their clue sending them to Saung Angklung Udjo, Nicole & Travis got swept up in the moment, jumping up and down, screaming for joy with the helpful and generous audience.

FEEDING TIME

Arriving at the zoo, Leo & Jamal began unloading the fruits and vegetables from their taxi onto a marked hand trolley. Because the loose items could easily roll off the trolley during transport, the cousins wisely made use of the scarves they got at the sand dunes in Abu Dhabi by wrapping the fruits snugly inside. Now, when Leo pulled the trolley over rough, uneven segments of concrete, the cargo remained completely stable. Winding through the lush vegetation that surrounded the walkways, Leo & Jamal spotted monkeys, peacocks, alligators, and even a lion (where Leo gave a shout out to his namesake) before they finally found the secluded wooded area where the hungry elephant wasted no time grabbing the sugar cane from Jamal's arms with its powerful trunk. After the friendly pachyderm also enjoyed a fresh watermelon presented by the Afghanimals, the cousins received their clue from the zookeeper.

HOW TO LOSE A LEAD

As Jason & Amy and Tim & Marie arrived by train in Bandung and chose to feed elephants, Ally & Ashley corrected their mistake by collecting fruits and vegetables at the market. However, the NHL ice crew members initially let their taxi go, but once they sized up the length of the sugar cane stalks they realized they needed another one. After wasting more time flagging a new cab down, Ally & Ashley filled up the trunk of the taxi, but the driver wouldn't allow them to place the large sugar cane stalks on the roof or stick them out of the backseat window. At this point they had two options: make a second trip to the market or switch tasks. Ashley worried that the return trip to the market would take an hour and voted to switch, but Ally remained firm in sticking with the elephants because they had no idea how difficult the birds would be. Conceding to Ally, Ashley removed the sugar cane from the taxi, but lectured her partner, saying, "We are so screwed right now!" Riding in the taxi to the zoo, Ashley brought up that she wanted to do the bird task from the beginning, causing Ally to snipe, "Don't play that with me." This escalated the war of words between the usually congenial friends until a hurt Ally said, "We decided together and now you're yelling at me." Just as they reached the zoo, Ashley admitted she always let Ally make the choices, even if she disagreed. Ally replied that Ashley should speak up more often, but yelling afterwards wasn't a solution. After calling a truce, the NHL ice crew members had their hands full trying to keep the fruit on their hand trolley, but luckily they saw the Afghanimals leaving the zoo. The cousins offered their allies one of their scarves, the key to them delivering the fruit so quickly. When Jason & Amy and Tim & Marie reached the market, they believed they were battling each other for last place. The dating couple had an advantage over the exes by arriving first and then using a blanket to haul the fruit to their taxi, extending their lead. However, both teams performed the most crucial step by making room for sugar cane stalks on the roof or in the backseat, assuring they wouldn't make a second trip. Even though Jason & Amy and Tim & Marie chased after runaway watermelons and sweet potatoes as they pulled the hand trolley, they still had an advantage over Ally & Ashley, who they saw leaving the zoo for their return trip to the market.

ALL ABOUT OCTAVES

Arriving at Saung Angklung Udjo in first place, married ER doctors Nicole & Travis ripped open their clue to find a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to properly assemble an Indonesian instrument made with tubes of bamboo called an angklung. Once they assemble the stand correctly, put all eight notes in order, and can play a complete octave, a young student would hand them their next clue. While music aficionado Travis felt he would have been perfectly suited for the task, Nicole immediately blurted out she would build the angklung. Entering an open- air theater where children danced and played angklungs, Nicole walked over to a large pile of bamboo tubes and started sorting through them to find the pieces she needed. With no option but to passively watch from the sidelines, Travis began to worry that his wife didn't understand the concept of an octave. Eight notes, a piece of information she would need to construct the instrument. After making a grand entrance into the theater by dancing to the music with Jamal (who said "The beat inside us can't stop"), Leo sat in the middle of a circle of children and began building his stand while Nicole looked at bamboo tubes in confusion, unsure of what note she needed. Once Leo completed his stand, he made progress on collecting the bamboo tubes for the instrument as Nicole regressed; using only four tubes for her angklung until she finally realized it required eight. Soon, a proud Leo held up his completed angklung for the children to see, spinning around to show everyone until Jamal shouted at him to take his instrument to the judging area. Nicole beat Leo to the punch running into the judging area first, but when the child tested her angklung, he couldn't play a full, complete octave. When Leo ran into the judging area, he knew with great confidence he had the right eight notes. And indeed he did, but he didn't build his stand correctly, so he followed Nicole back out to the theater to make adjustments.

"DESTROY YOURS"

With Amy and Tim now beginning their angklung, the pressure only mounted for Nicole. After getting her instrument rejected by the student judges a second time (with even more wrong notes), she watched as Leo ran to the judging area and this time received his clue. Seeing Leo celebrate in the distance, Jamal shouted from the theater seats, "Destroy yours! The instrument. Don't let no one see!" Hearing this, Nicole marched into the judging area and begged Leo to give her help to finish her angklung. When Leo turned around and guarded his instrument from her prying eyes, Nicole even tried to look over his shoulder. In contrast to these actions, Nicole later said she wanted to set an example for her children and run the race in an honest way. Calling out Nicole's hypocrisy trying to steal his answer, Leo later said, "There's no way we're going to help them. Such liars." Once in the taxi heading to the Pit Stop at Bosscha Observatory, a stunned Leo told Jamal about Nicole's ambush, "I can't believe she did that after she U-Turned us too." Nicole's desperation only deepened when she watched music lover Tim (a former high school choir member) complete his angklung as her plea for help from him went unanswered. Growing increasingly frustrated watching his wife not understand the concept of an octave, Travis could only watch from the seats as he said, "Just listen! It's not the length. It's the sound." As Nicole's ineptitude continued, Travis muttered, "I'm speechless right now. I am absolutely embarrassed." With her angklung fully ripped apart again, a frazzled Nicole said, "I've been here so long. This doesn't make any sense." Running up a hill along a winding pathway, cousins Leo & Jamal arrived at Bosscha Observatory and stepped on the mat in first place to win $7,500 each. Mere moments later, exes Tim & Marie ran up to claim second place. On what happened at the Roadblock, the cousins said, "Travis and Nicole are going down. Karma is a bitch."

A FRIEND IN NEED

With Ally & Ashley nearing Saung Angklung Udjo after finally feeding their elephant, Amy presented her finished angklung in the judging area to earn her clue. When she reunited with Jason in the theater seats, he urged Amy to help the still struggling Nicole instead of abandoning their friend in need. Running down to the stage, Amy verbally explained to Nicole how she should build the angklung and even laid the bamboo pipes in the correct order. Amy told Jason to keep watch for Ally & Ashley's arrival, the point when she would stop offering help and get back to racing. Seeing Ashley walk down to begin the Roadblock, Jason sounded the alarm and shouted for Amy to hurry. Not wanting her friend (and answer key) to take off, Nicole begged Amy to stay a little longer and help put pieces of the instrument together. After a few more minutes, the dating couple jumped into a taxi as Jason complained, "You took forever to help her." Amy reminded Jason it was his idea to help Nicole, adding, "One leg at a time, baby." Amy's crash tutorial on the angklung paid off handsomely for Nicole, who carried the completed instrument into the judging area. When Travis saw his wife return with a clue, Travis exclaimed, "Finally. Way too long." In the taxi, Travis continued his criticism, saying, "I'm embarrassed. Forty minutes to figure out what an octave is. If we perform like this, time to hang out with the babies." Arriving on the mat in fourth place, the married ER doctors saw their friends and allies Jason & Amy standing there in third place. Giving Amy a huge hug, Nicole said, "I love you forever." Afterwards, Travis explained that when he can't perform the Roadblocks for Nicole she needed to "look in the mirror and you got to fix it." ELIMINATED In last place, NHL ice crew members Ally & Ashley stepped onto the mat, where Phil informed them they had been eliminated from the Race. Getting teary, Ally said, "We've been to seven countries. It's a dream come true for us. I'm sad. I don't want to wake up from this dream but we kind of set the bar pretty high for ice crews all over the NHL. We had a blast. We wanted to make top 5 and have fun. And we accomplished it."

2309 ROUTE MARKERS

Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can perform. In this Roadblock, that person had to properly assemble an Indonesian instrument made with tubes of bamboo called an angklung. Once they assemble the stand correctly, put all eight notes in order, and can play a complete octave, a young student would hand them their next clue.

Performed Roadblock: Nicole, Leo, Amy, Tim, AshleyDetour: A Detour is a choice between two tasks. In this Detour, teams had to choose between For The Elephants and For The Birds. For The Elephants required teams to visit Simpang Market and pick up eight watermelons, two bunches of bananas, a dozen sweet potatoes, and five stalks of sugar cane before heading to the Kebun Binatang Bandung Zoo. Once there, after transporting the food on a hand trolley, they had to feed the elephants to receive their next clue. For The Birds required teams to pick up two peach-faced lovebirds from a market and deliver them to a bird song Grand Prix at Khitan Sumber Sari Bird Arena. Once there, they had to enter the competition arena and encourage their birds to sing.

For the Elephants: Leo/Jamal, Ally/Ashley, Tim/Marie, Jason/Amy For the Birds: Nicole/Travis

Order of Finish: 1. Leo & Jamal 2. Tim & Marie 3. Jason & Amy 4. Nicole & Travis 5. Ally & Ashley ...