The Amazing Race Episode 21.11 Take Down That Million

A COSTLY TURN

Excited to finally have a lead on Josh & Brent, twins Natalie & Nadiya wanted to be careful on the drive to Chateau de Chenonceau, making sure they were headed in the correct direction. After asking a local, the twins felt fairly confident and continued to drive further, but they then decided to pull over once more to confirm their course with a different pair of locals. However, these men told them the castle was in the opposite direction and the now worried twins wondered if Josh & Brent would beat them. At Chateau de Chenonceau, goat farmers Josh & Brent stepped onto the mat in third place and the unlikely pair found yet another way to escape elimination. Thrilled at being in the final three and racing for the million dollars, Josh said, "We're certainly gaining momentum and confidence at the point where we need it most. More and more I believe we can win this Race." After coming in last place and facing elimination, Nadiya said, "We completely blew it. I'm telling you the Beekmans have tricks up their sleeves." Natalie added, "If we can take anything from this Race it's to say that we need to harness the potential we have into a more positive reaction instead of only crazy. But at the same time, we have a lot of fun with what we're doing. [Laughs] Whatever. We suck."

THE BIG APPLE

Ripping open their start clue in first place at 1:33am, Chippendales Jaymes & James discovered they had to fly 3,600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to their final destination � New York City. They had to figure out that a postcard in the clue was sending them to the Coney Island boardwalk where they would find their next clue hidden in a large sign. At the airport, the Chippendales and Trey & Lexi sat waiting to find out who the third team racing them would be. When Josh & Brent walked in, the two surprised teams hugged and congratulated the goat farmers as Jaymes warned, "Don't ever underestimate a Beekmans." Even though Josh & Brent hail from New York, Lexi commented, "I'm not too worried about them having the home field advantage." Trey predicted it would come down to a battle against the Chippendales just like the last few legs.

ON THE BOARDWALK

Landing in New York City, the three teams raced in taxis to the Coney Island boardwalk and began searching for their next clue. Running right past the clue hidden on a wall of advertisements, the Chippendales and Trey & Lexi decided to run into the park and examine the many rides and games for any signs or flags that could tip them off. When that strategy failed, they returned to the boardwalk where Josh & Brent too were staring at the ads, but no team could quite figure out what they needed. Finally, as Jaymes & James ran onto the beach, Trey & Lexi noticed the Amazing Houdini poster in bright red and yellow lettering with the words "Race to the Brooklyn Navy Yard." Seeing the dating couple walk away from the poster suspiciously, Josh & Brent immediately zeroed in on the information and ran off right behind them. As the goat farmers darted off, the Chippendales knew they missed something now too, but they stood on the boardwalk unable to process the giant Houdini poster directly in front of them. Finally, Jaymes took a closer inspection of all the signs and shouted when he realized he and James were heading to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Running to the taxi, James yelled, "Right in front of our face!"

A GREAT ESCAPE

Pulling into the Brooklyn Navy Yard in first place, dating couple Trey & Lexi ripped open their clue to find a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to perform a Harry Houdini classic. Wearing a straitjacket, they would be suspended fifteen stories above the ground upside down over a dry dock. Once the racer figured out how to escape from the jacket, they would then be surprised with a gut-wrenching bungee free fall. Even with a fear of heights and restraint, Trey chose to perform the Roadblock based on Lexi's recommendation. Running to the dock, Trey sarcastically told his girlfriend, "Thanks babe!" As he harnessed up for the terrifying suspension, Trey said, "I'm definitely gonna be conquering some demons with this one." After fastening the straightjacket tightly around him, with Brent and Jaymes looking on, Trey was attached to a rig and lifted high into the air. Dangling fifteen stories above the dry dock, Trey began squirming in his straightjacket after the horn sounded. Having seen Houdini tricks before, Trey knew he first had to get his arms over his head. Once he did that, he had his arms free and then used his mouth and hands to untie his arms from each other. Trying to keep calm, Trey than had to figure out how to loosen the straps in the back of the jacket, worried he would remove the harness holding him up. However, what fear he had didn't show as he deftly removed the jacket that fell back down to Earth. Once he had the jacket off, Trey screamed as he plummeted in a bungee free fall before bouncing back up. Once he stopped bouncing, Trey was lowered back to the dock as he said, "I'm still very scared." Ripping open their clue, Trey & Lexi discovered they had to make their way to the first pizzeria in New York. Using their driver's smart phone, the dating couple figured out they needed to go to Lombardi's Pizzeria.

TASTY DELIVERY

As Brent and Jaymes each worked their way out of straightjackets, Trey & Lexi arrived at Lombardi's Pizzeria in first place and introduced themselves to the owner, John. Opening their clue, the dating couple now had to memorize 3 orders and deliver 10 pizzas to loyal Lombardi's customers scattered around Little Italy. Once the pies were correctly delivered, John would hand teams their next clue. Standing at a chalkboard full of pizza orders and addresses, Trey & Lexi determined how they had to organize the pizzas. After dividing up who would remember what addresses, the dating couple exited the pizzeria just as Josh & Brent arrived. After delivering pizzas on Mulberry St, LaFayette St, and Kenmare St, the dating couple returned to Lombardi's Pizzeria where John handed over their clue -- a card with an emblem on it. Running outside, Trey & Lexi asked a local man who told them it was the emblem of the United Nations � their next destination.

HELLO AND GOODBYE

With the Chippendales having taxi problems and Josh & Brent incorrectly delivering pizzas, dating couple Trey & Lexi lengthened their lead as they arrived at the United Nations in first place. Once there they found another Roadblock. In it, the person who didn't perform the Houdini escape had to take on the final challenge. Each participant had to remember how they heard hello and goodbye in the nine UN member countries that served as legs during the Race. They had to match the correct translation of each word with each country's respective flag. Once they had a perfect match, they could raise the UN flag lowering their final clue. Walking over to a row of nine flagpoles each waving a different flag, Lexi said, "It's just a little overwhelming." Seeing a lot of unfamiliar words, Lexi started with the few she knew, like bonjour, French for hello. Then, as Josh walked over to his set of flags, Lexi moved to Spain and attached the words hola and adios to complete her first country. Watching his girlfriend, Trey admitted that although they took good notes, neither one took note of anything the greeters had said. By the time both Lexi and Josh had correct greetings for Spain and France, last place Chippendale James finally arrived at his flagpoles to create a three-way race for the million dollars.

SLIPPING AWAY

After maintaining a sizable lead throughout the leg, Lexi began to worry and panic that Josh and James were closing in. She later commented, "When I was looking at those words, they were all running together." With still only two countries correct, Lexi started hoisting a lot of wrong answers up her flagpoles. Her frustration with herself and the task reached its climax when a hello/goodbye combination she was hoisting up the flagpole fell down and hit her in the face. Lexi began crying, telling Trey through her tears, "This is so frustrating. It sucks because we've done so good on the Race. I just want this so bad!" After taking a moment to regain her composure, Lexi returned to her flagpoles and continued the challenge.

FINAL SHOWDOWN

As the sun set over Manhattan, it became clear the race was coming down to Josh versus James as the challenge went over the 2:30 hour mark. One by one, the goat farmer and Chippendale found the correct combinations of hello/goodbye until Josh only needed Bangladesh (shagotom/aabar dekha hobe) and James needed Turkey (merhaba/hoscakal). With fewer words left to choose from, Josh later remarked on his success, saying, "I transformed this challenge from a language problem to a math problem. I literally went flag by flag, tried every combination of that flag." Josh also cited as motivation his and Brent's first chance in the entire Race to finally win a leg or even a challenge. After hoisting up the correct hello/goodbye for Bangladesh, Josh lowered the UN flag, saying, "I love the world!" Ripping open the final clue, Josh & Brent now had to find the finish line at Gotham Hall. Watching Josh & Brent run off, Lexi began to cry again, saying, "It's so disappointing. It just sucks."

UNDERDOGS WIN

In one of the biggest upsets and surprises in The Amazing Race's history -- goat farmers Josh & Brent defied all odds and ran onto the finish line mat in first place, where Phil awarded them with the one million dollar prize. Brent told Phil, "We never ever thought we would hear you say those words." Josh added, "We were underdogs and what I hope what this proves to people...that if they just keep going, just keep working as hard as they can...at some point you will win." The couple also credited the Race with bringing them back together, literally, because Josh could now leave the city and be with Brent full-time on the farm. Running onto the mat in second place, the good sports Jaymes & James congratulated Josh & Brent on their win. On the experience, James said, "It was amazing. It was still fantastic. I'm just grateful to be able to share this with everybody." Jaymes added, "Maybe the world will have a different view of Chippendales now. I don't know if that's better or worse. [Laughs]" After arriving at Gotham Hall in third place, Lexi told Phil, "It's just been an amazing journey...absolutely priceless to spend it with Trey. Very special experience." Trey added, "Our relationship has just become stronger. This Race has definitely put us to the test on whether we're ready for that next step." When Lexi prodded Trey one last time about when that next step would be, Trey smiled, "Just a matter of time." Goat farmers Josh & Brent summed up the experience and their magical win, saying, "We hope that winning this actually proves to all the underdogs out there that it doesn't matter how bad things are going at the moment, you just can't quit. Nice guys do finish first sometimes."

2111 ROUTE MARKERS

Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one person can perform. In this Roadblock, that person had to search the subterranean farm for champignons--French mushrooms. First, they had to examine three distinct types of mushroom and then, relying on memory, they had to search the dark maze of tunnels to find ten of each variety.

Performed Roadblock: Lexi, Jaymes, Brent, Natalie

Detour: In this Detour, teams had to choose between Chow and Plow. Chow required teams to make the daily meal for a pack of hungry French hunting hounds. They had to cut, sort, and weigh various types of meat to create a well-balanced meal for the canines and serve it up in the feeding area. Plow required teams to use a traditional horse and plow and till four furrows of a field.

Plow: Trey/Lexi, Jaymes/James

Chow: Natalie/Nadiya, Josh/Brent

Speed Bump: For coming in last place in the previous leg, twins Natalie & Nadiya had to complete a Speed Bump. In it, they had to help a lady finish dressing in an 18th Century costume by working from the top and the bottom of a corset to lace it together.

Order of Finish: 1. Jaymes & James 2. Trey & Lexi 3. Josh & Brent 4. Natalie & Nadiya

2112 ROUTE MARKERS Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one person can perform. In this Roadblock, that person had to perform a Harry Houdini classic. Wearing a straightjacket, they would be suspended from fifteen stories above the ground upside down over a dry dock. Once the racer figured out how to escape from the jacket, they would then be surprised with a gut-wrenching bungee free fall.

Performed Roadblock: Trey, Brent, Jaymes

Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one person can perform. In this Roadblock, each participant had to remember how they heard hello and goodbye in the nine UN member countries that served as legs during the Race. They had to match the correct translation of each word with each country's respective flag. Once they had a perfect match, they could raise the UN flag lowering their final clue.

Performed Roadblock: Lexi, Josh, James

Order of Finish: 1. Josh & Brent 2. Jaymes & James 3. Trey & Lexi ...