The Amazing Race: Hooping It Up

December 13, 2014 11:15 AM - Season 25, Episode 11

4 teams race in Manilla on the penultimate leg of a race around the world.

This episode featured hubris and hooping, racing and coasting, pedaling and crashes, failure to pay attention, reeds and coconuts, foot injuries and dehydration, the most uninformative options ever, smug satisfaction, the misapprehension taxi drivers will be motivatd by their passengers may win a million dollars, faking "going into labor" and other taxi obnoxiousness, a solicitous Phil ... and a twist on the mat.

posted by julen (9 comments total)

Two twists on the mat, really...four teams in the final leg, and the final leg beginning immediately. "The next leg starts now" actually surprised me more. TAR has done that before, but not on the final leg.

Will the food scientists get a Speed Bump? Usually the last team in a non-elimination leg gets one, but I don't recall Phil mentioning one on the mat, and being the last leg I wouldn't make any assumptions.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:27 PM on December 13, 2014

I would guess that there is a waypoint in the round where Phil pops up (maybe at a catchup point) and they'll have to complete some sort of task (the memory task, perhaps?) He didn't tell them there'd be an extra task, but that there was a point on the next leg where there'd be an elimination. The question is does this round count as no elimination or postponed elimination. Hard to tell.

I dunno, but I'm not complaining since the scientists are the team I most want to win.
posted by julen at 7:45 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

I hope Amy goes to a "resort and SPAAAAAAR" (as Phil pronounces it) and spends about a month being fanned gently by cabana boys.
posted by Madamina at 8:08 PM on December 13, 2014

Will the food scientists get a Speed Bump? Usually the last team in a non-elimination leg gets one, but I don't recall Phil mentioning one on the mat, and being the last leg I wouldn't make any assumptions.

In the past, they have made a distinction between non-elimination legs and legs where they get to the mat but are told to keep racing. In the latter case there are no speed bumps. See the Wikipedia page for Season 23:

An underlined leg number indicates that there was no mandatory rest period at the Pit Stop and all teams were ordered to continue racing. The first place team was still awarded a prize for that leg.

An underlined blue team's placement indicates that the team came in last on a non-elimination leg and had to perform a Speed Bump during the next leg of the race.

posted by Gary at 11:05 PM on December 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Did everybody take stupid pills?" I finally wondered aloud as each team member grabbed what they had to deliver and ran off ... without knowing the location.
posted by pmurray63 at 1:50 PM on December 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

All I can think is that the heat and humidity lowered IQ points by about 30. Lots of not paying attention and silliness there. I'm hoping they can rest on the plane because these folks are beyond tired.

Rooting for Candy Girls, hope they get a task requiring intelligence soon because physical they ain't.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:11 AM on December 15, 2014

I was confused by the first clue -- did anyone catch the wording? I guess they weren't required to go to the jeepney station -- did the clue include something like "you may pick up a jeepney at the station" (rather than "you must") to throw them off the scent? Initially I thought that it was the surfers and wrestlers who had made the mistake, but it quickly became clear that that wasn't the case.
posted by cider at 6:59 AM on December 15, 2014

Yeah, it was hard to tell if they just edited out the transfer at the station or if it was one of those "you may" vs "you must" and it turned out there were other, better ways.

I was born in Manila and have family still there, and I know that heat, like a heavy blanket. I wouldn't be surprised if it affected everyone's thought processes, especially since everyone has to be really tired at this point.
posted by PussKillian at 8:20 AM on December 15, 2014

I also want to say that if I was a cab driver and a shrieking harpy lunged past me at the dashboard, I'd elbow her in the gut. The passive-aggressive "That will overheat the engine" was good, but not as satisfying.
posted by julen at 8:45 AM on December 15, 2014