"The Amazing Race 14" episode four began with race leaders Mel & Mike directed to fly from Romania to Krasnoyarsk, Russia... deep in the heart of Siberia. In the clipped interview that followed, second place team Amanda & Kris cited their youth and athleticism in promoting their chances on the race.
On the taxi ride to the airport, brothers Mark & Michael attempted to make reservations for a flight only for their taxi driver to instead make a phone connection with the taxi being used by Jaime & Cara. In an impromptu practical joke, Cara posed as a travel agent and claimed to the brothers that only business class tickets were available.
Ultimately, all of the teams booked flights through one of four separate connections to Moscow, intending to then board the same plane to Krasnoyarsk. Flight attendants Christie & Jodi though searched a net cafes listings to find the flight with the longest available stopover time in Moscow.
RUSSIA / DETOUR
Christie & Jodi's insight about the need for extra connection time proved valid as transfer delays in Moscow allowed only the flight attendants, Mark & Michael and sisters Kisha & Jen to make their Krasnoyarsk connection. Mark & Michael would arrive first at the next destination, a hydroelectric dam depicted on a ruble note. However, a delayed dam opening till the next day would equalize the top three teams.
Mark & Michael would set the pace though to their next destination, the Church of St. Innokenty, to trigger the Detour choice. The options were Stack (pile firewood in a traditional manner) or Construct (build, assemble & install wood shutters). Citing Mark's experience in such things, the brothers chose to stack but lost their lead attempting to find the Detour site.
The brothers were further delayed when their stack of wood became unstable and collapsed, knocking down the neighboring pre-stacked wood in the process. Mark & Michael switched tasks but then got further bogged down looking for the house in which to install the shutters for the alternate Detour.
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With the brothers out of the way, Kisha & Jen would instead take the lead after completing the stack Detour, followed soon afterward by Christie & Jodi. Meanwhile, daters Amanda & Kris would lead the second flight of racers to the Detour site. The trailing teams all chose the stack Detour only for the woodpiles of the Jaime/Cara, Amanda/Kris and Mel/Mike teams to collapse in their respective attempt.
The father/son and dating duos would switch tasks to the Construct Detour while Jaime & Cara made another attempt at stacking. Without any delays, mother & son Margie & Luke would complete the stacking next in line to jump into third place with siblings Tammy & Victor next in line. Jaime & Cara's decision to stick with their original Detour would be rewarded as they completed the Detour fifth.
Meanwhile, Mark & Michael still hadn't found the house in which to install their shutters for the construct Detour and decided to just build the shutters first. The Mel/Mike and Amanda/Kris teams joined them, all overlooking the "repairs needed" sign in front of the house in question. After an elongated delay, the three teams finally found the sign. Mel/Mike, Mark/Michael and Amanda/Kris finally completed the Detour in turn.
BLIND U-TURN - ROADBLOCK
The teams would encounter a new Blind U-Turn feature in which a trailing team could be forced to do a second Detour task without the instigators of the U-Turn being revealed. The top teams all declined to utilize the U-turn until mother/son Margie & Luke reached the site. At Luke's instigation, the team U-turned Amanda & Kris to delay a threatening team and help alliance partners Jaime & Cara in the process.
Kisha & Jen would reach the Roadblock site Bobrovy Log amusement park first. Kisha would ride a bobsled to quick read the scrambled letters in the name of a Russian playwright, only to miss one of the letters. Christie correctly read all the letters but couldn't initially unscramble them to uncover the last name of the playwright Chekhov. Instead, Kisha used her knowledge of Russian word patterns to sound out the word regaining the lead for the sisters.
Christie would subsequently unscramble Chehkov's name to depart in second place. Arriving in third place after a fortuitous taxi ride, Victor instantly recognized Chekhov's name to solve the scramble. Luke of the mother/son team though had no such literary background, failing in multiple frustrating attempts. He eventually sounded out the name though to solve the puzzle, keeping him and Margie in fourth place.
Jaime and Cara stayed in the fifth spot as Jaime backed into the correct unscrambled name without even realizing it. Michael missed reading one of the letters on the Roadblock, allowing Mel of the father/son team to solve the Roadblock in sixth place. Mark & Michael dropped to seventh, ahead of only the daters who found themselves delayed by the U-turn. Kris did the Roadblock for his team.
PIT STOP
Leaders Kisha & Jen were directed to taxi to the Krasnoyarsk Theater for the Pit Stop. The sisters entered by the wrong entrance though, allowing Christie & Jodi to instead pit in first place for a stunning leg win. The flight attendants claimed motorbikes as prizes for their effort.
The remainder of the race field pitted without any changes in the race order. Kisha & Jen arrived 2nd, Tammy & Victor 3rd while Margie & Luke were again signed in fourth place. Jaime & Cara pitted in fifth place with Mel & Mike in sixth.
Brothers Mark & Michael were again delayed as they ran out of money to pay their taxi driver. After finally making a deal to compensate the man, the brothers pitted in seventh place to avoid elimination. Daters Amanda & Kris stayed unified throughout but could not avoid receiving their one way tickets out of "The Amazing Race."
____________________________Labels: recaps, tar 14.4, the amazing race, the amazing race 14
