The Amazing Race - Season 22 Episode 3 - "Like James Bond Again" - Recap

In episode three of The Amazing Race 22, the nine teams depart from Bora Bora and fly to Christchurch, New Zealand. It's Phil's hometown! My recap is below.

Bates and Anthony take off first, followed soon after by Dave and Connor and Jessica and John.

Jessica and John hand over the Express Pass to Dave and Connor because Dave has to go to the hospital. They find out that Dave's Achilles tendon is torn after he hurt it sprinting to the pit stop in the previous leg, so he gets a boot and crutches. Having been on crutches for several stints in my life, most recently in January, I can attest to the fact that it SUCKS. Meanwhile, Bates and Anthony notice the exchange and suspect that there might be an alliance there.

The connecting flight is at Tahiti, but since nothing's open, they sleep at the airport. Everyone's on the plane together to Auckland, en route to Christchurch, but somehow Pam and Winnie are the only ones to get on the 5 p.m. flight! Dave and Connor, Joey and Meghan, Jessica and John, Mona and Beth, and Max and Katie get on the 5:30 p.m. flight.   The hockey brothers and blondes are on flight three at 6 p.m., while Chuck and Wynona drop the ball on the flight rush and somehow are relegated to the 7:30 flight.

Mona and Beth, Jessica and John, and Joey and Meghan are in an alliance. Good, because I like all three of those teams!

At the Rakaia River Gorge, the teams must take numbers to determine the order of their jet boats. Dave and Connor are #1, while Pam and Winnie are hopelessly lost while navigating AGAIN and get there in 5th place. They have to camp out in tents at night until the Jet Boat tours open at 6 a.m.!

Detour: Rev it Up or Reel it In?

The teams must drive themselves to the detour locations on all-terrain vehicles. Awwwwww yeah.

Rev It Up: They must each drive a stick-shift vehicle and navigate through a series of traffic cones in a combined time of 83 seconds or under. That looks like so much fun! It also speaks to the importance of learning how to drive stick-shift for  the purpose of this show.

Reel It In: They must use a reel to catch one fish at least 12 inches long.

Dave and Connor want to do Rev it Up, but Dave realizes that he can't use the clutch with his injured foot. After five minutes of nonaction at the pond, Dave and Connor use the Express Pass to bypass the fishing task. Ah, they should've used the Express Pass on something more physical that Dave wouldn't be able to do; catching fish can't be that hard, can it?

Jessica and John are the first to finish (on their second try), followed by Joey and Meghan (on their second) and Mona and Beth (on their first). The (unnamed) alliance is killin' it! Max is killin' his team though, and Katie is harrassing him for his poor driving skills. Finally though, Bates and Anthony, Max and Katie (on their sixth), Pam and Winnie (on their fifth), and Caroline and Jennifer (on their fourth) all go through.

Chuck and Wynona are the only ones to complete the fishing task.

Afterwards, teams must drive to Mount Hutt Station to find their next clue.

Roadblock

A team member must participate in something called a "Shemozzle Race," an obstacle course that reminds me of that ice cream sundae obstacle course in Bachelor Pad 2 -- but I surely wouldn't want to eat these ingredients.

They have to climb through a box of molasses, crawl through a tube of chicken feathers, climb up and down a giant haystack structure, and slide down a slip-and-slide into a pond of manure. Meanwhile, they collect chicken eggs along the way and must gather 12 unbroken ones in total. They have to go through the course three times in order to finish. Even though the accumulation of substances is disgusting, it really does look fun in a way.

Connor tears through it, while Jessica and John finish the roadblock in 2nd, followed by Pam and Winnie and Caroline and Jennifer.

Pitstop

The teams must them drive themselves to Terrace Downs, the location of the pit stop.

Dave and Connor get there first and win a trip to Bangkok. But the race is still going! They're given their next clue. TO BE CONTINUED…

Dave and Connor aren't long for this race. The Amaznig Race is just one of those things that you just can't do on crutches. I bet they'll be out in the next leg or two, but hopefully they'll be brought back in a future season once Dave's foot heals, maybe for an Unfinished Business Part 2. How long do you all think Dave and Connor will last in the race? Should Dave have saved his Express Pass?