The Amazing Race - Season 22 Episode 4 - "I Love Monkeys!" - Recap

By Melissa Wang ·

In Episode 3 of the Amazing Race, Dave and Connor checked in in first place at the New Zealand pitstop and then were told to keep racing because the leg wasn’t over. When Chuck and Wynona finish in last place, Phil tells them that it’s a non-elimination leg and that they’re still racing! The show goes on. Here’s my recap of Episode 4.

The teams fly from Christchurch, New Zealand, to Bali, Indonesia, and the teams reserve seats on three separate flights.
  • Flight 1 at 8:30 a.m.: Max and Katie, Dave and Connor, Pam and Winnie, Caroline and Jennifer
  • Flight 2 at 10:30 a.m.: Jessica and John, Joey and Meghan
  • Flight 3 at 12:05 p.m.: Bates and Anthony, Chuck and Wynona, Mona and Beth
That 3.5 hour time differential is going to hurt those last three teams. Upon arrival, they go to a place called Monkey Forest where they will receive their clue from a monkey! How cute.

Detour: Sandy Bottom or Fruity Top

Sandy Bottom: Teams have to collect sand from the bottom of a river and carry the load 200 yards away in a bucket on their heads. They have to carry enough sand to fill a separate bucket up to a line.

Fruity Top: Teams have to create a religious offering made out of many pieces of fruit. A woman then balances the giant basket of fruit on her head. They walk in a parade and make an offering.

Here’s another classic example of brains – or, in this case, attention to detail – versus brawn in opposite Detour tasks. The fruit task is very detail-oriented, while the sand task requires muscle.

Apparently Dave and Connor are the first duo in The Amazing Race history to open the first three detour clue envelopes in first place. All teams do Fruity Top except for Mona and Beth. Pam and Winnie finish the detour in first, followed by Dave and Connor and Max and Katie.

Jessica and John go to a house and begin doing a task, later realizing that they’re at the wrong place and that they played with a random local’s flower petals for who knows how long. WHOOPS! When they’re done assembling their fruit fixture, they’re told it’s incorrect so they have to start over. After a while, they decide to switch detours instead of using the Express Pass. They’re going to base their progress off of how far into the task Mona and Beth are.

The thing is, Mona and Beth finish the detour before Jessica and John even get there. Chuck and Wynona finish their detour task as well. Mona and Beth say that this leg has been going on for about four days now. Damn.

When Jessica and John pull in to the second detour task, Bates and Anthony receive their clue. Yikes, Jessica and John are done for, and I wonder if they even knew that Mona and Beth were in front of – instead of behind – them. These frontrunners are now bringing up the rear, and they probably don’t even know it.

Roadblock

They go to Uluwatu Surf Beach to find their next clue, where there’s a roadblock. One team member must sort through a large assortment of surfboards to find one with an image that all of the Racers have seen before on the Race. Then, he or she has to take it, collect their team member, and run up and down a bunch of stairs to get to Phil at the pitstop. It’s a memory challenge! I think there was another memory challenge involving surfboards a couple of seasons ago.

Pitstop

Winnie and Connor are neck and neck at the Roadblock, while Max and Caroline are not far behind either. Though Winnie finds the board far before Connor, she’s lost (classic) and can’t find Phil. Connor cheats off of Winnie’s board and sneaks in front to secure 1st place. They win $5,000 each! It’s their second first place finish in a row despite one-half of their team being crippled. Pam and Winnie come in second, with Max and Katie just a minute behind.

Caroline grabs the incorrect board and has to go back and find the right one. She gets it wrong on the second time as well. She guesses on the third time and somehow gets it correct. Joey and Meghan check in in fifth place.

Mona and Beth get it incorrectly their first time but then find the right board, good for sixth place. Bates and Anthony sneak in soon after, in front of Chuck who runs around the whole cliff trying to find Phil. Chuck gets it wrong with Board #1 as John is shown flipping through the lines of surfboards, but gets it… correct on the second try.

After an hour and 15 minutes of fruitless searching, John finally chooses the right board even though he could have used the Express Pass either during the first Detour task, during the second Detour task, or as he was doing the Roadblock when he saw all of those people in front of him. Sometimes you just have to admit you’re wrong! It’s the principle of not giving up, Jessica reasoned, though she completely thinks John made the wrong decision by not using the Express Pass. Phil thinks they’re the first team to ever be eliminated while still holding an Express Pass. Jessica thinks this is going to be hard to get over, but John has no regrets. “I don’t need a million dollars,” John justifies. They went from first to third to second to last place and elimination. “Oy vey,” Phil concludes. And we’re out!

Here’s the final order of finish:
  1. Dave and Connor
  2. Pam and Winnie
  3. Max and Katie
  4. Caroline and Jennifer
  5. Joey and Meghan
  6. Mona and Beth
  7. Bates and Anthony
  8. Chuck and Wynona
  9. Jessica and John (ELIMINATED)
Next week, there’s a double U-Turn! WOO. What did you all think of John’s insistence on NOT using the Express Pass? What about Dave and Connor’s dominance? Is Connor the single best Racer this season – or in recent memory? Let me know in comments!

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