The Amazing Race - Season 22 Episode 5 - "Your Tan Is Totally Cool" - Recap

In Episode 5 of The Amazing Race Season 21, the eight remaining teams fly from Bali, Indonesia to Hanoi, Vietnam. There, they must find Rap Cong Nhan Theater inside Gallery 42. Last week, Jessica and John finished in last place -- and were eliminated -- when they didn't use their Express Pass. Such a promising team, but such a boneheaded move. Read my recap of Episode 5 here.

At the start of this leg, Dave and Connor leave the starting mat first at 5:01 a.m., but they make the tough decision to self-eliminate because Dave needs his Achilles tendon surgically repaired. Once they reach Hanoi, they will quit. Oh no! Ahem, Unfinished Business Part II?

Pam and Winnie depart in second place at 5:21 a.m., while Max and Katie follow just four minutes after.

Max and Katie have Jessica and John, Joey and Meghan, and Mona and Beth on their list. I guess they'll be even happier when they find out that Jessica and John were eliminated in the last leg.

Flight 1 holds Dave and Connor, Pam and Winnie, and Max and Katie. The other teams -- Caroline and Jennifer, Joey and Meghan, Mona and Beth, Bates and Anthony, Chuck and Wynona -- are all on Flight 2 together.

They arrive in Vietnam at 6 p.m., which is when the gallery closes, so all the teams wait for it to open the next morning. Equalizer! The Flight 2 teams all walk in on Pam and Winnie and Max and Katie snoring.

Max cracks up when he finds out that Jessica and John were eliminated while holding the Express Pass, but Joey and Meghan sulk in the corner and silently get angry that Max trash-talked their former alliance members.

The Pit Stop is as the National Museum of Vietnamese History. Dave and Connor come to the mat and eliminate themselves. Dave doesn't want to let his son down but knows that he physically cannot continue. They both start crying. "I'd rather run four legs with you than win a million dollars with anyone else," Connor sobs. Aww. They were such an impressive team, and Connor is like a young Clark Kent.

Meanwhile, the other teams gang up on Joey and Meghan and Mona and Beth. I guess they just need someone team up against, even though those two teams aren't even that strong, really. They make a pact to U-Turn one of those two teams if the chance comes up.

Roadblock

A team member watches the performance of a traditional Vietnamese song while a political quote is displayed at the end of the performance. Then, they have to find that political quote written on a gallery's worth of pictures. "Vietnam Communist Party is glorious," the musicians sing. "Socialism is growing more beautiful with time." The Racers cheerily clap to the beat. The clue states "Glory to Our Next Generation," and after the performance concludes, they all have five minutes to find the clue.

Jennifer, Chuck, Meghan, Katie, Bates, and Mona all get their first choices wrong and don't have time to find another one within the five-minute time limit, so they wait for the second round. Pam claims to have a good visual memory of things, and it shows off for this task since she gets it right on her first try! Chuck, Jennifer, and Katie then get it in Round 2. Meghan finds the paper as well but since Beth hasn't, Meghan feels like she needs to stay there and help Beth. Meghan, Beth, and Bates get it on their third try.

The teams then proceed to Cong Vien Thong Nhat, where they take part in a Vietnamese bamboo dance.

Detour

Make Your Move: They have to set up a human Chinese Chess game and place each human piece in the right position on a chess board. Oh my gosh, it's like Wizards' Chess, Asian style. LOVE IT.

Make Your Meal: They make Vietnam's national dish, Pho, by picking up two empty baskets and two baskets of chickens and purchase certain amounts of ingredients off of a shopping list. Then, they prepare two bowls of Pho.

Pam and Winnie, Bates and Anthony, Joey and Meghan, Caroline and Jennifer, and Mona and Beth do the chess match, while Max and Katie and Chuck and Wynona try for the meal.

I love these two challenges! Pam and Winnie have both played Chinese Chess before, so they feel like they have it in the bag. They proceed to the Temple of Literature, where there are humans dressed as chess pieces roaming around the square. Initially, Pam and Winnie get two of the piece colors incorrectly; half of the people have blue lettering and half of them have red lettering. C'mon you two, attention to detail!

They realize their mistake soon after and finish the detour. Max and Katie luck out and find an English-and Vietnamese-speaking woman on the street, who helps acquire all of their items. Meanwhile, Chuck and Wynona are struggling. First, they neglect to carry the basket of chickens with them, and second, they can't find the market.

Hmm, the chess task seems way simpler than the market one. Bates and Anthony finish the detour in second, followed by Joey and Meghan. Max and Katie and Mona and Beth finish soon after, while Caroline and Jennifer somehow are extremely confused by the task.

Double the U-Turn, Double the Drama

They go to the B-52 Memorial, the sight of a B-52 shot down during the Vietnam War, and the double U-Turn is at the memorial. Pam and Winnie "keep to their word" and U-Turn Joey and Meghan. Seriously? They just made an enemy. They should have just gone ahead without U-Turning anyone, and they still would have been in first place. At least Joey and Meghan have time to catch up when they have to do their second detour task.

Joey and Meghan are pissed and decide to U-Turn Chuck and Wynona. That was a good decision especially considering how much Chuck and Wynona were struggling with their Detour task.

Joey and Meghan luck out so hard and approach the vendor who previously helped another team, so when they give her the shopping list, she compiles all of the ingredients for them. When they head over to the weight counter, they see Chuck and Wynona there. And… that's where I take my first comment back. Apparently the vendor prepared the incorrect amount of ingredients for them, and there was one thing that wasn't even on the list; they have to go back and get the right weights and ingredients. Finally, though, all of their items are correct, and their pho is approved with aplomb.

"It's funny the way he's carrying the chickens," one vendor snarks as Joey carries the pole on the back of his neck instead of on one shoulder.

Chuck and Wynona finally get their detour clue in last place, and Chuck thanks the clue-giver with a hearty "mucho gracias." He then stuffs his face with a handful of self-made pho.

Pit Stop

Pam and Winnie check in first at the National Museum of Vietnamese History. They win a trip for two to Whistler, Canada. The following teams are Max and Katie and Mona and Beth who check in within a minute of each other, and then Bates and Anthony and Caroline and Jennifer. Joey and Meghan check in while Chuck and Wynona move their pieces at the chess match.

Chuck and Wynona are the last team to finish, but Phil tells them that it's a non-elimination leg! They're still in the race because Dave and Connor had eliminated themselves earlier that day. That's the second time that they've finished in last place but have not been eliminated. Lucky them.

Here's the final order of finish:

1. Pam and Winnie
2. Max and Katie
3. Mona and Beth
4. Bates and Anthony
5. Caroline and Jennifer
6. Joey and Meghan
7. Chuck and Wynona (NOT eliminated)

In the next leg, the teams go to the Kalahari Desert in Botswana! SO COOL. So, what did you think of Dave and Connor's self-elimination? Do you think we'll ever see them again on a later season of the race? How lucky are Chuck and Wynona for not getting axed again? How excited are you to see Botswana next week?! Let me know in comments!