The Amazing Race Serves Up A Nail-Biting Foot Race To The Finish — Plus, Who Won The Fast Forward?
In the immortal words of Jim Morrison: "The time to hesitate is through." But The Doors were perhaps not on Jeff and Pops' playlists as they were flying to Dubai, where just a few seconds of hesitation became a very fateful factor for the father/son duo.
The Amazing Race's tour through the United Arab Emirates' most populous city took teams through a land of deserts and cutting-edge modernism. And with the Fast Forward now officially in play, the already high stakes were raised even higher. But before we get to the episode's final few moments, a few highlights:
* Jonathan and Ana are still a little hurt by Carson and Jack's U-Turn vote. Ana thought the two teams were chummy, sharing information and helping each other along the way. Sooo, not anymore? From a strategic perspective, however, if Carson and Jack were really that confident that Jonathan and Ana were getting U-Turned, why not burn their vote on someone else in order to protect that relationship? Or maybe it's just a sad attempt at an excuse.
* How beautiful was that trek on camelback through the desert? Absolutely breathtaking. Chasing that with a skydive?! The Race isn't playin' around this week! Jack, Holden, Alyssa, Ana, Brett, Nick, Pops and Melinda are the lucky eight that get to make the jump (or "unlucky" depending on your feelings about skydiving), and Dubai looks like a dream location to take the plunge. Pops loved it so much that he wants to tackle bungee jumping next! Josiah being scared for his wife Alyssa? All sorts of adorable. And no one died! Always a plus.
* Only one team could hop into a luxury car to attempt the Fast Forward portion and that team is... Carson and Jack! The car zooms them off to the world's deepest diving pool that contains 3.7 million gallons of water — the equivalent of six Olympic-sized swimming pools! The entire pool is set up like a sunken city and they find the glowing Fast Forward plaque placed on a pool table hidden below the depths. And with that, they jump back into their ride and race off to the pitstop where they unsurprisingly place first.
But it all came down to the final task, where teams had to catch a wave on an eFoil, leaving Jeff and Pops, and Nick and Mike as the two pairs racing to avoid elimination. After completing the task, Jeff and Pops beat their opponents to the metro station, but after questioning whether they're on the right platform, the train doors close and they miss their chance to get a four-minute jump on Nick and Mike. Both pairs wind up on the same train, and when they get off at their stop, it's a foot race to the finish that leaves Jeff and Pops in last place. And due to those few seconds of hesitation, the father and son lumberjacks are sadly eliminated from the race.
Thoughts on the episode? And have you ever gone skydiving? If so, tell us all about it in the comments!