The Amazing Race, Season 23, Episode 8: “One Hot Camel”
Aired Sundays at 8pm (ET) on CBS
Abu Dhabi’s Formula 1 race track is the sleek beginning of this hit-and-miss 8th leg. Afghanimals leave first, and must use the satchel of coins they picked up earlier to unlock a car and get going. Not much of a code, though, since most teams came prepared with their numbers already—except the Ice Girls, who have a typical ditz moment holding up the coins to the lock like a sensor. Also typical, Tim asks his ex to promise not to yell at him if he drives, to which she yells at him to promise not to drive slow. Oy, just screw already.
Mr. and Mrs. Dr. have an Express Pass, and say that they will definitely be using it with the Double U-Turn coming up. They also might use the U-Turn itself on the Afghanimals because their lying hurts their precious moral sensibilities. The Afghanimals worry. They know the Dr.’s might be gunning for them, and they can’t U-Turn anyone themselves, having already used it up last time. Will their Middle Eastern dominance catch up to them? Or is the Baseball Wives leaving a foregone conclusion, considering their upcoming Speed Bump? They say they have to turn from Bunnies to Ninjas if they’re going to survive. It’s not convincing, and somewhat offensive to bunnies.
Everyone goes on dune buggies. It’s mostly a time-waster, but the Bunnies do get stuck in the sand, and end up in last place for the clue. Afghanimals are first and find the National Museum they are directed to, but it’s confusing for them, and worse than the “labyrnith” they were in in a previous leg. They get bypassed, physically by the Dr.’s, mentally by everyone else.
Detour: Wedding Guest, or Beauty Contest. Basically, preparing a meal vs. finding the technically pleasing camel and dressing it up. Dr.’s are first, and use Express Pass to keep it that way, plus they do in fact U-Turn the Afghanimals. Somewhere Brandon and Adam are smiling unseen through their face bushes.
Leo has experience at a restaurant, so they choose Wedding Guest. Jason and Amy choose Beauty Contest, and Amy really gets into picking a camel, bringing her back to her glory days when she was Miss Rhode Island USA (?!). It’s Tim and Marie who get it right faster though, after a little camel-kick in the shin. They go off in search of their next clue, but painfully can’t see what’s right in front of them, giving their new nemeses Jason and Amy time to surpass them.
Dr.’s arrive at Roadblock: Rapid transit. One person must collect three flags hanging over a class four white water course. It looks legitimately dangerous. Nicole is too short at first, but eventually jumps high for her flags, and the team makes their way to the Pit Stop. They are first long before everyone else, and win cars, which are probably not as nice as the ones they already have at home.
Tim and Marie stop running around like chickens, and finally do find the next clue. They make it to the U-Turn, and decide to use it on the Bunnies. With the Speed Bump in their future, the episode loses it’s excitement in one fell swoop—the Bunnies are doomed. If only Jason and Amy U-Turned the Exes when they had the chance, we could have had a real race on our hands. But I suppose as Tim and Marie say, the Bunnies have had enough chances.
However, they make a valiant effort on their way out. Even as the Afghanimals lie to the them that the cooking challenge is easy, they actually do do a good job. And when the U-Turn comes and they are forced go back, they make quick work of the Beauty Contest as well, heading neck-and-neck with the Ice Girls. Still, the Speed Bump ends it all. An intense wave pool proves challenging to cross, and by the time they go rafting, everyone is already done. Say goodnight ninja bunnies, if only you were ninja kitties, you could have had another life in you.