Survivor teams have finished in last place in back-to-back legs. Let’s hope Amazing Race 31 episode 4 goes a lot better for Bret and Chris.
Man, the Survivor teams have been hurting hard in The Amazing Race 31. Rupert and Laura barely escaped defeat in the first leg before Rupert was felled by an elephant that wouldn’t follow his instructions. Last week, Bret and Chris were saved by the grace of a non-elimination leg but now have to overcome a Speed Bump before finishing the next leg of the race.
Team Fun started off the leg heading to Snowtown Saigon for the next clue, with Survivor teams starting out a few hours behind. Eliza and Corinne are a bit miffed that they haven’t beat a Big Brother team just yet, nor have they lost, which certainly isn’t going to be a passage that will doom their chances!
Thankfully, all teams were equalized by the fact that Snowtown Saigon opened at 6:30 a.m., meaning they all reached the first clue at roughly the same time. However, because Bret and Chris finished last on a non-elimination leg, they had to pack a bunch of snowballs into a cooler so they could get their next clue long after the other teams headed to the next clue.
From Snowtown Saigon to the Road Block was a major impasse for most players, as finding a taxi proved to be a challenge in its own right. The Afghanimals and Reilly sisters arrived at the Road Block early, which saw them navigate a motorized scooter obstacle course including speed bumps, narrow figure-eights and underneath a net to accomplish. Putting a foot down or going outside the lines would fail the test and force a restart.
Those two teams arrived and completed the Road Block before Survivor teams even arrived, but Eliza and Corinne plus Bret and Chris arrived at the Road Block in fourth and fifth place, respectively, showing just how much taxi luck is a huge factor in The Amazing Race. However, with only one player competing in the challenge and a four-hour penalty for not completing it, who plays each challenge is very important.
Eliza chose to “drive herself crazy” not knowing the challenge was based on scooters. Chris opted to go on this challenge, as well, but the otherwise fearless Eliza seemed genuinely concerned with her attempt.
On Chris’ fourth attempt, the Millennials vs. Gen X Sooner kept calm and carried onto the end of the Road Block, progressing to the next challenge in fifth place. Some teams really struggled, but even Janelle, who crashed multiple times, was able to finish in seventh place, much to the chagrin of The Amazing Race’s Korey and Survivor’s Eliza behind her.
The one solace in having a great team ahead of them quickly escaped Eliza, as her fears of letting her team down had her on the emotional edge. However, after persevering and Corinne having her back 100%, Eliza finally accomplished the task as the team headed to their next challenge in last place.
After the Road Block, teams raced to their next Detour. “Irritation” saw teams paddle down a river just two people’s size in length, with others stopping them with paddles in similarly sized fishing boats en route to collecting baskets filled with fish and bring it back. “Irrigation” saw teams build an irrigation wheel using naturally carved pieces, requiring them to tie it together and fill up a bucket of water.
Bret and Chris opted to go with “Irritation,” despite the two of them joking about surpassing the weight limit on these now 0.8-MvGX-team boats. Their size actually allowed them to stay centered in the boat, knocking their attackers away and arriving at the end to secure their five fish, make great time and race to the pit stop on foot.
A trip to the Dominican Republic came to the victors of The Amazing Race 31 episode 4, as Colin and Christie finished in first place for the first time this season. They are easily one of the strongest teams in the game, as are newcomers Victor and Nicole. However, for the first time, Survivor’s Bret and Chris finished in third. Maybe things are looking up after all!
The Afghanimals and Reilly sisters were the only teams to play the Irrigation challenge, and both proved to take the much harder task. They had an early lead heading into the Detour, yet the Afghanimals finished in sixth place and it was the Reillys and the Survivor women in a leg race running to the pit stop finish line.
Eliza and Corinne arrived last to Irritation but raced through the Detour to finish close in the chase for last place. Unfortunately, the Reillys beat them to the punch, coming in eighth place as Eliza and Corinne stumbled behind them, finishing in ninth place in an elimination leg.
Starting the season as villains, they ended with a hint of villainy, beating themselves up about losing to the Reillys, how this is the last time they’ll see any of the other teams outside of the race and cursing many other poxes upon all their houses.
Here’s how the Survivor teams fare after the fourth leg of The Amazing Race 31:
- Bret LaBelle and Chris Hammons: 3rd place
- Eliza Orlins and Corinne Kaplan: Eliminated in 9th place
- Rupert and Laura Boneham: Eliminated in 10th place
For a Survivor team to win The Amazing Race 31, it will have to come down to Bret and Chris for the rest of the season. A twisted hamstring was the only thing stopping three Survivor teams from being eliminated in the three worst positions this season. What a huge bummer.