Last week's The Amazing Race marked the return of that infamous Roadblock back in season 6, with the hundreds of hay bales and the flags rolled on, say, three percent of the flags.  While the first time around someone was stuck there for ten hours, this time around, there wasn't that much of a struggle--although that doesn't mean Gary and Matt would have a hard time this time around, especially since it's a non-elimination leg and they have a lot to do this time if they're to survive.

Here's the deal.  Flight Time and Big Easy left the pit stop first, at 2:23am.  The next team out, Meghan and Cheyne, left at 4:12am.  Gary and Matt left at 6:29am.  Four hours behind?  Daunting, I know.  But circumstances were on their side, really.  The teams are headed to Tallinn, Estonia, and they'll go there via ferry across the Baltic Sea, a trip of 236 miles and 16 hours.  But the only trip for the day is at 5:45pm, which means all five teams take the same boat ride.  More than enough time to sleep, turns out.

Upon arriving at Tallinn, teams have to head to Mustpeade, the secret lair of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, which is apparently a secret (really) society of merchants that date back 600 years.  Teams have to find a key and open the door going inside it so they can get their next clue.  Opening the door is actually annoying, since a loud alarm rings.  Meghan and Cheyne get in first, with Sam and Dan close behind.

It's a Roadblock: one racer must go to the cellar and find a candelabra with a room number tagged to it.  In that room, they find an empty scroll, although it actually contains a message which you'll only see if you put the paper against the candlelight and let the ink burn a bit.  Reminds me of invisible ink I wanted to do (but didn't) when I was a kid.  The first one out that task is Meghan and Cheyne, even if they weren't the first to find a scroll: that dubious honor goes to Flight Time, who took a while to realize how to decode the message.  He rubbed a crayon across the scroll to no avail.  Not really a fail like last time in Dubai... oh, wait, he didn't realize the message appeared already until a while.  That is a fail.

Also in Mustpeade is Gary and Matt's Speed Bump: they have to find a sauna bus and take a five-minute sauna.  Not really that hard--in fact, they seem to be enjoying it, especially Matt, who found himself beside a blonde Estonian lady.  So much for putting his game on by wearing a black headband.  They almost made up for lost time, but when Matt got to the Roadblock, it took him a while to figure out what a candelabra is.  Epic moment: him asking one of the guys there, "are you a candelabra?"  He eventually figures it out.

The secret message is actually a clue, leading them to the Pik Hermann Tower Garden.  There's another clue box there, and it's a Detour, both of which involve Estonian muddy marshes.  Choose Spike, and you get to play volleyball in the mud with a local team; get five points and you finish.  Choose Sling, and you have to throw assorted vegetables at some moose sign, and the moment the table with melons collapses, you finish.

From here on, it becomes a race between four teams.  Gary and Matt were already delayed by the Speed Bump and the Roadblock, but Matt did a crucial mistake by not burning up the entire clue, so all he knows is that they have to go to the Pik Hermann Tower.  Took them a while to realize that they're looking for the garden below the tower.  They were pretty close with catching up, since they found the clue box anyway, although I think that moment when their taxi driver called up a fellow taxi driver screwed them--that other driver has Meghan and Cheyne in it, who are pondering about why they have to play volleyball in their underwear.

They didn't have to worry, because apart from the sticky mud, it was an easy task for them.  They played lots volleyball before, after all.  Five points later, they were headed to the pit stop: the Keava Raba Overlook Tower, which is in the middle of the marshes and looks more like a water tank.  They win a sauna of their own.

The three other teams plan to play volleyball, too, but there are only two courts, so Brian and Ericka were forced to do the other task instead.  Playing volleyball was a struggle for the brothers and the Globetrotters, but they eventually rack up five points each.  Flight Time and Big Easy were the first out, but they start running in the wrong direction.  Sam and Dan figure the right way and head to the pit stop, but they shouted a hell lot that the Globetrotters heard them--and then it's a foot race!  At some point, both Dan and Big Easy fall.  Dan thinks he was pushed; Flight Time thinks he just lost his balance.  This rivalry is getting a bit annoying, really.  More so for me, Sam and Dan took second place, and Flight Time and Big Easy took third.

Brian and Ericka breezed through their task, and finished in fourth--but that's the editors' fault.  By now we know Gary and Matt are leaving after this leg, after they start talking about finish the task at all costs inside the taxi.  They took the slingshots, finished, and were kicked out at the pit stop.  It was a long time coming, really, but it's nice seeing these two bond big time during the race.  It makes their elimination a bit of a tearjerker, only countered by Matt's remark: "I don't want to see another candelabra in my lifetime."

Next week, the teams fly to Prague, where Ericka vows to "aim for the jugular" after Sam and Dan steal their taxi.  You know that's the angle I'm taking, right?





- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist