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The Unexpected Twist is the ninth episode of The Amazing Race 1.

Story[]

At 4:50 pm, Kevin & Drew receive their next clue for this leg of the race. Teams are informed they must fly to Bangkok, Thailand and find the Temple of Dawn. In order to get to Delhi, teams must take the slower, more direct bus ride or the faster, indirect train. In addition, the Fast Forward is bundled with the first clue of the leg.

Kevin & Drew meet with Nancy at the exit of Laxmi Niwas Palace, informing her of the next Fast Forward task, as Nancy & Emily have not used their Fast Forward yet. She hugs the fraternity brothers as they continue.

Nancy and Emily, they're like family at this point in time and we've been with them since the very beginning.Kevin
We realize our only shot at even qualifying for the next round is to go for the Fast Forward.Nancy

In their cab, Kevin & Drew decide to take the faster train ride. Drew begins to complain about how sick he is of the dirt and sand in Bikaner.

At 5:08 pm, Frank & Margarita receive their clue. Inside the palace, Frank & Margarita get advice from a local, who informs them that both the bus and train would take about ten hours to reach Delhi.

We act as teammates wonderfully. You know, I let him charge of certain things, I do other things. Like, we have ultimate respect for each other.Margarita

Frank & Margarita decide to take the train, as it will leave at 6:00 pm, whereas the bus will leave at 10:00 pm.

At 5:10 pm, Rob & Brennan get their clue. The lawyers decide to head to the train station, as the train to New Delhi will be leaving at 5:55 pm. They hope that they will be able to make the train on time, as they have had bad luck the last few legs.

Kevin & Drew arrive at the Bikaner railway station and ask a local to ask the ticket master when the next train to New Delhi leaves. Outside of the railway station, Rob & Brennan and Frank & Margarita arrive. Frank gets into an argument with his cabbie, as the cabbie wants to charge ₹1,000 for a fifteen-minute ride, while Frank insists on ₹200. The cabbie accepts. Kevin & Drew find out that the train actually goes to New Delhi, not Delhi, and decide to take the bus. Frank & Margarita and Rob & Brennan decide to purchase tickets for the train.

Kevin & Drew arrive at the bus terminal and find a bus to Delhi leaving at 6:30 pm.

At 8:35 pm, Joe & Bill receive their clue. They immediately leave the palace. Team Guido decides to travel to Delhi via bus.

At 8:37 pm, Nancy & Emily receive their clue. They hop into a cab.

This is a do-or-die. We either find the Fast Forward, or we're out of the game. It's the only way we can stay in the game.Nancy
We are going to use our Fast Forward at this time. Everybody else is significantly far ahead of us. Emily and Nancy have not used their Fast Forward, and since we're the two teams in fourth and fifth position, if they use theirs, and we don't use ours, we could very easily be eliminated.Joe

Joe & Bill and Nancy & Emily depart Bikaner on a 9:05 bus.

I'm hoping that maybe they will think they can catch up with everybody else and they won't go for the Fast Forward, because if both of us go for it, it's going to be ugly, because they play dirty and I'm about to start playing dirty, because I don't want to go yet.Emily

Emily notes that the bus is a lot better than they train they had taken to Bikaner on the last leg.

At 5:14 am, Kevin & Drew arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Kevin was just totally amazing. When it comes to booking a flight, he is an absolute genius.Drew

At 5:20 am, Frank & Margarita and Rob & Brennan arrive in New Delhi. Both teams take a taxi to the airport. Nancy & Emily and Joe & Bill arrive in Delhi around the same time, and they begin to look for a taxi.

At the airport, Kevin & Drew are the first to fly out.

I believe we're the first ones to get a flight out.Drew

Within forty minutes, the remaining four teams arrive at the airport. Kevin & Drew's flight leaves for Bangkok.

At 9:00, Team Guido are on a flight to Thailand.

By 10:35, Frank & Margarita have leave for Thailand.

At 2:00 pm, Nancy & Emily and Rob & Brennan have gotten a flight to Bangkok.

Kevin & Drew land in Bangkok and make their way to the Temple of Dawn, where they find that it is closed for the night.

It closed at 6, had our flight left on time, I think we might have made it, and then we would have had a 12 to 15 hour lead on everybody.Drew

Kevin & Drew find a hotel that they can stay at until 7:00 the next morning.

Joe & Bill arrive at 8:15 pm. Frank & Margarita arrive at 11:55 pm. Nancy & Emily and Rob & Brennan are the last to arrive, at 1:54 am. Frank & Margarita decide to find a hotel to stay for the night. Rob & Brennan decide to camp out at the Temple of Dawn.

Meanwhile, Joe & Bill and Nancy & Emily head for the Temple of the Reclining Buddha to complete the Fast Forward.

Joe & Bill arrive first and ask the guards at the temple to stay within the temple grounds for the night, which they oblige.

Nancy & Emily arrive, finding that Joe & Bill have already arrived. They discuss whether or not they should stay the night and attempt the Fast Forward or leave and head for the Temple of Dawn instead. They opt to stay and try to perform the Fast Forward.

Kevin & Drew head out in the morning to the Temple of Dawn. They hope that no one else is there. However, Frank & Margarita and Rob & Brennan are there waiting for the gates to open. All three teams find their next clue, revealing that it is a Detour. The goal for both sides is to make it to the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. For Public teams must take a slower bus, but the bus terminal is easy to find. For Private, teams must find a private car parked in the neighborhood, with only a license plate number to find it. If they find it, they will take a free ride.

Kevin & Drew decide on Private and look for their car in the neighborhood. Rob & Brennan decide on Public, and head for the bus terminal. Frank & Margarita also decide on Private and look for their car.

Frank & Margarita find their car quickly, and they enter their car, now on their way to Kanchanaburi. Rob & Brennan have just left the bus terminal. Kevin & Drew are still looking for their car.

Meanwhile, at the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, both Joe & Bill and Nancy & Emily are waiting to start the Fast Forward.

Mentally, they're real sharp, they're real quick, but I don't feel particularly threatened by them as a team.Joe

For the Fast Forward, teams must take a bowl of coins and place them into 108 urns for good luck. The catch is some bowls have more or less than 108 coins. Only if the bowl has exactly 108 coins, they will win the Fast Forward.

Joe & Bill and Nancy & Emily begin the Fast Forward. Both teams are quick to find bowls that have too few or too many coins. After several failed attempts by both teams, Joe & Bill win the Fast Forward and mother and daughter congratulate Team Guido on their win. In return, Team Guido informs them that the fastest way to the Temple of Dawn is via boat. They open their clue, where they are informed to head to the Pit Stop at the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi. Nancy & Emily find the docks, and they travel by boat to Temple of Dawn.

Hopefully, we'll have a chance to catch up, that's our goal. We've come this far, why not keep going?Emily

Host Phil Keoghan reveals that Kevin & Drew have been searching for their car for two hours. Nancy & Emily arrive at the Temple of Dawn, finding their next clue. Mother and daughter decide on Private. They begin looking for their car.

Kevin & Drew decide to switch to Public, and head to the bus terminal. At the terminal, they find Joe & Bill, who are looking for a bus to Krabi. Team Guido reveals that they won the Fast Forward, which upsets Kevin. Joe & Bill find a 6:00 pm bus to Krabi, as it is too expensive for a cab.

Meanwhile, Nancy & Emily are still searching for their car. After struggling to find the car, Nancy attempts to convince Emily to take a cab to the Tiger Temple. Emily decides to take a cab, and both are willing to take the penalty for skipping the Detour.

Frank & Margarita are the first to find the Tiger Temple, and they find their clue easily. They find that the next task is a Roadblock. For the Roadblock, one team member must retrieve their next clue in a clay jar. The catch is, the jar is propped in the middle of a pit of tigers. The team member that performs this task must keep calm and collected once a tiger approaches him.

Frank decides to perform the Roadblock. He crosses the tiger pit calmly and bravely, getting the next clue. One of the tigers swats Franks on his way out of the pit. Opening the clue, he and Margarita need to make their way to the Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi.

Rob & Brennan arrive at the temple. Rob decides to perform the Roadblock. He manages to get the clue quickly from the pit. After opening the clue, they head to Krabi.

Frank initially wants to take a train to Krabi, thinking that it is too far for a cab. Margarita and their cab driver convince Frank to take a taxi, as it will be quicker. Rob & Brennan decide to hire a driver to take them to Krabi.

Kevin & Drew arrive at the Tiger Temple. Drew decides to perform the Roadblock. While in the pit, one of the tigers nuzzles Drew. He gets the clue and exits the pit. The fraternity brothers head to Krabi.

Nancy & Emily arrive at the Tiger Temple. Emily decides to perform the task.

Meanwhile, Team Guido are on their bus heading to Krabi.

Emily is amazed by the tigers in the pit. Nancy thinks that she should be doing the task instead of Emily. Emily, a little nervous, finds the next clue and leaves the tiger pit. They head toward Krabi via cab.

We might be in last place. It's about a 7, 8-hour drive down there and who knows where the other teams are. This could be it, we might be eliminated.Brennan

Margarita is confident that she and Frank are in the front of the pack because they took the private car. Kevin & Drew think that they are currently in fourth. Joe & Bill begin their bus ride to Krabi from Bangkok, thinking that they are currently in first place.

On this trip, we have regained a friendship. We've grown together. We have a whole lot of respect for each other and love for each other.Frank

Rob & Brennan arrive at the Tiger Cave Temple, learning that they are in first place.

Frank & Margarita arrive at the temple, officially placing second. Margarita remarks that the Fast Forward users have not arrived yet.

Kevin & Drew arrive, officially placing third.

Nancy & Emily arrive at the Tiger Cave Temple in fourth.

The following morning, Joe & Bill arrive in Krabi and start walking to the temple.

At the temple, Nancy & Emily admit to the other teams that they skipped the Detour, not wanting to hide anything from them.

Joe & Bill arrive at the temple, noticing a lot of shoes at the entrance.

Joe: Billy noticed there were a lot of shoes there, but it still didn't dawn on me that everybody else beat us there. It wasn't until we were just about to get off the podium that I saw Nancy and Emily walking in, and I honest to God thought they were right behind us.
Bill: And then we're invited to come around the table to see Phil.

Joe & Bill, Nancy & Emily, and Phil gather around a nearby table. Phil informs Joe & Bill that they are the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop.

I remember saying, oh, my God, Bill, we're being eliminated. It was one of the worst experiences that I ever had in my life.Joe

Phil informs Joe & Bill that Nancy & Emily purposefully skipped the Detour, incurring a 24-hour penalty. As Joe & Bill checked in during their penalty time, they were officially in fourth place, while Nancy & Emily were eliminated. Joe & Bill hug Nancy & Emily for their unfortunate penalty.

Nancy: When we deliberately broke that rule, it was not to cheat to get ahead of the other team.
Emily: Yeah, it wasn't.
Nancy: It was simply to get out of that situation and get it over with. I agreed to throw in the towel prematurely, Emily did not want to and I will always feel bad about encouraging her to do that.

Emily begins to cry, claiming that she is a baby. Team Guido says otherwise.

I don't think anyone took us seriously from day one, so we did a lot better than we thought we would, so we're proud of ourselves. It's been a really great opportunity for me and my mom. We haven't been really always been so close, but I think it's opened a whole new door in our relationship.Emily
At this moment in time, even though we have just been eliminated, I feel like the luckiest mother in the world.Nancy

Route Markers[]

The order of departure from the Laxmi Niwas Palace are as follows:

From Bikaner, teams must go back to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and book a flight to Bangkok, Thailand. Teams may opt to ride a train or a bus. The train is quicker speed-wise, but it takes longer because it travels an indirect route, while the bus is relatively slower, but it directly goes to Delhi. Once in Thailand, teams must find the Temple of Dawn where their next clue awaits.

One team to travel to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha and play a traditional Buddhist game that used the 108 urns alongside the giant reclining Buddha. They had to choose a bowl of coins and drop exactly one coin in every urn. If the bowl they chose had too little or too many, they had to choose another bowl to play again. The first team to find the bowl with exactly 108 coins would win the Fast Forward. Joe & Bill won the Fast Forward.

Both tasks would require teams to travel to the Tiger Temple Buddhist monastery in Kanchanaburi. The teams' dilemma is picking the better means of transportation:

Choice A: Public
Teams had to go to a local bus station and ride a public bus to Kanchanaburi leaving every 15 minutes, paying with their own money. The bus station is easy to find, but the bus is slow going.

Kevin & Drew and Rob & Brennan chose this task.


Choice B: Private
Teams had to find a specified private vehicle using only a license plate number and a crude map of the area. If they found the vehicle, the team would receive a free ride to Kanchanaburi. Searching for the car is tedious work, but once found, they can ride it for free and it is relatively faster.

Only Frank & Margarita chose this task.

After giving up on attempting the Private Detour option, Nancy & Emily deliberately skip the Detour, incurring them a 24-hour penalty.

"The person who performs this task should be a 'cat' lover."

One team member had to dress like a Buddhist monk and walk through a pit of tigers to retrieve the clue, remaining calm the entire time.

The Roadblock performers per team are underlined:

Teams must head to to their next Pit Stop, Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi.

Leaderboard[]

Legend:
     First Place •      Eliminated     Last placer on a Non-Elimination Leg or continue racing on a No-Rest Leg     Season winner •      Season 2nd place •      Season 3rd place • Used the Fast Forward


Rob & Brennan
 1st place 
Rob & Brennan
Best Friends/Lawyers
Frank & Margarita
 2nd place 
Frank & Margarita
Separated Couple
Kevin & Drew
 3rd place 
Kevin & Drew
Fraternity Brothers
Joe & Bill
 4th place 
Joe & Bill
Life Partners
Nancy & Emily
 5th place 
Nancy & Emily
Mother/Daughter

Trivia[]

  • This leg marks the first time a team that finishes the Fast Forward does not come in first place.
    • Conversely, this marks the first time a team makes it to the Pit Stop last despite winning the Fast Forward.
  • Nancy & Emily's outright skipping of the Detour incurred them the longest penalty given in the history of the race: 24 hours.
    • They would be followed by Maria & Tiffany in The Amazing Race 15, who also received the same penalty. The penalty for skipping a Detour would later be changed to 6 hours prior to The Amazing Race 17.
    • This is also the first time a team is eliminated due to a time penalty.
  • This leg marks the first time that The Amazing Race visits the country of Thailand.
  • With Nancy & Emily's elimination, Margarita Mesa is the last female still racing.

References[]

The Amazing Race 1 Episodes

"The Race Begins" · "Divide and Conquer" · "Home for Some" · "Colossal Showdown" · "Desert Storm" · "Whatever It Takes to Win" · "Triumph and Loss" · "Competition to the Fullest" · "The Unexpected Twist" · "To the Physical and Mental Limit" · "Fight to the Last Minute" · "Race to the Finish (Part 1)" · "Race to the Finish (Part 2)"

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