Quick Take: The Amazing Race, "Super Shady (Copenhagen, Denmark)"
“I don’t know if you want to eat my sweaty-ass butter.” - Cindy
Review: The Amazing Race, "Super Shady (Copenhagen, Denmark)"
(S1908) I have always been a big fan of The Amazing Race. In a sea of competition reality shows, it’s one of the few that you wouldn’t be ashamed to admit you watch. There is a reason The Amazing Race has won an astonishing twelve Emmys. I challenge you not to laugh with delight when watching contestants barrel down a Swedish mountain while avoiding death by cheese wheel.
But so far this season I’ve been a little bored. I’ve had trouble connecting with most of the teams and a lot of the road blocks/detours haven’t been as exciting. What used to be must-see-TV was slowly turning into DVR filler.
Who knew a couple of fluffy bunnies could turn things around.
After a physically-demanding leg in Malawi, teams were off to Copenhagen. Laurence and Zac arrived first, but the church housing their next clue was closed, leaving time for the rest of the teams to catch up. All except for Marcus and Amani, who neglected to look for an earlier flight and were still in Malawi when other teams had already touched down in Denmark. Yet again, the former NFL player and his wife would have to claw their way back into the race.
Once the church opened, teams had to climb the tower and look for their next clue. A large banner told teams they needed to head to a castle called Frederiksborg Slot. Jeremy and Sandy missed the clue and ended up at the wrong castle. The had to go back to the church to figure out the correct destination, and much to their surprise (and horror), Marcus and Amani were there as well.
Over at the road block one person from each team had to learn a Renaissance dance while dressed in full costume (tights for the boys, big gowns for the girls). Zac struggled to remember the steps while Ernie, Andy, and Cathi seemed like naturals and were all able to finish rather quickly.
Back at the church, Jeremy and Sandy and Marcus and Amani had finally figured out their next destination, but thanks to their terrible navigation skills, Jeremy and Sandy were headed in the opposite direction. It looked like Marcus and Amani were back in the race.
At the detour, teams were given the option to churn butter (blah) or lead bunnies through a steeplechase course (Awww!). Both Ernie and Cindy and Cathi and Bill chose the butter. Ernie and Cindy finished first, but Cindy’s competitive win-or-die attitude reared its ugly head and she decided to U-turn Bill and Cathi. So while I was bummed that the grandparents would be delayed with an extra task, I was also excited to see someone race the bunnies.
Bill and Cathi were obviously upset about being u-turned and had to make the tough decision about u-turning somebody else (they chose Laurence and Zac). Then Bill and Cathi made the best of their predicament and really had fun with the bunny task, even naming the little fluffers. This had to be the most adorable challenge ever on The Amazing Race and I immediately looked up videos of bunny steeplechases on YouTube. Apparently bunny show jumping is quite popular in Denmark, and after seeing it on The Amazing Race last night, let me just say, I am not surprised. If you didn’t laugh/awww in front of your TV after seeing this, you’re a little bit dead inside.
So Bill and Cathi were able to breeze through the bunny course and still finish the leg in second place. They were followed by Olympic snowboarders Andy and Tommy.
Back at the detour Laurence and Zac finished the butter challenge only to discover they then had to complete the bunny race. They were equally frustrated and I thought Laurence might take it out on one of the bunnies, but he kept his cool and actually seemed to enjoy the task. Marcus and Amani also chose the bunnies and Marcus was by far the most enthusiastic. He shouted encouragment from the sidelines, gave his bunny a pep talk, and even told the little guy that he loved him. Seeing a big ex-NFL player get so excited about hopping bunnies made me love The Amazing Race all over again.
With Marcus and Amani finishing in fourth, it looked like Jeremy and Sandy would be eliminated. But not so fast! Even though Laurence and Zac were ahead of the other team, it was their turn to get completely lost, thus sealing their fate and giving Jeremy and Sandy another chance at winning the $1 million.
You can catch up on the latest episode of The Amazing Race HERE or if you just want to watch some adorable rabbits get their hop on, you can do so HERE.
I was a huge fan for years but eventually burned out on the format. Unlike Survivor, which still maintains its spark for me for some reason, TAR seems a bit tired these days.
I live in Denmark and "bunny jumping" is in no way "quite popular in DK" I am sorry to report (we're a small country and your article was the 1st time I even heard about this). Maybe it should be? But they are too delicious to have hopping around - just hop into the oven and thats fine.
Hey Stephen! You would know better than I. I suppose there's just a small group of passionate bunny jumping enthusiasts out there (based on the abundance of videos). Still makes for a fun sight!