Episode 2: “I'm Filthy and I Love It!”

BJ & TYLER CLIMB TO THE TOP; LISA & JONI FALL DOWN
After a thrilling 400-foot rappel down a São Paulo building, Teams made their way into the beautiful green Brazilian countryside, where best friends BJ & Tyler and friends Eric & Jeremy once again battled for supremacy with “the hippies” coming out on top. Meanwhile, after their car broke down, married couple Fran & Barry believed they were finished, but sisters Lisa & Joni had an even greater struggle with their car to become the second Team eliminated.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 5:34 am, Eric & Jeremy opened their clue to discover they needed to travel 2.5 miles to Edificio Copan and enter through Bloco F for their next clue. After teaming up with BJ & Tyler, the two Teams arrived at the building, along with mother and daughter Wanda & Desiree and dating couple Dave & Lori only to find it didn’t open until 8 am, allowing all 10 Teams to catch up.

When the doors of Edificio Copan opened at 8 am, all 10 Teams filed through the courtyard where a clue box awaited. Opening the clue, the Teams found their first Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to climb one of three fire escapes of Edificio Copan. Once at the top, they would put on a harness and rappel down nearly 400 feet to the bottom. Teams could choose any of the three fire escapes, but the order in which they arrived at the top would determine the order in which they would descend.

NEXT STOP: BROTAS, BRAZIL
Divided almost evenly between two of fire escapes, nine people began the arduous climb up the 33 floors in hopes of being the first to rappel. However, BJ opted for the furthest fire escape and climbed up it with no competition. After passing Dave and Lake, Joseph arrived first at the top of one escape, while Jeremy passed Desiree and held off Ray to claim victory at the other escape. Meanwhile, the grueling climb resulted in Fran and Joni arriving last at their respective fire escapes, resulting in a long wait before they could rappel.

After harnessing up, Jeremy and Joseph dueled down the side of Edificio Copan as both men displayed skills and speed to quickly cruise to the bottom. With Jeremy narrowly edging out Joseph, both Teams opened their next clue that instructed them to travel to the Barra Funda Bus Station where they would grab tickets for one of three charter buses, each leaving an hour apart, taking them 150 miles to Brotas where they needed to choose a VW bug for their next clue.

DON’T LOOK DOWN
While BJ enjoyed the ride down with Lake and Ray hot on his heels, Danielle began to show signs of stress at the prospect of lowering herself down the side of the tall building, saying, “I just want to get down there. I don’t even want to look.” After Dave and Desiree each took their turn, it was time for Danielle to confront her growing fear. With tears in her eyes, Danielle told Fran, who waiting to rappel after her, “I can’t. I’ll have a heart attack. I’m really so nervous. I hate this.” A compassionate Fran hugged Danielle. “You’ll be all right,” she promised. After taking a moment, Danielle started rappelling down the building to the cheers of her partner, Dani, as well as Fran, and cruised to the bottom. After getting the clue, a relieved Dani declared, “I can conquer anything.”

With Fran and Joni finishing the rappel last, Teams began arriving at the Barra Funda Bus Station, trying to snag tickets on the earliest charter bus. In a mad dash for the ticket stand, BJ & Tyler, dating couple Joseph & Monica and Eric & Jeremy all ripped tickets for the 10:15 am bus. Losing out in the shuffle were dating couple Ray & Yolanda, who settled for a spot on the 11:15 am bus along with Wanda & Desiree and Dave & Lori. After going to the wrong bus station, married parents Lake & Michelle, previously in the lead pack, now found themselves on the 12:15 pm charter bus with Fran & Barry, Lisa & Joni and childhood friends Danielle & Dani, who took the time to flirt with Eric & Jeremy at the station before the buses took off.

TEAM WORK
After relaxing and admiring the lush, green countryside, the first bus carrying BJ & Tyler, Joseph & Monica and Eric & Jeremy pulled into the small town of Brotas, Brazil. The three Teams each chose a different colored VW bug and opened the clue on the windshield to find a Detour. In this Detour, Teams had to choose between Press It and Climb It. In Press It, Teams needed to travel to Camping Bela Vista, an old plantation, and process raw sugar cane into juice. Then, Teams had to distill fermented juice to create 500 milliliters of ethanol, an alternative fuel source. After completing the task, Teams would have to pour the newly created ethanol into their gas tanks before continuing on. While the task wasn’t demanding, completing the scientific process could take a long time. In Climb It, Teams needed to travel to Usina Jacare and hike to a nearby waterfall where they would have to perform a 90-foot rope climb up the waterfall using mechanical ascenders. The task would be extremely physical, but a Team that could master the use of the ascenders could finish fast.

With a comfortable lead on the other seven Teams, the three lead Teams opted to work together to find Usina Jacare to perform the rope climb instead of competing against one another. While Tyler and Monica lead the Teams in getting directions, Eric & Jeremy held back, saying, “It’s fun just following.” Noticing Monica run, they added, “Too bad she has a boyfriend.”

MOVING ON UP
Arriving at Usina Jacare, BJ & Tyler took the lead, as Tyler began the tough physical climb up the rope. Soon, Monica, the only woman in the pack of Teams, proved her mettle by keeping up with Tyler. After Tyler made it to the top, he cheered on teammate BJ who mastered the ascender to quickly finish the task. Opening their next clue, the best friends discovered they needed to drive 20 miles through the Brazilian countryside to Fazenda Primavera da Serra, a 19th century coffee plantation and Pit Stop. With Monica & Joseph and Eric & Jeremy climbing the waterfall in quick succession, a battle for first place heated up.

As the three lead Teams began their search for the Pit Stop, the Teams on the second bus made their Detour choice selections. Ray & Yolanda showed their muscle by climbing up the waterfall with ease. Meanwhile, Dave & Lori chose to press the sugar cane and distill the fermented juice, an experiment Dave performed in school. As the pair waited for the ethanol to distill, Dave joked, “The spirit of Mr. Wizard is with us.” After getting lost, Wanda & Desiree arrived at Camping Bela Vista to press sugar cane as well. On the distillation process, Desiree dryly noted, “This karma for all the times I passed out in chemistry class.”

WINNER’S CIRCLE
After enlisting the help of a local who offered to drive them to the Pit Stop, BJ & Tyler and Eric & Jeremy became a little concerned as they continued further into the countryside. Seeing a gas station, BJ & Tyler chose to keep following the local, while Eric & Jeremy decided to stop only to discover that the Pit Stop was one kilometer down the road. The disappointed friends remarked, “Dang, we could have been in first. The hippies beat us. If we would have followed them, we’d have been golden.” Indeed, BJ & Tyler stepped onto the mat in first place. Phil informed the happy pair that, for their efforts, they had won a trip for two from Travelocity to Tahiti.

PUSHING THROUGH THE PAIN
After Joseph & Monica arrived at the Pit Stop in third place, the Teams on the last bus began their journey towards their Detour choice, with the threat of elimination looming large. Lake & Michelle battled with Fran & Barry, the oldest Team in the Race, at the waterfall. As Michelle effortlessly glided up the rope, Fran became tangled, struggling mightily. After encouragement from Barry and taking notice of Michelle’s technique, Fran, a breast cancer survivor, triumphed by reaching the top of the waterfall. After Lake growled and muscled his way to the top, Barry also struggled somewhat, allowing Danielle to pass him before he finished the task.

Meanwhile, in last place heading to Camping Bela Vista, Lisa & Joni had a bad afternoon as Lisa had difficulties driving the manual car. As she grinded gears, Lisa complained, “Oh, my god, this is hard to drive this car. Oh, so we’re supposed to enjoy looking at the scenery? I’m fixing to pass out from the damn exhaust fumes.” Her sister Joni tried to be supportive, telling her, “Just calm down. You’re doing great.” When pressing sugar cane, Joni again tried to help, telling her sister, “Pretend you’re giving birth.” Lisa retorted, “I didn’t. I had a C-section.”

With Dave & Lori and Ray & Yolanda snagging fourth and fifth place, and Wanda & Desiree finishing sixth, the Teams from the last bus all frantically began searching for Fazenda Primavera da Serra. Lake & Michelle took an early lead by finding a local to guide them, but the local needed to stop for gas. This allowed Danielle & Dani to catch up as both Teams pulled into the long winding road at the plantation. After a footrace to the mat, Lake & Michelle took seventh place, while Danielle & Dani settled for eighth.

NEVER GIVE UP
While Fran & Barry showed their strength on the waterfall, they received a devastating blow when their car broke down. “What a way to get eliminated,” they sighed. After waiting for a replacement, the couple believed their chances of staying in the race were nonexistent. With only Lisa & Joni also trying to find the Pit Stop after their awful afternoon, each Team hoped for a miracle. That miracle came for a stunned Fran & Barry who couldn’t believe the news when Phil informed them they arrived in ninth place. A thrilled Fran said, “I’m really pumped up now.”

Stepping onto the mat in last place, Lisa & Joni became the second Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. Breaking down in tears, Lisa placed the blame fully on herself and her inability to drive the car to which Joni replied, “We did our best and that’s all we could do.” Lisa later remarked, “What I admire most in Joni is her outlook on life. She’s always got a positive outlook. I needed to hear some encouraging words and she was really, really good about doing that.” Joni added, “I feel like we’re winners. Just given the opportunity to go around the world, to experience the race with my sister, money can’t buy that. There’s no way a million dollars could ever buy that.”

DETOUR

Press It: In Brotas, Brazil, Teams needed to travel to Camping Bela Vista, an old plantation, and process raw sugar cane into juice. Then, Teams had to distill fermented juice to create 500 milliliters of ethanol, an alternative fuel source. After completing the task, Teams would have to pour the newly created ethanol into their gas tanks before continuing on. While the task wasn’t demanding, completing the scientific process could take a long time. Dave & Lori, Wanda & Desiree and Lisa & Joni took the scientific route.

Climb It: In Climb It, Teams needed to travel to Usina Jacare and hike to a nearby waterfall where they would have to perform a 90-foot rope climb up the waterfall using mechanical ascenders. The task would be extremely physical, but a Team that could master the use of the ascenders could finish fast. BJ & Tyler, Joseph & Monica, Eric & Jeremy, Ray & Yolanda, Lake & Michelle, Danielle & Dani and Fran & Barry went with the waterfall.

ROADBLOCK
In this Roadblock, one Team member had to climb up one of three fire escapes of Edificio Copan. Once at the top, they would put on a harness and rappel down nearly 400 feet to the bottom. Teams could choose any of the three fire escapes, but the order in which they arrived at the top would determine the order in which they would descend. Joseph, Jeremy, BJ, Lake, Ray, Desiree, Joni, Dave, Fran and Danielle performed the Roadblock for their Teams.

FAST FORWARD
There was no Fast Forward on this leg.

YIELD
There was no Yield on this leg.

Places visited this episode:
(started still in Sao Paulo,Brazil)
*Edificio Copan- Bloco F
*Baricunda Bus Station- Terminal Turistico
*Brotus, Brazil
*Tazenda Primavera de Sera-PIT STOP (also, a coffee plantation)

Detour locales:
*Campina Bella Vista (Press It)
*Usina oo Jacare (Climb It)

There was a sign for Usina oo Jacare that also said "Trilha Moderada Distancia 421 m".

Order of 'Fire Drill' descenders:
(Three stairways usable)
First set: Jeremy (1) Joseph (2) and B.J. (3)
Second set: Lake (2) and Ray (1)
Third set: Dave (2) and Desiree (1)
Fourth set: Danielle (1) and Joni (2)
Last: Fran (1)

So the lines were:
Stairway #1: 5 racers
Stairway #2: 4 racers
Stairway#3: 1 racer

Episode Quotes

Dave: She's my hottie-boom-bottie with the naughty pilates.
Lori: (doubled over, laughing)

Wanda: (at the Roadblock, to Desiree) We have places to go, people to see! (jumps up and down in anticipation)

Fran: I think we're better at climbing than at figuring out how to turn raw sugar cane into ethanol.

Desiree: (to Wanda and the camera, at the cane press) This is karma for all the times I passed out in chemistry class.

Joni: (at the cane press) Pretend you're givin' birth to a child.
Lisa: I didn't; I had a c-section.

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