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Previously on The Amazing Race, Tara and Joey grew angry with Brooke and Scott for breaking their word to Liz and Michael. Then, London and Logan got mad at Brooke and Scott due to Brooke’s trying to pull London off a ladder, a real thing that happened. Finally, Tara and Joey picked a fight with Brooke and Scott at the Pit Stop, as Tara assailed Brooke for a lie of omission.

As for Team Fun and The Boys, these two duos laughed and frolicked and played.

The start of tonight’s episode reveals that Brooke asked for and received an apology from London during the evening stop. I guess she found it too exhausting to feud with literally half of her remaining opponents. This segment reinforces the notion that an alliance of three teams exists, with The Boys joining Team LoLo and Team More Evil than the Designated Hitter Rule. Scott immediately ruins this notion by saying how he’ll break the alliance whenever it suits them. Yes, Scott. Everyone has figured that out by now.

Team Fun is the first team to depart this leg. They leave at 7:59 a.m. Their destination is Ninh Binh, which Phil informs us is “famous for its rugged topography.” The gap from first to last is seemingly insignificant. Tara and Joey start at 8:47 a.m. By this point, however, we already know that they’re in some trouble.

The teams will travel by bus to their destination. The first bus leaves at 9 a.m. Team Fun and The Boys are the only ones who are on it. The next one leaves at 9:30 a.m. In a moment of unforced drama, Tara and Joey get out of their cabs only to realize that Brooke and Scott are right in front of them. The teams race one another to the bus station counter, while the camera pans to a clock that says 9:25 a.m. Brooke’s bus agent is better, so they exit first. When they board the bus, they then try to bribe the driver to leave. He seems to lean toward accepting the money, but Brooke recants when she sees Joey approaching.

So, all teams are within a half hour of one another, meaning Tara and Joey have already made up the last place gap. They still have to do a Speed Bump at some point in this leg, though.

This episode features one of those shameless Travelocity gnome marketing tie-ins. The gnome is the constant companion of the players through the leg. As always, this is reason enough for us to suggest that you watch Amelie, the movie from which Travelocity stole the idea.

A humorous edit shows The Boys and Team Fun having an easy time reaching the temple grounds. They have an uneventful bus ride and then a lovely bike trip through gorgeous landscape of Vietnam. Meanwhile, London points out that their bus is stuck in traffic. She isn’t worried, though. She’s confident the first bus went through this, too. Suffice to say that the gap between the first two teams and the last three is significant.

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