The Amazing Race 31, Episode 11, Part 1 Recap

In the exciting finale episode of The Amazing Race season 31 on CBS (April-June 2019), teams hopped from Amsterdam in the NETHERLANDS to several places in the UNITED KINGDOM (especially London, England), and later to Detroit, Michigan in the UNITED STATES. Competition legs 11 and 12 were combined together in the 2-hour 11th episode of season 31, with leg 11/part 1 (this post) concentrating on the United Kingdom and leg 12/part 2 (next post) featuring the United States.

This Season Finale episode is suitably named “This One is for One Million Dollars” as a direct quote from contestant Christie Woods, whose fellow team member is Colin Guinn. The three other teams competing in this episode are Nicole Franzel with Victor Arroyo, Korey Kuhl with Tyler Oakley, and Jamal Zadran with Leo Temory. Sorted by chronological order, here were the challenges and happenings encountered by the four remaining teams during the competition’s 11th leg in this June 26th, 2019 episode of The Amazing Race, UNITED STATES series:

● Departures: Since teammates Christie & Colin arrived to the Bovenwijde Lake island Pit Stop first in episode 10, they were allowed to begin this leg of the race before other teams at 10:13 PM Central European Time (CET) at night. In chronological order, the following teams were able to depart after Christie & Colin: Korey & Tyler at 11:35 PM, Jamal & Leo after midnight at 1:20 AM, and Nicole & Victor at 1:55 AM.

● After flying to London, teams visited the Gatwick Aviation Museum and then found out the location for helicopter rides. Once in a helicopter, teams took a scenic journey over the prominent English Channel chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters and flew to Dover Castle.

● Roadblock: Upon arriving at Dover Castle, one member of each Amazing Race team — Christie, Korey, Leo, and Victor — deciphered an alphanumeric code by listening to a Neville Chamberlain speech and detecting the fourth, fifteenth, and thirtieth (4th, 15th, and 30th) words he spoke. The letters from these words are then decrypted into specific numbers, and these numbers correspond to three-letter groupings. Teams had to rearrange these final letters to form a sentence: “The Dunkirk evacuation has begun. We will never surrender.” This wartime message was then printed on a typewriter, and teams handed the message over to a military official outside the Dover Castle.

● Teams flew back to London via helicopter and walked (or ran) to the Masthouse Terrace Pier, located on the Isle of Dogs in the Thames river.

● Teams sailed on the Thames in a speedboat to Savoy Pier then found their way to the Piccadilly Circus, a road junction and public space in the borough/city of Westminster. A “queen” clad in gold attire gave the teams their clue to arrive at the Detour.

● Detour, choice between “Know” and “Row”: Jamal & Leo, Korey & Tyler, and Nicole & Victor chose the Know Detour. They took a taxi and, according to the taxi driver’s instructions, memorized fifteen streets and seven landmarks. They found the Master of carriage drivers along Kensington Road and had to correctly recite these locations to him. Christie & Colin chose the Row Detour, in which they rowed a double scull boat for 200 meters. They had to complete this exercise within one minute to receive a clue.

● Pit Stop: Teams visited the Camden Market in search for the Pit Stop, but they had to recreate a window display using items they bought from market stores. When their displays are determined to be accurately copied, teams were able to check in to the nearby Pit Stop. Engaged (and soon to be married) couple Nicole & Victor were eliminated from The Amazing Race competition due to arriving last at the Pit Stop.

● Interesting trivia notes: Jamal & Leo were celebrated for becoming The Amazing Race’s first team ever to achieve a final four placement and complete the penultimate race leg three times; this is their third season of competition. Both men also passed Rachel Reilly-Villegas’ record of playing the most legs (episodes) of The Amazing Race. After Brendon & Rachel and Cody & Jessica from previous seasons, Nicole & Victor became the third CBS Big Brother team to reach the season-finale episode.

  Season 31, Episode 11, Leg #11/12
  First, Second, Third, and Last Places at the Pit Stop

  1st — Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory
       1st place prize — nothing, unfortunately

  2nd — Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley

  3rd — Christie Woods and Colin Guinn

  Last (4th) — Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo
       Eliminated from the competition? Yes