What’s the No. 1 rule on The Amazing Race? You’ve gotta read the clue! Then, you should probably read it again for good measure. Because one teeny tiny missed word could upend your entire race.
Erika did read her clue, to be fair, but she didn’t read it well enough. That little piece of parchment specifically said that taxis were not allowed on their second Bulgaria leg, and the mother/daughter duo broke that rule, well, every step of the way in Wednesday’s episode. If it’s any consolation prize (probably not), Melinda and Erika came in last place anyways and this could’ve-been-major mistake wound up not affecting their placement after all. Yet, it still stands as a warning sign for all future racers: Slow down, breathe and correctly read that dang yellow piece of paper!
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The Amazing Race
So what else went down in Sofia, Bulgaria? Josiah and Alyssa continued to crush it. Having the privilege of starting the leg first, the married nurses had first dibs at snagging a brand spanking new Express Pass, and that they did. The task: Walking over hot coals, which Josiah claimed was his biggest fear. (He said he drinks lukewarm hot chocolate, because “hot” just isn’t his bag. Uh, that’s a choice!) To his credit, he kept all 10 little piggies raised to the sky as he sucked it up and got the job done despite his reservations. He faced his fear, and for that, we applaud him!
Elsewhere, Jonathan and Ana made a smart strategic decision after figuring out how to use a cipher to decode a message into English. What most teams couldn’t figure out was that the English letters would appear on the bottom of the device. After Jonathan and Ana finally realized what had to be done and received their clue, they decided to tell Josiah and Alyssa to flip the cipher over — a bit of social strategy they’re hoping could maybe pay them back down the road.


Amazing Race
Despite some additional teamwork that occurred throughout the episode (Han and Holden made a kind decision to tell last place team Melinda and Erika about the whole cipher sitch — a risky, yet honorable ploy!), no one could catch up with Brett and Mark who ended up winning the week after nailing the Bulgarian national dance.
And even though Melinda and Erika were given a key clue and used heaps of taxis that other teams did not, they still arrived in last and were eliminated from the race.
Are you sad to see the mother/daughter pair go? Let us know in the comments!
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