The Amazing Race: A Gnarly Leg in Bulgaria Brings the Heat — and Another Double U-Turn

Self-driving and a needle in a (literal) haystack challenge? In the same leg? Brutal.

Wednesday’s episode of The Amazing Race tested the teams’ patience like never before, delivering a gripping hour which included the season’s second double U-Turn and yet another surprising finish.

And car issues, they were aplenty! At one point, Erika and Melinda drove a few kilometers in the wrong direction, but that wasn’t even close to the biggest car snafu in Sofia, Bulgaria. Jonathan and Ana lost hours of their race after the former got their car stuck in a ditch. Mark and Brett stopped to try to help them, as did a bunch of kind locals, but even though they were out of commission for what felt like forever, the married parents’ still wound up placing third.

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As for Carson and Jack, those dudes got lost. Like, supremely lost. Other teams were halfway through the leg while the poor fellas were still aimlessly driving around the country. They kept their spirits high, though, and it paid off — mostly thanks to another double U-Turn which followed the leg’s exhausting detour. Teams had to choose between finding a bracelet in ginormous haystacks and delivering heaps of heavy wood via backpack and wheelbarrow, and both tasks turned out to be feats of strength.

While those at the front of the pack opted not to use the U-Turn, Melinda and Erika, who were feeling the pressure after taking forever at the haystacks, opted to U-Turn Nick and Mike, wrongly thinking they were the only team nipping at their heels. Nick and Mike then had no choice but to U-Turn Holden and Han because literally no one could have ever believed that Carson and Jack were that far behind.

Melinda and Erika felt bad about their decision, which caused a chain reaction for the teams at the bottom, but their decision ultimately helped Carson and Jack survive the leg. Nick and Mike spent a whopping six hours searching through the haystacks, and in that time, Carson and Jack caught up, delivered their wood stacks, and were able to finish the leg in last place. Nick and Mike never even made it to the pit stop; Phil sadly showed up at the haystacks to put them out of their misery.

OTHER RACE REFLECTIONS:

* When the season first began, we didn’t spend much time with Alyssa and Josiah, but the married nurses are stepping up to become one of the season’s biggest and best competitors. Alyssa is a joy to watch, smiles plastered all over her face, and I’m also admittedly here for Josiah’s dad jokes and mishaps. (No, my man, Sofia Bulgaria is not the name of the actress who starred in Modern Family!) The other teams better keep an eye out for these two.

* Wasn’t the 102-year-old Bulgarian grandma just lovely? I’m not sure if I’ve ever had sheep’s milk yogurt before, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it’s way more delicious than the sugary, chemical-laced dairy products we have in the States. Milking a sheep though? Hard pass. (Unless there’s a million dollars on the line, of course.)

Six teams now remain: Alyssa and Josiah, Han and Holden, Carson and Jack, Jonathan and Ana, Melinda and Erika, and Brett and Mark. With the race more than half over, who are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below!