The Amazing Race – Season 36, Episode 9

By: Sammi Turano

This week’s episode of CBS’s “The Amazing Race” takes us to the Dominican Republic. One by one, the teams leave for the leg, each reflecting on their journeys thus far.

Roadblock! The teams must choose one member to navigate over a series of waterfalls and memorize ten Taino Petroglyph symbols, arranging them in chronological order.

Juan, Cesar, Rod, Melissa and Amber all do the roadblock for their respective teams.  They all struggle with getting the memory challenge done. Juan and Rod team up to work together and while they realize the rocks are two sided, still struggle.

Cesar decides to navigate the waterfalls a second time, which allows him to complete the challenge correctly and get the next clue. He takes time to help Melissa before leaving. She almost has it, but still has one mistake.

Juan finally completes the roadblock, while the other teams continue to struggle.

The clue from the roadblock leads them to Manuel’s Finca de Cacao. Once there, they harvest cacao pods, remove the seeds and put them on a tarp in order to get the next clue.

Rod and Amber finally finish, with Melissa still struggling. She finally finishes it, but knows she is very far behind.

Cesar and Ricky finish first and head to Estadio Bartolo Colon, where they must do another roadblock. This time, one team member must do three baseball drills: catching and throwing a ground ball from second to first base, catching a fly ball in center field and hitting a bottle cap 25 feet using a broomstick.  Ricky completes it and they are done before any of the other teams arrive.

One by one, they other teams complete the cacao task. Rod and Leticia head to the baseball roadblock, followed by Shane and Juan, with Rod and Shane doing it for their teams.

Amber and Vinny are hot on their heels, with Vinny doing the task. He struggles, making Amber wish she did it since she grew up playing softball.

Yvonne and Melissa remain behind as the other teams complete the roadblock. They finally finish and head to the roadblock, which Yvonne completes.

As the teams finish the roadblock, they must head to Paseo de Dona Blanca, where they find out that they must then go to Anfiteatro de Puerto Plata for the pit stop.

Amber and Vinny’s taxi gets lost, as does Rod and Leticia’s. Juan and Shane are able to pull ahead of the latter team, giving them a slight lead.

Ricky and Cesar are the first team to check in and win a trip to Seoul, South Korea.

Juan and Shane and Rod and Leticia manage to catch up to each other and are neck and neck. The latter are the second team to check in, while the former are in third place.

Amber and Vinny’s taxi driver finally stops to ask for directions, while Yvonne and Melissa rush to get to the pit stop.

Amber and Vinny get to the pit stop first, making them the fourth team to check in, while Yvonne and Melissa are eliminated.

After the show ended, Melissa and Yvonne welcomed a baby and moved in together.