The Amazing Race Season 37 Episode 4 Recap: There’s No Addresses in the Jungle

If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that CBS’ ‘The Amazing Race’ is not just living up to but actually crossing all bounds of its excitable reputation in season 37. After all, following dating nurses Courtney Ramsey and Jasmin Carey’s elimination in episode 3, featuring the return of Express Pass, episode 4 introduces us to the Driver’s Seat. Titled ‘There’s No Addresses in the Jungle,’ this leg honestly changes the entire game in a way no one could have ever expected since it raises some concerns and solidifies some alliances.

Leg 4 of Season 37 Takes All the Teams to Bali, Indonesia

With the result of leg 3’s end dictating the beginning of leg 4 by having the teams start in the order of their arrival, married parents of 8 sons, Lori and Scott Thompson, take the cake. However, best friends and gamers Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge are not far behind them, and neither are married parents of two Ana and Jonathan Towns. In fact, all three of them begin their journey in such close proximity that they are the first to reach GS Travels in Kyoto, Japan, from where they book the 7:15 am flight directly to wondrous Bali, Indonesia.

The truth is almost right at their heels are mother-daughter duo Melinda and Erika Papadeas, married Vegas performers Brett Hamby and Mark Romain, as well as father-son duo Jeff “Pops” Bailey and Jeff Bailey Jr. They are fortunate enough to get on the same flight, and so are married nurses Alyssa and Josiah Borden, siblings Han and Holden Nguyen, and brothers Nick and Mike Fiorito. The only team not to be able to make this flight is of friends Bernie Gutierrez and Carrigain Scadden, but it isn’t because it was full – they just couldn’t make it on time, so they take the 10:55 am flight.

While the 3+ hour delay seemed significant, it didn’t really matter much in the long run, owing to the fact all teams had to wait until sunrise in Bali to get their first actual clue. They did get it in the order of their arrival at a local temple near Bajra Sandhi Monument, but it didn’t make much of a difference since they were able to begin their actual journey in close succession. After all, the clue told them that they would be driving ATVs, utilizing a cab, and walking throughout the day to do the Roadblock and complete a Detour. It also made it clear that the new component of Driver’s Seat was right ahead.

Driver’s Seat Changes The Entire Game For a Few Teams

Since Ana and Jonathan were the first to get the clue, they are allowed to be the first team to leave on the ATV to secure their next clue, which they do without any issues. In fact, their laser focus on being the best possible team leads them to hone in on the challenge to such an extent that they are even the first to arrive at the Roadblock spot. In the Tampaksiring rice fields in Ga Bah Ayu, they read that their activity is to thresh rich, but the team with the Driver’s Seat advantage would tell them how much to tresh. It turns out that they are the ones with the advantage as the leading team, so they make the most of it.

From the choices of 15lbs, 20lbs, and 25lbs, Ana and Jonathan have to assign 5 teams the heaviest weight to tresh, followed by 3 teams in the middle and 2 teams the lowest. Their plan is to give the teams directly behind them 25 lbs so as to ensure they gave themselves enough grace, but in the end, they assign last place Bernie and Carrigan with 25, too, in an effort to secure the 15 for themselves. However, as soon as they step into the field to actually begin trying for the Roadblock, they decide the best option for them would be to use their previously won Express Pass, which makes the 15 lbs they assigned to themselves go to waste.

Simultaneously, while Brett and Mark had decided they would focus on enjoying themselves rather than worrying about their ranking, things took a turn when a simple mistake took them to last place. They told their taxi driver where they wished to go, but he mistakenly put the wrong place on his Maps and took them nearly 45 minutes away before they realized something was amiss. So, by the time they reach the rice fields, it is chaos because all teams are shocked by what Ana and Jonathan chose to do. They left the 15 lbs to Melinda and Erika, leaving Lori and Scott baffled with 25 lbs since they believed they were friends. Even Bernie and Carrigan are shocked to see the 25 lbs by their name since they had begun the day in last place.

Patience and Trust Are Tested in the Teams’ Attempts to Make it to The Pit Stop

The claws really do come out in the rice field as the teams talk about what they felt was Ana and Jonathan’s betrayal, but as time passes, each team finally focuses on the task ahead of them. It is Lori who actually smashes this Roadblock by being the first to finish treshing 25 lbs, which also raises some eyebrows since she and Scott often tend to paint themselves as the slowest team owing to their age. Mike follows with another 25 lbs, and then there’s Han with 20 lbs, Alyssa with 25 lbs, Jack with 20 lbs, and Melinda with 15 lbs. It is during this that Han reveals that her immigrant mother actually hails from a rice farming family, so she knows how much they sacrificed to give her and her brother a good life, and all they want to do now is repay them through their actions.

As for Brett and Mark, even though they were the last to arrive at the rice fields by a long time, they didn’t let it damper their mood and focused on what they had to do to finish with 20 lbs in 9th place. Carrigan was struggling with the treshing, and since she had a total of 25 lbs to do, it took her a long time to actually reach that point and finally earn the next clue. This led them to the cleanest village in Bali called Penglipuram, where they found their Detour clue. Each team either had to decorate a traditional Penjor or build a Pajegan – the former is a decorative pole of sorts, whereas the latter is a tower of fruits and sweets that is presented in temples to Gods.

Ana and Jonathan were obviously the first to arrive, and they chose the Penjor, but Lori and Scott were not far behind, and they also chose the same. Only Han and Holden, as well as Nick and Mike, chose Pajegan, but it was not easy. While the latter two teams struggle with procuring the fruits and sweets required to build their towers, the intricacies and attention to detail required for the Penjor leave the other teams stunned. In fact, it is Lori and Scott who get into a bit of a heated debate while they rush to get the job done because they do not want to be left too far behind. But, they never really had to worry because they did finish not long after Ana and Jonathan.

The Ending of Leg Four Was Chaos Owing to Nearly All Teams Finishing at Almost the Same Time

Ana and Jonathan undeniably secured first place thanks to not only the Driver’s Seat advantage but also the Express Pass, so they won another all-expense-paid 5-day trip, this time to Croatia and Montenegro. We say another because they had already won a trip to Tanzania at the end of the leg 2. However, surprisingly, even though they are the third to complete the Detour challenge, Carson and Jack arrive at the pit stop in second place – it takes Lori and Scott a bit longer to find the Pura Dalem Pelapuran, so they finish third. As for the rest of the teams, nearly all of them finish the task in quick succession, with Bernie and Carrigan being the exception.

While the friends did arrive at the village with time to possibly catch up to others, they didn’t see the signs for where they were supposed to do their chosen Penjor decorating, so they got lost. The fact Bernie didn’t listen to Carrigan even after the latter had checked the village’s map for directions didn’t help either, and the breakdown of their communication further took up time. In the end, Han and Holden are the 4th to complete the Detour, followed by Nike and Mike in 5th place, Alyssa and Josiah in 6th, Brett and Mark in 7th, Pops and Jeff in 8th, and Melinda and Erika in 9th, that’s not the order in which they come to the pit stop.

All these teams run around in circles across the village like a group of “headless chickens” for a while before Erika figures out where they need to go, so they all follow her. This way, Melinda and Erika finish 4th, followed by Alyssa and Josiah, Han and Holden, Brett and Mark, Nick and Mike, and Pops and Jeff. The last team to reach the pit stop of Pura Dalem Pelapuran is Bernie and Carrigan, so they are ultimately eliminated. Nevertheless, they walk away with their head held high, with the former even stating that while they have had their ups and downs in this journey, she wouldn’t have anyone else by her side. She is also glad this experience taught her that she needs to be more open and patient, with Carrigan adding that she learned to voice her feelings more.