The Amazing Race Season 37 Episode 7 Recap: Be One with the Hay

With the elimination of father-son duo lumberjacks Jeff “Pops” Bailey and Jeff Bailey Jr. at the end of leg six of CBS’ ‘The Amazing Race’ season 37, only half of the original 14 teams remain. Therefore, episode 7, aptly titled ‘Be One with the Hay,’ starts right from where the previous one left off, making it clear that everyone desperately needs luck and time to always be on their side. After all, one simple misstep or mistake could not only cost them a possible lead before others but also result in elimination, considering there are not many people to hide behind anymore.

All Leads Fade Away as the Teams Leave Dubai for Bulgaria

For the first time in this franchise’s history, teams get an opportunity to travel to Bulgaria, where they are introduced to the local culture and essence through different sets of challenges. It is actually right at the pit stop of leg six – Museum of the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates – that the players still in the running for the $250,000 grand prize receive their first clue for leg seven. This leads them straight to the international airport without wasting time, where they book direct flight tickets to Sofia, Bulgaria, just for all seven teams to end up on the same plane.

In other words, although best friends Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge depart first, thanks to a Fast Forward helping them secure the corresponding position earlier, it cancels out. They are soon followed by siblings Han and Holden Nguyen, married nurse anesthetists Alyssa and Josiah Borden, as well as married Vegas performers Brett Hamby and Mark Romain. Then come couple Ana and Johnathan Towns, mother-daughter duo Melinda and Erika Papadeas, and brothers Nick and Mike Fiorito, yet since they all get the same flight, they start leg seven together.

The Aspect of Self-Driving and Map Reading Changes Everything

While all teams had been taking local taxis up until this point to help them navigate, this cushion is taken away from them in Bulgaria in exchange for manual cars and literal paper maps. Their first clue tells them to drive down to Negushevo, where they will find another clue box with the next steps specified, driving all teams to rush out of the hospital in their respective cars. Carson and Jack are the first ones out, while Brett and Mark and Han and Holden struggle to operate their gear shifts. However, the former soon gets lost in the mess, with several wrong turns.

Therefore, Ana and Jonathan are the first to reach the route stop, almost immediately followed by Alyssa and Josiah, just to learn that they will have to finish a small task to get their next clue. They have to put/empty two crates of apples in a wooden wheelbarrow and carry one to a nearby traditional Kukeri ceremony before placing them as offerings and getting approval from a local. They are then directed toward the Osoitsa Village Library, where they have to find the subsequent clue card all on their own, which will lead them to the Detour stop and explain the rules.

While Brett and Mark, Han and Holden, as well as Melinda and Erika, also have no issues arriving at this point, things are drastically different for both Nick and Mike and Carson and Jack. While the former team takes a wrong turn and has to follow a much longer route to get to Negushevo, the latter has trouble reading the map and keeps getting lost – at one point, they are three hours behind. As for Han and Holden, they also face a small issue as they initially end up at a different library, but they soon catch up with their fellow competitors and arrive at the Detour location.

The Detour Presents the Teams With a Choice Between Patience and Luck or Brute Strength

Once the teams secure their clue from the library, they learn that their next step is to head to the Detour location and complete either the Haystack challenge or the Woodstack challenge. The former requires them to find a small red and white bracelet from three massive stacks of hay, whereas the latter will have them carry 200 kg (440 lbs) of firewood from the chopping station to a residence. In the end, Ana and Jonathan as well as Alyssa and Josiah choose the former, whereas Brett and Mark decide to go for the latter – all of them are sure they will quickly finish.

However, it is the married nurses who finish first, with the other two couples following close behind – although, for a while, Jonathan was sure they had chosen wrong as he was worried about losing their lead. Little did he know that while none of them would pick any team for the surprise U-Turn, he and Ana would still end up losing a lot of time as he had mistakenly parked their car in a ditch. The teams subsequently have to reach Snezha’a Farm for the Roadblock, but this particular one is unable to do anything as they are stuck – no matter what they do, their car won’t budge.

Because of this, others – except Carson and Jack – manage to catch up with them at the Detour location, leaving Ana and Jonathan more frustrated over their bad luck than ever before. Not only did Brett and Mark stop for a while to help them, but locals also didn’t hesitate to lend them a hand, yet nothing worked, that is, until someone suggested he pull their car out by tying it to his. Thankfully, this worked out, and they moved forward in third place while the others did their Detour challenge – Melinda and Erika chose the Haystack, whereas Han and Holden as well as Nick and Mike chose the Woodtack, thinking it would be better if they rely on their strength over their luck.

The Surprise U-Turn Gives This Entire Leg an Unexpected Twist

While Carson and Jack continue to find their way to the first clue box in Negushevo, the other teams continue to move on with either of the Detours and then the Roadblock at Snezha’a Farm. Alyssa and Josiah actually manage to pull far ahead by completing the latter quickly, too, which comprises milking a sheep until they have half a liter of milk and then finishing a bowl of Bulgarian yogurt. They are quickly followed by Brett and Mark, while Melinda and Erika, Han and Holden, as well as Nick and Mike, race against one another to finish the Detour as quickly as possible.

It is Melinda and Erika who complete the challenge and reach the surprise U-Turn box first, but since Nick and Mike are merely 20 seconds behind them, they decide to be competitive. They were under the assumption that these three were the only teams left, so they decided to give them a U-Turn and have them do the Haystack task too, leaving them no choice but to U-Turn Han and Holden, too. The mother-daughter duo regrets their choice as soon as they realize there were at least three other teams behind them, but the decision was already made and is irreversible.

This obviously frustrated the brothers, but they did what needed to be done in an effort to stay alive in the competition, and were then honest about it with Han and Holden, too. The siblings understood where they came from, yet they were frustrated by it, too. These two teams essentially began the Haystack challenge together, yet Han conceded she thinks her team will do better as they have more patience. She turns out to be completely right as the brothers rush through the three stacks in a hurry and in bunches, resulting in them completely missing the bracelet.

Leg Seven Ends With a Shocking Elimination

Since Carson and Jack had lost over three hours in their navigation issues, they had essentially prepared themselves for elimination, despite still continuing with the challenges, as they wanted to make it to the pit stop. Little did they know that Nick and Mike would end up facing such trouble with the U-Turn Detour that they would end up with a chance to stay alive in a way no one could have expected. Ana and Jonathan also complete the Roadblock during this period, followed by Han and Holden as well as Melinda and Erika – they latter had lost their way for a while on their way to the farm (around 30 kilometers or 18 miles), but they quickly managed to get back on track.

Carson and Jack had initially chosen to do the Haystack, but once they got to it, they realized it might take a lot of time and switched to the Woodstack. The brothers, though, didn’t have this option and while they did think of quitting several times, they continued to do their best because being on this adventure was a dream for them. It took the best friends three trips to get the 200 kilos, following which they used to the farm, milked the sheep, had the yogurt, and ultimately made it to the pit stop in sixth place.

Alyssa and Josiah were the first to arrive at the pit stop, the Elin Pelin, also resulting in them winning a 5-night trip to Marrakech in Morocco, sponsored by Expedia. Brett and Mark came second, followed by Ana and Jonathan in third, Han and Holden in fourth, as well as Melinda and Erika in fifth. In the end, as Nick and Mike never even made it past the Detour, it was host Phil Keoghan who came to them and let them know they had been eliminated. Nevertheless, the brothers regret nothing and are glad they partook in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure, as it gave them some incredible memories while also bringing them closer than ever before.