Previously on the Amazing Race: Hope's Peak Edition:
Nine teams left Montreal and raced through Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A beach challenge gave Hajime and Chiaki issues.
"What could we be doing wrong?" Chiaki asked.
And a musical Roadblock gave Kazuichi some serious frusturation.
Olha-
"STOP!" the judge shouted.
A scuffle at Christ the Redeemer caused high tensions between Celeste and Akane and Chihiro and Hina.
"What the hell?" Hina asked, confronting Celeste.
"What?" Celeste asked.
"Why'd you push me?" Chihiro asked.
"I didn't push you," Celeste said.
Which led to Chihiro and Hina using the first U-Turn of the race.
"We choose to U-Turn Celeste and Akane."
Celeste and Akane, in response, U-turned Leon and Ibuki to try to save their own skins.
"Fine. Do Leon and Ibuki." Akane said.
In the end, the musical talent of Kaede helped them win their second leg.
"Shuichi and Kaede, you are team number ONE!"
But Leon and Ibuki outsped Celeste and Akane, dropping them to last.
"Celeste and Akane, I am sorry to tell you that you are the last team to arrive, and I am sorry to say that you have been eliminated from the race."
Eight teams remain. Who will be eliminated tonight?
Leg 4.1
This is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in 1563 by the Portuguese, it is now the most famous city in all of South America. And in the heart of the city, Jardim Botânico, Rio's Botanical Garden. It will now serve as the starting point for leg 4 of the Amazing Race: Hope's Peak Edition.
Shuichi and Kaede will depart first at 2:30 AM.
Shuichi and Kaede: 1st to depart: 2:30 AM
Shuichi ripped the clue open. "Fly to the City of Lights!"
[i] Fly to: Paris, France
Teams must now leave the tropics of Brazil and fly over 9,000 miles to the City of Lights, Paris, France. Once teams arrive in Paris, they must find the Place de la Concorde to find their next clue.
"We're going to Paris!" Kaede cheered.
"Today we're leaving in first, again," Shuichi explained. "Hopefully we can keep up this streak and prove ourselves to be the strongest team in the race."
They pushed their stuff in a cab and got inside. "Airport," Shuichi said.
"Goodbye, Rio, you've treated us well," Kaede said.
Makoto and Sayaka: 2nd to depart: 2:32 AM
"Fly to the City of Lights," Sayaka said. "That's New York, right?"
"No, it's Paris."
Shuichi and Kaede
They exited their cab and ran into the airport. "We need a ticket to Paris, as fast as possible!"
The ticket agent typed a few things on her computer. "We have two flights tonight. One arrives at 9:00 tonight via London Heathrow on Virgin Atlantic, and the other arrives at 9:30 on Air France but is a direct flight."
"That's thirty minutes," Kaede said. "It's a huge leap."
"I think it's a little risky, taking these connecting flights. It's more likely there'll be some kind of delay or some kind of issue on takeoff or landing."
"Come on!" Kaede urged. "I think it's worth the risk!"
Shuichi reached into his pocket and took out a 100-yen coin. He flipped it as it landed heads-up. "Fine. We'll take the Virgin flight.
"Book the earlier arrival," Shuichi said. The agent handed them their tickets.
Shuichi and Kaede: 1st on 1st Flight
"Hopefully nothing happens," Shuichi said. "I'm getting a bad feeling, though."
Makoto and Sayaka
"There is a flight that arrives at 9:00 tonight via Rome, and another that arrives at 9:30 directly."
"Arrives, not departs, right?" Makoto asked.
"Yes, these are the arrival times." the agent clarified.
"Let's book it." Sayaka said.
Makoto and Sayaka: 2nd on 1st Flight
"Hopefully we have people behind us," Makoto said.
Nagito and Nekomaru
"Nagito!" Nekomaru shouted. "Over here! This counter!"
Nagito and Nekomaru: 3rd on 1st Flight
The next two teams got on the earlier flight.
Chihiro and Hina: 4th on 1st Flight
Miu and Kazuichi: 5th on 1st Flight
"We're headed to Paris!" Hina shouted.
Hajime and Chiaki
"Hi, we need to get to Paris," Chiaki said to the ticket agent.
"We filled up on our earliest flight just a few minutes ago," the agent replied. "The only flight we have remaining arrives at 9:30."
Hajime sighed. "We have terrible flight luck. Just book that if it's the only flight we have."
Hajime and Chiaki: 1st on Last Flight
Tenko and Himiko
"Pfft. Degenerate," Tenko said.
"I'm sorry, but that's the only flight available. It's not my fault."
"Just book it and get out of my face."
"You're the one who walked up to me."
Tenko and Himiko: 2nd on Last Flight
"Nyeh," Himiko said. "We're always finding a way to get behind."
Leon and Ibuki
"Well, at least we're on par with two other teams on our flight now," Leon said. "We need to get ahead, though,"
The two gates for the two flights were coincidentally right next to each other, so they got the chance to speak and bond with each other.
First, Leon and Ibuki walked up to Makoto and Sayaka.
"Hey! What's up?" Makoto asked.
"We just wanted to say hi," Leon replied. "Is our 'alliance' formal?"
"I don't see why it can't be…" Sayaka said.
"We were considering roping Kaede and Shuichi into it," Ibuki cheered. "Call it 'the Musical Alliance'!"
"Three teams…" Makoto said. "All three of us could definitely make it to the finale, because it's a three-team race to the end. Let's go talk to them about it."
The two teams approached Shuichi and Kaede eating sandwiches.
"Hey," Shuichi said.
"Hi, we were wondering if you'd like to join a three-team alliance among us."
"Sure!" Kaede said. "Any… rules?"
"Well, we plan to not U-turn each other and help each other out on challenges. Though, Ibuki guesses we can make an exception if we think we're in last." Ibuki said.
They all shook hands.
"Joining an alliance is in our favor," Shuichi explained. "I feel like we're one of the stronger teams on this race, and if these other two teams want to keep us around, that'll help us stay in even when the other teams begin targeting us,"
"It's not that smart of a move on their part," Kaede said. "They want to keep us around, knowing we're a strong team. If we make it to the finale with them, we have a high chance of beating them. Hopefully they don't realize that."
"I think it's quite a strategic move," Makoto explained. "Yes, they're a strong team, and they can beat us, but I can think of a few advantages. Having a strong team like that on our side increases our chances of making it to the end. Also, they have the second Express Pass that they have to give out on either this leg or next leg, which makes it more likely us or Leon and Ibuki will get it."
Meanwhile, Chihiro and Hina began to strike up a conversation with Hajime and Chiaki.
"I see you held out on your side of the deal," Hajime said. "Nice work. They're gone."
"Well, of course!" Hina said. "Celeste is definitely a person we should be afraid of. Not from sheer power or force, but she's… how do I put this…"
"Willing to put down others to achieve her goals?" Chiaki asked.
"Yes."
"Because we U-turned Celeste and Akane yesterday," Hina explained. "I think we've struck up a friendship with Hajime and Chiaki. I hope that goes somewhere."
Teams are now en route to Paris, France. Flight 1 is set to arrive at 9:00 PM through London Heathrow, while Flight 2 is set to arrive at 9:30 PM Direct.
Flight 1: London Heathrow Airport: 6:45 PM
After teams had made the connection through London and boarded the second flight, they all sat in their seats as the PA blared.
"Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking, and we apologize for the interruption. We have an issue with the landing gear that we must resolve before departing. Estimated delay time is approximately one hour. We apologize for the delay."
"Delayed one hour, huh?" Nagito asked. "Just my luck."
"Rrr… this is why I hate flying," Kazuichi said. "Can I go out there and check what's wrong? I'll fix it!"
"Of all the times I ride in a plane, why now?" Hina asked.
"I should've seen this coming," Makoto said. "It was bound to happen."
"What?" Kaede asked. "Sorry, Shuichi. You were right."
"That's fine, that's fine," Shuichi replied. "We've got five other teams with us, and there's always the possibility that they're going to be done early. Plus, the other teams have a thirty minute jump. That's enough time for them to screw up and fall behind us."
Flight 2: Charles De Gaulle Airport: 9:37 PM, Delayed 7 Minutes
"GO! GO! GO!" Leon shouted. "We need to make up half an hour!"
"Let's beat these degenerates!" Tenko shouted.
The teams ran outside to the line of taxis outside the airport.
"Taxi!" Hajime shouted, getting inside one. "Place de la Concorde!"
Tenko and Himiko
"Oh, Himiko, we're in Paris! Isn't this so romantic?"
"..."
Tenko pointed to the driver. "Degenerate! Go faster!"
"Je ne parle pas anglais (I don't speak English)" the driver said.
"Stupid degenerate doesn't know what I'm saying."
"Tenko… he's just French."
Leon and Ibuki
"We're in Paris, seeing it in its nighttime glory," Ibuki said.
"Look! We're passing the Arc de Triomphe!" Leon pointed.
Hajime and Chiaki
"If I remember, Place de la Concorde is where they used to do the executions," Hajime said.
"Maybe one of us has to get executed to get our clue," Chiaki said. "Heh. Just kidding. It's probably a Detour Decision Point."
Leon and Ibuki
Their taxi stopped as they got out at a plaza with a huge, lit-up obelisk in the center. "Wait here!" Leon said, just as the driver gave a thumbs' up. Leon ran to the middle of the plaza, where there was a clue box among eight piles of wood and metal pieces, and a functional guillotine in the center.
Leon and Ibuki: Currently in 1st Place
"Roadblock. Who's ahead of their competition?"
[R] Who's Ahead of their Competition?
This is a guillotine. It was used routinely in the French Revolution as a quick and simple beheading method right here in the Place de la Concorde. In this Roadblock, teams are going to have to build one from scratch. Using this model in the center of the plaza, teams must assemble a working guillotine. Once the guillotine has been assembled and checked, teams will receive their next clue.
"I'll do it," Leon said.
"You go, Leon!"
Tenko and Himiko: Currently in 2nd Place
"Do you think you can assemble a guillotine?" Tenko asked.
"Nyeh...I assemble my magic items all the time. I can handle it."
Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 3rd Place
"I can do it," Chiaki said, handing Hajime the clue.
"Wait," Hajime said. "None of the other piles are assembled. Are we the first group here? What happened to the other flight?"
Leon
Leon approached the piles of wood and looked at the model. "So this is the base… these are the stocks…"
"After I got there, I realized that there weren't any screws or nails or anything here. We didn't even have a toolbox."
"How am I supposed to put this together?"
Chiaki
Chiaki grabbed one of the pieces and a cylindrical dowel and began using a block of wood to pound the dowel into the pieces of wood.
"After looking at the model and at what we were given, I realized that we were given a spare piece of wood, probably to use as some kind of hammer," Chiaki explained. "And the dowels were what held the guillotine together. I don't think the other teams realized that."
Himiko
Himiko tried to balance the long side on top of another piece of wood, as it fell over and whacked her on the head.
"Ngh…" she groaned, rubbing her forehead.
"You got this, Himiko!" Tenko shouted.
Chiaki
Chiaki repeated the process with many others, forming the base similar to a crisscross pattern.
"Agh!" she winced, quickly snapping her hand backwards.
"Those pieces of wood were not polished or sanded or anything." Chiaki explained.
"Splinters," She groaned, staring at her hand. "Whatever. Not a big deal"
Leon
"Chiaki, how are you doing that?" Leon asked. "How do you assemble it?"
"You've just got to use the dowels!" Chiaki shouted back. "Use one of the pieces of wood to jam it in."
Himiko
Himiko used the block of wood to pound the cylinder to connect the pieces of the base together.
"Nyeh…" she groaned. "Too much physical work."
Chiaki
Chiaki had picked up a long, slanted dowel. "This is way too big," she said. She then picked up the long, slanted support, and noticed the bottom had a hole directly perpendicular to the base, while the other side had it slightly slanted.
"After I had observed the other pieces, I realized that I had to ditch the base right now and work on the tall segment, then add it to the base afterwards. Because the way the orientation of the dowels and the holes were, it would only work if you added the base to the body last.."
Himiko
After assembling the base, Himiko began working on the supports for the tall part of the guillotine.
Flight 1: Charles de Gaulle Airport: 10:05 PM, Delayed 1 Hour 5 Minutes
The teams ran through the airport.
"We have to make up time!" Nekomaru shouted.
They ran out to the line of taxis. But, there weren't any taxis there.
"Where are the taxis!" Miu asked. "Oh, there's one right there!"
Miu and Kazuichi ran straight to the only taxi available. "Hi, we need to get to-"
"Sorry. Someone called me."
"Oh, Pierre, is that you?" Kaede asked. "You're our cabbie, right?"
"That's right. You're Kaede, correct?"
"Yup!"
They got into the car as Kazuichi put his hands on his head. "Where are the fucking taxis?"
Shuichi and Kaede
"After our delay in the London Airport," Shuichi said. "We made a great decision in calling a taxi to the Paris Airport during that down time. It looks like it's paid off."
Chiaki
Chiaki slid the guillotine blade into the frame of the guillotine, then the stocks. She hammered a dowel into the bottom part of the stocks so the top part would be able to slide up and down.
Leon
Leon pounded in the supports, then tried to slide the two tall parts of the frame into their respective spots.
"There are horizontal holes for dowels in there," Leon said. "But how am I supposed to get a dowel in there if I'm sliding it straight down?
Himiko
Himiko had placed the tall, vertical segments of the frame into the base, then looked at the supports.
"How am I supposed to do this?" She asked, as the support she was holding had two dowel holes, one aiming to the left and one straight downwards.
She stuck the two dowels into the support, and then tried to jam them into the base and the sides of the frame but to no avail.
"Look! Taxis!" Chihiro pointed. Sure enough, four taxis began streaming into the airport. Everyone snatched a taxi and got inside.
Shuichi and Kaede
"Everyone's here," Shuichi said, looking at the three teams from the earlier flight. They ran to the clue box.
Shuichi and Kaede: Currently in 4th Place
"Roadblock. Who's ahead of the competition?" Shuichi asked. "I can handle this one.
Chiaki
Chiaki had everything assembled; she just had to slide the body of the guillotine onto the base and she would be finished. She tried to lift it up, but it was way too heavy.
"I realized that I actually had to lift up the guillotine, and that thing was so heavy and lanky that it was near impossible to actually lift it up enough to move and slide it onto the base. So what I ended up doing was laying the body onto the ground, and then lifting up the bottom of it and hammering the base to it."
Chiaki hammered the base to the bottom of the guillotine, then pulled it back up to its feet with all of her might.
Himiko
"I have to disassemble this," Himiko said. She grabbed the side of the frame and tried to lift it up, but had quite some difficulty in doing so.
"So after I realized that I had done things wrong and it was impossible to insert the dowels at this point, I had to disassemble what I had. But, given that we weren't using screws or anything like that, you had to use brute strength to take off the pieces once you've already wedged it in there."
Himiko tried to lift it off the base, and struggled as she began sweating. It came out with tremendous force as it fell on her, knocking her to the ground.
Shuichi
Shuichi went back and forth between the model guillotine and the set of wood.
"This looked like a very technical challenge, something that you needed every single detail correct. And judging by what Himiko was doing, it was difficult to take something out once you've put it in. I tried my best to check that I was doing it correctly almost every time I were to insert a piece."
He grabbed a piece of wood and measured it against one of the pieces of the base. "This is the right piece…"
Leon
Leon lifted a side of the frame off the base. "Dammit, this isn't working."
Chiaki
Chiaki looped the rope through the hook up on the top of the guillotine, then went down and tied it to the top of the blade. She gripped the rope, pulled it back and lifted the blade, then released it to test it as it stopped right at the perfect place.
"Can I get a check?" Chiaki asked. Hajime watched as the judge appeared and inspected each part of the guillotine. He tested the slide of the blade, looked for any loose pieces, and checked if the stocks were done correctly.
"Congratulations," the judge said, handing Chiaki a clue.
"Thank you." Chiaki replied, running over to Hajime.
"Great job!" Hajime said.
"Don't mention it," Chiaki said, ripping the clue open.
Hajime and Chiaki: Currently in 1st Place
"Make your way on foot down to the nearby marked banks of the River Seine and row yourselves to Notre Dame."
[i] Proceed to: Notre Dame
Teams must now make their way down to the nearby banks of the River Seine and row one of these marked kayaks to Notre Dame, where their next clue will await them.
"We have to row," Hajime said. "Have you ever rowed before?"
"Not really," Chiaki replied.
Makoto and Sayaka: Currently in 5th Place
Makoto and Sayaka arrived at the scene. "I think I can do it," Makoto said.
"Good luck," Sayka replied
Chihiro and Hina: Currently in 6th Place
"I know how to assemble a PC, I can do this," Chihiro said.
Leon
Leon had began using Chiaki's method and had the guillotine laid down on its side while he hammered the base to it.
"Can I get a check?" Leon asked.
The judge walked up and looked at Leon's guillotine. He pulled the stocks up, tested the sliding of the blade, and whacked it just in case anything were to fall off.
"Congratulations" the judge said, handing Leon a clue.
Leon and Ibuki: Currently in 2nd Place
"Hajime and Chiaki just left. We can catch up," Leon said.
Hajime and Chiaki
Hajime and Chiaki went down the stairs to the side of the Seine as they ran up and down it, looking for the marked kayaks.
"There it is!" Hajime pointed. Chiaki grabbed two oars as Hajime pulled the kayak closer to the edge of the river, and then stepped inside. But there was a bit of a drop between the banks of the river and the water level, as Hajime slightly missed and fell into the water. He groaned as he climbed into the kayak.
Chiaki grabbed the oars and jumped into the front seat, staying dry unlike Hajime.
"Dammit," he groaned. "And it's the middle of the night. I can't dry off that fast!"
"I have a towel in my backpack," Chiaki replied.
"Wow, you came prepared."
They untied their kayak as Hajime pushed it off the edge. "Let's go!"
Nagito and Nekomaru: Currently in 7th Place
"I'll do it," Nekomaru said.
Miu and Kazuichi: Currently in Last Place
"I wanna do this," Kazuichi said.
"Fine." Miu said.
Himiko
Himiko hammered in the base of the guillotine to the frame and bench. "Can I get a check?"
"It's great," The judge said, handing Himiko the clue.
"You were amazing, Himiko!"
"Nyeh… I was last from our flight though…"
Tenko and Himiko: Currently in 3rd Place
"That's alright, Himiko! Now, let's catch up and win this leg!"
Shuichi
Shuichi slid the blade and then the stocks onto the frame of the guillotine as he took the rope and tied it to the blade and looped it around the hook on top.
Nekomaru
Nekomaru didn't even need the wooden block as a hammer, as he pounded in the dowels with his fists to form the base. "I don't need a tool or hammer! I'M NEKOMARU NIDAAIIII"
Makoto
At this point, a crowd had gathered around them as they watched them all make the guillotines, all talking in French and taking pictures without even bothering to turn off the flash.
"God, they're so annoying," Makoto said.
"Just ignore them!" Sayaka shouted.
Kazuichi
Kazuichi was rather inattentive as while he was working on the base of the guillotine as a toddler walked up to the blade, tried to lift it up, and dropped it on his foot.
"WWAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" he cried as his mother arrived and swore Kazuichi out in French.
"I don't know what just happened, but I don't like it…" Kazuichi trailed. "Could they not have fenced this area off?"
"Wow, Kazuichi, making kids cry? Not cool!" Nagito yelled.
Chihiro
Chihiro finished up with the base as he began attaching the top of the frame to the sides, then sliding in the blade and the stocks. He used the block of wood to smash in the dowel to the bottom piece of the stocks.
Hajime and Chiaki
They rowed smoothly through the midnight river of Paris. "This is so beautiful," Chiaki said. "Too bad we can't just stay here and enjoy it."
Chiaki was too busy looking at the view that they almost ran into a steamboat.
Leon and Ibuki
"Oh! Ibuki sees the boats!" Ibuki pointed.
"Thanks, Ibuki!" Leon said, stepping down into the canoe. "Don't forget the oars!"
"The what?" Ibuki asked, already in the canoe.
"The oars! Over there! Nevermind, I'll get them."
Nekomaru
Nekomaru worked extremely fast as despite him being almost the last one to arrive, he was the first to ask for a check after being able to lift the entire guillotine up.
"Can I get a check?" Nekomaru asked.
"That's correct,"
"YEAH!" Nekomaru cheered.
Nagito and Nekomaru: Currently in 4th Place
Makoto
Makoto held the blade, but dropped it, nearly smashing his foot in.
"Agh. I can't win if I have to go to the hospital!"
Tenko and Himiko
Tenko and Himiko got into the boat as they began rowing. However, they failed to notice that they were still tied down to the dock and not going anywhere.
Leon and Ibuki
They were rowing down the Seine right past the Louvre as they noticed Hajime and Chiaki up front.
"There they are!" Ibuki pointed. "We can catch up!"
Shuichi
Shuichi pushed the guillotine up to its upright position. "Check?"
"Congratulations," the judge said, giving Shuichi the clue.
"Great job, Shuichi!" Kaede cheered.
Shuichi and Kaede: Currently in 5th Place
"Row yourselves down the River Seine," Kaede read. "Ooh! So romantic!"
"Uhh… well…" Shuichi screeched, blushing.
Chihiro
"Can I get a check?" Chihiro asked. The judge walked up and inspected it. Everything was the same, except the blade was backwards and aiming the wrong direction.
"I'm sorry, it's not like the model," he said.
Chihiro looked at the guillotine. "What?"
Makoto
Makoto ignored the swarming crowd as he lifted up the guillotine from the floor, but dropped it when a camera flash surprised him. He groaned and pushed it back up, and pushed some of the dowels that had loosened.
"Congratulations," the judge said.
Makoto and Sayaka: Currently in 6th Place
"Row down the River Seine," Sayaka read.
Nagito and Nekomaru
Nagito stepped in the back as Nekomaru jumped in the front, almost catapulting Nagito forwards. Luckily, he held on.
Hajime and Chiaki
"There's a split in the river," Hajime said.
"Oh, don't worry. There's an arrow pointing to the right."
Leon and Ibuki
Leon and Ibuki were slowly creeping up behind Hajime and Chiaki.
"Hopefully they don't notice us," Leon whispered.
"O haiii!" Ibuki screamed. Hajime and Chiaki turned around as Leon facepalmed.
Tenko and Himiko
"Come on, Himiko!" Tenko shouted. "Put some more work into it!"
"I'm trying… this is tiring."
Himiko's motions became out of sync with Tenkos as they smacked against the wall.
"Himiko… you need to keep up." Tenko said.
"I'm trying!" she replied
Kazuichi
Kazuichi slid the blade up and then slid the stocks in, then secured the bottom of the stocks with a dowel. After that, he lifted it up as the blade came down, almost slicing Kazuichi's hand off.
"Aah!" he shouted, pulling his hand back. "That was close. Can I get a check now?"
"It's good," The judge said, handing Kazuichi the clue.
Miu and Kazuichi: Currently in 7th Place
Chihiro
Chihiro went back and forth between the model and his guillotine. "Am i missing a dowel or something?"
He checked everything and made sure nothing was loose and he had no spare pieces, and he shook the entire thing to make sure nothing fell out. His last resort was to push everything together just in case something was loose and he didn't notice.
"C-Check," Chihiro said.
"I'm sorry, it's not correct."
Tears welled up in Chihiro's eyes. "I don't- I don't know, anymore"
