The Amazing Race Recap: A Double U-Turn Vote Cracks The Race Wide Open

For the past few weeks, the top of the "Amazing Race" leaderboard has been dominated by frontrunners Michelle and Matt, and the scrappy Daisha and Dalton. Wednesday's episode, however, shakes up the game with a double U-Turn vote that not only ruffles feathers, but gives other teams a chance to get ahead of the pack. 

As the teams gather in Sri Lanka, Phil breaks the news that not one, not two, but three teams will be saddled with the U-Turn in this very challenging (and very stinky) leg of the race. Unfortunately for Doug and Dylan, their last place finish last week makes them automatically U-Turned this week — a sad, but fair punishment for the grandson/grandfather team that has been treading water and narrowly escaping elimination thus far. After the teams' lengthy discussions, let's take a look at how the votes shake out:

*Erin and Javi vote to U-Turn Michelle and Matt, and Ali and Joanna
*Ali and Joanna vote for: Michelle and Matt, and Daisha and Dalton
*Conner and Garrett vote for: Michelle and Matt, and Daisha and Dalton
*Daisha and Dalton vote for: Michelle and Matt, and Anwar and Andrea
*Doug and Dylan vote for: Anwar and Andrea, and Daisha and Dalton
*Anwar and Andrea vote for: Michelle and Matt, and Daisha and Dalton
*Michelle and Matt vote for: Anwar and Andrea, and Ali and Joanna
*Ann-Marie and Riley vote for: Michelle and Matt, and Daisha and Dalton

Tl;dr: Michelle and Matt, and Daisha and Dalton join Doug and Dylan for this Leg 7 U-Turn, which means all three teams will have to complete both sides of this week's Detour.  

Matt acknowledges that it wasn't personal with the Driver's Seat when they were in control, and he doesn't feel it's personal with the U-Turn vote. His wife, on the other hand? She is not happy. She says they're done helping everyone out. No more navigation help, no more challenge tips, no self-drive help, nothing! Were Mr. and Mrs. No-Alliance actually helping anyone before this? It's odd to see someone be salty when she's consistently been in the lead. Why would their competitors not vote for the race's frontrunners? That's just how competition works. But sure, pop off, Michelle.

With the voting sorted out, teams race over to the Detour which has them either selling fish and trying to earn 5,000 rupees, or drying out salted, gutted fish on coconut fiber mats. Later, after everyone learns they must hop a bus to Colombo, a fork in the road emerges... only some teams don't even see the fork. A local bus can get them there (but it'll take over an hour), but Ali and Joanna quickly learn about an express bus that travels on the highway, and that's the one the racers should be aiming for. The pro soccer players hop off the local bus to snag the faster ride, which is part of the reason why the women finish the leg in first.  

Teams are also tasked with a Roadblock that has them loading boxes onto a handcart for delivery, but it's the next challenge — Tuk Tuk Polo — that really tests the teams' mettle. Each team must score a polo point with one of them driving a tuk tuk as the other hits a ball with a mallet. And this looks like the most frustrating challenge ever. The kicker? They only have 60 seconds to do it, plus they have defensive tuk tuks trying to stop them in their tracks. 

The difficulty of the polo task helps Doug and Dylan catch up to the other teams. With help from the U-Turn, Anwar and Andrea are able to rise to second place — their third second place finish thus far. And despite mostly everyone wanting to humble Michelle and Matt, the husband/wife team still finishes in third after nailing the polo goal in one try — very impressive! (Will anyone be able to win this race against these two?) 

But someone has to come in last. That team? Doug and Dylan. While it was hard to imagine these two would ever come close to winning the season, you had to root for them. The 72-year-old grandfather crushed it, and his 18-year-old grandson seemed truly thankful for the time spent with "Pops." Alas, Phil eliminates them from the race and the game moves on. 

Were you rooting for Doug and Dylan, and what are your thoughts on Michelle and Matt? Weigh in by dropping some comments below!