After the mandatory rest period in Florence, Italy, the five remaining teams began their eighth leg of the race.  They were now set to fly 4000 miles away to Mumbai, India.  Nicolas and Donald – the first team to reach the last pit stop – started their trek at 10:12 PM.  Before heading to the airport, they researched flights through the internet.  After securing Air France seats with a 10:30 PM arrival time, they went to find a few hours of shut-eye.  Ronald and Christina were the only other duo smart enough to call ahead for tickets.

Those who didn’t make reservations were forced to sit anxiously outside a closed airport for several hours.  When the doors finally opened, Nate and Jen were the last ones to score seats on the same flight Nic/Donald and Christina/Ronald were already on.  That left the Goths and the Hippies scrambling to find their next best options.  Instead of working together like they had done in the past, the two couples lined up at different ticket windows.  Since Kynt/Vyxin were facing an upcoming Speed Bump, they needed all the extra time they could get.  Fortunately for them, they found themselves a route scheduled to arrive in Mumbai almost 2 hours ahead of TK and Rachel.

Due to a minor delay, the three pairs on the first flight actually ended up arriving in India about ½ hour after the Pink and Black Attack.  Of course, once all the teams had rickshawed their way to their first stop, they realized the time differences were a moot point; they had to wait until 6 AM to get their next clue.  After the newsstand they were gathered outside finally opened, the duos were all handed a copy of the local newspaper.  Their task was to find an advertisement that detailed the location of their next clue.  It took a bit of poring and a good eye to locate the information.  It also took patience.  That was something Nathan and Jen were not exactly known for.  While the other groups were taking off toward a tailor shop, the lovebirds (?) were growing increasingly frustrated and irritated with each other.

Once they had reached the tailor, the racers were presented with their next Detour.  They now had to choose between Paste Them or Thread Them.  In ‘Paste’, the duos had to find a marked underpass where they would paste up a six-panel Bollywood movie poster.  This could be a potentially difficult challenge for those who have problems with alignment.  In ‘Thread’, the couples had to travel to a flower market where they would put together a floral necklace similar to a lei.  In this task, the teams had to make sure they alternated colors properly and used the correct number of flowers.  After completing their project, they would then have to deliver the garland to a waiting bridegroom to receive their next clue.

Having worked in the printing business, Nicolas and Donald chose to do the poster option; Rachel, who did flowers for the living, directed TK to the floral challenge.  Meanwhile, Kynt/Vyxin were presented with their (expected) setback: the Speed Bump.  Before they could begin the Detour portion of the race, they first had to find a local yoga master who would show them a series of poses to perform.

Although it seemed like Ronald and Christina were going to have another memorable father-daughter meltdown at the pasting task (he felt she was being cheap with the glue), they still managed to complete the challenge before Nate and Jen finished theirs.  The couple – who had spent an eternity trying to find the newspaper clue – had now resumed their bickering at the floral market.  Why can’t you sew, you’re a girl!  Why couldn’t you row a boat, you’re a boy!  Their collective inability to make a strand allowed Kynt/Vyxin to catch up with them.  Despite the Speed Bump, the Goths were now back in the game.

After completion of the Detour, the teams then had to travel to a nearby traffic island to find their next envelope.  Unfortunately, another U-Turn was also waiting for them ahead.  The first three duos to reach the clue box – Nicolas/Donald, Christina/Ronald and TK/Rachel – all decided against using the penalty.  They then traveled by taxi to a propane gas depot where they began their next Road Block.  In this section of the race, one person from each group had to navigate the streets of Mumbai to make two propane tank deliveries.  Three tanks had to be dropped off at each stop and receipts had to collected.

While TK, Ronald and Nicolas were sweating it out with their Road Blocks, Kynt/Vyxin and Nate/Jennifer were wrapping up the ‘Thread Them’ task.  Although Nate/Jen finished their garland first, they lost time getting to the next clue box; this gave Kynt and Vyxin the golden opportunity to U-Turn them.  Unfortunately, the Goths weren’t sure of their status in the race and where the other teams were in relation to them.  Instead of penalizing the one couple they had seen in quite some time, they actually tried to U-Turn Nicolas and Donald.  Since the grandfather/grandson team was already ahead of them, this was sadly a wasted move.

LESSSON OF THE DAY:  GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW.  DON’T MAKE GUESSES!!!

Because he was able to carry three tanks at one time (and because he was given good directions), TK quickly moved ahead of the pack in the delivery portion of the leg.  Despite being the last team to arrive in India at the beginning of the episode, the Hippies actually managed to walk away with the win.  Nicolas/Donald came in second; Ronald/Christina came in third.

The race for fourth place was incredibly tight.  Serious mistakes were made by both teams.  Jennifer and Nathan didn’t initially realize that they were supposed to take a taxi to the propane station.  Jen also didn’t know that she was supposed to collect receipts after both deliveries.  Don’t these two ever read the instructions??  Meanwhile, Kynt had difficulties maneuvering his cart through the streets.  He also neglected to bring back the correct halves of his receipts.

In the end, the Pink and Black Attack just couldn’t recoup from their last place finish in Italy.  Thankfully, Phil was kind enough to give them the award for Most Fashionable Couple as a parting gift.  LOSERS: Kynt and Vyxin.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)