Amazing Race season 36 recap: Wisconsin firefighter moms eliminated in episode 7 but leave Uruguay with smiles and thankful for experience
Warning: Spoilers ahead from Episode 7 of CBS' "The Amazing Race" season 36 that aired on Wednesday, April 24.
Wisconsin firefighters Sunny Pulver and Bizzy Smith came into tonight's episode of "The Amazing Race" aiming for the stars.
"The goal today is to get first place," said Smith, who lives in New Berlin.
"First place," her partner, Pulver, who lives in Edgerton, reiterated for the camera before they departed from the top of Fortaleza del Cerro in Montevideo, Uruguay.
It might have been a reach given that they were once again starting from the back of the pack like they were all season. But viewers of season 36 of the CBS reality competition TV show know by now not to count these self-proclaimed "badasses" out.
However, their season-long navigation problems resurfaced at the worst time during tonight's episode.
And when they checked in at the pit stop host Phil Keoghan wasn't telling them that they were "Team No. 1" like they had hoped hours earlier.
Unfortunately, he told them that they were the last team to arrive and were eliminated. After Milwaukee native and Custer High School graduate Shelisa Williams and her husband Derek were eliminated in episode 6, it was the second straight week a team with a Wisconsin connection saw their dream for the $1 million prize end.
But you wouldn't have known it by Pulver's and Smith's demeanor on the mat this week.
"Look at these big smiles," Keoghan said to Pulver and Smith at Playa Malvín, the site of the pit stop. "Probably the biggest smiles ever for any team being eliminated."
But that was Sunny and Bizzy on "The Amazing Race."
The sisterhood that they shared only grew stronger while running the race, Pulver said.
Smith had the honor of running the race with "a great woman, friend and partner," in Pulver, she told Keoghan.
Here's more about the Wisconsin firefighters as well as former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Rod Gardner and his wife, Leticia, during the seventh episode on "The Amazing Race."
Amazing Race firefighters went home tonight during episode in Uruguay after navigation problems
"The Amazing Race" experience for Pulver, 41, and Smith, 37, wasn't easy. They weren't at the front of the pack at any point of the race, which meant they were always starting with a disadvantage the following leg by starting well behind a majority of the other teams.
And in addition to the emotional ups and downs that the race presents, Pulver experienced loss back home with news about the death of her grandma ahead of the third leg in Colombia.
Then there were the driving issues at nearly every turn each leg, something that could frustrate even the most mentally tough teams. But through it all, their teammwork and focus in the tasks allowed them to pass teams when it mattered most in previous episodes and survive several close calls.
That left them optimistic for the start of the seventh leg. Six of the 13 teams had already been eliminated heading into Wednesday's show. There was little room for error as they left with the fifth and sixth-place teams from the previous leg, 30 minutes behind teams 1 and 2 and 15 minutes behind teams 3 and 4.
Up first was the Roadblock challenge. One team member had to weld two pieces of metal together at a correct angle to withstand the impact of a hammer.
Pulver, noting her experience in welding for firefighting, completed the task in her second attempt.
They left the Roadblock in sixth place ahead of dating couple Yvonne Chavez and Melissa Main. But their slight advantage evaporated when they got lost driving to their next clue — the historic neighborhood of Ciudad Vieja — that would tell them where their Detour challenge would be.
Pulver and Smith eventually found the clue box but not before spending so much time driving around the area. But when they learned that one of the Detour options had teams perform a drum routine, there was some optimism. Smith noted she played the drums in high school.
They again completed that task with relative ease. But Pulver and Smith had too much time to make up even if the show made it initially appear like there could have been a photo finish.
Yes, they would have wanted to win this leg to be awarded a destination trip — customary for the winning team of each leg. It's something they even mentioned at the start of this episode in a fun exchange.
"We need to win some vacations," Smith said at the beginning of the episode. "Some money, something for the kids. We gotta," Pulver added.
"No, this vacation, I need to win a vacation for myself," Smith said. The exchange continued: "I can’t wait to be with the kids and the family."
It was fitting Pulver mentioned her kids and family. The two said in the season premiere over a month ago how they wanted to be an inspiration for their children and working moms.
It was clear they achieved what they set out to do even if they didn't win "The Amazing Race."
"I'm like a new person and rejuvenated," Smith told Keoghan, and that the experience shows that you can "reach for the stars" in your goals.
Former NFL player on Amazing Race: Rod Gardner, wife Leticia Gardner are in third place after tonight's episode
Rod and Leticia Gardner continue to have big goals on "The Amazing Race."
They have been one of the more consistent teams all season and have been out front every leg.
Rod Gardner, who played two games for the Green Bay Packers in the 2005 season and whose intensity comes across every episode, was in the right mindset during this leg.
"I feel the adrenaline pumping," Rod said to the camera while driving to the Roadblock at the start of the episode. "This is what I live for, like I love the challenge of whatever’s ahead of us. I don’t even know what we have to do. But I’m up for the challenge. And I like this part of the game.
"Game time has started."
Rod delivered during the "games" in this episode.
Rod crushed the Roadblock welding challenge and passed two teams to leave in first place.
Unlike last week when teams were helping each other out in tasks and in navigation, it was every team for themselves this episode.
As a result, we saw one team — dating couple Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun — crack under pressure when things got tough. That wasn't the Gardners even when other teams passed them when driving to get their next clue.
The married couple complements each other and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. They have the ultimate confidence even when things don't go their way. And despite not getting back to the top this episode they finished in third place for a second straight leg, easily advancing and looking strong in the process.
Leticia has repeatedly talked about making her kids proud back home. It's a safe bet her three children were proud of mom and dad again.
Amazing Race is heading to Barbados in next week's episode: Spoilers
In the preview to next week's episode, Keoghan told viewers that "The Amazing Race" will head to Barbados for the first time in the show's history.
Episode 8, titled "That's What Being Strong Will Do," has teams visiting the childhood home of superstar Rihanna.
What else is in store for the final six? The next episode airs at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1.
Amazing Race teams 2024, season 36 cast, order of finish after seventh leg
Ricky Rotandi and Cesar Aldrete (dating) - First place (fourth win this season), up one spot
Angie and Danny Butler (mother, son) - Second place, up three spots
Rod and Leticia Gardner (married; Rod is a former NFL wide receiver who briefly played for the Green Bay Packers in the 2005 season) - Third place, no change
Amber Craven and Vinny Cagungun (dating) - Fourth place, no change
Yvonne Chavez and Melissa Main (dating) - Fifth place, up one spot
Juan Villa and Shane Bilek (best friends) - Sixth place, down five spots
Amazing Race teams eliminated
Sunny Pulver and Bizzy Smith (best friends/firefighters from Wisconsin) - Eliminated in seventh episode
Shelisa and Derek Williams (Married couple from California. Shelisa is a Milwaukee native who graduated from Milwaukee Custer High School) - Eliminated in sixth episode
Kishori Turner and Karishma Cordero (cousins) - Eliminated in fifth episode
Michelle and Sean Clark (married) - Eliminated in fourth episode
Anthony and Bailey Smith (twin brothers) - Eliminated in third episode
Chris Foster and Mary Cardona-Foster (father-daughter) - Eliminated in second episode
Rohan and Maya Mody (brother, sister) - Eliminated in first episode
What time is Amazing Race on tonight?
The seventh episode of "The Amazing Race," titled "Walk and Chew Gum Baby," aired at 8:30 p.m. Central time on Wednesday, April 24.
The 90-minute episode followed "Survivor."
What channel is Amazing Race on?: TV, streaming
"The Amazing Race" airs weekly on CBS.
"The Amazing Race" streams on the CBS app and Paramount Plus. Fubo offers a free trial.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Amazing Race season 36 recap: Who was eliminated tonight in episode 7?
