Race Episode 5 - Treachery in Tuscany

🏁 EPISODE 5 — “Treachery in Tuscany” Location: Florence, Italy 🇮🇹 10 Teams Remain (This will be the season’s first non-elimination leg.) ✈️ Route Info — Fly to Florence, Italy 🇮🇹 Teams leave the Swiss Alps with their next clue: “Fly to Florence, Italy — the birthplace of the Renaissance.” Two available flights from Zurich to Florence, creating an early split. ✈️ Flight A (arrives first): Riggs & biminibonboulash Vans & lexeyjanereal Josh & cmgorilla Medusaluh & blue Paulette & nikw98 ✈️ Flight B (arrives 90 minutes later): issyiss & crybabichi Justini & Buffy Rainolds & papa sobriquet & amandasings04 ScarletKing & Ethanrocker1 🛫 Airport & Train to Florence — “A Renaissance of Rivalries” Riggs & biminibonboulash and Vans & lexeyjanereal immediately lock eyes at baggage claim — cold silence. Riggs: “Oh look, our biggest fans.” Lexey: “Don’t talk to us until you win something without shaving your head.” Josh & cmgorilla play peacekeepers: “Let’s keep it fun, y’all!” Riggs (to camera): “Fun? This is art, darling. And revenge is an art.” issyiss & crybabichi, arriving later, decide to stay upbeat. Crybabichi: “Italy means carbs. That’s a win.” Medusaluh & blue sit wordlessly again — multiple teams whisper that they “might be vampires.” 🎨 ROADBLOCK — “Who Can See the Detail?” At the Uffizi Gallery, one member must memorize the placement of 15 details from Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and recreate the pattern using provided pieces in a replica frame. Highlights: Lexeyjanereal is a machine — perfect memory, first out. Riggs overanalyzes, swaps tiles dramatically (“She’s missing a shell!”), costing time. Josh methodical, finishes in top three. Medusaluh nails it instantly. Buffy keeps shouting “Her hair goes this way!” as Justini tries to help from the sidelines — not allowed. Crybabichi accidentally assembles a version where Venus is sideways — Issy laughs until she cries. Ethanrocker1 intentionally places tiles wrong to create “punk Venus.” The judge: “This is… incorrect.” 🚗 DETOUR — “Frame It” or “Flame It” “Choose between restoring beauty or cooking with passion.” 🖼️ Frame It: Teams head to an artisan workshop to restore a wooden Renaissance picture frame using gold leaf and polish. 🍝 Flame It: Teams must cook an authentic Italian pasta dish — from scratch — under a chef’s supervision. Frame It Highlights Medusaluh & blue breeze through in total silence. The artisan whispers, “Terrifyingly precise.” Riggs & biminibonboulash start dramatically — “We were born for gold leaf!” — but smear polish everywhere, needing two retries. Paulette & nikw98 nail it cleanly and quietly, no errors. Josh & cmgorilla do well despite Gorilla accidentally gluing his glove to the frame. Flame It Highlights Vans & lexeyjanereal cook flawlessly, producing perfect pasta; the chef calls it “military-level discipline.” issyiss & crybabichi argue about seasoning (“You’re making soup, not sauce!”) but charm the chef enough to pass. Justini & Buffy are a chaos kitchen — Buffy improvises garlic hearts in the pasta, which the chef calls “oddly sweet but edible.” sobriquet & amandasings04 sing “That’s Amore” during cooking — the chef cries laughing. ScarletKing & Ethanrocker1 burn their sauce three times and argue loudly about whose fault it was. Rainolds & papa calmly make a hearty pasta and even serve Phil some at the Pit Stop later. 💥 Drama Peaks — “The Piazza Showdown” In Florence’s Piazza della Signoria, teams converge to grab taxis to the Pit Stop. Riggs & biminibonboulash and Vans & lexeyjanereal reach for the same cab. Vans: “We were here first!” Riggs: “Then why are you behind us, sweetie?” Lexey: “Keep that energy for the mat when you’re second again.” They literally end up in separate cabs side-by-side, glaring through the windows the whole ride. issyiss & crybabichi are laughing too hard at the chaos to even notice their driver went the wrong way. sobriquet & amandasings04 serenade traffic police to get waved through — it works. 🏁 PIT STOP — Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Florence Phil stands under the sunset on the ancient bridge, ready to greet teams. Pit Stop Order (Leg 5 — Florence, Italy): 🥇 Vans & lexeyjanereal — pure focus, flawless pasta, and a much-needed win. Phil: “After a rocky leg in Switzerland, you’re back on top.” Lexey: “We told you we’d bounce back.” Vans: “And that’s how you cook revenge.” Medusaluh & blue — silent, cold, unstoppable. Josh & cmgorilla — consistent, energetic, funny. Paulette & nikw98 — quiet masters of calm. Riggs & biminibonboulash — their glittered frame cracked slightly, costing time. issyiss & crybabichi — slightly lost but still upbeat. Rainolds & papa — comforting steady presence. Justini & Buffy — chaotic energy keeps them alive. sobriquet & amandasings04 — voice hoarse but hearts full. ScarletKing & Ethanrocker1 — exhausted, covered in sauce, assuming they’re out. 💔 Phil: “This is a non-elimination leg.” Scarlet gasps, Ethan laughs in disbelief. Phil: “You’re still in the race — but next leg, you’ll face a Speed Bump.” Cue them hugging, half-laughing, half-crying in relief.