Race to Survive: New Zealand Episode 4 Recap: Maungakaura Madness

Reality TV’s toughest competition, Race to Survive: New Zealand, delivered a supersized episode this week. That meant more entertainment for us but more suffering for the competitors. Those poor, unfortunate souls were still in the throes of Race 2: Maungakaura, traversing the treacherous course after a sudden knee injury forced the Brooklyn Climbers to exit the competition.

This week, the remaining seven teams pressed forward to Survival Camp, hoping to avoid elimination. For the teams leading the race, the perks in the End Crate set the stage for some interesting strategic decisions. Meanwhile, the teams in the back of the pack were just fighting to stay alive. Here’s what happened in Race to Survive: New Zealand Episode 4, “Eels, Heels, and Deals.”

Pushing through Race 2

After the Brooklyn Climbers exited the competition, the rest of the racers saw their helicopter flying over the racecourse. That sent shockwaves throughout the course because no one knew who left the race and how that would impact the final standings. Would that mean there’s one less medallion at the End Crate? No one wanted to find out the answer to that question.

The only two people who weren’t feeling the pressure of Race 2 were River Guides, Oliver and Corry. They made it to the End Crate in first place with plenty of time to spare. After another first-place finish, they officially became the frontrunners for this entire competition.

As the number-one team, they had their choice between four perks: steak, an eel fishing kit, a possum trap, or a set of camp chairs. Without hesitation, they chose the steak, and a few minutes later, they turned Survival Camp into a Morton’s Steakhouse. Those two grilled up their steaks and dined like kings. The River Guides might have made Race 2 look easy, but you could see the life coming back to their faces as they ate that steak.

With the clock ticking on Day 2, the Smokejumpers tried their darndest to make it to Survival Camp. According to the narrator, they were just “1000 yards” away from the finish line when the Day 2 race clock hit zero. Bummer. They wound up having to spend another night on the racecourse, kicking themselves for not moving just a little bit faster.

Race 2, Day 3

The third day of Race 2 started with all of the teams nearly getting blown away from their campsites. It seems like every day, these racers wake up and are faced with another dramatic weather situation. One day, it’s cold downpours. They shiver all night and then the next day, it’s sunny and hot. New Zealand is truly a wild place.

The Cool Moms and the Canadian Oil Riggers camped out near each other after Race 2, Day 2. At night, they were all kumbaya, but when the sun rose, they put their game faces on. The Moms asked the Oil Riggers if they’d be willing to talk strategy, and that quickly got shut down.

“We promised we wouldn’t do that during the races,” Nik told the Moms, completely brushing them off.

Privately, the Oil Riggers admitted that they didn’t want to risk having Rhandi and Ashley ride off of their coattails. Why risk landing in the bottom? There’s $500,000 on the line!

Kennedy told the cameras, “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make enemies.”

With that line drawn, Rhandi and Ashley pushed ahead and came up with a plan of their own. They decided to trail behind the Oil Riggers for a little bit, and then pass them up at the last second just to be “annoying.” That’s the level of pettiness we appreciate here at Reality Tea, so kudos to Rhandi and Ashley for bringing a little shade to the race.

Steak, eel, or possum?

The River Guides might have secured a few helpings of steak when they came in first place during Race 2, but the real meal was in the actual river. On Day 3, the Smokejumpers made it to Survival Camp and chose the eel fishing kit for their perk. They chose that option because they’d “rather eat eel than possum.” Maybe if the only other option is starvation.

Surprisingly, the fishing kit ended up being the best perk in the box. Ethan and Tyrie went out into the water, set up their trap, and before they knew it, they had a 23-pound eel on their hands. Yes, you read that right.

Watching this scene from home, that eel looked like something out of a horror movie. It didn’t look edible, let alone something that anybody should touch with their hands. For the competitors on Race to Survive, this little monster was 2,000 grams of protein gold. They gutted it, cooked it up, and celebrated. With all that meat slinging around, the Smokejumpers quickly became the stars of Survival Camp.

On the other side of Survival Camp, the Hunters arrived in third place and chose the possum trap as their perk. That was 100% on brand for those two, but they had no luck catching anything with the rudimentary trap. The New Zealand possums were too smart to fall for their tricks, and the Hunters were left dreaming about their 3 pounds of bacon from the last Survival Camp.

A broken NDA

When Paulina and Creighton arrived at Survival Camp in fourth place, they got stuck with the camp chairs as their perk. However, they smelled the sweet aroma of cooked eel, and their stomachs started grumbling. They decided to cook up a plan to try to trade a chair with the Smokejumpers in exchange for food. Creighton said he couldn’t survive much longer off of the bland almonds and oatmeal in the food caches.

After a little bit of strategizing, Tyrie and Ethan decided to set up an eel trap in exchange for half of the divorcees’ jerky and half of any harvested eel. This whole situation is good practice for the Divorcees for when they have to divide up their assets after this competition. Ultimately, they agreed to the deal and signed an “NDA” so that the other team wouldn’t know about the strategy.

A few minutes later, the Smokejumpers caught another river monster. Creighton couldn’t believe it and nearly burst out into happy tears. In his eyes, this giant helping of protein could be enough to fuel them through to Race 4. Then, in his excitement, he completely forgot about the NDA and told everyone at Survival Camp about the eel deal they made with the Smokejumpers. So much for keeping a secret!

Staring Race 2, Day 4, there were only two teams left to finish the race: the Cool Moms and the Oil Riggers. As soon as the clock started for Day 4, both teams were racing for that End Crate, hoping they would avoid elimination.

Ultimately, sixth place could have gone either way. Kennedy and Nik lost a lot of time by navigating in the wrong direction and bickering about it. Ashley twisted her ankle the day before so that slowed their team down, too. These teams were neck and neck, but Kennedy and Nik made it to the End Crate, secured sixth place, and scored their medallions.

Moments later, Rhandi and Ashley ran up to the End Crate, and surprise! They got a medallion, too. It turned out that the Brooklyn Climbers leaving the competition cleared the way for everyone to move forward to Race 3. That whole threat from the beginning of the race about there still being an elimination ended up being a huge misdirect. Everyone lived to race another day.

Here’s a quick look at how everyone finished Race 2.

1. The River Guides, Oliver, and Corry
2. The Smokejumpers, Ethan and Tyrie
3. The Hunters, Bronsen, and Ryan
4. The Divorcees, Creighton, and Paulina
5. The Ultramarathoners, Jeff, and Coree
6. The Oil Riggers, Nik, and Kennedy
7. The Cool Moms, Rhandi, and Ashley

Race to Survive: New Zealand continues at 11/10c on the USA Network.

TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RACE TO SURVIVE: NEW ZEALAND EPISODE 4? DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HANDLE EATING THE GIANT EEL, OR WOULD YOU STICK TO THE ALMONDS AND OATMEAL? DO YOU THINK RHANDI AND ASHLEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED?