The Amazing Race Recap For 4/23/2025

 

This week’s episode of The Amazing Race on CBS sends our remaining teams to Sofia, Bulgaria. They could either go to Lake Ariana or risk it all for the Express Pass.

One by one, the teams leave.

The Express Pass has them walking on fire….literally.

Alyssa and Josiah try for the Express Pass despite his fear of hot stuff…..and win it!

Han and Holden and Melinda and Erika head to Lake Ariana because they don’t want to lose time. Brett and Mark do the same….and are in the lead.

Teams must pick up a cross in water at the St. Jordan’s Festival and give it to a priest for good luck and the next clue.

Mark and Brett finish quickly and head to a klek shop to get their next clue….without taking a taxi. They opt to go on foot.

Jack and Carson skip the Express Pass and head straight to Lake Ariana to make up for lost time.

Alyssa and Josiah finish the first task and head to the shop. Ana and Jonathan are hot on their heels.

Melinda and Erika seem to be lost.

Jack and Carson and Han and Holden are trying to get to the festival.

 

Brett and Mark find the klek shop, which is actually a hidden part of the building. They get their next clue, as do Alyssa and Josiah, all of them heading to University St. Kliment.

Ana and Jonathan have it right under their noses but struggle to find it at first. They finally get it and head to the university.

Once there, they must read a book in Cyrillic language and decode the message using a cypher.

 

Holden and Han finally get to the festival and the clue sending them to the shop.

Melinda and Erika follow suit.

 

Mark and Brett decode their message and head to the Museum of Socialist Art.

 

Han and Holden find the shop and get the clue.

 

Alyssa and Josiah and Ana and Jonathan work on decoding the message.

 

Carson and Jack bring up the rear and finally get to Lake Ariana….and make friends with the wood cutter dude from the last episode. The dude explains about the klek shop and sends them on their way.

 

Melinda and Erika get lost looking for the shop and fight. However, they finally find the shop and get the clue and into the taxi….which they don’t realize is against the rules.

Jonathan and Ana finish the decoding task and head to the next location….but not before they help Alyssa and Josiah. Or try to…..it’s unclear if they are told not to or what, but they leave rather quickly. Either way, Alyssa and Josiah finish and head to the next location as well.

 

Holden and Han are super excited about the decoding task and walk around trying to solve it. They also write it down, which is a good idea.

 

Brett and Mark head to the Central Military Club.

 

Han and Holden are stumped.

 

Melinda and Erika work on the decoding task and work with Han and Holden.

 

Jack and Holden get to the shop and find the next clue. They hop on a bus to get to the university.

 

Ana and Jonathan get lost and end up on a wild goose chase.

 

Alyssa and Josiah head to the Central Military Club.

 

Roadblock! They must do a dance routine with pros for the next clue. Brett and Mark LOVE it.

 

Jack and Carson get to the library and are surprised to see the other teams there….and think they seem just as shocked. They are able to use their D&D skills solve it, which Han and Holden pick up on. They work together without Melinda and Erika, who think they already solved it. However, the latter team did not solve it!

 

Jonathan and Ana also head to the Central Military Club.

 

Brett and Mark pass the dance task on the first try. The head to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral for the Pit Stop.

 

Holden and Han finish and wait for Jack and Carson to finish and then tell Melinda and Erika how to solve it. Jack and Holden don’t understand this but just want to finish the leg.

Holden and Han give a quick tip  to Erika and Melinda and catch up with Jack and Carson. They seem to be sticking together now.

Melinda and Erika finish but still take taxis, which is against the rules.

 

Josiah and Alyssa struggle with the dance task, but finish! They head to the Pit Stop!

 

Brett and Mark are team #1 and win $7,500 each!

 

Jonathan and Ana also finish the dance task and rush to the Pit Stop….after three tries.

 

Han and Holden and Jack and Carson separate, with the former walking and the latter taking the metro.

 

Jack and Carson work on the dance task with Han and Holden hot on their heels.

 

Melinda and Erika are lost and can’t even find a taxi…..they finally find one and get to the location to learn the dance.

 

Alyssa and Josiah are team #2!

 

Jonathan and Ana are the third team to check in.

 

Melinda and Erika finally get to the dance task.

 

Jack and Carson finish after two attempts. They are off to the Pit Stop. Han and Holden are hot on their heels, as are Melinda and Erika.

 

Jack and Carson are team #4….and Phil says this is one of the show’s greatest comeback stories.

 

Han and Holden are team #5!

 

Erika and Melinda are the last team to check in and are eliminated….and find out and realize they weren’t supposed to use taxis.

 

More next week, stay tuned!