Azaria and Hendekea Azene eliminated from 'The Amazing Race 12'

Azaria and Hendekea Azene made several poor decisions -- including the purchase of illegal business class tickets for a flight to Croatia -- hindering the siblings and ultimately causing them to become the sixth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's twelfth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.


"The thing that really sucks here is, it wasn't like somebody beat us," opined Hendekea.  "We beat ourselves."

The Amazing Race 12's sixth episode began with the six remaining teams leaving Aukstaitija Windmill in Vilnius, Lithuania, which served as the fifth leg's Pit Stop and required the teams take a mandatory rest period.

"Newly Dating Couple" Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin -- the first team to reach the race's fifth Pit Stop -- were the first to depart at 1AM.  TK and Rachel opened their clue and learned they needed to fly 900 miles to Dubrovnik, Croatia and travel to the base of the Fort of St. Lawrence.  "Dating Goths" Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala left the Pit Stop at 1:01AM, and they arrived at Vilnius' airport with TK and Rachel. 

Both teams learned the airport's ticket offices were closed and decided to use the Internet to find the best flight to Croatia.  TK and Rachel learned of a Czech Air flight that departed at 6AM and decided to wait for the airline's office to open at 4:30AM while Kynt and Vyxsen continued their online search.


"Father/Daughter" team Ronald and Christina Hsu left the Pit Stop at 1:15AM, followed by Azaria and Hendekea at 1:20AM and "Dating Couple" Jennifer Parker and Nathan Hagstrom at 1:29AM.

Rather than go to the airport, Ron and Christina instead decided to stop at a nearby hotel and use the phone to book a reservation on Polish Air departing Vilnius at 6:25AM and landing in Dubrovnik at 11:20AM.  However since the seats weren't purchased and were just reserved, they still decided to wait in line at the Czech Air office with TK and Rachel and Azaria and Hendekea.

Acting on their bond as family members competing in the race, Christina decided to offer the Polish Air phone number to Azaria and Hendekea.   "Grandfather/Grandson" team Donald Jerousek and Nicolas Fulks -- who left the Pit Stop at 1:42AM -- arrived at the airport and got in line with the other teams.

Their standing in the Czech Air line immediately improved when Azaria and Hendekea decided to act on the advice they received and left their spot in line with the hopes of reserving tickets on Polish Air.  However Azaria and Hendekea had a hard time connecting with the airline over the phone and bickered as they weighed their options of returning to the Czech Air line -- where they'd be last -- or continue to call Polish Air.

"It seems like you're making decisions here..." said Hendekea to her brother before he cut her off.


"Should I just stand here and do nothing?" he replied.  "Don't give me your attitude, okay?"

The two then arrived back at the Czech Air line and found themselves in last, regretting their decision to leave the line in the first place.

"I made a bad decision," said Azaria, feeling guilty and sharing it with Hendekea.  "Get over it, alright?  Rather than just sit around and do nothing, figure something out!"

Kynt and Vyxsin never waited in the Czech Air line and instead decided to use a travel agency that handled several airlines, eventually purchasing tickets on the same Polish Air flight as Ron and Christina. 

TK and Rachel remained first in the Czech Air line, followed by Nick and Don and Nathan and Jennifer.  The Czech Air office opened, and TK and Rachel and Nick and Don purchased tickets on flight departing Vilnius at 6AM, connecting through Prague and touching down in Dubrovnik at 11:20AM.  However since the flight was already boarding by the time Nathan and Jennifer got to the counter, they were unable to purchase tickets.


Nathan and Jennifer quickly ran to the same ticket agency Kynt and Vyxsin used but were forced to wait behind Hendekea and Azaria, who were also purchasing tickets on the Polish Air flight.  Despite the panic, Nathan and Jennifer were also able to buy tickets for the Polish Air flight.

The 6AM flight carrying TK and Rachel and Nick and Don then departed just as the 6:25AM flight carrying the other four teams started to board.  However when Hendekea asked at the check-in counter for better seats, she was bummed to learn they had inadvertently purchased business class seats -- a violation of The Amazing Race rules, which requires teams to purchase only economy class tickets.

Azaria and Hendekea ran as fast as they could back to the ticket agency and tried their hardest to get economy class tickets for the flight, however it was too late as the flight prepared for takeoff.

"This sucks," said Azaria.

"We messed up bad," added Hendekea.  "We just need the fastest way now.  I wish that we would have just stayed in line or not ran around."


Upset that they were now in last -- booking seats on a flight to Dubrovnik through Frankfurt -- the ticket agent did provide a reason to smile, explaining the flight to Dubrovnik via Prague was experiencing "all kind of delays" and would thus slow TK and Rachel and Nick and Don. 

As if on cue, the flight to Prague touched down late and TK and Rachel and Nick and Don missed their connection.  TK and Rachel booked a flight through Vienna while Nick and Don took one through Zagreb, both of which were hours behind their original flight to Dubrovnik.

The 11:20AM flight carrying Nathan and Jennifer, Kynt and Vyxsin and Ron and Christina to Dubrovnik touched down.  However Nathan and Jennifer and Kynt and Vyxsin got lost searching for the clue box at the Fort of St. Lawrence, allowing Ron and Christina to find the clue box first, where they were met by a Roadblock.

In the Roadblock, one team member had to help in the renovation of the city walls -- damaged by the bombings during the Yugoslavian civil war of the 1990s -- by searching through a pile of 150 stones and finding one of eight that fit into the wall.  Ron easily completed the Roadblock and the two opened their next clue, which instructed them to make their way to the roof of the Fort of St. Lawrence and take a tandem zip line to the roof of Fort Barker.

Following the zip-line ride, Ron and Christina were met by a Detour challenge, and had to choose between "Short & Long" or "Long & Short."


In "Short & Long," teams had to rappel down from the roof of the fort to the base and follow the marked path to a city wall that they had to climb with a rope ladder. Once at the top, they then had to make their way through Dubrovnik's Old Town to a plaza where they would find their next clue. The hard physical part of the task was short, but the teams had to navigate a long distance through the confusing streets to the plaza.

In "Long & Short," teams had to use a tandem zip-line to fly from the fort to the water below. After swimming to a floating platform, they then had to choose a small fishing boat, row around the city walls to the old harbor, and run to the same plaza, where they would find their next clue. The hard physical part of the task was much longer, but the short distance to the plaza was far less confusing.

Ron and Christina chose "Long & Short," and after initially arguing about the fastest approach to rowing the boat, the two worked well together and finally got the hang of it.  Nathan and Kynt then completed the Roadblock, with Nathan and Jennifer then choosing "Long & Short" while Kynt and Vyxsin chose "Short & Long."

"We haven't done a great job of finding things so far," said Vyxsin, hoping to change their luck with the Detour challenge.

As Nathan and Jennifer began the "Long & Short" Detour challenge, Ron and Christina were in their sights.  However the dating couple argued about the best way to row the boat and the disagreement quickly escalated into a shouting match.

"You're the meanest person I've ever met sometimes," Jennifer scolded as Nathan did a poor job trying to defuse the situation.


"I hate you!  I hate you!" yelled Jennifer at her boyfriend.  "I'm never going to be with you ever again. I hate you with a passion."

The two continued to argue but were still able to overtake Ron and Christina in finding the next clue box, which instructed them to travel four miles by taxi to the Stone Cross Overlook, which was serving as the sixth leg's Pit Stop.  Nathan and Jennifer then lost their small lead when a taxi driver wouldn't pick them up because of their wet clothing.

"It's not okay! Our relationship sucks!" shouted Jennifer at Nathan as a cab carrying Ron and Christina pulled away.  Unable to secure a cab, Nathan and Jennifer hired a local to drive them to the Stone Cross Overlook.

Ron and Christina were the first team to reach the Pit Stop, followed by Nathan and Jennifer.  But unfortunately for the dating couple, host Phil Keoghan informed them they didn't take the legal form of transportation to the Pit Stop and thus had to go back to the clue box and secure a cab.  In the meantime, Kynt and Vyxsin became the second team to reach the Pit Stop, with Nathan and Jennifer officially finishing third.

"As far as Nathan and I being together in the end, it's unpredictable to me right now," said an emotional Jennifer.  "I don't know if it's too late... We've been through a lot."

The flight carrying TK and Rachel then touched down, with TK completing the Roadblock before the two decided to complete the "Short & Long" Detour Challenge.  They easily completed it and were the fourth team to reach the Pit Stop.


Nick and Don then landed in Croatia just ahead of Azaria and Hendekea, who were able to cut into Nick and Don's lead when Don decided to take a "methodical" approach to the Roadblock.  However he still finished it, and as he and Nick prepared for the zip line to Fort Borkar for the "Long & Short" Detour challenge, they saw Azaria and Hendekea running to the clue box for the Roadblock.

"We can't let them beat us!" yelled Hendekea as she saw Nick and Don take flight overhead.

Azaria quickly completed the Roadblock and also chose "Long & Short."  Don had a hard time rowing the boat and Nick didn't fair much better, while Azaria was like a work-horse and continued to close the gap.

Nick and Don were the first to reach the clue box following the Detour -- however they took a wrong turn at Don's behest in trying to find a taxi to take them to the Pit Stop.  While Nick called the predicament "frustrating," the two were still able to reach the Pit Stop ahead of Azaria and Hendekea, who were eliminated from the competition.

"Although my brother might be a little too hard on me, I know he just wants me to go as far as I can," said Hendekea.  "I think our relationship will just get better and grow stronger... Being part of The Amazing Race with Azaria has really brought us closer together."

"As a brother, I think part of my job is to challenge Hendekea," said Azaria.  "So for her to come out and show the intensity and fire that I hadn't really seen ever before was quite stunning and I'm really proud of her for that."


Due to Survivor: China's finale broadcast on Sunday, December 16 at 8PM ET/PT, The Amazing Race 12's next episode will air Sunday, December 23 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio