The Amazing Race 39 Episode 4: Two Eliminations, a Moroccan Scramble and the Cost of Getting Lost
The Amazing Race Season 39 Episode 4 delivered two eliminations, a complicated Moroccan Scramble and one of the clearest demonstrations yet that navigation can be more dangerous than the challenges themselves.
Eleven teams entered the previous leg in Morocco. By the end of Episode 4, only nine remained.
The October 14 episode, “Deception and Sleight of Hand,” opened by resolving the dramatic cliffhanger from Leg 3 before sending the surviving teams into the narrow streets of Marrakesh's Old Town Medina.
What followed was a race within a race.
Teams had to complete three separate challenges in an order of their choosing, navigate a maze of unfamiliar streets, and decide whether cooperation with other racers was helping or hurting their chances.
Michelle and Matthew emerged victorious.
Doug and Dylan survived another close call.
And Cody and Jaime discovered that even completing every required challenge means little if you cannot find the Pit Stop.
For Around the Route, the biggest story was not simply who went home.
It was how small navigation decisions, shifting alliances and the timing of advantages determined who survived.
The Morocco Cliffhanger Finally Ends
Episode 3 left viewers with an unresolved sprint between Doug and Dylan and Jody and Jenn.
Both teams had struggled during the previous leg, but in very different ways.
Jody and Jenn lost significant time during the pottery Roadblock before staging an impressive recovery. Doug and Dylan reached the final challenge in a stronger position but struggled with the fruit-stacking task.
By the time both teams were heading toward the Pit Stop, the outcome was uncertain.
Episode 4 finally delivered the answer.
Doug and Dylan reached the mat in tenth place. Jody and Jenn arrived eleventh and were eliminated.
It was a disappointing finish for Jody and Jenn, particularly after recovering from such a substantial early deficit.
But their final leg also demonstrated an important principle of The Amazing Race: a difficult beginning does not necessarily mean a team is finished.
They nearly overcame a disastrous Roadblock.
Doug and Dylan, meanwhile, survived despite losing much of their earlier advantage.
Around the Route Race Intelligence
A comeback is valuable only if it gets a team to the mat before someone else.
The Race does not reward how far a team recovers. It rewards the position in which that team finishes.
Leg 4 Begins: A Moroccan Scramble
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
With ten teams remaining, the Race continued through Marrakesh.
Rather than following the usual structure of a Roadblock and Detour in a fixed sequence, racers encountered a Moroccan Scramble.
Teams were required to complete three challenges, but they could choose the order.
The tasks were:
Slipper Search: One racer had to locate a matching slipper in a crowded marketplace.
Rug Run: Teams transported a nine-foot rug through the medina and delivered it to a rooftop.
Dye & Dry: Teams had to correctly dye bundles of yarn.
Each task tested different skills.
Slipper Search demanded observation and patience.
Rug Run required coordination and physical effort.
Dye & Dry rewarded attention to instructions and accuracy.
But the Scramble added another variable: teams also had to determine how to move between the locations.
That transformed navigation into an unofficial fourth challenge.
In a crowded medina, taking the wrong street could erase the advantage gained from completing a task quickly.
The freedom to choose task order created opportunities, but it also forced teams to make more decisions with incomplete information.
Around the Route Race Intelligence
The fastest team at an individual task is not necessarily the fastest team through an entire leg.
Efficient navigation, task sequencing and recovery from mistakes can be equally important.
Roadside Assistance Finally Enters the Game
One of the most interesting developments involved Dafina and Saran.
During Episode 3, they discovered Roadside Assistance, a new advantage allowing a racer to receive help from their teammate during a future Roadblock.
In Leg 4, they chose to use it during Slipper Search.
That decision allowed both racers to participate in the search rather than leaving the task to one person.
The advantage helped them complete the challenge efficiently.
What makes Roadside Assistance especially interesting is how different it is from an Express Pass.
An Express Pass allows a team to bypass a challenge.
Roadside Assistance changes the resources available to complete one.
Neither approach is automatically superior.
The value depends on the obstacle.
At a search-based Roadblock, another set of eyes can be useful. During a particularly difficult physical task, the ability to bring in a teammate could be even more significant.
For Dafina and Saran, the timing made sense.
They had a task where collaboration could help, and their advantage had a limited window for use.
Roadside Assistance is now used and no longer available.
Around the Route Race Intelligence
The best advantage is not always the one that removes a task. Sometimes it is the one that changes how a team can solve the problem.
Alliances Face Their First Serious Tests
The Moroccan Scramble also exposed tensions between teams that had previously cooperated.
Ann-Marie and Riley agreed to work with Anuar and Andrea.
But when Andrea completed Slipper Search before the other team, she wanted to continue racing rather than wait.
Later, Anuar and Andrea provided assistance at Dye & Dry.
A similar dynamic emerged among Ali and Joanna, Ann-Marie and Riley, and Dafina and Saran.
Teams that had previously shared information began making decisions based on their individual positions.
This raises an important strategic question.
How much time should a team sacrifice to maintain an alliance?
Cooperation can be valuable when it helps both teams solve a challenge more efficiently.
But waiting for another team can become expensive when the finish order determines survival.
Unlike a competition where alliances are maintained through voting blocs, The Amazing Race requires each team to reach the Pit Stop independently.
Helping another team is a choice, not an obligation.
The challenge is recognizing when cooperation provides an advantage and when it becomes a liability.
Around the Route Race Intelligence
A successful alliance should create value for both teams. When one team begins sacrificing its own position without a clear benefit, the arrangement deserves reconsideration.
Michelle and Matthew Take Control
While other teams struggled with navigation and cooperation, Michelle and Matthew delivered the strongest overall performance of Leg 4.
They completed the Scramble and reached the Pit Stop first.
Their victory earned them a trip to Okinawa, Japan, and established them as another serious contender in Season 39.
What makes the result significant is the type of leg they won.
This was not a challenge defined by a single spectacular physical performance.
It required completing multiple tasks while navigating an unfamiliar urban environment.
Michelle and Matthew managed those demands effectively.
Their victory also demonstrated that running an independent race can be valuable when other teams become distracted by alliance expectations.
One victory does not guarantee future success.
But it provides evidence that Michelle and Matthew can adapt to a complicated leg where navigation and decision-making matter as much as task performance.
Cody and Jaime: The Navigation Mistake That Ended Their Race
The most consequential moment of Leg 4 came near the finish.
Cody and Jaime had completed the required challenges.
They were still in contention to survive.
But after Rug Run, they struggled to navigate to the Pit Stop.
That mistake gave Doug and Dylan an opportunity to move ahead.
Doug and Dylan reached Phil Keoghan in ninth place.
Cody and Jaime arrived tenth and were eliminated.
For the second consecutive leg, Doug and Dylan survived a close finish.
For Cody and Jaime, the loss was especially frustrating because the decisive mistake occurred after the tasks had been completed.
It illustrates one of the defining challenges of The Amazing Race.
A team has not finished a leg when it completes the final challenge. It finishes when it reaches the mat.
Every wrong turn still counts.
Every minute spent searching for the correct location still matters.
And a team that appears to be behind can survive if another team loses its way.
Around the Route Race Intelligence
Navigation is not simply the space between challenges.
It is a competitive skill that can determine the entire outcome of a leg.
The Race Board: Leg 4 Results
Finish | Team | Result |
1 | Michelle & Matthew | Leg winners |
2 | Anuar & Andrea | Safe |
3 | Erin & Javi | Safe |
4 | Daisha & Dalton | Safe |
5 | Conner & Garrett | Safe |
6 | Dafina & Saran | Safe |
7 | Ann-Marie & Riley | Safe |
8 | Ali & Joanna | Safe |
9 | Doug & Dylan | Safe |
10 | Cody & Jaime | Eliminated |
Nine teams remain in The Amazing Race Season 39.
The episode also confirmed Jody and Jenn's elimination from Leg 3, bringing the number of teams eliminated during the broadcast to two.
Express Pass Tracker: After Leg 4
The Express Pass remains one of the defining strategic elements of Season 39.
No team used an Express Pass during Leg 4.
That means the remaining holders must decide when the potential time savings outweigh the benefit of keeping the Pass for another challenge.
The deadline is approaching, and teams cannot assume the next task will be easier than the current one.
One important tracking note: post-episode reporting is inconsistent about whether Ann-Marie and Riley still hold an active Pass, even though Episode 3 coverage reported that they used theirs at the fruit-stacking challenge.
Around the Route will retain the previously verified tracker count of three active passes pending a reconciliation of that discrepancy against the broadcast.
The previously tracked holders are:
Ali & Joanna
Conner & Garrett
Michelle & Matthew
The Roadside Assistance advantage, held by Dafina and Saran, has now been used.
Three Race Intelligence Lessons From Morocco
1. Navigation can outweigh task performance
Cody and Jaime completed the Scramble but were eliminated after losing time on the way to the Pit Stop.
Doug and Dylan survived despite earlier navigation difficulties.
The decisive variable was not simply task completion. It was who arrived at the mat first.
2. Advantages must match the problem
Dafina and Saran used Roadside Assistance during a challenge where having two people searching provided an immediate benefit.
Their decision demonstrates the importance of understanding not only what an advantage does, but when it is most useful.
3. Cooperation has limits
Teams can benefit from sharing information, especially during difficult tasks.
But alliances become complicated when one team must decide whether to wait for another.
In a Race where minutes can determine elimination, those decisions carry real consequences.
Looking Ahead: Nine Teams, Fewer Opportunities
Season 39 is now down to nine teams.
Michelle and Matthew have momentum after their Leg 4 victory.
Doug and Dylan have survived two consecutive close calls.
Dafina and Saran have used Roadside Assistance.
And the remaining Express Pass holders are approaching the deadline for using their advantage.
The competition is becoming less forgiving.
But Morocco demonstrated that a team's position can change quickly, even after it appears to have completed the hardest part of a leg.
For the teams still racing, the next challenge is not simply to be faster.
It is to make fewer costly decisions.
Because in The Amazing Race, the route is never just a way to reach the next challenge.
Sometimes, the route is the challenge.
Join the Conversation — Fan Pulse
Which mistake is harder to recover from on The Amazing Race?
A difficult Roadblock that costs an hour?
Or a navigation error after the final task?
Share your thoughts in the comments, and tell us which team you believe has the strongest strategy heading into Leg 5.
For more Season 39 coverage, visit the Around the Route Express Pass Tracker, explore our latest Race Intelligence articles, and listen to Around the Route Podcast Episode 4.
The Amazing Race. Beyond the Finish Line.
Around the Route is an independent fan media and analysis platform. It is not affiliated with CBS, Paramount or The Amazing Race.
Comments