Cops Brave Snow and Plow on in ‘Expedition Impossible’

The following is a recap of Thursday night'sExpedition Impossible, which aired on ABC. The team known as "The Cops" is comprised of Lieutenant Robert Robillard, 43, of Concord; Sergeant James Vaglica, 49, of Billerica; and Danielle Henderson, 34, of Marlborough.

After of competition on ABC’s Expedition Impossible and finding only a handful of competitors finishing behind them, The Cops knew they were entering week four of Expedition Impossible with much ground to make up.

Last week’s challenge took competitors through the Sahara Desert, where they endured temperatures of 105 degrees. This week, The Cops and the other remaining teams faced the High Atlas, a mountain range that peaks at 13,671 ft.

Stage four began with the Gypsies ascending the mountain first, as the top finishers in the previous race were afforded a head start. The Cops, a team comprised of Waltham Police officers Robert Robillard of Concord, Danielle Henderson of Marlborough and James Vaglica of Billerica, were grouped with the California Girls, Team Kansas and the Fisherman, all four teams forced to begin their trek behind every other team.

The first checkpoint saw teams locate fishing hooks, which were used to snag cages over the edge of a cliff. Select cages contained keys, which allowed teams to advance upon finding. The Cops managed to pull into fifth place during this portion of the competition and trek down the mountain to camp before sunset.

As the California Girls struggled mightily on the top of the mountain, the NY Firemen (who had already collected a key) stayed behind to help their competitors collect cages. Under a dark sky, the two teams crossed the line into base camp.

“They truly are our heroes,” said California Girl Brittany Smith.

Stage two took the teams out of the snow and into a sandy portion of the mountain with the Gypsies once again receiving a three-minute head start ahead of everyone else. The Cops were grouped in the middle of the pack with the Fishermen and Team Kansas.

As teams approached a village on the High Atlas, they collected mules before heading toward a series of switchbacks. With the Cops receiving very little airtime up to the halfway point in the episode, the Gypsies reached a series of Ford Explorers to drive down the mountain before the other teams. When the Cops did reach the Explorers, they maintained their fifth place status.

Team Kansas and the Country Boys fell into last place at this point, the latter team finding an exhausted team member in Chad Robinson. Robinson’s exhaustion grew so great, in fact, that he at one point hoisted himself atop the mule, riding the animal up the mountain.

The next challenge saw teams pull a plow through a field in an effort to find an object hidden in the soil.

“Put the plow together,” Lt. Robillard was heard saying to his teammates, uttering the Cops’ very first lines of the episode. 

The cops would complete the challenge and head to the finish line in fifth place.

Ultimately, the Country Boys finished in ninth place, leaving Team Kansas as the episode’s last place competitors.

“I think nobody thought we would make it this far,” said Team Kansas member Kelsey Fuller after being told her time on the show had come to an end. “We’re gonna go home proud and people at home should be proud, too.”

Check back with Patch at this same time next week for the latest update in Expedition Impossible.

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