(L-R: Amanda/Kris, Kent/Vyxsin, Jamie/Cara, Mel/Mike, Kisha/Jen, Phil Keoghan, Jet/Cord, Margie/Luke, Gary/Mallory, Flight Time/Big Easy, Ron/Christina, Zev/Justin)
Hello again, fellow reality-TV enthusiasts! As you may or may not know, I also do the recaps for The Biggest Loser as well as Survivor, the latest season of which just started up this past week. This will be my second season for recapping The Amazing Race, and, as luck would have it, the folks at CBS have decided to make this a “special” season, doing basically what Bravo is doing with Top Chef; bringing back previous contestants that, for one reason or another, were labeled “fan favorites”, but who also ended up not winning.
For those of you who missed it, this season’s lineup of returning contestants was posted back on January 19th. Since a lot tends to happen in the first episode and there are tons of things to write about, I am going to try to save as much space as I can by offering this link to this season’s roster and leaving it at that as far as introductions go.
Instead of doing a blow-by-blow account of the episode like I did last season, I’m going to attempt a different format this time. It may take me a week or three to really hammer it down, so please bear with me.
Starting Line.
We begin on a arid, scrub-filled hill in a desert area near Palm Springs, California, at a place called the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm which, at last count, consisted of over 3,000 windmill-unit-things harnessing windpower. I think it’s also the place where they filmed the end of the Charlie Sheen movie Terminal Velocity (check it out if you get the chance). After summarizing the teams and what they all have in common (not winning), Phil also relates that the Express Pass will be the prize for coming in first place in Leg 1, just like last season. The team that possesses it can use it at any time to bypass any one challenge that they deem too time-consuming or difficult.
One other new twist: usually when the teams start, their first Destination Clue is usually waiting for them on top of their baggage; not this time. The teams must complete a search for a message reading “Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services” (or, to those familiar with international airlines, “QANTAS”) in the nearby wind farm and bring it to Phil. The first eight teams will get seats on the first flight to their destination; the last three will be forced to take a flight that lands a full 90 minutes later. And not only THAT, the last team to finish this search will get an automatic U-turn, which means that when they get to the leg’s Detour, they will have to complete both tasks. Damn, that’s a hell of a handicap. And they’re off!
Here’s how the flights break down:
1st Flight: Mel/Mike, Zev/Justin, Jet/Cord, Kent/Vyxsin, Ron/Christina, Margie/Luke, Jaime/Cara
2nd Flight: Kisha/Jen, Gary/Mallory
2nd Flight with automatic U-turn: Amanda/Kris
Destination #1: Sydney, Australia.
The first unforeseen circumstance occurs immediately, when Flight #1 has to divert to Honolulu when one of the passengers has a heart attack and must be evacuated to a hospital. Which sucks for him, but also for the eight leading teams, whose lead has now become a deficit. Them’s the breaks! Anyway, when teams arrive in Sydney, they must take a ferry to nearby Manly and look for a place called Oceanworld.
When the Flight #2 arrives first, the three teams aboard are jubilant, because Mallory found out about the plight that befell Flight #1. This is especially a relief to Amanda/Kris, who can now do their U-turn with much less pressure. There’s a hysterical moment when Kisha reads a map notation that says “Circular Quay” but pronounces it “Circle K”. Do they even have those in Australia?! The three teams board the ferry, and I must say, Mallory is still the Queen of Adorable. Flight #2, as it turns out, is only about a half hour behind.
Roadblock.
In a challenge reminiscent of a Roadblock from Season 4, one member of each team must don scuba gear and climb into Oceanworld’s enormous shark-and-ray tank and retrieve a compass that is embossed with a nautical-flags-to-letters code, and then translate a sentence from flages blowing on a series of lines hanging just outside the place. The message, as it turns out, reads “Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club”, “Find the Commodore”, and “I am between the Devil and the deep blue sea.” Strangely enough, this task was performed by the female member of every coed team.
After reaching the Sailing Club, finding the aforementioned commodore, and reciting the appropriate code-phrase, the teams had to join a sailing crew and race a skiff through a series of buoys, at the end of which they would receive their next clue, a clue that leads them to Phil and the mat, located on Shelly Beach. But it’s NOT a Pit Stop… this is one of those Leg 1’s that is will be shown in two parts due to time constrants, which means that the Detour (along with Amanda/Kris’s U-turn) will occur next week.
Front-Runners.
Not surprisingly, it is the three teams from Flight #2 that end up leading the way. Mallory gets the early lead by kicking serious ass on the code-breaking, and she and Gary never look back and end up cruising to a Leg 1 victory, nabbing the coveted Express Pass for themselves. Amanda/Kris, since they didn’t have to do their U-turn on this leg, were able to hit the mat in second place, with Kisha/Jen right behind. Like most of the teams this season, there is no one that I actively dislike, and I hope that continues, but I just can’t help but root for Mallory. Anyway, we are given very little info about the teams’ next destination, except that it is somewhere deep in the Outback of New South Wales.
Next Best.
After we see the leaders performing the appointed tasks, it’s really just watching the remaining eight teams do the same tasks. Zev/Justin and Flight Time/Big Easy became quite close during Season 15’s race, and they decide to once again help each other. It’s because of this friendship that the Globetrotters are able to shave some time off their task, because Zev ends up giving them the third part of their word-code. However, neither of these teams would, in turn, help out Margie/Luke or Jamie/Cara, so those teams had to scurry back to Oceanworld to decipher the last part of the clue. Shame on them for not doing it themselves! Zev/Justin finish the half-leg in 4th place, while the ‘Trotters finish in 5th. (Hey, show, is it necessary to play “Sweet Georgia Brown” EVERY time the ‘Trotters are on screen?) And, just as a side-note… watching two huge guys try to keep their balance on a sailing skiff is even more funny to watch than it is to write about.
Stuck in the Middle.
Margie/Luke and Jamie/Cara, on the way back to the cipher, run into parent/child team Ron/Christina and agree to show them where the commodore is in return for the missing part of their clue, so the trio of teams ends up running the skiff race simultaneously. Jamie/Cara upend their skiff but still end up coming in 6th. Margie/Luke and Ron/Christina finish in 7th and 8th, respectively. Again, I have no animosity toward any of these teams (yet), but that could change. Mel/Mike, tagging along pretty much the whole way, finish in 9th.
Back of the Pack.
Both Kent/Vyxsin and Jet/Cord also decide to half-ass their way through the code-breaking, which is just lazy racing to me. In addition, Vyxsin ends up having a terrible time on the Roadblock, and she and Kent can only manage an unimpressive 10th place this leg (and only because Margie tells them the clue), and I hope they rebound, especially as we are told that Kent’s father just recently passed away. Cowboys Jet/Cord, plagued by mistakes the entire leg (including proving themselves to be the world’s worst code-breakers), end up finishing in last place this leg – in fact, they’re so far back that we aren’t even shown them hitting the mat - and had better get their butts moving if they are going to avoid being the first eliminated team.
You know, I think this new format works for me. I was able to complete the recap in a lot fewer words than a blow-by-blow would have taken, which is always nice. Hopefully, as I get to know these teams again, I’ll be able to share more insights about their personalities and character. In the meantime, this looks like it’s going to be a hell of a season!
Next week: the season’s two designated geezers, Ron and Mel, already start showing signs of wear, which suggests they might be the first one out if the cowboys EVER get the damn code cracked. See you in seven!
