The Amazing Race, Premiere
The Amazing Race, Premiere in Tai-wan
We quickly met the teams… here's a quick rundown:
Andy & Tommy (Snowboarders), Ethan & Jenna (Survivors), Laurence & Zac (British Sailors), Cindy & Ernie (Engaged), Bill & Cathi (Grandparents), Liz & Marie (Blonde Twins), Jeremy & Sandy (Dating), Ron & Bill (Gay Duo), Marcus & Amani (Former Pro-Footballer), Kaylani & Lisa (Vegas Showgirls) and Justin & Jennifer (Siblings)
Phil met the groups somewhere in LA and gave them all details:
1. The team that wins this leg of the challenge wins an "Express Pass" that will get them out of any subsequent challenge of their choosing (up to the 8th leg).
2. The last team to finish this first challenge would have to endure a "Hazard", which is kind of like a "Speed Bump" and will have to complete before finishing this leg of the race.
So, then Phil tells them the rules of their first challenge. It totally confused me, as I suspected it confused the teams. But, basically it came down to picking the right parasol out of hundreds in order to get a car key from Phil and get their first destination.
The teams sprinted to the parasol wall and randomly started pulling parasols. The first to get it right were the Snowboarders, followed quickly by most of the other teams. Once they got into their (Sponsor Alert!) Ford Explorers they found out that the first 8 teams would get on the first flight to Taipei Taiwan via China Airlines, while everyone else would have to take EVA Air departing 20 minutes later.
The last two teams at the parasol wall? Siblings Justin & Jennifer and Vegas Showgirls Kaylani & Lisa; Justin was able to find the right parasol first, leaving the Vegas Showgirls to endure the Hazard later on…
BUT, it looked like they weren't even going to be able to make it out of the states. When Lisa & Kaylani stopped at a gas station for directions to LAX, Kaylani dropped her passport on the ground. She didn't notice until they were on their way to LAX, and quickly made a U-Turn to go back to the gas station. Unfortunately for them, the passport was gone. They hoped that one of the other teams had picked it up and brought it to the airport, so they raced to see. Once at the ticket counter, they asked about the passport. No one had turned it in. They couldn't do anything without it. While they pouted…
Gay Duo Ron & Bill, Survivors Ethan & Jenna, Engaged Ernie & Cindy, Pro-Footballer (& wife) Marcus & Amani, British Sailors Laurence & Zac, Siblings Justin & Jennifer, Snowboarders Andy & Tommy, and Dating Jeremy & Sandy all booked the 1st flight.
While the other teams gossiped over the Survivor duo (Ethan & Jenna both won CBS's show Survivor!), Showgirls Kaylani & Lisa looked like they were done-zo. Until they were paged over the airport system and they meet a couple of dudes that found her passport and realized through the wonders of social media that the girls needed to have her passport in order to continue on with the race (thanks twitter!).
So, they were saved and booked the last seats on the 2nd flight, along with the Blonde Twins Liz & Marie and the Grandparents Bill & Cathi.
Once in Taiwan, the first 8 teams all boarded a bus to the Ximending Commercial District. They were all expecting a cluebox, but the TAR producers threw them a curve-ball. An electronic billboard (with the TAR colors of yellow and red) would reveal their next destination. The first to figure it out were Siblings Justin & Jennifer and Pro-Footballer (& Wife) Marcus & Amani. They wrote down the 4 Chinese characters and asked locals to tell them what it meant; sending them off to Confucius Temple.
On the subway they were joined by Gay Duo Ron & Bill, Dating Jeremy & Sandy and Engaged Ernie & Cindy.
ROADBLOCK – CONFUCIUS TELEPHONE
One team member had to call on the temple's phone, listen to a Confucius proverb and reiterate it to a monk.
"In all things success depends on previous preparation. And without such previous preparation there is sure to be failure."
It proved to be a tongue twister for many-a-contestants as they all made several attempts. Cindy was the first to get it right. The clue sent them off via a taxi to Dajia Riverside Park.
Meanwhile, the 2nd flight landed and Vegas Showgirls Kaylani & Lisa and Blonde Twins Liz & Marie were able to get a jumpstart over Grandparents Bill & Cathi by getting on a bus before them. They all spent a long time at the Ximending Commercial District, but the Showgirls & the Twins eventually decided to work together and stumbled upon the billboard. But Grandparents Bill & Cathi were not so lucky, they kept wandering further and further away from the clue. They spent nearly 4 hours before returning to the center of the district and finally realizing that the billboard was their clue.
Meanwhile the front of the pack had reached Dajia Riverside Park where they had to join a Dragon Boat racing team in order to get their next clue. Engage Ernie & Cindy were the first to row, followed by Siblings Justin & Jennifer and Dating Jeremy & Sandy.
PITSTOP #1 – National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine
1st Leg Winners – Express Pass – Engaged Ernie & Cindy
2nd Place went to Dating Jeremy & Sand, 3rd place were Siblings Justin & Jennifer, 4th place went to Survivors Ethan & Jenna, 5th place were Former Pro-Footballer (&wife) Marcus & Amani, 6th place narrowly went to British Sailors Laurance & Zac, 7th place went to Snowboarders Andy & Tommy and 8th place went to Gay Duo Ron & Bill.
So that left 3 other teams to battle it out for the last spots. The Vegas Showgirls Kaylani & Lisa and the Blonde Twins Liz & Marie made it to Confucius Temple and Lisa made quick time of the telephone game. But it wasn't so easy for Liz. So while the Showgirls had to head to the Hazard at Core City Pacific Mall, Liz struggled to get the first few words right. (Oh, and by the way… the Grandparent Bill & Cathi were still wondering around in the Commercial district at this point.)
The Showgirls got to the mall and realized that one of them would have to bungee jump head first inside the mall… they then finished out the rest of the race to come in 9th place.
Liz, after many attempts and a bunch of whining, finally got the proverb correct and they finished out the rest of the race to come in 10th.
So then we had to watch Grandparents Bill & Cathi finally make their way over to the temple, where Cathi totally kicked ass and got the proverb on the first try (to the shocking surprise of the monk). They took their time with the Dragon Boat Racers, as their voiceovers spouted out their appreciation to have run in the race at all. They finally got to the mat and Phil told them they were in last place.
BUT… it's a NON-ELIMINATION LEG!
They are still in the race! They'll have a Speed Bump in the next leg AND the next leg will be the first ever TAR Double Elimination. (The other teams do NOT know this yet).
So do you have a favorite team yet? I'm obviously pulling for Survivors Ethan & Jenna, just because I already know them from their stints on Survivor, plus I've been loosely keeping track of Ethan's battle with cancer via media sites. We'll see how far they can go, but they're a strong duo and see them lasting a long time. How they thought they would go unrecognized by their competitors is beyond me.
And can I say I have a LOVE-HATE relationship with Non-Elimination Legs. I HATE them most of the time (like with this particular episode – really, what's the point of watching this episode?), but there are rare occasions where I LOVE them (only when my favorite team comes in last and is given redemption via a second chance!)
 Add Comments
|
|
Read More
