The Amazing Race Recap
By Daron Aldridge
October 8, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
With one leg behind us, here’s my take on how these teams rank.
Amy & Daniel (Dating): The on-and-off couple took second place on the first leg but was first among the teams in likability for me. Yes, they shouldn’t have shared the location of the clue to divorcees Abbie & Ryan but hopefully they have it out of their system and can use other approaches to play as nice people but not as doormats. Admittedly, this ranking is driven by the fact that I am rooting for them most at this point.
Abbie & Ryan (Dating divorcees): First place on the first leg means they are the only ones playing for the double grand prize of $2 million. I incorrectly suspected they would bicker their way into an earlier elimination. Ryan also proved to be less of a jackass than I believed him to be. They could go far but I’d wager that the other teams will view the extra cash incentive enough to target them as often as possible.
James & Abba (Friends): Headbangers Ball got a sixth place finish on the first leg. Again, the likability of the team is influencing the ranking. As is the case with every episode of every season of the Race, an equalizer at the start of the leg eliminates the lead of the front of the pack and serves as redemption for the back half. I think that James & Abba will benefit the most from this inevitability because they were frontrunners all the way until the last task, the aforementioned “looking for an old lady” task. They should be able to rebound and stay in the top.
Caitlin & Brittany (Friends): Defying the stereotype, the blondes grabbed the third place spot on the first leg. Despite an inexplicable inability to read the word “abacus”, Caitlin & Brittany performed quite well and quite well as a team. Their years of competitive sports may deserve credit but the blondes should be able to keep their momentum going.
(tie) Trey & Lexi (Dating): Team Longhorn ended the first leg in ninth place. AND Gary & Will (Best Friends/Substitute Teachers): Our replacement educators ended the first leg in eighth place. These two teams didn’t stumble much on the first leg and if not for the misfortune of being on the second flight to arrive in Shanghai, they might have met with Phil earlier. Both teams appear to have a strong understanding of one another and work well together.
Josh & Brent (Life partners for 15 years): Team Beekman ended the first leg with a seventh place finish. These guys have the potential for an explosive relationship more so than any other team, excluding the twins, but I will get to them in a minute. They seem to be outside of their comfort zone; even just small amounts of effort seem to bring more stress to an already stressful situation. We will see if I am wrong but until that time, I can’t see placing them much higher than this.
Jaymes & James (Best friends/Chippendales dancers): Team Beefcake ended the first leg with a 10th place finish. While the blondes defied stereotypes, Double Ja(y)mes here fueled them. Yes, they were strong but they offered little on the intellectual side, even with as simple of a task as looking for a person. While living up to our himbo expectations, they also narrowly escaped elimination by about 15 seconds. Yup, that was seconds. I would peg them as this season’s Team Jersey Shore but those meatheads had a decent, middle leg finish. Team Beefcake is not destined for even that amount of “above average”.
Natalie & Nadiya (twin sisters): Fourth place was what these twins secured on the first leg and it wasn’t good enough for them. I know, I know. Why are they so lowly ranked? Short answer: They are obnoxious. Long answer: They are the most obnoxious team this season and wish they weren’t on my TV anymore. So, I am ranking them here in hopes that I can will this Race fate into existence. Too bad, I believe the next team eliminated will be…
Rob & Kelley (married monster truckers): They secured a fifth place finish on the first leg. As I said earlier, the previous leg’s placement is easily, often and unflinchingly erased. This type of playing ground leveling will hurt the weaker teams the most and the monster truckers have already proven careless with the lack of clue-reading last week. They will just have to settle for “not being the first team eliminated” this season.
Since you only get one chance to make a first impression, there you have my initial feelings about these teams. My last wish that I will put out there into the universe is that I hope the challenges improve over the next month otherwise; it will be a long lame season.
So long, Shanghai. One leg was apparently enough in the city as the teams are now heading to the Surabaya, Indonesia, and the Alun Alun Stadium there. This gives us back-to-back legs with a sports-themed destination. More important, the winner of this leg will claim this season’s Express Pass, which will let them skip any task on a leg.
Abbie & Ryan acknowledge what I surmised in that they have a sizable target on their backs with the extra money in play. The producers attempt to give some insight into twins Natalie & Nadiaya by letting them explain their parents come from warring sides in Sri Lanka and they can persevere in other countries. Sorry, they still annoy me. Then, Rob explains that Kelley was married to his best friend, who died in an accident with his monster truck. They seem genuinely in love and it is sweet but I don’t think it will be enough to prevent their elimination.
With the first five teams converging on the airport counters, it becomes clear that any time lead time is predictably erased. All the teams have secured airfare to Surabaya with a stop in Jakarta, except the monster truckers. Rob & Kelley decide to take a chance and connect through Hong Kong without realizing (or just ignoring altogether) the fact that there is a four-hour layover in Hong Kong. That would put them about two hours behind the other teams when it is all said and done.
While Rob & Kelley appear to whiff on their branching out, James & Abba have connected with the ball by placing their names on the standby list for a connecting flight in Jakarta that leaves about an hour before the flight they (and everyone else in Jakarta) have tickets for. Based upon these two developments, dare I say “Welcome to the Foregone Conclusion Leg of Amazing Race 21”? Okay, I said it, which means, based upon my track record, that this definitely won’t be the case.
Time for the second most reliable equalizer on the Race: the closed location with a sunrise opening time. Such is the situation facing the teams at Alun Alun Stadium. So, although heavy metal buds James & Abba are able to secure the first number at the stadium, there is probably enough time for all the teams to catch up, including deluded stragglers Rob & Kelley, who are convincing themselves that they are still in the front of the pack. Yup, all the teams have caught up and we get a glimpse at emerging alliances: Twins and Longhorns have made a pretty solid pact and Amy & Daniel appear to be still be chummy with Abbie & Ryan, who swooped by them for the $2 million opportunity last week. We will see if these partnerships hold.
Following a commercial break, the realization of their dead last placement at the clue is lost on Rob as he is convinced that being in last is exactly where they want to be until it comes time to hit the mat. He says it is their way of sliding under the radar. Personally, I don’t really know any competitive person who prefers to be in last place but maybe this backwards strategy will work out for them. I doubt it. It’s these types of comments that make me want to be right so badly this leg, just to prove how asinine and futile this line of thinking is on the Race.
At the break of dawn, the teams are faced with their first task this leg and it is not much of a challenge but rather an exercise in showing off Indonesia culture. In the order they grabbed a number, the teams have to ride a moped alongside two bulls that are outfitted with a rider between them. Propelled by the rider basically treating the bull’s tail as a crank, the bulls easily outpace the mopeds. But don’t worry, teams, you get the clue just for showing up and completing the task. It’s the equivalent of the purple Field Day Participation Ribbon. This just guarantees that the order they do the task is the same order they get to the next clue on the Genteng Kali Bridge, which is nicely displayed in what looks like a basketball goal.
James & Abba are the first ones done and off to an actual challenge…I hope. It looks like there will be at most 10 minutes separating teams as they finish that bullsh…sorry…bull race task. This next clue reveals the Roadblock that asks the question, “Who likes to party?” For the Roadblock, the person has to operate a pedal-powered children’s ride (think the mini carousel outside the grocery store) with four kids on it, while making eight different balloon shapes (a hat and an animal for each kid). This one could be difficult for any team that hasn’t mastered patting their head and rubbing their belly at the same time.
Megadeth’s James accepts the task for this team and Amy & Daniel shows up next. Amy eagerly takes the task. And one-by-one the other teams arrive and none of them seem to be particularly excelling at the balloon shape making portion of the Roadblock.
Here’s the breakdown of who else is attempting the Roadblock: Abbie, Longhorn Lexi, Jaymes, Nadiaya, Brittany, Josh, Will and Rob. The order of arrival is thrown out the window here because the females are far and away more adept at this task. Lexi leapfrogs past the other teams and finishes first with Amy and Nadiaya right behind her. Then Megadeth James and mega-buff Jaymes are the next two done with Abbie following shortly after.
With Brent making up some time at the Roadblock, there appears to be some validity to Brent’s assertion that “There are some things that gays are naturally better at and balloon animals is one of them.” With their departure, the remaining three teams of the blondes, substitutes and the monster truckers are all making slow to no progress with the balloon animals, thus guaranteeing their decline letters from clown colleges across the country.
Team Longhorn and twins Natalie & Nadiaya are the first to arrive at the next location and the first Detour of the season: Ice by the Pound or Fish by the Barrel. For Ice, they have to transport ten 65 pound blocks of ice to a truck and then deliver it to a market. For Fish, they go immediately to the same market, get to two barrels of fish and prep a fish stand properly before getting their clue. This one comes across as a brawn versus attention to detail scenario as the Fish setup could be overly tedious and a pain to complete. I would go with Ice but that’s just me. Let’s see what the actual competitors choose.
The two teams on site go with different tasks: Longhorns on Ice and twins on Fish. Lexi explains that they hope to use Trey’s strength to get through the Detour quickly. Whether they are trying to convince us or themselves, the twins say multiple times that they are not divas and aren’t afraid of having to get physical in challenges. All I want is to hear from other teams at this point.
Back at the Roadblock, blondes Caitlin & Brittany and Rob & Kelley finish up their balloon animals, while Will is struggling more than any one person should. He has officially completed zero of eight animals and they are the only ones left at the Roadblock. If only the substitute could have another substitute fill in for him. With heat-induced sweats and tremors, Will seems on the verge of a seizure but he says it was more of a meltdown. With the encouragement of Gary and heeding his advice to take a breath and a break, Will starts to make progress.
So far, we still only have two teams at the Detour and a pair of perplexed cabbies giving Amy & Daniel and Rob & Kelley unwanted tours of Indonesia. No word on the other half dozen teams at this point, though.
The Longhorns have finished the loading portion of Ice and are off to the market, while the twins are attempting to get their stand set up. It appears that I was accurate in describing the Fish task as tedious based upon what Natalie & Nadiaya are going through.
Well, we can add James & Abba to the count of bad cabbies this leg, as their driver tries to drop them off at a place called Wijaya Tire instead of Wijaya Motors. Unsurprisingly, Team Beefcake and Abbie & Ryan both recognize that strength would be a big advantage and they opt for Ice, making relatively short work of the loading.
Sub Will has powered through, making the requisite number of balloons, and finally gets their clue but it may be too late, unless the lost teams are really, really lost. Fortuitously, that is the reality facing Amy & Daniel and Rob & Kelley so far. Both of these teams seem to be getting farther and farther from the Detour spot.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns Trey & Lexi are unloading their ice and are neck-and-neck with the twins, who are making significant headway on their fish display. With a thumbs up from their fish market guy, the twins get the clue and are now searching the market for the Pitstop. Unfortunately for me and my interest in this season, Natalie & Nadiaya get first place and the highly-coveted Express Pass. I find it humorous that Nadiaya (I think) explains that it is such a confidence booster to get the Pass because they have been thinking about it from day one. Um, you mean, you have been thinking about it for a whole three days. Wow, that is some commitment there. I am glad that you achieved your three-day long dream of an Express Pass. Mind you, a million dollars should be the focus of your efforts but what do I know. Ugh. I am not happy.
Trey & Lexi are checked in as number two and explain that they are happy that if they couldn’t get the Express Pass that the twins did. This alliance is making Trey & Lexi lose a bit of favorability in my eyes.
James & Abba and Caitlin & Brittany are both at the Detour and select Ice. As they start the Detour, Team Beefcake and the divorcees are at the market to drop off their ice. With successive quick edits, we see that Jaymes & James, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent are checked in at the Pitstop as numbers three, four and five. That means that this Detour is not really TV-friendly as we have seen minimal action during the teams’ attempts. In fact, we didn’t see a second of footage of Josh & Brent.
Back to the more interesting situation unfolding in Amy & Daniel and Rob & Kelley, who are both on the brink of cabbie homicide as they both have no idea where they are. This is likely the break that substitutes Gary & Will need to recover from Will’s balloon inadequacy.
James & Abba hit the mat as team number six, while the monster truckers and substitutes are chipping away at the first part of Ice. Still no sight of Amy & Daniel who finally have the discouraging direction from a local that the place they are looking for is “long way” away. This is great news for Will, who is sure they will be eliminated because of his Roadblock stumble.
Caitlin & Brittany are officially number seven and Amy & Daniel are at the Detour at long last. Rob & Kelley hit the mat next. The sneaky producers attempt to milk drama by showing Gary & Will struggling with delivering the ice and slowing sauntering through the market defeated but we all know that the dating couple is last. And so it shall be.
The substitutes are checked in as number nine and that means that the only thing that could save my favorite team is a very early non-elimination. Sadly, that isn’t in the cards. With class, Amy & Daniel don’t blame their supremely inept cab driver who cost them $1 million but rather just adopt the mindset that it wasn’t meant to be. For the record, I don’t regret placing them so high in my rankings, because they were arguably eliminated as a result of someone else’s colossal error and I think they are a better team than this placement reflects.
This one ranks in the top three most disappointing early eliminations for me, along with Justin & Zev’s lost passport-induced elimination and Ethan & Jenna’s elimination from a questionable double elimination on the second leg.
Hopefully by next week my interest in this season will have been renewed but right now, I am bummed and not really excited about what the rest of the season holds. The upcoming Double U-Turn could be fun to watch, though.