Amazing Race 15: Episode 3
By Daron Aldridge
October 13, 2009
Once they land in Cambodia, the teams race out of the airport to the Foreign Correspondents Club, where they must locate an assignment editor and in a whisper ask for their "next assignment" to get the clue.
Fortuitously, Zev and Justin get their cab driver named Terry to agree to stay with them for the duration of this leg. They are the first ones at the club, followed immediately by the brothers and old friends/new couple Meghan and Cheyne. Their clues instruct them use an old photo of an unidentified lady to determine which hotel has a suite named for her and then go there for the next clue.
The photo is of Jackie Kennedy Onassis on a trip to Cambodia riding in a convertible in a parade. Personally, I think it is a rather dark choice considering other photos of her in a similar setting but that just might be me.
Terry comes through for Zev and Justin and knows exactly which hotel it is, as does Sam and Dan's cabbie and the people on the street who Meghan and Cheyne ask for help. It's not too challenging of a clue so far but with Dan's "we need to find out who this lady is," the producers are setting the stage for something.
At the Foreign Correspondents Club, all the teams follow the clue's instructions to "ask for my next assignment" except for Mika and Canaan ask for their next "task" and get nothing. He admits that sometimes the little details are important and that is where they tripped up. Like I said last time, if you are on the Amazing Race, Read. Your. Clue!! Sorry, Brian and Ericka, I contend that this season's theme is, "Watch at least one team each week mess up by not reading their clues."
All the teams pretty much get the destination right but we are then treated to the ignorance of the racers. The American educational system will likely not be using this episode as a mark of its merits. Only three people recognize the woman in the photo as Jackie Kennedy Onassis: Gary (who is old enough to remember JFK), Zev and Lance (who likely just pulled the old "I was just about to say it was her", when a local identified her as Kennedy). Flight said it was one of the queens from Cambodia. Sam and Dan declare her a queen or princess but they likely make that conclusion because the name of the hotel is Hotel Royal and the clue says that a suite is named after the person. We can cut them a little slack but not Mika and Canaan.
They get to give the state of Tennessee a bad name. First, Canaan says that it was Queen Elizabeth and then Mika counters with "this is definitely someone of Cambodian descent. She looks like the people of Cambodia." With Canaan's agreeing nods to Mika's statements that means Canaan believes that Queen Elizabeth is Cambodian. I feel sorry for any Tennessean who may be judged by these fools.
Continued:
1
2
3
4
Print this column
