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With a very important Express Pass dangling in front of them, Kris & Amanda are trying their best but it isn’t good enough for them to pass Gary & Mallory. The father and daughter hit the mat and Phil happily hands over the Express Pass. Phil then quickly explains that this is not a pitstop and they are still racing. That sneaky, sneaky Keoghan. They haven’t pulled out this trick in a few seasons but I am glad it is back.

Yammering along as usual, Mallory continues to stand on the mat and voice her confusion/disbelief that they are still going. Phil has to be as direct as possible and tells her “stop talking and go.” I am not convinced that she understands what just happened to them.

Amanda & Kris show up in second and Kisha & Jen arrive at the non-pitstop in third. Both teams are sent on their way with a fatigued look on their faces. We aren’t shown much decoding action on the dock, so it is surprising to see that Justin has passed the others with the code. He and Zev are on their way to the skiff.

And we are treated with the first flub of the race and it is performed by Luke & Margie and Jaime & Cara. Working together only meant they both got it wrong. Instead of “I am between the devil and the deep blue sea,” they came up with “I am the devil and the deep blue sea.”

Next, Flight Time employs a different strategy and bails on decoding the message because of a fear of falling behind. They approach Zev & Justin, who they became friends with on their season…and are even wearing Harlem Globetrotters T-Shirts on this leg, for what the message was. Justin delivers and both teams agree that Flight and Easy owe them. Justin explains that they will rely upon that friendship and are happy to help but know they now have someone to ask for a favor as payback. With the incorrect teams milling around the dock, Flight leans in and whispers the phrase to prevent eavesdropping. It works and Margie & Luke and Jaime & Cara head back to the dock. Both teams approach Justin about helping them and he denies both of them. He tells them they already helped someone else and aren’t going to do that for everyone. I have to agree with him on this strategy. Why would you minimize the value of your alliance with Flight and Easy for teams you don’t know or don’t know if you can trust. This is a dynamic that I was skeptical of going in to the season because of the preexisting relationships, but it may prove to be an intriguing curve ball as the race progresses.

Back on the skiffs, Zev & Justin and the Globetrotters have conquered the bay with clues in hand. Christina and Mel think they have solved the compass clue and head out, leaving Vyxsin and Jet bringing up the rear.

On route back to the dock, Margie ambushes Mel and Christina. Very smart on her part, Christina doesn’t tell them but rather would share it with them if they showed them to the skiff club. Brilliantly played, Christina. That is a great way to leverage the other teams without indebting yourself to them. Feeling the pressure, Jet hastily takes off with only the location part of the clue. Vyxsin is right behind with not much more accuracy but they use the Globetrotters method of just asking another one for the answer. Margie happily helps because she feels they can beat Kent & Vyxsin at the end.

It is not looking good for the cowboys because everyone is in the water except them. Luckily, the pitstop fake-out is awaiting all the teams. They are shown arriving in this order: fourth – Zev & Justin; fifth – Flight Time & Big Easy; sixth – Jaime & Cara; seventh – Margie & Luke; eighth – Ron & Christina; and ninth – Mel & Mike.

Jet thinks he has the rest of the message figured out but they are way behind the tenth place Goths. He’s wrong again. The team that proved very strong on their first race is struggling majorly here. Since the clock is ticking on the episode and Jet is mentally tapped out with this Roadblock, it is a great time to use the words “To Be Continued.”

That’s right. There is no elimination but the Amazing Race has fulfilled my entertainment expectation. It is once again off to a strong start and kept a brisk pace for the whole episode to me. I look forward to next week when we get our first elimination (hopefully) but apparently, the physicality of the race is taking its toll on 70-year-old Mel, according to the previews. It’s a good thing I placed them at the bottom of my rankings this week, even though I will be revising them based upon what went down this week.

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