THE AMAZING RACE Season Premiere

Can you imagine how devastating it must be to be completely amped for a race around the world only to be Philiminated before your first destination? Such was the heartbreak for Eric and Lisa, yoga instructors from California, who were sent home after not being able to complete the first task of this, the 15th season of THE AMAZING RACE.

One of the most important factors in running a good race is paying attention to detail. The first task of the new season was to search a wall full of license plates and find one of the eleven plates from Tokyo.  Producers counted on the adrenaline of the racers to overpower their common sense.  A visual clue indicating the correct license plate was actually printed on their clue card. Those who paid attention to the entire clue and noticed the mark were quick to get their plates and head off to LAX for their flight to Tokyo.  But in the end it came down to Lisa & Eric and Lance & Keri with the latter pair finding the plate to secure the last plane tickets.

With the first task out of the way, the 11 teams left took off for the adventure of their life.  They will criss-cross the globe on a race to win $1M dollars. Be the first to the pit stop and you move on to the next destination. Arrive last and face being eliminated by the race by host Phil Keoghan.

Professional poker players, Maria & Tiffany, got their game on early. Not wanting to people to discount them because of their wealth, the two created a backstory in which they worked at a homeless shelter.  Uh oh, is THE AMAZING RACE turning into BIG BROTHER?

Upon arriving in Tokyo the teams were ushered right into an infamous Japanese game show.  Things got off to a hot start when one of the teammates was forced to eat a Wasabi bomb under two minutes in order to receive their next clue. It might sound easy, but clearly you’ve never ingested a large quantity of wasbi in one sitting.

Once the eating challenge was complete, the teams then had to usher members of the studio audience through the bustling streets of Tokyo in order to find a specific shrine.

Meghan and Cheyne, the all American boyfriend and girlfriend from San Diego, were the first to arrive to the mat and the winners of the first leg of THE AMAZING RACE. This twosome have been friends since elementary school and marriage is in their sights. Let’s just hope their relationship lasts the Race.

Zev and Justin, long time friends from Sherman Oaks, CA came in second.  Zev suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. People with this syndrome often show significant difficulties in social interaction which often manifests itself in not being able to hold back from saying whatever is on their mind at any given time. Some, like Zev, also have a difficult time with breaking from routines and patterns. Time will tell if the frantic pace of TAR will be more difficult for Zev than others.

Lance and Kerri, an engaged couple from Boston took third place this week.  I feel like I should apologize in advance for this team. Why does the hometown team have to suck so much? Keri hasn’t had much to say so far, but that could be because Lance is a loud mouth, arrogant asshat.  Couple that with his annoying Boston accent and I’m already over him.

Marcy and Ron, the oldest twosome running the race this season, came in 4th in the first leg.  Not sure what to make of this team yet, but Marci wasn’t wrong when she alluded that she could be seen as overbearing at times.  She’s a little wacky and really loud.  Of course she was the one with the bullhorn walking the streets of Tokyo. Yikes.

Herbert (Flight Time) and Nathaniel (Big Easy) are one of my favorite teams so far this season (of course it’s only the first episode).  These two know a little something about being globetrotters seeing as they are Globetrotters…Harlem Globetrotters that is. Tonight they came in 5th place.

Brian and Ericka, a married couple from Nashville, came up big when the crossed the mat in 6th place.  They were third from last at the license plate puzzle, and dead last with the wasabi challenge.  But they made a friend in a tourist who took them directly to the pit stop and in doing so they bypassed five other teams that finished the game show task before them.  Ericka, Miss America 2004, seems a little high maintenance (and very screechy) but you have to give them credit for this win.

Gary and Matt, a father and son team from Montana, are looking to THE AMAZING RACE to help them rebuild their relationship.  The two may be night and day but they worked together this week to pull off a seventh place finish.

Garrett and Jessica are an on again, off again couple who are looking to the race to help them decide whether or not they should be together.  I think there are probably other, healthier ways to establish a stable relationship other than racing around the world under an obscene amount of stress, but to each their own.

Sam and Dan, brothers from Missouri, pulled up to the pit stop in the number nine position tonight.  I’m kind of loving these guys. They seem pretty fun. Sam and Dan (who I’m destined to call Sam and Dean while they are in the race) weren’t close growing up but have really bonded since they came out to each other at the same time last summer.

Mika and Canaan, country singers from Nashville, had a scary finish when they arrived at the pit stop with only 19 of their 20 designated game show contestants.  Not able to check in until everyone was accounted for, they lucked out when they found their 20th person just steps from the shrine.  Canaan swooped her up and carried her to the mat.  They came in 10th place tonight.

Maria and Tiffany, the poker players, came in last place.  They too lost a few friends along the way and despite their backtracking they weren’t able to cross the finish line with their twenty new friends in tow. But these two had some luck on their side tonight as Phil announced that this was a non-elimination leg of the race.  They will incur a two hour penalty and they will have to complete a road bump on the next leg but they won’t be going home tonight. It seems they drew an Ace on the river. (Bummer, I’m not a fan of these two.)

A pretty exciting first leg of THE AMAZING RACE.  But wait…there is more.

(Note: Somehow I missed the fact that tonight was a 2-hour season premiere.  I’ve been writing my recap live during the episode.  Phil just announced that the second hour was about to begin.  OH NO!! Are you ready to keep racing? Here we go…)

The second leg has the teams off to Vietnam. The playing field was even when everyone managed to get on the same flight. Upon arriving in Vietman, the teams were split into two buses.  The first bus got over an hour head start on bus number two.  The inhabitants of the second bust ponied up an additional $100 each to get the bus driver to leave early.

Now as a long time fan of THE AMAZING RACE I knew this was a dumb move.  For the most part, when there is that much of a delay between two modes of transportation it usually means they are heading to a destination that is going to be closed.  It’s a way to once again even up the competition.  But the second bus wasn’t thinking rationally and they spent their money only to reach the first groups of teams who were already waiting for the gates to open…the next morning.

When the sun rose is way off to the mud pits where the teams had to gather heavy mud and transport it to the roots of nearby trees. Ten of the 11 teams were off on this challenge, but Maria and Tiffany had to first complete their speed bump challenge which had them making a native soup. It proved to be no challenge at all and they rejoined the other teams.

Once finished the teams then headed to a nearby festival where they encountered their first Road Block of the season.  One member had to keep their ducks in a row…literally. They had 10 minutes to herd 150 ducks from the point A to B and then back again.  Brothers Sam and Dan were the first ones to finish and the first ones on their way to the pitstop.

But it was father and son team of Gary and Matt who were the first ones to meet Phil on the mat, winning this leg of the race.

Early favorites Flight & Big Easy and Sam & Dan arrived at the same time to take the 2nd and 3rd place spots.  Lance & Kerry arrived 4th.  Zev & Justin were the 5th team to arrive. Meghan & Cheyne were team #6. Maria & Tiffany came from the verge of elimination to 7th place.  Mika & Canaan were team number 9.  And battling out for last place was Jessie & Garret and Ericka & Brian.

Earning the last place on the mat were Ericka and Brian.  Garrett and Jessica were the last team to arrive and were eliminated to arrive.

And THAT my friends, was two hours of some pretty great reality TV. Right?

Are you excited for this new season?  Was the right team Philiminated this week?  Any teams you are loving or loathing already? Will you be watching along with us this season? I hope so.