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The Amazing Race
Season 21
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Eleven teams of two, joined by family or relationship, follow a path of twists and turns in a frenetic race around the world for $1 million...and, quite possibly, even TWO million!

Who will be the first to cross the finish line?


Recaps by Chris Wolvie, GSNN

 
Host Phil Keoghan
Creator Bertram van Munster
Elise Doganieri
EP Jerry Bruckheimer
Bertram van Munster
Jonathan Littman
Elise Doganieri
Mark Vertullo
Packager Jerry Bruckheimer TV
Worldrace Productions
Amazing Race Productions
CBS Television Studios
ABC Studios
Web www.cbs.com/amazingrace
Airs 8p Sun, CBS
Available
ONLINE
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Double Your Money
September 30 - Leg 1

Twenty times before, teams of two - linked by blood, marriage or friendship - have gone around the world and back again in pursuit of one million dollars in cash. Through many DETOURs and ROADBLOCKs, some SPEED BUMPs and FAST FORWARDs, they have travelled millions of miles for the money. But THIS time, the eleven teams could be racing for MORE than that! And all they need to do is finish TWO of the Race Legs in first! Say what?!? Find out soon enough as we start THE AMAZING RACE 21!

STARTING LINE
COLORADO STREET BRIDGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, USA

A week after winning its ninth Emmy(TM) for "Outstanding Reality-Competition Program" out of the ten offered (how the hell Top Chef won in 2010 still confuses me), the king of all reality shows returns...with a hippy bus, loaded down with surfboards and the like, driving out to the bridge. The eleven teams disembark at a cul-du-sac nearby and jog to the center of the bridge. And they are...:

Trey Wier & Alexis "Lexi" Beerman (Team Texas Two-Step): dating couple from Texas; he's a land consultant (and a former U of TX footballer) and she's a clothing designer (and a former U of T cheerleader)
Natalie & Nadiya Anderson (Team Jersey Twins): twins sisters from Edgewater, NJ via Sri Lanka (they were born in Queens but moved to the island nation at age 3); Nat's a physical therapy student and Nad's a project coordinator
James Lomenzo & Mark "Abba" Abbattista (Team Hair Metal): friends from CA; James is formerly of Megadeth and White Lion while Mark is an entertainment lawyer
Josh Kilmer-Purcell & Brent Ridge (Team Beekman Boys): life partners & goat farmers from Sharon Springs, NY; they once starred on Planet Green's "The Fabulous Beekman Boys", a show referred to as a "gay Green Acres"
Amy Purdy & Daniel Gale (Team Adaptive Action): on-and-off daters from Summit County, CO; she's a double amputee and he's an executive director for Adaptive Action Sports, a company for amputees who want to get into extreme sports like Amy.
Caitlin King & Brittany Fletcher (Team Besties): BFFs; Caitlin's a special ed teacher from Atlanta, Brittany's a medical device salesperson from Chicago
Rob Scheer & Sheila Castle (Team Over-the-Hill Engaged): 50+ engaged couple; he's a lumberjack (and he's OK) from Alaska, she's a retail manager from Tennessee
Gary Wojnar & Will Chiola (Team Sub Teachers): friends from Michigan (GO BLUE!); they have the toughest job in America: middle school substitute teachers [CRINGE!] They FINALLY made the Race after SEVEN auditions.
Abbie Ginsberg & Ryan Danz (Team Dating Divorcees): daters from California who are divorced from different marriages; she's a dance instructor, he's a financial service company owner (who was also on "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart")
Jaymes Vaughn & James Davis (Team Full Monty!): friends from Las Vegas; both are part of the world (in)famous Chippendales male stripper/dancer team
Rob French & Kelley Carrington-French (Married Monster Truckers): husband and wife from Boston, GA; they drive monster trucks for a living...BOTH of them.

Our ineffable host Phil Keoghan greets the teams on the bridge. They know the score: ROUTE INFO to ROUTE INFO, DETOURs and ROADBLOCKs along the way, PIT STOP at each of the twelve Legs' end, last to most of them go home.

Come first in a Leg, win a prize. Come first across the FINISH LINE!!, somewhere in the US, win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!

But...that's not all! Phil informs them that Racing to the FINISH LINE!! will NOT be their only incentive for big money. You see, the team who won the FIRST Leg of the last two Races have gone on to win the ENTIRE Race. Apparantly, CBS would LOVE to keep that streak going...so here's the deal: if you cross the FINISH LINE!! first, you STILL win the million. HOWEVER, if you win this FIRST Leg and THEN go on to win the Race, you do NOT win the one million dollars...

You win TWO MILLION DOLLARS!!

(But no EXPRESS PASS this time)

OK, time for the first task (in keeping with the racing theme, I call it the "GREEN LIGHT CHALLENGE"). The first clue to the Race is on the Racers' bags. The Racers' bags are 100 feet below them off the side of the bridge. To get to said bags and said clue, both team members must rappel off said bridge. Get to the bottom, get your bags, read your clue, hope into a 2013 Ford Escape(TM), head for LAX...and start your 25,000-plus-mile global odyssey!

And now, Phil says those eleven BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL words:

"The world is waiting for you...

"Good luck...

"Travel safe...

"GO!!"

Twenty-two Americans run past Phil and out to the highest point of the brudge. Trey & Lexi are the first to start the descent, Caitlin & Brittany on their tail. Josh & Brent and the Ja(y)mes "brothers" are close behind them. But Team Beekman Boys work their way down the ropes first with Team Besties mere feet behind. The other two teams lag a bit, but it's still a rather close race. Both teams run to their bags and read their first clue:

ROUTE INFO

MAKE YOUR WAY TO SHANGHAI, CHINA!

Drive to LAX and then fly nearly 6500 miles to Taipei, China. Upon arriving, travel by taxi to Yuanshen Sports Center Stadium. You'll find your next clue on the grounds.

You may ONLY travel on one of two flights: China Airlines' Flight 7 (scheduled to land at 10:50am), which will accomodate ONLY the first seven teams to check-in, and Eva Air's Flight 15 (scheduled to land at 12:05pm), which will take the last four teams.

(The second half of the clue was given by Phil on the Escape's viewscreen)

As they start off, James & Abba and Abbie & Ryan start down...and Gary's not sure he can even DO this. He & Will evenutally start down...after Amy & Daniel and Rob & Kelley get down. Rob & Shiela are next to last and Natalie & Nadiya bring up the rear.

Into their Fords and down the 110 they head, hanging a right at I-105, another right at Sepulveda and finally to...

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA

Team Full Monty! are the first to get the China Air tix, followed closely by Team Besties. Teams Hair Metal, Adaptive Action and Dating Divorcees likewise make the early flight. Three more teams arrive, but only two will be 75 minutes ahead of the others in Shanghai. And Team Beekman Boys...they blew it by being too nice and letting another team ahead of them. Well, actually, it was Josh who let them pass...and Brent berated his partner for this lapse of judgement. So they'll be the first on the SECOND flight while Team Jersey Twins and Married Monster Truckers take the last seats on the early trip.

FIRST FLIGHT (CHINA AIRLINES, ARRIVING 1050 Zulu):
Jaymes & James, Caitlin & Brittany, James & Abba, Amy & Daniel, Abbie & Ryan, Natalie & Nadiya, Rob & Kelley
SECOND FLIGHT (EVA AIR, ARRIVING 1205 Zulu):
Josh & Brent, Trey & Lexi, Rob & Shiela, Gary & Will

SHANGHAI, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

China Air touches down in the most populous city in the world. No kidding, either; over 23 million people call this place home, or over 3600 per square kilometer! Ai ya!!

Anyway, the fourteen Americans disembark. James & Abba are first to catch a cab...and the cabbie speaks English VERY well. Jaymes & James can't get a handle on how HOT it is in the country. Abbie & Ryan are having jetlag issues after the 17-hour flight (and Ryan brags that he hasn't changed his underwear in that time). Amy & Daniel state that it's STILL a close Race as they and everyone else get to...

YUANSHEN SPORTS CENTER STADIUM
SHANGHAI, CHINA

At the multi-purpose 20,000-seat stadium (mostly used for soccer), the cabs start to arrive. They run to the stadium, run to the Clue Box and run right into their first...

ROADBLOCK

WHO'S READY TO GET PADDLED?

Table tennis (or ping pong) is pretty much the national sport of China. Champions of the sport practice at an early age. One teammate must go into the row of table tennis tables set up and play a point against a junior world champion (who, by the way, HATES to lose). You must BEAT her for one point before you can continue. If she beats you, you'll have to wait your turn as she'll travel down the row of tables, playing against other Racers. To give you a SLIGHT advantage, with each consecutive point she makes on you, she will use different household items in place of a paddle (like a frying pan or a small clipboard). Only when you score a point against her will she reward you with your next clue.

And the first 'BLOCKers of the Race are: James D., Caitlin, Nadiya, Abbie, James L. and Daniel. (mentally counts) Uh,...where're Married Monster Truckers? Oh, I see...they're circling the complex on foot looking for the clue box. The 'BLOCKers couldn't believe that they have to play against a 10-year-old girl. Nadiya thinks they have this since they played ping-pong in Sri Lanka...but she quickly blows the point. Down the line she goes, SLAMMING that ball into the players' chest and stomach off a bounce. When all seven failed, the champion put down the paddle and picks up a small clipboard (with paper, no less). James D. does no better against that, hitting into the net. Nadiya hits it out of bounds again...and Natalie yells at her to "relax", which she does NOT appreciate. Down goes Caitlin, down goes Daniel. But Abbie gets lucky as the champ hits it out of bounds! She & Ryan leave the ROADBLOCK first with this clue:

ROUTE INFO

LET'S GO OUT FOR SOME CHINESE!

Make your way to Cui Ping Jiu Jia. Your next clue is a mouthful.

Note: You can find Cui Ping Jiu Jia at Gui Zhao Lu 107.

While the divorcees depart the scene, James L. LIKEWISE gets lucky as the champ misses the table by an inch. He & Abba are second out of the gates. The rockers manage to get a cab FIRST and head on their way.

Ah, THERE're Rob & Kelley. They practically toured the entire complex before finding the clue box. And, when they find the ROADBLOCK, Kelley is volunteered to swat that paddle. As they enter, James D. lucks out and he & Jaymes depart in third. The champion starts the third round with...a frying pan? And AGAIN Nadiya hits it out of bounds on the first rebound...which makes Natalie yell even MORE at her twin! And she's even MORE frustrated when Caitlin lucks out and she & Brittany leave in fourth. As Team Besties leave, Married Monster Truckers arrive and Kelley takes her spot. First, though, Daniel plays against the champ with a tamborine in her hand...and after begging for mercy throughout the point, the champ hits behind the net and Amy & Daniel go out in fifth. Kelley promptly gets "aced" with the paddle and Nadiya awaits her turn again.

The champ picks up a tamborine...and Nadiya overshoots AGAIN!! Oh, this is downright embarrassing! The arguing between the girls, not Nadiya's constant goofing up. Kelley blows her point (not shown) and the champ now has a plastic pencil box. Nadiya FINALLY gets it in-bounds...and the champ underhits! Much rejoicing (YEAH!) as Team Jersey Twins get going in sixth, leaving Kelley behind to try to make up time. Eventually, with the champ using the very clue she is to give contestants, Kelley scores on an underhit. Arrive in seventh, leave in seventh...but at least they're not last en route to...

CUI PING JIU JIA RESTAURANT
SHANGHAI, CHINA

The clue is in a stuffed yellow frog outside the restaurant entrance. And Team Hair Metal find it containing something I'm sure they weren't expecting THIS early in the Race.

ROADBLOCK

WHO WANTS TO GO TUBING? (IF YOU DID THE TABLE TENNIS ROADBLOCK, YOUR PARTNER MUST DO THIS ONE!)

All you have to do is have some traditional Chinese dessert called hasma. Hasma is two hallowed-out papaya halves...filled with frog fallopian tubes. Ayup, you're going to eat the chewy frog insides where tadpoles travel to be fertilized. Yummie. You may not pick up the plate or the papaya from the table or use your hands; you must use chopsticks. Once you down the frog innards, the restaurant manager will hand you your next clue.

Wow, the "dreaded" RBx2 first thing out of the gates, eh? Of course, that means Abba must partake in the "delicacy". When he uncovers the papaya, he feels the hasma looks like "overcooked macaroni". And EATING it? Nigh on impossible with chopsticks; Abba has to slurp it off the sticks about two centimeters above the rest of it. As he downs it, in come Team Dating Divorcees, Ryan ready to consume. And DOES he consume. He's REALLY eating it up! In comes Britanny ready to eat for Team Besties and Amy for Team Adaptive Action. Before they can sit and start, though, Abba slurps up the last of the frog fallopians. The manager checks to see he's done and hands off the clue. Team Hair Metal go outside and read it:

ROUTE INFO

IT JUST ALL ADDS UP!

Make your way to the Bund and find the woman using an abacus to find your next clue.

"Abba"cus? It's a sign from heaven according to them. They find a cab just as Ryan finishes up in second.

Wow, has it been 75 minutes already? There's the Eva Air flight touching down. Teams Beekman Boys, Texas Two-Step, Over-The-Hill Engaged and Sub Teachers get out and find taxis to the Sports Center Stadium. Josh & Brent don't like their chances at a physical task. At said stadium, our paddlers are Trey, Rob, Gary and Josh. Lexi says Trey "rocks" at ping pong at home...but Trey's never played against a champion. It takes to the clipboard, but Trey & Lexi leave this ROADBLOCK for the OTHER one in eighth. Rob gets lucky when the champ uses the pan and the pentagenarians (50-to-59-year-old) leave in ninth. Gary lucks out with the clipboard as well so he & Will leave in tenth. And Josh actually beat the champ when she overshoot with her PADDLE on the FIRST POINT! They're in last, but not by much.

Back at the restaurant, Jaymes gets ready to start eating. It did NOT taste good to him...but, hell, you do what you have to for two mil. So he eats quickly...so quickly he spills a fair bit on the table. When he finishes what was in the papaya in record time, he licks and slurps the tubes still on the table (much to Brittany's disgust). Once he's sucked up every bit of white, the manager hands the their clue in third and he & James split. Right behind, though, is Amy & Daniel in fourth. As Brittany struggles to keep the Hasma down, in comes Team Jersey Twins, with Natalie ready to eat. As she starts, Brittany finishes and Team Besties depart in fifth. Nadiya is more supportive to Natalie than vice versa; she even gets the whole restaurant to cheer for her "twinie" as she stays standing and slurps it up. Just as they finish in sixth, Rob comes in to be the last of the first group. And it looks like Rob's gonna encur a penalty, as he picks up the papaya to down it. Sure enough, after he finishes, the manager does NOT hand him & Kelley the clue. Only THEN do they find out they goofed and Rob will have to go through it all OVER again. It's TAR 101, people: read your clues thoroughly!! At first, Rob can't think to eat two more papayas of the stuff...but he begrudgingly sits back down and digs in with the chopsticks.

THE BUND
SHANGHAI, CHINA

The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai, the word meaning an embankment or quay. An abacus (for those who didn't know anything before pocket calculators) is several row of beads that people slide back and forth to count things in ancient China. Mark & Abba arrive and look for the woman with the abacus...only to pass RIGHT BY her sitting under an umbrella. As they flounder, Abbie & Ryan arrive and start to look. Jaymes & James arrive a little later and ask around for an abacus, getting no takers.

As Lexi arrives to eat up, Rob finishes his second helping and FINALLY gets the next clue. This cheers Lexi up a bit as they have caught up with the lead pack!

Other teams arrive at the Bund and look around (some loving the skyline more than looking for a clue). But it's Amy & Daniel who find the lady first. She puts down her abacus and hands the daters this vital clue:

ROUTE INFO

MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE PIT STOP!

Make your way on foot to the Bund Signal Tower Observatory, a 100-year-old signal tower overlooking the Shanghai skyline and the PIT STOP for this Leg of the Race. The first team to check-in will be the ONLY team eligible for the TWO MILLION DOLLARS!

WARNING! The LAST team to check-in MAY BE ELIMINATED!

(Actually, no "MAY" about it; Phil says the last team WILL be eliminated...but the clues all say "MAY" so...)

Team Adaptive Action ask a local to show a picture of the Observatory with his smartphone and then they start to book it. As they plot their route, Team Dating Divorcees ask them where the "abacus woman" was...and they SHOW them (the idiots)! One couple starts sprinting for the PIT STOP while another get the clue to said STOP. Caitlin & Britanny get to the clue at the same time as Abbie & Ryan so it's a true foot race to...

PIT STOP #1
BUND SIGNAL TOWER OBSERVATORY
SHANGHAI, CHINA

Two couples run towards the tower...but Abbie & Ryan run past an exhausted Amy & Daniel...who are now REALLY regretting telling them where that clue was. As such, it is Abbie & Daniel first to hit the mat in front of Phil and the local greeter (who gives them a nice "Ni hao"). Phil proudly announces them as Team #1 and reminds them that their "prize" is the opportunity to win TWO million should they win the entire Race! Amy & Daniel come staggering in, get checked-in as Team # 2 and are hugged by Team Dating Divorcees, who thank them for the clue. Inwardly, though, Ryan is grateful; she sees Amy as "dangerous" and will take advantage any way possible!

Back at the Bund, Team Besties pass by Team Full Monty!, who are STILL looking for the abacus. So the Ja(y)mes boys decide the girls are running TO the woman and start running after THEM! As such, Caitlin & Brittany as checked-in as Team #3...and, when Jaymes & James SEE Phil, they do a U-turn (not a U-TURN; no DETOURs on this Leg) and head back. DOH!

Back at the restaurant, the thrill of eating frog inards is all but gone for Lexi...but Trey and the rest of the patrons cheer her on. As they do, Shiela (already gagging) comes in for Team Over-The-Hill Engaged and starts in while Team Texas Two-Step departs in eighth. Shiela barely uses her chopsticks; she licks it up like it's a pie-eating contest. She finishes in ninth as Mike of Team Sub Teachers comes in. The little guy (5-foot-1, so I won't call him what I called Charla) is cheered on by everybody and finishes as quickly as possible. The men leave in tenth...and Josh & Brent are nowhere to be found. But Rob & Shiela get bad directions and are sent to the Bank of China when they explain they're looking for a "woman counting". So, while Brent finishes the hasma in last place, they may STILL have a shot of staying in the Race.

Team Hair Metal STILL can't find the woman with the abacus, asking shop owners in the Bund about it. It's Team Jersey Twins who find the woman next and sprint for the PIT STOP. And THEY are smart; when Rob & Kelley ask THEM where the clue is, the girls lie and say they're still looking. The twins check-in as Team #4...but they're disappointed at missing the shot at two million. Still, the Married Monster Truckers find her fairly fast and get the PIT STOP clue. They are easily Team #5...

...because all the other teams (except for Team Over-The-Hill Engaged, who are frantically looking at the bank) are STILL struggling. The Bund is a BIG place, after all. Up and down the modern embankment the Americans go, looking this way and that for the woman and the abacus. FINALLY, James & Abba find her and start to sprint for the tower. Whent Josh & Brent arrive, a local who had been there a while actually DIRECTS the goat farmers right TO the woman. Team Hair Metal are Team # 6, Team Beekman Boys are #7.

Jaymes & James are getting frustrated...especially Jaymes, who's trying to win the million for his cancer-ridden, 50-hour-week-working father. But as they struggle, Rob & Kelley arrive at the Bund after striking out at the bank and get directions from another local who has been there a while...but, just like Mark & Abba, they walk right past her. Hell, Shiela actually LOOKS THE WOMAN IN THE EYE and they still pass her by! As such, Gary & Will catch the faux pax and get the clue themselves. When they PASS Team Full Monty!, they deny knowledge of where the woman is. Trey & Lexi get help from a local and Rob & Shiela follow, both getting their clues in short order...and telling Jaymes & James where it is once they're about a 1/4-mile away.

Gary & Will are Team #8. Right behind them are Trey & Lexi, Team #9.

TAs Team Over-The-Hill Engaged find out where the tower is, Team Full Monty! get the clue. Both teams run towards the tower, hoping not to be the last one in. Then the dancers see the couple and start to jog a bit faster. But will they pass them?! (The other teams at the PIT STOP hope they DON'T!)

"Jaymes & James," says Phil upon both teams arriving within 15 seconds of each other, "you are Team #10! You're still in the Race! Rob & Shiela, I'm sorry to tell you that your are the last team to arrive...and that you have been eliminated from the Race."

Bummer. Fifteen ticks of Phil's Timex was all that stood between the couple and going further than the 6500 miles they had travelled today. Still, no regrets. They couldn't've picked better partners.

ROUTE INFO

AFTER LEG 1: PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, USA to SHANGHAI, CHINA

1) Abbie & Ryan - $2M Chance
2) Amy & Daniel
3) Caitlin & Brittany
4) Nadiya & Natalie
5) Rob & Kelley
6) James & Abba
7) Josh & Brent
8) Gary & Will
9) Trey & Lexi
10) Jaymes & James
ELIMINATED IN 11th) Rob & Shiela

To see this episode in its entirety, or to apply to be a contestant on "The Amazing Race", visit the official website at www.cbs.com/amazingrace