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| Eleven teams of two, joined by family or relationship, follow a path of twists and turns in a hectic race around the world for $1 million. Who will be the first to cross the finish line? Recaps by Chris Wolvie, GSNN
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Business in the Front,
Party in the Back Around the world and back again...that's the Racer's way. Eleven teams of Americans - bound by blood, bands or BFF-ship - are ready for the adventure of a lifetime. They will travel to exotic lands, meet diverse people, do interesting tasks...and maybe learn a little something about each other on the way. And, at the end, one team will win ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Look out, world; it's time for THE AMAZING RACE 22! STARTING LINEGRIFFITH OBSERVATORY OUTSIDE OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA It's almost as if Los Angeles and/or the state of California has been deemed the permanent STARTING LINE for the Race from here on out. The famous observatory overlooking the "City of Angels" is where host Phil Keoghan awaits the teams. And, instead of having them brought to the observatory by bike or cart or even copter, CBS decided to just let them JOG up the hill. And they are...: Chuck & Wynona McCall (Team
Roll Tide!): married couple (15 years) from Daphne, AL; they're
both rednecks, from their long mullet-like hair to the fact that
Chuck hunts, kills and mounts animals in his spare time Up to the spot where the Autobots met before going after the All-Spark, the teams meet Phil and he starts off by saying that they'll be going to a tropical paradise that the Race has never been before and take part in a challenge that will - literally - take their breath away! And ANOTHER surprise involving this:
The surprise is: the winner of this first Leg win NOT win an EXPRESS PASS...but, rather TWO of them! One for them...and one to give to another team! They must hand the second PASS to the other team before the fourth Leg is complete. Most importantly, though: though most of the teams will be Philiminated, the one that arrives first at the last PIT STOP - aka the FINISH LINE!!, somewhere in the US - get ONE MILLION DOLLARS!! No GREEN LIGHT CHALLENGE like in the last four Races; the teams will simply run down to the 2013 Ford Fusion(TM)s in the parking lot and grab the first clue of the first Leg of the twenty-second Race...which, of course, will require driving to LAX. Time for those lovely words, Phil: "The world is waiting for you... "Good luck... "Travel safe... "GO!!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAND THEY'RE OFF! Past Phil, down the steps, to their bags and into their Fords. As they roll off, Phil clues them in, via the viewscreen in the cars, of their first destination. Were it a paper clue, it would read as such:
Everyone seems to be so PUMPED to be on this Race as they go though West Hollywood and Culver City (waving hi to Dr. Demento) to... LOS
ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Team Roll Tide! are first to the parking lot and first to get an airport shuttle. Team What's Up Docs? and Team Scrappers are close behind as they take another shuttle together. Pam & Winnie ask what the twins do and they say they're "delivery boys"...which is close, I guess. But the friends aren't too happy with the answer, so Idries & Jamil fess up about being OB/GYNs and all seems well. Team Goons, Team Macklemore/Babe Team Ribbon Wearers and Team Cowboy Descendants share another shuttle...and Bates & Anthony say they'll DEFINITELY keep their eyes on Caroline & Jennifer. At the terminal, Chuck & Wynona are the first to the marked ticket counter and get on the earlier flight. Team What's Up Docs? and Team Scrappers run and also get the flight. The next four teams then race to the counter...and David & Connor get the fourth seats...and Jessica & John get the final ones! Some of the teams talk about fears as far as the first task goes. Dave is the token acrophobe and hopes it doesn't involve heights...while Jamil is scared of being underwater. Pam & Winnie get friendly with them because - bottom line - they WANT one of those EXPRESS PASSes...so they either have to win this Leg...or be besties with whoever DOES win. Meanwhile, the other teams await at the Air France gate and Team Honeymooners...well, they'll admit that they're not the most social of Racers...but they put on their best smiles and mingle with the others. Team Cute Activate! take a liking to them...but Katie was faking the smile the whole time.. FIRST
FLIGHT (AIR TAHITI NUI): The flights take off for a connecting flight city of... FAA'A INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT Hawai'i isn't the ONLY place where disembarking people get "lei'd"; Tahiti does it, too. As the Racers from the first flight get their flowered garlands, Team What's Up Docs? gathers the other teams around them and offer an alliance between them since it's more than likely ONE of them will win this Leg and the EXPRESS PASSes. And the main purpose of said alliance? To give the second PASS to whoever comes in second so that they don't have to worry about "who gets it". At first, it seems the others are a bit sceptical...but they eventually agree (with the caveat that it's ONLY the second team to finish AMONG the five of them). They also agree to NOT tell any of the other teams about the alliance should it show up. WTF is this, Fight Club?!? BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA The first flight lands in the beautiful Polynesian island and ten Americans sprint out of it. The red-and-yellow arrows point them to near the beach and the Clue Box. And, lo and behold, they hit this Race's first...
Your 'BLOCKers are: John, Jamil, Connor, Winnie and Chuck. The jumpers scramble to the clipboarded sign-up sheet and, when the dust settled, John and Jamil will go up first, Winnie and Connor second...and Chuck all by his lonesome in third. John and Jamil head up, quite excited. Meanwhile, Jessica and Idries take the boat over to the landing spot. Up and up goes the chopper...and, once at 10G', John - screaming wildly - jumps out with his pro partner. Two miles high and falling fa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ast, John is living it up! And the view...WOW! The entire island is in full view. As soon as the main chute is deployed, Jamil gets set. He's nervous at first...but he's in it for a million so...off he goes! As Connor and Winnie head up in the next chopper, John touches down and rejoins Jessica. The manager hands them the next clue which reads as follows:
As they take off, Jamil lands and re-greets Idries as they depart in second. And as THEY leave, Connor jumps out with a shout of, "I love you, Mom!" David is so grateful for Connor to get this opportunity as they thought that they would lose their fight against cancer. Winnie is next out, and Connor is last. The teams leave in third, fourth and fifth respectively. EDEN BEACH Off the taxi goes Team Macklemore/Babe and they find their clue on the beach nearby in a sand bucket...right next to some sand castles. And it's deja vu all over again as it's another...
Once again, we start the Race with an RBx2! So, yeah, Jessica's gotta dig. She starts from one end, blows apart a castle...and then rebuilds it. Next one...knock down...build up again. And she continues, Team What's Up Docs? arrives and Idries gets to digging. They know that they're the frontrunners for the EXPRESS PASSes. Oh, wait,...there ARE six other teams, right? Well, they finally arrive, read the first 'BLOCK clue and, like before, a mad rush to sign up occurs. On the fourth chopper will be Anthony of Team Goons and Caroline of Team Cowboy Descendants. The fifth will hold Team Hot Stuff's Matt and Team Rollergames' Mona...or, it WOULD hold Mona except that Mona signed her name on the line for the SIXTH chopper, not the FIFTH! DOH! As such, Max of Team Honeymooners gets in the fifth one and Mona will be fighting for last against Meghan of Team Cute Activate! And there was much bumming. Still, these are roller derby moms; they don't quit! Back at the OTHER 'BLOCK, Jessica and Idries are still digging and rebuilding in the sand. The difficulty is the rebuilding as the sand is not exactly sticking well. And here comes Team Ribbon Wearers and papa John gets to dig away. He moves to the OTHER end (where the castles still looked pristine) and got to work. Then comes Team Scrappers and Pam's turn to dig. No clues found when Team Roll Tide! arrives...but they get lost TO the clue...about 500 feet away from the castles! The others laugh as the 'Bama couple looks for a clue in a hut where a woman is breaking coconuts. finally, they see the clue bucket, run to it and Wynona grabs a different bucket to get digging. It's hard work for her as she wonders where her children are to do this. Up goes Anthony and Caroline...and DOWN they go. Did we mention Caroline's related to Daniel Boone? She has his adventerous spirit and wants to try everything...including skydiving. Well, THAT'S off the bucket list. Bates & Anthony leave in 6th, Caroline & Jennifer in 7th. Up goes Matt and Max...and down THEY go. Matt & Daniel are in 8th, Max & Katie in 9th. "Got it, John," says Jessica as she pulls a shrink-wrapped clue out of the sand. She joins John as they leave in first with this clue:
(Again, no "MAY" about it; Phil says the last team WILL be eliminated...but the clues all say "MAY" so...) The couple jogs down the beach to the outriggers and get to work on tying the float onto one of them. Once they do, they and a "driver" take the boat out into the water and start to paddle...that is, until they capsize. Don't lean too far to your right, guys. Up goes Meghan and Mona...and you get the gist. Mona's gonna enjoy this even if this is the only part of the Race she'll see. Joey & Meghan leave in 10th, Mona & Beth in last. Back at the castles, the ukulele player is not helping anyone's mood...especially Idries'. And it's not getting ANY better as Team Goons arrives. Bates joins the other four...and so does Jennifer of Team Cowboy Descendants. The six dig...and Bates finds his the fastest, allowing him & Anthony to split in 2nd and go to the va'as. Idries is getting frustrated, feeling he's never going to finish this...but his bro pushes him on, knowing that Jessica & John won't give the EXPRESS PASS to Team Goons. And here comes Teams Hot Stuff and Honeymooners with Daniel and Katie going to the castles. ... PIT
STOP #1 With flowery headresses on their skulls and smiles on their faces, Team Macklemore/Babe find Phil and the local greeter and hit the mat as Team # 1! As promised, Phil hands Jennifer & John the two EXPRESS PASSes, with a reminder that one of them MUST go to another team by the fourth Leg. Now,...they KNOW that they made an alliance...but, at the same time, they want to play the game and keep options open. Team Cute Activate! arrive and Joey gets to digging with the others. Joey is enjoying himself, though, and actually "shaking his booty" to the ukulele player's tune. The digging went on and on until Team Rollergames finally arrives and Beth gets to work. Bates & Anthony are checked-in as Team # 2. With a "Yee-haw!", David pulls out a clue and the father/son team leaves in 3rd. As they head to the boats, Beth digs deep and finds a clue, making them go from last to 4th! As THEY leave and Team Ribbon Wearers start to paddle out, Pam finds HER clue and she & Winnie leave in 5th. Idries...is getting more and more angry. And Joey finding a clue in 6th and jumping for joy doesn't help in the LEAST! David & Conner are Team # 3...but they're sure Jennifer & John will give them the EXPRESS PASS. FINALLY, Idries gets a clue and the twins leave in 7th. Of course, boat-riding is NOT Jamil's favorite pasttime...but he tries to suck it up as they try to catch-up to the other teams in the water. Meanwhile, Wynona gets a clue and she and Chuck bolt in 8th. Pan & Winnie...they are Team # 4. Mona & Beth are right behind them as Team # 5. Aaaaand, Team What's Up Docs? capsizes...and glasses are lost. As such, Team Roll Tide! pass them up. After Team Cute Activate! activates a Team # 6 spot, Chuck & Winona gets Team # 7 status. Idries & Jamil are just glad to get out of the WATER, let ALONE be Team # 8. On and on and on it goes. Digging, digging and even MORE digging. Daniel, Jennifer and Katie are sweating buckets now...and not just the buckets they rebuild the castles with, either. Three hours have passed since they started. Who in the heck is going to find that elusive clue?! Well,...Jennifer has an idea. They would ALL abandon the ROADBLOCK (incurring a four-hour penalty each) and just race to finish the boat and get to the PIT STOP. See, Jennifer thinks that Caroline & her can BEAT the other teams in canoeing. The other teams consider this...and they all agree to forgo the 'BLOCK, take the penalty and take their chances on a boat sprint to the mat! So...away from the sandcastles and to the va'as. Matt & Daniel are first to get their canoe together...and the first to capsize said canoe. The others pass right by and start paddling like crazy. Team Hot Stuff gains on the others...until they capsize again! GAH! The other two teams hit the mat. Phil declares Max & Katie as Team # 9 and Caroline & Jennifer as Team # 10...although he DOES say that the four-hour penalties for skipping the ROADBLOCK will be added on to their start time. But, hell, they survived. The over-4200 miles travelled by the two firemen are the length and breadth of their Amazing Race journey. They NEVER thought they'd be beaten by a canoe. But Phil gives them the bad news: they are last and Philiminated. Matthew & Daniel are certain that, once they get back to the firehouse, the others will NEVER let them live it down!
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. |
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