The Amazing Race Begins! And We Have a Duck Whisperer!

The season begins!!!! All the couples run into what looks like a graffiti-covered drainage ditch in LA:

Brian & Ericka are a bi-racial couple. Ericka was Miss America. They “want to show what love is all about no matter the skin tone.” Lance & Keri are introduced next, and Lance is a trial attorney - and when Keri said something, Lance interrupted and didn’t let Keri talk. (Those damn attorneys!) Maria & Tiffany are pro poker players and think they’ll do okay because “we play games for a living.” Zev & Justin are buddies, and Zev has Asperger’s Syndrome. Mika & Canaan are a Christian couple and figure they can pray about winning. Big Easy & Flight Time - Herbert & Nathanial - are Harlem Globetrotters and Flight says they’re the “best looking team ever.” (They are pretty cute!) Sam & Dan say they’re Christian kids but can be bad if they have to. They’re gay and they “came out” to each other. Gary & Matt are father and son, and Matt says they didn’t do anything together while Gary says he’s trying to make up for lost time. (Good luck with that, fellas!) Eric & Lisa are yoga instructors, saying it’s more like “Yoga in the hood - and we’re gonna be numero frickin uno.” (Ok, I’m impressed.) Garrett & Jessica have been dating on & off for years. Garrett says he had no sisters and Jessica is from a family of strong Columbian women. This one should be interesting! Marcy & Ron are our older couple. They met online and Marcy says “I’ve never dated a bald guy before.” Meghan & Cheyne met in grade school, and she’s sure to note she beat him at tether ball.

Phil begins his speech telling the teams their first clue is on their baggage. But! There’s a new twist that they are not going to like. “For one team this will be a very short race.” A wall of license plates hung on a fence are uncovered, and the team that can’t complete the challenge will be eliminated right here and not make it past the start line. Their instructions will be in their clue. “The world is waiting for you. Good luck. Travel safe....Go!”

The teams rush off and read their clues to find out they must search the wall of license plates and find one of eleven plates from Tokyo. The symbol printed on top of the clue must match the plate - but no one notices the symbol on the clue. Big Easy asks “anything else on the clue?” and Flight Time answers “No, I didn’t see nothing.” (Open your eyes, buddy! Get used to it now! READ THE CLUE!!!!) No teams get it right on the first try, and then Justin sees the symbol on the clue. Maria & Tiffany manage to find the plate first, and Marcy & Ron find it next. Meghan & Cheyne manage to get the right plate, followed by Flight Time & Big Easy. Gary & Matt, then Zev & Justin get their plates, and Justin remarks that “we avoided total embarrassment.” Sam & Dan follow with Mika & Canaan right behind, then Garrett & Jessica and Brian & Ericka. Lance finally asks if there’s anything in the clue and sees the symbol. Lucky for them, they find the last license plate before Eric & Lisa, who are left with no license plate and no more tickets. They remark “We took the shame of being eliminated first for everybody else.”

Maria & Tiffany tell everyone they work with homeless kids in LA. “If they know we make a lot of money playing poker they won’t want to help us.” Great idea, but it could blow up in their faces if somehow anyone finds out!

Once in Tokyo, the teams have to find a TV studio at the base of a tower. Maria & Tiffany miss the shuttle off the plane and they start getting snitty with each other already! If they last in this Race, they’re going to be sniping at each other constantly - maybe better than a guy/girl couple! Maria seems to be realistic doom and gloom, while (per Maria) Tiffany tends to “sugar coat everything.” The second flight came in a half-hour early and the teams on the second flight caught up to the other teams. Mika & Canaan’s cab driver turns out to be a suicidal maniac, driving on the shoulder of the road through traffic on the freeway. Nice to get places faster, but not great if you don’t have a death wish!

All the teams get to the tower one by one to find out they will participate in a Japanese game show - Sushi Roulette. It’s a Road Block and one person from each team. “In it, the game show host would spin a wheel containing nine sushi rolls and two wasabi bombs. Wasabi, a spice carrying extreme heat, is Japan’s version of scorching horseradish. The contestants had to eat whatever landed in front of them on the wheel, and they needed to keep playing until they received a wasabi bomb. When they did, they had only two minutes to consume this fireball of flavor to receive their next clue.”

The first two lucky contestants to get the wasabi were Ron and Cheyne. Ron stuffed the wasabi down into the rice, spreading it around so it wasn’t all in one bite, but still had trouble getting it down - he’s looking like he’s gonna hurl! Both end up finishing in time and get their clues. In it, “they find out that they have to use a colored flag to lead a group of 20 Japanese tourists from the studio audience, who were wearing matching colored hats, through the infamously overcrowded Shibuya Scramble Crossing to the Pit Stop at the Konno Hachimangu Shrine.”

Justin and Garrett “luckily” get the wasabi next. Both guys finish in time and off they go with their audience members into the busy streets. Marcy has a megaphone and she’s chanting with her group and being quite weird. She says “Some people think I’m frenetic but I’m in my body having a good time.” (No, Marcy, I just think you’re weird!) Maria gets the wasabi bomb next, by herself. She tries, but doesn’t finish in two minutes. The emcee spins again and Maria gets it again by herself. She looks at her teammate and says “I can’t do another one, Tiffany.” (At this point I’m feeling pretty sorry for her stomach. I can only imagine how she’s gonna feel at the Pit Stop!) She manages to get the second bomb down with maybe a second to spare.

In the streets of Tokyo, Meghan & Cheyne find someone willing to lead them. Marcy & Ron, still wandering the streets with their group, find a map but still can’t find the Shrine. Justin & Zev ask a guy on the street who looks American and speaks great English - and says he will take them.

The lady standing with Phil at the Mat doesn’t look very Japanese to me! She welcomes Meghan & Cheyne as they get to the Mat first with their group. Phil remarks that they’re a little sweaty and Cheyne replies “that’s the only way to be.” (Only if you don’t get eliminated!)

Big Easy and Lance have a turn at the wasabi next. Big Easy finishes quickly with Lance right behind.

Zev & Justin bring their group to Phil at the Mat as team #2. They interview with Justin telling Zev “I’m proud of you man.” Zev tells Justin “I’m proud of you too.” Justin then asks Zev “Should we make out?” and Zev rolls his eyes.

Flight Time laughs that the Tokyo natives“must have thought Godzilla was walking down the street.” Maria & Tiffany stop at a hotel and get a map. Gary gets his wasabi and finishes it, but Brian is gagging and does not finish the wasabi and Ericka looks pissed! She remarks “I should have done this one.” There are three teams out on the streets milling around, but Lance & Keri’s team turns at a corner and gets to the Mat in third place. Dan finally gets the wasabi by himself and downs it (he says he loves sushi). Brian & Ericka were left in an empty studio with just their group, and is lucky to get the wasabi bomb on the next spin. He gets it down with no time to spare. As they’re leaving, Ericka tells him “You can throw up later.”

Marcy & Ron get fourth place and Big Easy & Flight Time take fifth. Brian & Ericka get an “angel” to walk with them to the Shrine and end up in sixth place, making a marvelous comeback. Ericka says “that just proves you have to fight till the end.” One of Garrett & Jessica’s group has to go to the bathroom, slowing them down. Gary & Matt get seventh place and Garrett & Jessica are in eighth. Maria & Tiffany are doing well on their way to the Shrine, but realize they’ve lost two people from their group and have to go back to find them.

Maria is snarking at Tiffany (again). Mika & Canaan find an American guy to tell them where the Shrine is (it seemed most everyone got a good English-speaking native, or an American to help them. Hope they don’t get too used to that!) Sam & Dan split off from Maria & Tiffany to follow Garrett & Jessica and end up in 9th place. They say “That’s horrible but we’ll take it!” Mika & Canaan get to Phil at the Mat but are missing one person, and Phil tells them they can’t be checked in until they have their whole group. Canaan dashes off to look and finds her on the steps to the Shrine and carries her up, getting them tenth place. Maria & Tiffany, after spending a huge amount of time looking for their strays, decide to go check in because they can’t “keep dragging these people all over Tokyo.” They get 2-hour penalty from Phil for not completing the challenge, but are told it’s a non-elimination round. Lucky!!!!! They do, however, have to complete a Speed Bump on the next leg of the Race.

On to hour two of the premiere! Meghan & Cheyne leave the Shrine at 12:19 AM, and their clue tells them to "fly to Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam, and then hop a bus to the city of Cai Be. Once there, they had to race on foot to the Ben Tau Du Lich boat docks."

Most of the teams use the internet to book their flights, but Meghan & Cheyne, Gary & Matt, Brian & Ericka and Maria & Tiffany all went straight to the airport, finding out at the ticket counter that all the economy seats were sold. Maria & Tiffany arrived last and jumped in at the ticket counter, prompting Lance to say “the bastards should have been sent home.” (Lance is giving attorneys a bad name. He’s kind of an ass). Brian & Ericka beg the ticket agent to let them buy economy seats but get business seats, and the ticket agent gives in and gets them on the same flight as the other teams. As they’re standing in line to board, a guy recognizes Maria & Tiffany and asks them if they play poker. They say yes but Dan & Sam overhear and know the don’t work at a nonprofit homeless shelter. At the desk, Sam & Dan have matching passport folders and Maria & Tiffany remark about them. They offer that their sister bought the folders for them, and the girls tell them “we’re trying to figure out if you’re gay or not.” The guys have no plans to tell them they are gay because they want to be able to use the women’s flirty attitudes to their advantage. We’ll see how that works, considering the girls’ poker playing is now out of the bag!

Once in Vietnam, Sam & Dan and Marie & Tiffany get in the same van/cab. In their cab, the Globetrotters remark that they’ve found out that Maria & Tiffany are not nonprofit workers. “Don’t feel sorry for them any more. Game on.” In the city, there is water (LOTS of water!) all through the streets. The teams really want to get to the bus station, because the first bus leaves at 3:30, but the second didn’t leave until 4:45. Maria & Tiffany, Sam & Dan, Flight Time & Big Easy, Mika & Canaan, and Marcy & Ron all got on the first bus. Matt saw the bus leaving and told the remaining teams that they weren’t on the first bus and weren’t scheduled to leave for another hour and a half, and some real smart thinking started kicking in. They ended up pooling their money and kicked in $100 per team to get the bus to leave right away. The driver agreed and the bus took off. Zev, showing empathy for a freezing, wet local, gave the guy his jacket. The buses arrive at the boat dock but it doesn’t open till 7 AM, and all the teams catch up and realize they have to spend the night outside the gate - at least they all got lawn chairs!

When the gates opened at 7:00 a.m. the teams got their clues, which told them to: “Race through the Mekong Delta using sampans to get to nearby mud pits located along the water. Then, working together, they had to collect the nutrient-rich mud, carry it to a nearby orchard, and use it to fertilize a fruit tree. Once they covered the tree’s root system up to the designated red line, the farmer would hand them their next clue.”

Maria & Tiffany, however, get their Speed Bump in their clue. “They needed to find a soup stand and order the ingredients for a traditional Vietnamese soup known as pho. When they returned to the dock, they had to combine the ingredients and serve the soup to the dock master’s liking in order to receive their next clue.” Maria made the soup, saying that she “loves pho.” The dockmaster okays the soup and the girls dash off to get their clue and follow the other teams.

Cheyne jumps out of the sampan and gets stuck in thigh-deep mud. It was pretty funny watching all the teams slipping all over the place. Everyone was slipping in mud and getting filthy. Ericka says the mud was “like, sensual.” Meghan & Cheyne get done first and get their next clue, but Meghan falls into the boat being all slicked up with mud. Their clue tells them to return their boats to the dock and travel by foot to the Cai Be Field. We get our many shots of the locals laughing at these silly Americans. Justin finishes up and goes to get their pouch and falls into the river. As Justin & Zev take off, they look for their clue and can’t find it. They have to turn back and luckily manage to find it just as Maria & Tiffany get done with the task.

Meghan & Cheyne open their clue and find a Roadblock: Who’s feeling just ducky? “In it, one team member, using only two flags as a guide, had to herd a group of 150 ducks, which are used in Vietnamese farms to rid rice patties of damaging insects, out of their pen, across a bridge and back again, and then return them to their pen. If teams didn’t complete the task within the 10-minute time limit, they would relinquish their spot and wait for another available course.” Meghan and Jessica go first, trying to corral the ducks, and the guys stand on the side laughing. Ericka and Matt try the challenge, and Matt is doing great. Flight Time tries his hand at the ducks. Meghan isn’t done in ten minutes and has to wait for another turn; Jessica didn’t do it either. Sam & Dan breeze through the task and get done first. Their clue tells them to “race on foot to Cho Cai Be, a market at the edge of the Mekong River. Once there, they would have to search along the dock for the Bassac III, a riverboat, and the Pit Stop for this leg of the race.”

Gary and Matt finish the challenge, but Ericka fails when she gets a bunch of ducks back in the pen in but didn’t shut the gate going after the other ones so they get out again. Ericka runs out of time. Tiffany says she owned ducks, so she’s the good person for this one. Zev does this task, saying “we saw everyone freaking out, and that’s not the way to do it.” He has such great luck herding the ducks, Justin says that Zev is the “Duck Whisperer.” Mika is having major problems and doesn’t do it in time. Canaan (ever supportive) says “I want to rip her head off right now.”

Sam & Dan are trying to figure out how to get to the riverboat, and arguing as they go. “Both of us are trying to take a leadership role.” (Too many chiefs....) Gary & Matt keep calm and find the boat first, meeting Phil at the Mat in first place.

Back at the ducks, Jessica ran out of time again, then Ericka had to wait for a third try too. Garrett is getting frustrated, saying Jessica won’t listen to him and he can’t calm her down. Jessica finally calms down and gets better results. Ericka runs around chasing the ducks, saying “I’m eating ducks for dinner.”

The teams show up at the Mat to a smiling Phil:

1 - Gary & Matt
2 - Sam & Dan
3 - Big Easy & Flight Time
4 - Lance & Keri
5 - Zev & Justin
6 - Meghan & Cheyne
7 - Maria & Tiffany
8 - Mika & Canaan
9 - Marcy & Ron
10 - Brian & Ericka
11 - Garrett & Jessica - eliminated

Wow, a lot of lead changes in this one! Each team has its strengths - let’s see who comes in first next week!