TAR: Premiere!

Oooh! And what a good premiere of The Amazing Race it was! They threw a twist in right off the bat, they gave us plenty of time to get to know most of the couples, and they herded reluctant geese, all with the constant steady commentary of Phil.

We started in LA, at the “famous” and disgustingly un-picture-esque LA River. The teams were introduced and then it’s time for the first challenge – already. They were a clue with their bags, and had to search for a license plate among hundreds that was from the district of Tokyo they were headed too. It took some of them a while, but the diagram they were looking for was right at the top of the clue. The hitch? There were only 11 license plates – and 12 teams. The last time would be eliminated right then and there.

One recapper asked if it added anything to the show – only a sense of supreme urgency and frantic energy that was AWESOME, that’s all. And lo and behold, our Yoga couple are eliminated first – because they forgot to meditate on the right par of the clue – or something. Poor Eric and Lisa. We hardly knew you.

The rest of the teams hit one of two flights to Tokyo, where they faced their first equalizer of several – they all file in to compete in a Japanese game show, Sushi Roulette – they each had to eat a “Wasabi Bomb” in two minutes – the hitch was it had to land in front of them when the host spun the giant wheel. At most 2 would be eating Wasabi Bombs, while everyone else had a bite of regular sushi of some sort. Once they successfully ate their Wasabi Bomb, they had to gather a group of the audience, and lead them through the busiest crosswalk and take them to the pitstop at the Konno Hacnimangu Shrine.

Maria had two eat a second one, as did Brian, but everyone headed off in relatively short order. They hit the mat in this order:

1. Meg & Chyene – they won a trip to Aspen and Veil
2. Zev & Justin
3. Lance & Keri
4. Ron & Marcy
5. Big & Flight (Globetrotters aka Herb & Nat)
6. Brian & Ericka
7. Gary & Matt
8. Garrett & Jessica
9. Sam & Dan
10. When Mika and Cannan got to the pitstop, they discovered they were missing a person, and they ran back to find her – he carried her to the mat, and they were able to check in, and maintain their 10th place.
11. Last to the mat was Maria & Tiffany, the poker girls. But they lost two people, and accrued a 3 hour penalty – but? This was the first non-elimination leg, and they are still in the race, just with a speedbump next leg.

Now the second hour? That’s when things got fun! They all take off, booking flights either at the hotel or at the airport, where someone recognized our Pokerplayers – which the other teams quickly realized meant they didn’t help homelss youth. Tsk tsk! The poker girls, however, and loving loveable Sam and Dan, without a clue that the boys haven’t told them their gay – though, the matching passport wallets almost gave them away. They were able to wave it off as a gift from their sister.

They all head to Vietnam, with the second fliight landing just 30 minutes after the first – only to find the city completely flooded, which made riding in caps quite the experience! They went to the bus station, where the first one fills and leaves, and the second bus – not wanting to wait the 1.5 hours for departure time, pooled their cash and paid $100 extra to buy up the rest of the seats and leave early. Too bad for them and their money – the task was closed until 7am, so everyone had to camp out for the night.

They all burst through the gate at 7am, and get to go play in the mud! Yay! Well, all except for the poker girls who had to complete a speed bump first. They had to collect ingredients for a soup for the Dock Master and prepare it – they get it quickly as Maria’s had it many times before. They haul ass and catch up with everyone else that are digging mud out of the mudboats to fertilze the fruit trees, covering the roots up to the red line. EVERYONE was slipping and falling and getting stuck in the mud and it was rather hysterical to watch! Megan and Cheyne are done first, followed by Garrett and Jessica, Brian and Ericka, Gary an Matt, Globetrotters, Sam and Dan, Marcy and Ron, Lance and Keri, Zev and Justin….

Zev and Justin had to rush back though, because Justin fell in the water and dropped their clue. They find it quickly, and head back to the docks, with mika and Canaan following, and Maria and Tiffany closing the gap, but still last.

NExt up was the road block – which was herding ducks! Hahaha! Farmers use the duck to rid rice patties from insects, and the local festival has a competition that shows off their duck herding skills. They had 10 minutes to get 150 ducks over a bridge and back and into their pen. Zev turned out to be really good at it – and his deadpan humor snuck through as it had all evening as Justin said “Who knew he was the duck whisperer?” and Zev replied “I didn’t know!”

After they herded the ducks, it was time to hit the pitstop – the Bassac 3 Riverboat – which they did in this order:

1. Gary & Matt – I love this dad/son team! They won kayaks to enjoy after the race. They plan to take them fishing!
2. Sam & Dan
3. Globetrotters
4. Lance & Keri
5. Zev & Justin
6. Megan & Cheyne
7. Maria & Tiffany
8. Mika & Canaan
9. Marcy & Ron
10. Brian & Ericka
Last: Garrett & Jessica – 2nd eliminated from race.

THey haven’t really LOST though, as we discover Garrett had brought a ring with him, hoping to propose at the finish line. Since they didn’t make it even close to that, at the Elimination Station, Garrett proposed to Jessica, and she accepted. All together now… awwwwwwwwww!