PRIZE: A trip for two around the world, $1,000,000, and the title of TAR!
START LOCATION: New York City, USA.
END LOCATION: Reykjavík, Iceland.
I love how the American version of The Amazing Race wastes no time. Straight outta the gate at Washington Park, NYC, the racers are off to the airport to compete in their first leg in Iceland! It was great to see a driving leg this early on and one of the most badass cross-fit champions, Icelander Katrin Davidstotter, was part of a task as well (the hubby is all over the Cross-fit peeps and pointed her out straightaway!). Before I digress, here are where the teams placed:
Team #1 – Kristi & Jen
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Jen
PRIZE: Trip to Santorini, Greece
All hail Team Extreme!! My pre-season favourites and winner pick, I was definitely happy though surprised they came first! Only because Cody and Jessica look so strong right now. Kristi and Jen are uber determined and competitive, smashing out each of the challenges this leg showing the others not to underestimate an all-girl team. I loved the banter between the two showing how much they admire each other and I hope it’s telling signs that this team will make it all the way.
Team #2 – Cody & Jessica
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Cody
Ooh, Cody and Jessica have impressed early on, and me not being a Big Brother viewer, it definitely is great to see! They will for sure be seen as threats and if not yet, they will soon be. They both have shown strength physically and in intelligence, but maybe Cody needs to listen to Jessica just a little bit more! They really should have been team #1! Instead they came second JUST ahead of Team Yale and Well Strung. Nevertheless, I don’t think this will be an ongoing setback and I expect to see them on our screens for the coming weeks. Potential Final 3 team right here!
Team #3 – Henry & Evan
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Henry
NERD ALERT!! OMG, I love them. And I feel terrible saying they reminded me of Vanck and Ashton from last season, because they are nothing like them! Haha. Highly intelligent, methodical and opinionated (they also look fairly fit!), I do worry if they will end up being eliminated by overthinking everything. I mean, I was even confused when Evan said this:
I’m really glad they’ve had a great start to the Race though, and I secretly want them to get into a fight debate with one of the other teams. That could be very juicy. It’s not the first time we’ve seen nerds do well on the Race so I have hope for Team Yale to do them justice!!
Team #4 – Trevor & Chris
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Trevor
Omgawd, these guys are HAWT!! How can you not be a fan of these well strung guys?! :O We didn’t see too much of Trevor and Chris except for them telling us how well they know each other and Trevor having no shame calling Chris out when he needs to have a wash. Is it fair for me to ship these two? They are uber cute 😛 After all they apart of an all-gay string quartet. Hard for me not to root for them. No surprise where they placed this week and I expect them to do the same next week!
Team #5 – Alex & Conor
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Conor
The Indy drivers were zooming through the first leg and were one of the first three teams to arrive at the Roadblock… Which ended up being way harder than they first thought. Conor has the first duty and he struggles so much. He just didn’t quite understood how the random letters were strung together. I don’t think the poor guy saw the corresponding numbers. Nevertheless, it was only a small setback, as the guys raced through to the Pit Stop in a very respectable 5th place. I expect these guys to make it deep!
Team #6 – Joey & Tim
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Tim
A landmark on The Amazing Race, we see our first pre-race hotdog handed out to my fave Joey Chestnut. Because he hasn’t had enough in his life, what’s one more?! The boys are hilarious and Joey shows that he doesn’t quite have the upper body strength he thought he had at the zip line.Tim eggs him on saying ‘think about the hotdogs’ and it gets Joe through!
Tim smashes out the Roadblock and the boys do well to make 6th place and they also confuse Miss Iceland on what a competitive eater is. I’m hoping Team Chomp can keep up with the big dogs as the Race goes on.
Team #7 – Lucas & Brittany
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Brittany
Wow. Brittany shows us that SHE wears the pants! Let me relay my favourite (hilarious and creepy) line from Brittany this episode, to Lucas who is directing her while she drives: “Just letting you know that if you steer me wrong, I will hold it over your head, for the rest of our lives. I will be passive aggressive about it first, and then it will slowly seep into your bones, to the point where I give you nightmares. It’s all I’m saying… I love you, baby!!” HAHAHA. This woman is gold! And we also know Lucas has this wedding ring ready to on the Race…. RUN AWAY, LUCAS. RUN!! Kidding. I actually really like them, but we need to see more.
Team #8 – Eric & Daniel
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Daniel
The fire twins are uber lovely, seem super nice, but oh so boring. I do love their accent though. I was so shocked to see them at the Roadblock at the same time as Goat Yoga, who seemed to be majorly lost. Can the twinnies make a comeback? I think they’ll be the silent, but deadly team in coming weeks. Either that, or they’re an early boot. We haven’t seen much of them at all! What I will give them is that they are huge Amazing Race fans; let’s hope the motivation and drive propels them.
Team #9 – Cedric & Shawn
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Shawn
Ahh, my favourite reality TV show casting; former NBA players! These dudes are tanks next to the likes of Goat Yoga at the start line. The boys make a good start until the Roadblock. Shawn misreads the letter O’s and ends up helping Sarah without knowing his O’wn mistake. Cedric chucks a tanty on the drive to the Pit Stop and Shawn is like “what you crying about?!” And to make matters worse, Slam Dunk incur a 30 minute penalty because of Cedric helping Shawn on the sidelines of the Roadblock. The boys are freaking out waiting, but with only the twinny firies making it ahead of them they breathe a sigh of relief coming in 9th. I still think Slam Dunk are out in the next few weeks…
Team #10 – April & Sarah
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Sarah
#TeamHotMess. So, Goat Yoga isn’t looking too good. These ladies are clearly NOT zen together, but far out are they hella entertaining to watch?! That “little B”, Sarah, and the overly emotional April have come across as the unlikely duo who drive people up the wall! (My hubby already thinks they are cray-cray). But not me! I would love to see them continue and defy the odds, because let’s face it, how many people have any hope for them winning?! Also, I had them in my Top 3, so I’m feeling mighty unconfident now. Haha. I do wonder how long they have been friends for; Sarah knows the buttons to push and the Race is not the best place to test them out. At the same time, April will need to keep it together and put Sarah back in her place… April ran faster than Sarah to the finish line, so if we want to start shaming and blaming, you know where to look! I can’t see Goat Yoga lasting the distance, but I do hope they hang around for a while. I need all this juicy drama to fuel me 😉
Team #11 – Dessie & Kayla
ROADBLOCK: Do I Have to Spell it Out? – Dessie
Girls, girls, girls. I really should have known, but I gave the Ring Girls the benefit of the doubt. Dessie and Kayla didn’t actually do too poorly on this first leg, albeit being in the latter half of the pack. They were able to stick with the other back teams through the Roadblock, but it seems the most trouble they had was parking the car. STOP! GET OUT, and GO!! Forget the car! We see the Ring Girls actually ahead of Goat Yoga running along the foreshore, and to be honest, we all thought they would make it to the Pit Stop first, right?! WRONG. And this is something I really thought WTF?! Look closely at Dessie who is beat at the end by Sarah… Why is she only wearing socks?!
Running in thick Explorer socks on concrete would be hard AF (look at her feet flip flopping like fish on land); it’s such a shame she chose to run without her shoes. I think she definitely could have beaten Sarah to the finish. What a shame. Anyhow, the lost. And I hope future newbies learn to not take off their shoes when you know you’re one of the last teams racing to the mat. What an ending though!! Sorry to see you go, ladies!
Blog by Lynda Olson.
ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CBS. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL GIFS AND VIEWS ARE MY OWN.
