It was just last Sunday that the Amazing Race won its 9th Emmy for Best Reality Series and tonight is the premiere of the 21st season of The Amazing Race.
The show starts off introducing this season's cast. In all stereotyped glorious form, we have:
The Chippendale Hotties - James and Jaymes,
the Indian Twins - Natalie and Nadiya,
the Gay Goat Farmers- Josh and Brent,
the Rockers -James and Adam,
the Troubled Relationship - Amy and Daniel ,
the Texans - Trey and Lexi,
the Blondes - Caitlin and Brittany
the Substitute teachers - Gary and Will
the Dating Divorcees – Abbie and Ryan,
the Married Monster Truckers - Rob and Kelley,
the Lumberjacks - Rob and Sheila
This is not your typical race; this race is for 2 million DOLLARS! Well let’s get to the nitty-gritty. If you win the first and last legs on the race, then you win 2 million dollars. This means you can have 1 million dollars each (before taxes) after the race.
Before the racers can get to their bags and clue, they have to repel, repel down a 10-story bridge! The Goat Farmers, Blondes, Chippendales and Texans are the first to complete the repel. All four seem like extremely athletic teams that could stay on the race for a while.
The first clue sends the teams to the airport to find a flight to…CHINA! The first flight can only hold 7 teams and these teams will get a huge advantage on the first leg. Amy and Daniel, James and Abba, Natalie and Nadiya, James and Jaymes, Caitlin and Brittany, Abbie and Ryan, and Rob and Kelley make the first flight. Their flight arrives 1 hour before the other flight. When they land in Shanghai, they have to proceed by taxi to Yuanshen Sports Center Stadium to receive their next clue.
Roadblock!
Who is ready to play table tennis against a junior champ? one member from each team has to win one point to complete this roadblock. To make things embarrassing, these young juniors will use household items such as clipboards, frying pans, and a tambourine in replacement of a paddle. These androgynous players kicked the teams’ butts like they have been trained their whole life. Oh, wait we are in China ;).
Abbie was the first to beat the kid. Their clue leads them to Cui Ping Jiu Jia Restaurant where their next clue awaits.
Roadblock!
Teams must eat a popular Chinese dessert called Hashima. Sounds tasty? They have to eat the fallopian tubes of a frog out of a papaya- Gross!!!! The person who didn’t do the tennis table roadblock must suffer in this one.
James and Abba are the first to finish and their next clue leads them to find the woman in the abacus. Watching the rest of the teams complete this challenge is like watching me eat during an all-you-can-eat buffet. I don’t use utensil and I am basically scarfing off the plate.
Rob breaks the rule at the roadblock by using his hands to eat the papaya. He is punished by eating 2 more. He finishes it and is now in 7th place.
~The Blind Leading to The Blind~
Okay what is an abacus? Hold on, let me Google this… an abacus is a counting tool. I used to have one when I was younger until my babysitter’s youngest child decided to break it. Oh, I am still not bitter at all (angry face).
Amy and Daniel find the abacus first and they get the best clue – go to the pit stop. Teams must make their way on foot to the Bund Observatory tower. The 100 year old tower that overlooks Shanghai, China is the last part of the leg.
Amy and Daniel run into Blondes and and the Divorcees and stupidly give them the directions to the abacus. Now, Abbie and Ryan pass the girl with prosthetic legs to get their first place finish on the first leg. This means Abbie and Ryan are the only team to compete for the 2 million dollar prize. Well, let’s see how they fair because they might not make it to the final leg.
Jaymes and James are doing their best impression of dumb jocks. They cannot find the abacus. Their profession of Chippendale performers is tough. I mean, you have to have a high quality of intelligence to, you know, remove clothing articles in the correct way. I just don’t understand why this team is so lost in this challenge; these guys are supposed to be intelligent. Kidding.
Rob and Sheila are having no luck either. They go to banks and across town to find the lady with the abacus. It is down to Rob and Sheila and Jaymes and James. The guys outrun the oldies to secure their place in the next leg. It is over for the lumberjacks. At least they got to see China #positivity.
1. Abbie and Ryan
2. Amy and Daniel
3. Caitlin and Brittany
4. Natalie and Nadiya
5. Rob and Kelley
6. James and Abba
7. Josh and Brent
8. Gary and Will
9. Trey and Lexi
10. James and Jaymes
11. Rob and Sheila
to rewatch this past episode click here.