The sixteenth installment of CBS’s Emmy Award-winning The Amazing Race began last Sunday as 11 teams embarked from Los Angeles in their race around the world.
Among the teams is former Miss Teen South Carolina Caite who became a viral sensation after infamously messing up on stage. Her partner is her boyfriend Brent. Also included in the cast is Big Brother 11 winner Jordan with her partner, also Big Brother 11 player, Jeff. At first I was a little wary of seeing the two on the race, but I’m sure glad CBS chose to bring them back. They make the show about ten times more entertaining!
Other teams include dating lesbians, cowboys, high school sweethearts and even a 71-year-old grandmother (the oldest contestant in TAR’s history) with her granddaughter.
After sprinting from the starting line, teams had to make their way to LAX by public transportation and the first three teams would claim tickets on the first departing flight to Santiago, Chile. The remaining eight teams would have to catch the next flight scheduled to depart an hour later.
Well, it turns out the airport race was all for naught. Because of machinery malfunctions, the first plane was delayed and all the teams received tickets on the second flight. Everyone’s tied up.
Still, the airport race wasn’t totally a waste. We got to see Jordan, after repeatedly being told that they were headed to Chile, frantically ask the airport employees for two tickets to China! The Big Brother duo might not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but you can’t help but like them and cheer them on. And hey, they were one of the teams on the original early flight so they must be doing something right.
Once in Santiago, teams made their way to a football field-length rope bridge and in the first Road Block of the race, one member of each team had to cross it. Most teams crossed the bridge with ease, only acquiring a few cuts and some sore arms and legs. For high school sweethearts Dana and Adrian, it was a different story. Adrian’s not the lightest person on the race, making it even tougher for him to hold on to the ropes. The result?
He falls. Twice.
Slowly, everyone seems to pass them. First the Attorney Moms (Monique & Shawne), then the Cowboys (Jet & Cord) and finally the grandma/granddaughter team (Shannon & Jody). In an Amazing Race first for the first leg of the race, Phil had to come to the rope bridge and eliminate Dana & Adrian from the race since Adrian couldn’t cross the bridge.
And they didn’t seem too sad about it. That surprised me the most. Of course they wanted to continue racing and make it to the end, but Dana kept saying she was proud of him and he tried his best. I don’t believe that for a second. If my partner couldn’t cross a bridge when every other person on the race could, I wouldn’t be pleased. Still, it was nice to see that even being eliminated first didn’t hurt their relationship.
In what was maybe the most surprising moment of the night, Jeff & Jordan made it to the pit stop… FIRST. Yes, let me repeat that. The girl who originally tried going to China and her jokester partner got first place.
I’m baffled.
I love them both. They’re great television and they seem like super nice people. But I can’t understand how they’re doing so well! Maybe CBS casted a season of idiots to make Team Big Brother last a little longer? From the first episode, it certainly seems that way.
