The Amazing Race 12 Episode 2

The Amazing Race 12 episode 1 started off the way most seasons of TAR start off. Some of the weaker teams got a stronger than expected start, while a couple of the seemingly stronger teams fell behind, leading to a somewhat surprising, albeit welcome, first boot of Ari & Staella.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Azaria & Hendekea
Second: Kynt & Vyxsin
Third: TK & Rachel
Fourth: Lorena & Jason
Fifth: Nicolas & Donald
Sixth: Shana & Jennifer
Seventh: Ronald & Christina
Eighth: Kate & Pat
Ninth: Marianna & Julia
Tenth: Nathan & Jennifer

The next stop is Amsterdam, nearly 600 miles away. They’ll fly there and then take a train to find a bridge for their next clue. Kynt and Vyxsin say they’re happy being in the dark. Lorena and Jason are getting along… for now. Grandpa Donald is driving below the speed limit, driving his grandson crazy. One of the blondes is concerned about being an idiot. Kate & Pat are the first religious nuts who don’t believe God cares whether they win, so we won’t be stuck with more Weavers.

They arrive at the airport and have to wait around. Ronald & Christina and Kate & Pat get on the Internet and do some research, but in the process, Ronald gives Christina a hard time.

Azaria & Hendekea, Kynt & Vyxsin, TK & Rachel, Shana & Jennifer, Nathan & Jennifer, and Lorena & Jason get on the first flight to Dublin, where they will be able to get on the next flight to Amsterdam without any problems.

Nicolas & Donald, Kate & Pat, and Ronald & Christina must get on standby to get to Amsterdam. Nicolas is pushy and is made to stand aside at the ticket counter. Ronald takes issue with it and gives Nicolas grief. Nicolas just smiles at him and lets him talk. Only one of these teams are able to get on the first flight with the rest, Nicolas & Donald.

Marianna & Julia are left behind and don’t make the first flight, so they’re an hour and a half behind everybody else.

Azaria & Hendekea run onto the train and pay there. The others get tickets first and aren’t able to get on and must wait 10 minutes.

The detour is hunt it or hoist it. In hunt it, they search for two bikes with the color pattern that’s on the clue, normally an extremely frustrating concept. Hoist it is tying knots until they’re safe, then hosting things like TV sets to a window above them.

Hoist: TK & Rachel, Lorena & Jason, Shana & Jennifer, Kynt & Vyxsin, Nathan & Jennifer, Ronald & Christina (later switch to bikes)
Hunt: Azaria & Hendekea, Nicolas & Donald, Marianna & Julia, Kate & Pat

Lorena & Jason finish the detour first and make it look easy. Kynt & Vyxsin get done pretty easily, but the other two couples just argue with each other. Shana & Jennifer outdo most of the men hoisting the furniture. When Jennifer switches with Nathan and does the hoisting instead of him, they finished next. Hendekea & Azaria finish in 5th. TK finally gets it through his stubborn head and switches with Rachel, who like Jennifer is also able to do it where her partner failed. Nicolas & Donald are next. Christina’s already getting fed up with her father. It’s a fight for last between the last three teams. Marianna & Julia are 8th. Ronald & Christina are 9th. Kate & Pat are bringing up the rear.

We’re focusing on a pretty destructive dynamic for quite some time here between father and daughter Ronald & Christina. His theory that being polite to people apparently only applies to airline personnel. Other racers, including his own daughter, are fully exempt from that theory. He lets her know he’s not going to be all rosy and that she disappointed him. She asks him to change the fact that he’s hard on her.

The road block is ditch vaulting, where they will use a pole to successfully get across a 12 foot irrigation ditch. Jason finishes pretty quickly to retain their lead. Shana is next, followed by Jennifer who gets hateful about the all girl team that did it faster. Rachel finishes fourth, followed closely by Kynt. Donald says he thinks he can get across, which scares Nicolas, and then Donald strips down to his underwear, even more cause for being scared. Hendekea finishes sixth. Donald finally just barely gets across and is in seventh. Marianna & Julia finish quickly in eighth. Christina seems to be making some jumps just as well as the others, but they’re not counting. Ronald continues to give her a hard time. She finishes in 9th, and his immediate thought is that he could have done it better.

Teams must ride a bakfiet to the next pitstop.

First: Lorena & Jason (win sportbikes with three wheels)
Second: Nathan & Jennifer
Third: Shana & Jennifer
Fourth: Kynt & Vyxsin
Fifth: Azaria & Hendekea
Sixth: TK & Rachel
Seventh: Mariana & Julia
Eighth: Nicolas & Donald
Ninth: Ronald & Christina
Tenth: Kate & Pat (eliminated)

This is more like what I was expecting. The weak links settled down toward the bottom of the pack. Ronald seriously needs to snap out of it if he hopes to survive much longer.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 12 episode 3, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.