Twinnies Natalie & Nadiya couldn’t stop yelling at each other in The Amazing Race 24 Episode 1 and ended up being eliminated.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived, more or less. The order is somewhat bungled for some unexplained reason, but everybody is within about an hour of the leaders.
First: Jet & Cord – 8:16AM
Second: Brendon & Rachel – 8:23AM
Third: Margie & Luke – 8:39AM
Fourth: Dave & Connor – 8:46AM
Fifth: Leo & Jamal – 8:53AM
Sixth: Mark & Mallory – 8:56AM
Seventh: Flight Time & Big Easy – 8:57AM
Eighth: Jessica & John – 9:09AM
Ninth: Joey & Meghan – 9:13AM
Tenth: Caroline & Jennifer – 9:19AM
Jet & Cord ran a strong leg last time, but this time they are starting off weak as things get lost in translation. Everybody they meet tells them their destination is very far, but they just keep right on jogging, not wanting to spend money on a cab (most teams take the subway).
At Chen Clan Academy, they watch a demonstration and then get their next destination stamped on their foreheads.
The road block requires teams to build a kiddy car. The instructions are all in Chinese.
Road block (in order of arrival): Dave, Margie, Jamal, Brendon, Mark, Flight Time, Meghan, John, Jet, Caroline
The blondes finally arrive, already in last place, and both of them consider the task to be a lost cause. Their only hope is to charm Jet & Cord into giving them an express pass. They make a compelling argument: give the pass to an incompetent team rather than a good one. Jet finishes the task quickly, putting them in a reasonable sixth place, and if they give it away, it means that the second express pass will be gone right now with no more worries. With that, they give the express pass away.
Once they build their car, they will deliver it to the children’s cultural center.
Mark blows through the road block, but in the chaos of trying to load their toy into the taxi, Mark forgets his backpack. At least Mallory has his passport, but he’s going to have to go back if he wants the rest of his stuff. They realize it on the way to the detour, and when they get there, Mallory keeps arguing with him in an effort to avoid returning. Just go back already. This arguing is just wasting time and isn’t helping this newly formed team bond any, no matter how valid Mallory’s point about this potentially costing them the race may be. He’s clearly not budging. They end up very close to the bottom of the pack, but the worst thing about it is that they won’t stop fighting, even as they arrive at the detour. Mark tells her people from Kentucky don’t act like this.
After all the other teams are gone, it’s just Joey & Meghan and Jessica & John. Meghan figures it out first between the two, but rather than taking second to last place and running, she stops to help him with his car.
The detour is a choice between feather-ball and china cup. Feather-ball is China’s version of hacky sack, and teams will need to complete ten passes. China cup requires them to get Chinese therapy.
Feather-ball: Mark & Mallory, Margie & Luke, Brendon & Rachel, Dave & Connor, Caroline & Jennifer, Jet & Cord, Leo & Jamal, Flight Time & Big Easy, Joey & Meghan, Jessica & John
Nobody has any interest in the therapy session that looks like it could be painful.
The pit stop for this leg of the race is Shamian Island. The top 7 teams all arrive so closely that everybody is standing on the mat at the same time. This leaves the two trailing teams and the team that went back for the backpack to fight for last place.
First: Brendon & Rachel (win $2500 each)
Second: Luke & Margie
Third: Caroline & Jennifer
Fourth: Dave & Connor
Fifth: Flight Time & Big Easy
Sixth: Jet & Cord
Seventh: Leo & Jamal
Eighth: Jessica & John
Ninth: Joey & Meghan
Eliminated: Mark & Mallory
Going from first to last, Mark & Mallory have been eliminated. They did make what would often be considered a game ending mistake, but perhaps more glaring is that this team, manufactured by the producers just days earlier, never really was a team to begin with.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 24 Episode 3, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.