The 11 teams that make up The Amazing Race 26 cast for some reason this time consist of half that are dating and half that are just random strangers who are blind dating. Weird. At least it won’t be any worse than the Family Edition.
The single men line up on the starting line, where they will meet their partners for the first time. This will not end well. That’s probably the plan. Let’s find a way to manufacture drama and get more screaming pairs.
From the starting line, they immediately end up crawling through the mud. This is typically reserved for a challenge in some far off country, but they’re throwing them into it right away. There are eight tickets for the earlier flight and three tickets for the later flight (departing 45 minutes after the first) that will presumably be battling for last.
And they have selfie cams this year. Just what the world needs more of.
Hayley & Blair, Mike & Rochelle, and Libby & CJ end up on the second flight bound for Tokyo, Japan.
The detour is a choice between syncing steps or samurai sake. In syncing steps, they will join a techno pop group and learn their choreography. In samurai sake, teams must memorize 10 drink names from a large selection and deliver orders accordingly.
Syncing Steps: Jelani & Jenny, Laura & Tyler, Matt & Ashley, Aly & Steve, Jeff & Lyda, Bergen & Kurt, Mike & Rochelle, Libby & CJ, Hayley & Blair
Samurai Sake: Jeff & Jackie, Harley & Jonathan
Almost everybody opts to do the dancing, except for those who don’t feel comfortable, Jeff and New Kids on the Block member Jonathan. I’m not sure you could really call this dancing, though. In any case, it seems like the harder of the two tasks, in some cases by far.
We’re already on a blind double U-turn. Jeff & Jackie do not U-turn since they think they are in first. Jelani & Jenny and Tyler & Laura do the same. Harley & Jonathan also decline, as do Aly & Steve. Bergen & Kurt pile on. Having struggled with the detour to the point of just about having a breakdown, Mike & Rochelle U-turn Jeff & Lyda, the only team they know are behind them. Seeing this, nobody else needs to use the second one.
After nearly 4 hours and 23 attempts, Jeff & Lyda finally finish the detour. They’re going to kick themselves when they figure out how easy the other one is. They decide to U-turn the long ago finished Jeff & Jackie rather than the once again lost Libby & CJ.
The pit stop for this leg of the race is… a parking space. The lawyers are quicker to figure out what the term “vicinity” means, allowing them to leapfrog the lead team.
First: Jelani & Jenny (win express pass)
Second: Jeff & Jackie
Third: Laura & Tyler
Fourth: Aly & Steve
Fifth: Harley & Jonathan
Sixth: Bergen & Kurt
Seventh: Mike & Rochelle
Eighth: Hayley & Blair
Ninth: Matt & Ashley
Tenth: Libby & CJ
Eliminated: Jeff & Lyda
Having struggled on the detour perhaps more than I have seen on any previous one, Jeff & Lyda have been eliminated. They made a very critical mistake. They refused to switch from a futile detour, possibly viewing doing so as quitting. But that’s the point of a detour, that you have a choice.
It was interesting to see the blind daters take the top three spots. It won’t last, but some of them could continue to work well together.
This was a great night of reality TV. Alas, The Amazing Race moves back to Friday nights after this.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 2, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.