Category: amazing race 19

In a close dash for the finish that left multiple teams racing to not finish last, Kaylani & Lisa were eliminated in The Amazing Race 19 Episode 3.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Andy & Tommy – 8:17AM
Second: Laurence & Zac – 8:28AM
Third: Jeremy & Sandy – 9:40AM
Fourth: Justin & Jennifer – 9:41AM
Fifth: Ernie & Cindy – 9:42AM
Sixth: Amani & Marcus – 9:46AM
Seventh: Bill & Cathi – 9:56AM
Eighth: Liz & Marie – 10:05AM

Teams will now fly north to Phuket, Thailand. There is no direct flight. The first two teams just head to Jakarta and hope they’ll find something there, while the others confirm that this is the correct way to go.

First flight (departs at 9:40AM via Jakarta): Andy & Tommy, Laurence & Zac
Second flight (departs at 12:45PM via Jakarta, arrives in Phuket at 6:50PM): Jeremy & Sandy, Justin & Jennifer, Ernie & Cindy, Amani & Marcus, Bill & Cathi, Liz & Marie

In spite of their 3 hour lead, upon arrival, not having prebooked their connecting flight, the top two teams are told that the flight to Phuket is booked, so they’ll have to go to Bangkok and then to Phuket, with an arrival in Phuket at 7:40PM, putting them almost an hour behind. It shouldn’t matter, though, since this time of night they’re bound to hit an hours of operation anyway.

Liz & Marie fail something pretty simple. They don’t exchange their Indonesian money for Thai money.

Upon arrival at Nonthasak Marine, they find out the dock opens at 8AM. That’ll put everybody together. Liz & Marie get lucky and get a cab driver who is willing to not take any money, since they don’t have any that’s of use (and probably didn’t tell him before arrival). If they were smart, they’d use this 12 hours of downtime to go back and exchange money.

The detour is a choice between coral reconstruction or beach preparation, two tasks representing the rebuilding of Thailand following the 2004 tsunami. In coral reconstruction, they’ll construct a coral nursery, load it on a kayak, and place their coral into a nursery. In beach preparation, they’ll collect 20 chairs and 10 umbrellas with their clue’s icon and set them up to the beach club’s standards.

Coral reconstruction: Andy & Tommy, Justin & Jennifer
Beach preparation: Ernie & Cindy, Liz & Marie, Laurence & Zac (switched from coral reconstruction after being unable to look at the road signs), Jeremy & Sandy (switched from coral reconstruction), Bill & Cathi (switched from coral reconstruction), Amani & Marcus (switched from coral reconstruction)

The detour provides ample excuse for Jennifer & Justin to bicker, as usual, although it never seems to impact their standing in the race. Jeremy & Sandy aren’t getting along so well either.

Initially, the beach chair task seems the most difficult simply because they’re searching through stacks of them just to find the ones that are theirs. But after some of them attempt the coral task, they realize that they need to be stronger swimmers. As they switch to the beach task, the already strong winds pick up and blow everything around. Although the twins were among the first to arrive at this task, they’re on the verge of a breakdown and depart well behind everybody else.

From here, teams will use a compass to head north for 13 minutes to locate the island on their medallion, Soap Island. So that means you have to be able to read a compass, which Ernie can’t do. Laurence & Zac, who have sailed around the world, also struggle.

The road block is to climb the island rock. Bill & Cathi opt to have him do it because they suspect they’re going to be eliminated soon anyway.

Road block (in order of arrival): Andy, Jennifer, Zac, Amani, Jeremy, Ernie, Bill, twins

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Koh Panyi, a floating village built more than 200 years ago.

First: Andy & Tommy (win $5,000 each)
Second: Justin & Jennifer
Third: Jeremy & Sandy
Fourth: Laurence & Zac
Fifth: Ernie & Cindy
Sixth: Amani & Marcus
Seventh: Bill & Cathi
Non-eliminated: Liz & Marie

As the last team to arrive, Liz & Marie have been non-eliminated. Next week they will have to complete a speed bump.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 5, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

A pair of bad twists led to the elimination of to both Ron & Bill and Ethan & Jenna in The Amazing Race 19 Episode 2. If 8 out of 11 teams miss a clue (that’s different than the clue they have been given), it’s a bad clue.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived. Looks like missing the clue was worth about 45 minutes.

First: Andy & Tommy – 7:38AM
Second: Laurence & Zac – 7:57AM
Third: Kaylani & Lisa – 8:02AM
Fourth: Ernie & Cindy – 8:14AM
Fifth: Liz & Marie – 8:18AM
Sixth: Jeremy & Sandy – 8:21AM
Seventh: Bill & Cathi – 8:22AM
Eighth: Justin & Jennifer – 8:31AM
Ninth: Amani & Marcus – 8:32AM

Teams will join a group of local enthusiasts who reenact the Dutch bicycle patrols of the 1940s. Simple enough task, unless you’re unlucky and have your pedal fall off like Ernie, a mishap that allows them to be passed by four teams. They will then head from the city into the countryside in Salakmalang Village.

The detour is a choice between rice field or grass fed. In rice field, they will plant 300 rice seedlings. In grass fed, they will fill two bags with freshly cut grass, pick up two sheep, and collect six buckets of water from the well. The rice task seems a lot less physical but potentially more time consuming. But ultimately the planting proves to be muddy but not bad, giving the two all female teams that choose it a boost toward the front of the pack.

Rice field: Kaylani & Lisa, Liz & Marie, Amani & Marcus (switched from grass fed after not having enough grass)
Grass fed: Andy & Tommy, Laurence & Zac, Justin & Jennifer, Jeremy & Sandy, Ernie & Cindy, Bill & Cathi

The only trick on the grass detour seems to be the ability to fill their bags completely, which more than one team fails to do. Laurence & Zac also fail to read their clue properly, using four buckets when they’re only supposed to use two. Then there’s Cathi’s struggle with remaining on two legs. While they’re all on their detour, Amani & Marcus are lost in their cab.

Built in the 8th century but only recently uncovered and restored, Borobudur Temple is the next destination, and they have to hike its stairs to get the road block clue. On the way there, Jeremy & Sandy have their taxi break down, so they’ll have to run the 1km and hope they won’t be needing a cab again. The road block for this leg of the race is to count buddha statues and be able to demonstrate the hand positions of each buddha.

Road block (in order of arrival): Laurence, Tommy, Lisa, Marie, Bill, Ernie, Justin, Jeremy, Marcus

As all the guys take this road block, it doesn’t seem anybody is very forward thinking here. They should be saving them for strength based tasks. Working together, Laurence and Tommy are the only ones remotely close to the right answer on their first try, having only failed to account for the hand positions, which they do the second time through. A couple of the other teams at least have the right number, just no idea that there are four different ones. Meanwhile, some teams are counting into the hundreds. Eventually, the teams actually read their clues. Imagine that. It tells them what they need to do. Ernie, Justin, Jeremy, and one of the twins decide to work together and each count one hand gesture.

As Andy & Tommy are leaving, they give the answer to Amani & Marcus, who are in dead last. Therein lies the problem with tasks like this. If teams can just use shared answers without doing any work, it defeats the whole purpose. It doesn’t end up mattering, though, as the person paying attention to what they were saying, Amani, opted not to do the road block. He’s left to work with the showgirl to catch up with the group of four and Bill.

As close as it is, whether they have cabs or not may make a difference. Jeremy & Sandy don’t have one because theirs broke down. Amani & Marcus sent theirs away.

The grounds of Borobudur Temple are the pit stop for this leg of the race. It’s here that Laurence & Zac find out that they used too many buckets, and they incur a 15 minute penalty.

First: Andy & Tommy (win a trip to Dubai)
Second: Laurence & Zac
Third: Jeremy & Sandy
Fourth: Justin & Jennifer
Fifth: Ernie & Cindy
Sixth: Amani & Marcus
Seventh: Bill & Cathi
Eighth: Liz & Marie
Eliminated: Kaylani & Lisa

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 4, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Bill & Cathi were saved by non-elimination in The Amazing Race 19 Episode 1, leading us to tonight’s double elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Ernie & Cindy – 9:28PM
Second: Jeremy & Sandy – 9:36PM
Third: Justin & Jennifer – 9:39PM
Fourth: Ethan & Jenna – 10:07PM
Fifth: Amani & Marcus – 10:15PM
Sixth: Laurence & Zac – 10:22PM
Seventh: Andy & Tommy – 10:23PM
Eighth: Ron & Bill – 10:48PM
Ninth: Kaylani & Lisa – 11:09PM
Tenth: Liz & Marie – 11:31PM
Eleventh: Bill & Cathi – 3:57AM

Based on the departure times, everybody should be equalized at the airport, good news for the more than 6 hours behind last place team. If you’re that far behind in leg 1, I don’t like your odds of lasting another leg. Teams will be heading to Jakarta, Indonesia and then by overnight train to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. What’s with the people riding on top of the train and hanging out the doors?

Justin & Jennifer are still bickering, and it doesn’t appear that’s going to stop or get any less annoying any time soon.

The road block at Goa Jomblang Cave will see teams spelunking on a search for a mask and a dagger, followed by a climb up a bamboo ladder.

Bill & Cathi get a good cab driver and arrive at the cave first, which should allow them enough time to complete their generally brief speed bump of untying a knotted rope before too many teams get there.

Road block (in order of arrival): Cindy, Marie, Bill, Marcus, Jeremy, Tommy, Justin, Ethan, Kaylani, Zac, Bill

Right from the road block we head to the detour, a choice between money maker or ticket taker. In money maker, one team member will dance while the other plays music, in an attempt to earn 30,000 rupiah, about $3.50. Ticket taker requires them to work as motorbike parking attendants and earn 15,000 rupiah. Both detours seem largely luck based, with no real way to gain much of an advantage. In each detour, they will conclude by donating all the money in their possession to an orphanage started after the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. The trick here is they must read the sign, which says that they have to give all their money, not just their task money, in order to receive their next clue. However, the clue is not being refused. Rather, it seems Phil will turn them back at the pit stop.

Money maker: Liz & Marie, Amani & Marcus, Jeremy & Sandy, Ethan & Jenna, Ron & Bill, Kaylani & Lisa
Ticket taker: Bill & Cathi, Ernie & Cindy, Justin & Jennifer, Andy & Tommy, Laurence & Zac

Following the detour, Jenna wrote down the name of the orphanage, assuming Ethan had it in his pocket, but leaving behind the clue at the detour in the process. That puts them dangerously close to elimination.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Kraton Palace. Let the carnage begin. Phil’s going to be turning a lot of teams away before he can check them in. The 4th place snowboarders are the first to realize the catch, which should put them in first instead of Ernie & Cindy. But it ultimately shouldn’t matter except for the trailing teams. A few more teams skip past this before 8th place Laurence & Zac notice it. Kaylani & Lisa also read the sign, saving them from elimination after they slip below Ethan & Jenna and arrive 10th.

First: Andy & Tommy (win a trip to Ireland)
Second: Laurence & Zac
Third: Kaylani & Lisa
Fourth: Ernie & Cindy
Fifth: Liz & Marie
Sixth: Jeremy & Sandy
Seventh: Bill & Cathi
Eighth: Justin & Jennifer
Ninth: Amani & Marcus
Eliminated: Ethan & Jenna
Eliminated: Ron & Bill

Running into the wrong end of two bad twists, Ethan & Jenna have been eliminated. Not impressed, CBS. Following them, having been in last place since the cave, Ron & Bill are also eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 3, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

11 new teams are competing for $1 million, with the most well known members of The Amazing Race 19 cast being Ethan and Jenna from Survivor.

Andy & Tommy think they’ll be underestimated as being slackers, but you don’t make the Olympics by accident. Ethan & Jenna have been dating for 7 years after their wins in Survivor. Zac gets his adventurous spirit from his father and was the first person under 18 to sail around the world. Ernie & Cindy are recently engaged, and she says she’s a control freak. Justin & Jennifer are prepared to yell at each other, and she admits to being out of hand. Bill & Cathi have lived on a farm for 40 years. Unlike some of the teams on this race, Liz & Marie aren’t going to be breaking up or losing each other, since they have been together since birth. Jeremy & Sandy view this race as an exploration of whether they want to take their relationship further, a concept that always ends badly. Ron & Bill hope their experience as flight attendants will pay off. Ex-NFL player Marcus has dragged his wife Amani along for the ride. Kaylani & Lisa want us to believe they’re smart showgirls/cocktail waitresses.

The starting line is Hsi Lai Temple in California. Their first challenge is at the starting line, a word puzzle involving umbrellas. Using the letters on the umbrella twice and combining them with the letters that appear above the umbrellas will lead them to discover their first destination, Taipei Taiwan. The last team to complete the challenge will receive a new penalty called a hazard, to be completed at some point during this leg. Most of these people aren’t even trying to figure out the puzzle. They’re just running up to Phil with the first umbrella they grab. Eventually they seem to realize that’s not a strategy that will work very well. As the last team to finish, Kaylani & Lisa aren’t off to a great start at showing us they’re smarter than we might expect at first glance.

The first flight, carrying the first eight teams, departs 20 minutes before the second flight carrying the final three teams. With flights that long, 20 minutes is nothing.

LAX seems simple enough to find for those teams willing to stop and ask for directions. But there’s a problem. Hold on to your passports. No passport, no international travel, and no prayer of staying in the race. When Lisa & Kaylani stop to ask for directions, Kaylani drops her passport. They realize it before long and figure it must have fallen at the only place they stopped, but when they get back to the gas station, it’s not there. They just drive to the airport and pray for a miracle, as arguing and swearing ensues. The guy who found Kaylani’s passport was also the same guy who gave directions to the snowboarders. He posted on Twitter how he was just on The Amazing Race and found a passport, and he was asked to get it to LAX. So their adventure continues, with no consequences but hopefully a lesson learned.

Ethan & Jenna plan to pretend they weren’t on Survivor. Good luck with that. It may have been several years ago, but reality show fans still recognize one or both of you. Marcus Pollard, however, has a better chance of pretending he wasn’t a football player.

First flight: Ron & Bill, Ethan & Jenna, Ernie & Cindy, Amani & Marcus, Laurence & Zac, Justin & Jennifer, Andy & Tommy, Jeremy & Sandy
Second flight: Bill & Cathi, Liz & Marie, Kaylani & Lisa

The eight teams on the first flight get the first bus, the female teams on the last flight get the second bus, and the older team is bringing up the rear.

The first stop once they arrive in Taiwan is the Ximending Commercial District. Rather than searching for a clue box, they have to look up and find a billboard with their next destination (in Chinese). As clues on The Amazing Race go, this is unexpectedly good, eliminating some of the hand holding we usually see.

The road block is to call Confucius. After dialing 1-800-CONFUCIUS at the Confucius temple, they will hear and must memorize and repeat a proverb. Sounds simpler than it appears to actually be.

Road block (in order of arrival): Sandy, Cindy, Amani, Jennifer, Ron, Ethan, Andy, Zac, Lisa, Liz, Cathi

Dajia Riverside Park is their next destination, where they will join a dragon boat race team. One team member paddles while the other keeps the rhythm of the drum. Pretty straightforward task.

Having received the hazard penalty, Kaylani & Lisa are left having to head to the Core City Pacific Mall to search the 11th floor for their next clue. The task: one team member must do an indoor bungee jump. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, as Bill & Cathi just got done telling us they’ve been looking for the billboard clue for 4 hours. Meanwhile, the twins are still trying to get past the road block guy’s accent.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Martyrs’ Shrine. What, no detour?

First: Ernie & Cindy (win an express pass)
Second: Jeremy & Sandy
Third: Justin & Jennifer
Fourth: Ethan & Jenna
Fifth: Amani & Marcus
Sixth: Laurence & Zac
Seventh: Andy & Tommy
Eighth: Ron & Bill
Ninth: Kaylani & Lisa
Tenth: Liz & Marie
Non-eliminated: Bill & Cathi

Bill & Cathi have been non-eliminated. This is a first in the US edition, but it’s something I like to see because the first episode’s always such a blur. Sandy & Francesca (TAR Asia 1) were non-eliminated in the first leg before finishing the season in second place. That said, 3 of the 4 other teams who suffered this fate ended up being eliminated in episode 2, and I think we’re ultimately just looking at a delay of the inevitable here. There’s a catch. Two teams will be eliminated next week. No borrowing twists from Big Brother please.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 2, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

Stunt casting is not as big a part of The Amazing Race as it is in Survivor and Big Brother, but every so often we see some familiar faces. Of the 11 teams competing in The Amazing Race 19, one of them will look familiar. One of Survivor’s best winners is paired up with one of Survivor’s worst winners, as dating couple Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa) and Jenna Morasca (Survivor: Amazon) make their return to CBS following two stints on Survivor (both were also in All Stars) and a year after Ethan beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Amani Pollard, 36 & Marcus Pollard, 39 (Married)
Andy Finch, 30 & Tommy Czechin, 32 (Friends/Former Olympic snowboarders)
Bill Alden, 63 & Cathi Alden, 62 (Married/Grandparents)
Ernie Halvorsen, 29 & Cindy Chiang, 30 (Engaged)
Ethan Zohn, 37 & Jenna Morasca, 30 (Dating)
Jeremy Cline, 35 & Sandy Draghi, 33 (Dating)
Justin Young, 31 & Jennifer Young, 26 (Siblings)
Kaylani Paliotta, 33 & Lisa Tilley, 32 (Friends/Former showgirls)
Laurence Sunderland, 48 & Zac Sunderland, 19 (Father/Son Adventurers)
Liz Canavan, 24 & Marie Canavan, 24 (Twins)
Ron Seitz, 44 & Bill Smith, 49 (Domestic Partners)