Category: amazing race 28

Pretty much nothing happened in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 11, with all teams leaving the episode unscathed.

All four teams are on the same flight to their final destination of Dallas, TX.

Their first stop is AT&T Stadium. What happened to the days when stadiums had normal names?

The road block requires teams to catch a touchdown pass and kick the extra point.

Road block (in order of arrival): Mike, Tyler, Jelani, Blair

The catching without defenders is simple enough for all of them. It’s the kicking that will make a difference. But the teams are all sitting in the parking lot for long enough afterward that none of this matters anyway. None of them can figure out where they’re going. Worse yet for Mike & Rochelle, their cab driver would not wait.

Their next task is to corral some longhorns with the assistance of cowboys. By this point, what happens next has become clear.

Phil is waiting to tell Mike & Rochelle that all the cattle have been rounded up, and they have been eliminated from the race.

The others continue to Reunion Tower, where they will participate in the next road block, which requires teams to spot their next clue as they rappel down.

Road block (in order of arrival): Hayley, Laura, Jenny

Hayley finds something that stands out. It’s obvious it’s not the right something. That may become critical on what remains a tight race with tasks that don’t appear to be able to provide much distance. Meanwhile, Laura and Jenny have found a common enemy: the chick who’s constantly bickering with herself. Why are you working together when you’re probably one task away from the finish line? I’m pretty sure I have never seen this before.

Now they get to drive monster trucks, which will be followed by a memory test. They must identify in which leg four places were, then they must put selfies in order on a map. Tyler loves that selfies are coming into play now. Yeah, this is almost as lame as the blind date twist.

The finish line is Continental Avenue Bridge. The Amazing Race 26 winners are Laura & Tyler. The right team won. The only “blind date” couple that actually remained likeable throughout. Jelani & Jenny come in second place. Hayley & Blair by some miracle made it all the way to the finish line in third place without someone slapping her.

Despite the terrible twist which can only be called good in the sense at least it wasn’t another Family Edition, the ratings for this season remained respectable, if modest. At least it’s better than the train wreck that is CBS Sunday nights. The Amazing Race will be back again in the fall in this same time slot for season 27.

Placing last for the second leg in a row in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 10, Matt & Ashley were eliminated.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Hayley & Blair – 6:39AM
Second: Jelani & Jenny – 7:19AM
Third: Mike & Rochelle – 8:35AM
Fourth: Laura & Tyler – 8:48AM

Teams will now drive back to Trujillo, Peru. If they’re staying local, this is pretty bad for a final four leg, as it seems pre-determined considering the large lead the top two teams have due to the flights from the last leg. So now it’s just a question of which of the trailing two teams will fail. It’s not looking good for Mike & Rochelle, whose cab breaks down.

Their first task is to find a clue hidden in South America’s largest mosaic. This seems simpler than it sounds. Hayley doesn’t even get upset, though Laura does for some reason.

The detour is a choice between shake your hips or make some bricks. In shake your hips, teams must learn a national dance, the marinera. In make some bricks, teams must make 12 bricks then transport 12 dry bricks to the delivery site.

Make some bricks: Hayley & Blair, Laura & Tyler
Shake your hips: Jelani & Jenny, Mike & Rochelle (switched from make some bricks)

Manual labor is typically the better option. In a battle for last place and already having arrived last, Mike & Rochelle decide to switch detours. That’s the death blow right there, but perhaps it’s their best option to gamble and hope the other one is better rather than trying to beat Laura & Tyler.

The road block requires teams to paddle reed boats through the surf. As narrow and tough to balance as these boats are, there is going to be a lot of falling.

Road block (in order of arrival): Blair, Jelani, Laura, Rochelle

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Virgen del Socorro.

First: Hayley & Blair (win a trip to India)
Second: Jelani & Jenny
Third: Laura & Tyler
Fourth: Mike & Rochelle

This was a pretty silly leg, but here’s the twist. Mike & Rochelle have not been eliminated, as this is a final four rather than a final three. The final leg starts right now. Yes, this again. I half expected something along those lines just based on how terrible the leg design was considering the spacing between the teams.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 12, where we will find out who The Amazing Race 26 winner is, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

After he struggled in a searching task, Matt & Ashley were unable to catch up in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 9 but were saved by non-elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Laura & Tyler – 12:40AM
Second: Hayley & Blair – 1:07AM
Third: Jelani & Jenny – 1:20AM
Fourth: Mike & Rochelle – 1:30AM
Fifth: Matt & Ashley – 2:27AM

Teams will now fly almost 1/3 of the way around the world to Trujillo, Peru. I suspected there would be a single flight, but all they have to do is ask and they can get a flight that lands over 10 hours earlier (while tickets last), though in race time that’s unlikely to translate to more than a couple hours. Lead team Laura & Tyler were sleeping at the wheel on that opportunity.

First flight (arrives 10:20PM): Hayley & Blair, Jelani & Jenny
Second flight (arrives 9:45AM): Laura & Tyler, Mike & Rochelle, Matt & Ashley

Upon arrival, they pull departure times. Hayley & Blair and Jelani & Jenny depart at 7:00AM, giving them about a 3+ hour lead on the others, a number that realistically is insurmountable almost no matter what.

Prior to the road block, Matt & Ashley must use a typewriter to fill out a loan for a llama to complete their speed bump.

The road block requires teams to harvest a section of the sugarcane field.

Road block (in order of arrival): Jenny, Hayley, Mike, Tyler, Matt

Yeah, they give Hayley a machete.

From there, they will take their sugarcane up into the Andes, doing a math problem (using a calculator) with the purpose of promoting Fitbit and then drinking the sugarcane juice.

The detour is a choice between mamas and papas. In mamas, teams must search the streets for ingredients in moonshine. In papas, teams must sort potatoes by type and deliver them to a vendor.

Papas: Jelani & Jenny, Laura & Tyler (switched from mamas), Matt & Ashley (switched from mamas)
Mamas: Hayley & Blair, Mike & Rochelle

Laura & Tyler get brought to the wrong detour and just switch, and Matt & Ashley do the same.

A choice between a searching task and a sorting task, neither particularly appealing or advantageous. The worst part about the potato task is if they mess up, they’ll have to start over again.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is the Virgen de la Puerta.

First: Hayley & Blair (win a Fitbit fitness kit… really?)
Second: Jelani & Jenny
Third: Mike & Rochelle
Fourth: Laura & Tyler
Eliminated: Matt & Ashley

They had the opportunity to get caught up following the plane equalizer, but Matt & Ashley failed to recover from their previous last place finish.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 11, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Once they hit Africa, Aly & Steve fell apart, and The Amazing Race 26 Episode 8 spelled their demise with a second last place finish in a row.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Laura & Tyler – 12:19PM
Second: Matt & Ashley – 12:20PM
Third: Hayley & Blair – 12:34PM
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny
Fifth: Mike & Rochelle

Teams will now fly more than 5000 miles to Amsterdam, Netherlands. All teams are on the same and probably only flight.

The road block requires teams to find a matching pair of wooden shoes (klompen).

Road block (in order of arrival): Jenny, Tyler, Matt, Rochelle, Blair

Searching tasks always suck. There are shoes everywhere, and they all look very similar. This one doesn’t seem that bad, though, with some struggling than others, notably Matt, who requires a few dozen attempts.

From here, they ride bikes to the ferry, as there are more bikes here than there are people. Everybody is enjoying their bike rides. Then there’s Hayley. She doesn’t like the temperature or the smell or anything in general. She warns her partner that she’s going to be really ticked off at him. Oh. Again.

The detour is a choice between soak or shuffle. In soak, teams must drive an electric powered hot tug along the waterway while looking for symbols to solve a rebus puzzle. In shuffle, teams must play a Dutch version of shuffleboard (sjoelen).

Soak: Laura & Tyler, Jelani & Jenny, Hayley & Blair
Shuffle: Mike & Rochelle, Matt & Ashley

Both detours seem pretty simple. So much so that I don’t see how Matt & Ashley can catch up from their struggles at the road block, even though Jelani & Jenny cannot figure out the puzzle without asking a local for help.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Museumplein Ice Skating Rink.

First: Laura & Tyler (win a trip to Seoul, South Korea)
Second: Hayley & Blair
Third: Jelani & Jenny
Fourth: Mike & Rochelle
Non-eliminated: Matt & Ashley

This was another obvious conclusion, but the only question has now been answered. Matt & Ashley have been saved by non-elimination.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 10, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Having struggled to work together for the first time, Aly & Steve found themselves with a flat tire in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 7 but were saved by non-elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Matt & Ashley – 6:47AM
Second: Laura & Tyler – 6:48AM
Third: Hayley & Blair – 7:08AM
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny – 7:35AM
Fifth: Mike & Rochelle – 7:54AM
Sixth: Aly & Steve – 8:12AM

From the bush, they head to the town of Swakopmund, the remnants of this area’s founding as German South Africa. On their way through town, Jelani & Jenny become the latest victims of a flat tire, which they realize as they pull into a gas station.

The road block requires teams to take part in an airdrop. The dirty trick is that the people who do the road block are just searching for the box that is dropped (and a roaming gnome), not skydiving as they hoped.

Before the road block, Aly & Steve must build toy planes for their speed bump.

Road block (in order of arrival): Ashley, Laura, Hayley, Mike, Jelani, Steve

The detour is a choice between work or play. In work, teams must drag tires behind their truck to smooth out the dirt roads. In play, teams must cross country sand ski.

Play: Matt & Ashley, Jelani & Jenny
Work: Laura & Tyler, Hayley & Blair, Mike & Rochelle, Aly & Steve

The “play” task turns out to be more work than the work task, but none of this really seems to matter at this point.

Matt & Ashley and Laura & Tyler started off working together with the plan to U-turn Jelani & Jenny. Apparently, Matt & Ashley still have issues with Jenny stemming back to leg 4 and their argument over transportation. As planned, Matt & Ashley U-turn Jelani & Jenny, who used their express pass on the detour, so now they have to complete one part of the detour like everybody else. Since it’s a double U-turn, Laura & Tyler U-turn Aly & Steve, who until they came to Africa seemed to be the race’s biggest threats but are now dead last again.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is just a run away from the detour.

First: Laura & Tyler (win a trip to New Zealand)
Second: Matt & Ashley
Third: Hayley & Blair
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny
Fifth: Mike & Rochelle
Eliminated: Aly & Steve

After a disastrous couple of legs, Aly & Steve have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 9, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

In the very definition of dumb luck, a roulette wheel determined the choice of detour and led to the eliminaion of Jeff & Jackie in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 6.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Hayley & Blair – 12:35AM
Second: Aly & Steve – 12:41AM
Third: Mike & Rochelle – 12:45AM
Fourth: Matt & Ashley – 12:55AM
Fifth: Jelani & Jenny
Sixth: Laura & Tyler – 12:58AM

Teams must now fly for 10 hours to Windhoek, Namibia, not to be confused with Nambia, a country Mike has never heard of since it does not exist. It goes without saying that there’s only one flight into Africa. Upon arrival, they get into bush planes in order of arrival, separating them by minutes. And there, they still have the chance to do a Ford commercial while heading to the bushmen village, picking up salt licks along the way, aside from Laura & Tyler who have to go back because they don’t find it on the way.

The road block requires teams to help the bushmen build a grass hut.

Road block (in order of arrival): Aly, Jelani, Matt, Rochelle, Blair, Tyler

Aly and Steve have been switching off road blocks, and it’s her turn now. She ain’t happy. I think this is the first bit of complaining we’ve heard from her, a big difference from most of the other females this season. It does make more sense to consider the teammate’s strengths rather than just random assignment of task based on order.

Yeah, and even the bushmen get to take selfies. Ugh.

The detour is a choice between track or pack, both animal tasks considering the fact that Namibia is the second least densely populated country in the world. In track, teams must use telemetric technology to locate an elephant. In pack, teams must prepare a meal of wildebeest meat for the hungry wild dogs. Only three teams can do pack at a time for some reason (not enough trucks I guess), effectively making the choice for the trailing three teams. Like last week, teams are unable to make their own choices.

Pack: Matt & Ashley, Laura & Tyler, Jelani & Jenny
Track: Aly & Steve, Hayley & Blair, Mike & Rochelle

Hayley wants to know if Blair is okay using the radio. Yes. He’s sure? Yes. He’s really sure? Yes, he’s really sure, and he’s getting irritated by the stupid questions. These two, seldom fun.

Aly, still out of it after having done the road block she didn’t want to do, is more interested in watching the zebras than doing this task.

Rochelle struggled on the road block, but it’s these two teams who are falling behind as they struggle to work together.

Aly tries to warn Steve as he’s driving to the pit stop, and his response is that she can drive if she wants. He runs over something, and they get a flat tire, putting them in last place.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Spitzkoppe, a rest camp in the middle of nowhere, 215km away from this other middle of nowhere.

First: Matt & Ashley (win $5,000 each)
Second: Laura & Tyler
Third: Hayley & Blair
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny
Fifth: Mike & Rochelle
Non-eliminated: Aly & Steve

In an unusual turn of events for them, Aly & Steve did not function very well as a team today, but they are saved by non-elimination.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 8, which airs next on CBS.

With Kurt not needing the money and not caring any more since the blind date twist was a dud, it was only a matter of time for Bergen & Kurt to get eliminated, as they were in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 5 after quitting the task of self driving a manual car.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Aly & Steve – 9:00AM
Second: Matt & Ashley – 9:57AM
Third: Jeff & Jackie – 10:38AM
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny – 10:41AM
Fifth: Hayley & Blair – 10:47AM
Sixth: Laura & Tyler – 10:58AM
Seventh: Mike & Rochelle – 1:03PM

Teams must now fly to Monaco via helicopter from France.

First flight (arrives 5:05PM): Aly & Steve, Mike & Rochelle
Second flight (arrives 5:55PM): Jeff & Jackie, Jelani & Jenny, Hayley & Blair, Laura & Tyler
Third flight (arrives 6:15PM): Matt & Ashley

The lead teams are pretty well bunched together, with Matt & Ashley somehow getting the worst flight of the lot despite being there second. Mike & Rochelle are so far behind that they remain that way for the flight, but they manage to swap their 8:45 arrival time for the earliest flight.

When they land, regardless, there is no mad dash. They just go get their suits/dresses made for the next day. The helicopter rides are determined presumably by the order in which they arrived.

The road block requires teams to pick up roses and chocolates and deliver them to their partners. Really? Only on this lame blind date season.

Road block (in order of arrival): Steve, Mike, Jenny, Laura, Hayley, Jackie, Matt

They then head to the Monte Carlo casino to play roulette, which will determine their detour choice for them, either don’t slack off or win by a nose. Also lame. I guess it could be argued that a change of pace is nice, but teams should be able to choose detours based on pros and cons, not dumb luck.

Win by a nose requires teams to make a bottle of signature perfume and cologne. Don’t slack off requires teams to zipline 2000 feet above the city and then walk back across the wire.

Win by a nose: Aly & Steve, Mike & Rochelle, Laura & Tyler, Hayley & Blair
Don’t slack off: Jelani & Jenny, Jeff & Jackie, Matt & Ashley

The heights detour is a simple matter of overcoming their fears, while the other one is like a chemistry class. Nobody is going to have to redo don’t slack off, but the other will require multiple attempts, putting everybody who got stuck with that in the back of the pack. This just keeps getting worse. What a poorly planned leg.

Strangely, despite the fact that they are all bringing up the rear, the smell task people pull ahead of the rest. It must be easier to get to the pit stop from there.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Plage de Passable.

First: Hayley & Blair (win a trip to South Africa… probably not together)
Second: Aly & Steve
Third: Mike & Rochelle
Fourth: Matt & Ashley
Fifth: Jelani & Jenny
Sixth: Laura & Tyler
Eliminated: Jeff & Jackie

As the team with the worst sense of direction, Jeff & Jackie have been eliminated. I can’t believe this stupid leg was not non-elimination.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 7, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.

Weeks ago in The Amazing Race 26 Episode 4, the way behind everybody else with no chance of catching up Harley & Jonathan were eliminated.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Bergen & Kurt – 3:03PM
Second: Hayley & Blair – 3:06PM
Third: Aly & Steve – 3:12PM
Fourth: Laura & Tyler – 3:51PM
Fifth: Jeff & Jackie – 4:20PM
Sixth: Mike & Rochelle
Seventh: Jelani & Jenny
Eighth: Matt & Ashley

Jeff & Jackie and Laura & Tyler continue to get along, but Bergen & Kurt failed as a couple almost immediately while Jelani and Blair are having difficulty tolerating the hostility from their partners.

Teams must now fly more than 5000 miles to Munich, Germany. All teams are on the same flight.

Laura comes up with the idea to trade cars because she’s struggling with the driving, and in the process they leave their bag with presumably something important inside the previous car. The good news for them is that another team is bound to stumble upon it. Of course, they’ll have to wait around until that other team (Jeff & Jackie) shows up, though if they really wanted to be jerks the other team could guarantee their elimination by pretending they haven’t seen it.

They are not alone in this struggle. Have these people not seen this show before? You need to know how to drive stick. Bergen & Kurt eventually decide to forget about it, take a cab, and accept the penalty.

Meanwhile, Jeff & Jackie seem to be falling apart like all the other blind daters as she turns into a ranting lunatic. She tells him to shut up. He tries to tell her she doesn’t need to shut up, but eventually he agrees she should because she won’t stop for no apparent reason. Then there’s Hayley (or as Tyler calls her, the wicked witch of the west), who tells Blair he’s pissed her off to the point of no return. Like that’s difficult.

After getting dressed in lederhosen, they drive their Ford promotional vehicle to their next destination, a winter wonderland, where there task is to… promote Ford by driving in reverse. That leads them to a rowing task to retrieve the detour clue.

Here’s the catch for Bergen & Kurt. The challenge is they have to drive a car. They don’t have one. That means a 2 hour penalty.

Finally, Jeff & Jackie show up. They pretend they haven’t seen the fanny pack, but Laura & Tyler search their car and score what they were waiting for poorly hidden under the back seat. If you’re going to lie, lie better. Bergen & Kurt have one last hope remaining, the very lost and also unable to drive Mike & Rochelle, but by the time they leave, 45 minutes remain on the penalty.

The detour is a choice between stein or stack. In stein, teams must figure out how to carry 22 steins of beer all at once. In stack, teams must build a tower with a stack of 15 empty crates.

Stein: Aly & Steve, Matt & Ashley
Stack: Jeff & Jackie, Jelani & Jenny, Laura & Tyler, Hayley & Blair (switched from stein), Mike & Rochelle, Bergen & Kurt

This stein task seems silly easy watching the first team complete it, as Aly & Steve have no trouble at all. That result is misleading as she’s a lot tougher than most. And certainly less emotional than Hayley, who wants to switch to the other detour where they surprisingly start working together.

The road block requires teams to learn a wooing song in German. Failure means a bucket of water will be dumped on their heads.

Road block (in order of arrival): Aly, Ashley, Jackie, Jenny, Laura, Blair

This seems to be a pretty simple task, though Blair is the only one who does not get wet.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Lake Spitzingsee.

First: Aly & Steve (win a Ford Focus each)
Second: Matt & Ashley
Third: Jeff & Jackie
Fourth: Jelani & Jenny
Fifth: Hayley & Blair
Sixth: Laura & Tyler
Seventh: Mike & Rochelle
Eliminated: Bergen & Kurt

Bergen & Kurt screwed themselves by not making enough of an effort to either learn to drive prior to the race or trying harder during the race. Phil isn’t going to wait around for them any longer, and he greets them at the train station to eliminate them. Kurt is fine with them having given up. Bergen is disappointed, and I don’t think they’ll even be on each other’s Christmas card lists, let alone in a relationship.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race 26 Episode 6, which airs Friday at 8/7c on CBS.