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Survivor: Thailand Episode 8

Shii Ann got bit by the fake merger in Survivor: Thailand Episode 7 and ended up getting voted off when they found out that the two tribes were together… but not merged.

Brian thinks that the elimination of Shii Ann would be an emotional one, which would be a mistake. Her tribe says she warned them that, if she was voted out, they would be picked off one by one. So they voted her out.

Penny is attempting to blend into Sook Jai with niceness that feels fake.

Ken doesn’t like Sook Jai because he claims they urinate in the cave. Jake is being driven nuts by Helen and her constant recipes, but he’s doing a decent job of bonding with Brian.

Ken’s trying to think of a possible plan to get out of the mess he’s in. Final four of himself, Jake, Clay, and Brian.

When they arrive at the immunity challenge, they’re not given new buffs. Not a merge yet. The challenge is breath holding underwater through bamboo snorkels. To determine the winner of this tribe challenge, the total cumulative time for all the members of the tribe will be calculated. For the first time, Chuay Gahn has more members, so Helen will be sitting out. Penny is first up at 9 seconds. Ken is up at 15 seconds. Not looking good for Sook Jai. Clay is up at 20 seconds, Ted at 21, and Jan at 23. A reversal of fortune perhaps. Then Erin pops up at 25 seconds. Sook Jai can only win if Jake stays under there for 16 seconds longer than Brian. Jake is up. Chuay Gahn wins immunity.

They get back from the challenge to find the monkey’s been in their food. Chicken feed and bananas are gone.

Jake’s ready to off the last chicken, but they’re all on different pages about it. Jake wants a big ceremony. Jan’s crying and adds the head and feet to her pet cemetery. Ted would let it go free if it were up to him. Clay doesn’t get what the big deal is and just wants to eat.

Jake asks the remaining Sook Jai members whether they want to reveal now or wait until tribal council. This is their first hard one. After some chatting, they decide to save it for tribal council.

Votes
Ken
Erin
Erin
Erin

By a unanimous vote, Erin has been voted off the island. For a tribe that found this so difficult and didn’t want to talk about it, they sure had their ducks lined up.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Thailand Episode 9 Desperate Measures.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 5

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 4 brought us Billy Bell, Anthony Hart, Amber Jackson, and Thomas Hamilton. Tonight we head to New Orleans. Nigel’s pretending he’s a doctor again, so Lil C and Adam Shankman join Mary.

Shelby “Skip” Skipper wants to put bounce music on the map. Mary’s never seen that before, but she loved it. Lil C thought it was buck. He will be going straight to Vegas, not something I would have anticipated from this particular style.

Jonathan Litzler is a contemporary dancer with some acrobatic background. Adam calls that one of the best auditions ever. Even without the tumbling, it was still great. Mary is running out of adjectives. I’m sure Lil C will let her borrow one.

Alison Nance, Calvin Turner Jr., and Edward Spots are also heading to Vegas.

Eric le Blanc is apparently on something. He says energy drinks. He wants to be on the hot tamale train, but Mary’s not gonna just give it away. Eric’s not expecting to advance, but Mary and Lil C will let him go to choreography.

Justin Kenney survived a car wreck but ended up dancing again three weeks later. He dances hip hop and breakdancing, although he can’t do some of the stuff he used to do on his head. Mary says he took it to a whole nother level with his power moves. They will be sending him to choreography.

Eric promises he’ll be back, but his run for this season has obviously been terminated. The judges agree to take a gamble on Justin and send him to Vegas.

Kimalee Piedad competes in theater arts that’s sort of like ice dancing. Her partner’s not auditioning, even if he should be. Mary thought that was just fabulous. Adam felt that was stunning but is curious what she’s like on her own with a different partner that may not be so skilled in lifts. He’d like to send her to choreography, but the other two want her to go straight to Vegas.

Popper Micah Mixon grew up on mayonaise sandwiches, sometimes with bread. Dancing was the only good thing he had. He’s never had any formal training, which impresses Mary. Adam said that was not new, but it was fresh. He will go to choreography.

Jakob Karr thrills all the judges. Mary calls it fantastic. Adam says he freaking rocks. Lil C calls him phenomenal.

Diana Drexler’s grandfather passed away yesterday, but she’s still there to pursue her dream. Mary enjoyed the passion and honesty. Adam doesn’t think he could have done that after what happened. She will be going to choreography.

Micah has been cut. Diana, however, has made it.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 6, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 3

Because they met Allison’s challenge of losing over 150 pounds, nobody was sent home in The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 2.

Allison’s waiting for them the next day before they head into the gym. She talks about choices. This is “Would you rather?” week. Would they rather have their trainers or an advantage at the weigh-in? They will be there training whoever wants to be trained, but they will not train whoever would rather have an advantage. Only one team will be granted the 2 pound advantage. If nobody’s interested, the stakes will go up. 2 pounds really isn’t worth it, but to Mo’s surprise, Tracey takes the offer for the purple team.

When they get inside, it’s time to face the firing squad. Bob and Jillian are upset, so their work with her for the week will be limited to a lecture about not making such hasty decisions.

Dr. H has ordered an MRI for Abby because of her problem with shin splints. She will be allowed to go in the pool, but that’s it. He is unable to predict how long this will last.

When Allison started talking about choices earlier, my mind immediately went to temptation. Would they rather control their diet or control the game? At the weigh-in, only one person from each team will represent them. The winner of the temptation will be able to choose. What’s under the trays? It’s… a cupcake. Okay, what’s the real temptation? That cupcake contains 100 calories. All they have to do to win is eat more cupcakes than anybody else.

Liz doesn’t want that kind of control this early. Sean wants to take these cupcakes and rub them all over his body, which is probably more than I needed to know. Around the 6 minute mark, Antoine takes the first bite. Tracey’s still thinking about Bob and Jillian from earlier, but that doesn’t last.

Two people ended up eating. Antoine ate 2 cupcakes. Tracey ate 4 to win the challenge. For 400 calories, a pretty good prize.

Bob is just hoping that nobody did anything stupid. He asks who in the world would have done this. That would be Tracey. Again. Jillian’s ready to inflict bodily harm. As big a deal as they make of this, 400 calories really isn’t much, especially for the power received or as compared with prior temptations that we’ve seen run into the thousands. Perhaps the bigger issue here, though, is that she already jumped on the last offer very quickly.

Control is up for grabs again. The winner will get immunity. Each team will have to get 500 pounds to the top of the ramp. They can choose to lift the closer 5 pound buckets 2 at a time, or they can opt for the 25 pounders. Tracey and Abby will be sitting out, so their partners (and Julio) will need to get to 250 pounds.

10 pounds: Purple, Green, Pink, Blue
25 pounds: Brown, Black, Red, Orange

The disadvantage to the 25 pound weights is that they’re a lot further than the set of 5s, but it also means a lot more climbing up that ramp. Green and pink are leading the pack at the halfway point, an indication that the closer choice was the better one. After 15 minutes, green’s got a pretty sizeable lead as pink slows behind him. This is Allen’s challenge to lose. Pink has some chance, but everybody else has no prayer. Allen retains his lead the whole way to win immunity for himself and Abby. Pink finishes second. Everybody else keeps going and finishes the challenge, all ganging up on the final player’s spot to help Mo finish.

This week, it’s Dina’s turn to get screamed at. She quits while running. Jillian hates quitters. After much drama, Dina returns to the treadmill.

Daniel asks Tracey for some mercy. He would rather get on the scale than Shay. Amanda is afraid of pulling another low number. Tracey would like some cooperation out of them: don’t vote for her if she falls below the yellow line. They are unwilling to commit. Don’t be surprised if she is unwilling to work with you then.

At the weigh-in, Jillian’s still lecturing. This time, she wants to convince Mo that he can’t support his partner’s decisions.

Allen: 292 pounds (-4, 1.35%)
Abby: 216 pounds (-5, 2.26%)
Green Total: 508 pounds (-9, 1.74%, immune)

Julio: 368 pounds (-7, 1.87%)

Liz: 243 pounds (-4, 1.62%)
Danny: 390 pounds (-4, 1.01%)
Brown Total: 633 pounds (-8, 1.25%)

Liz’s weight will count for the brown team, which is surprisingly the decision that benefits them most.

Rudy: 388 pounds (-12, 3.00%)
Dina: 234 pounds (-3, 1.27%)
Blue Total: 622 pounds (-15, 2.36%)

Rudy’s weight will count, which will guarantee the blue team’s safety.

Amanda: 235 pounds (-5, 2.08%)
Rebecca: 248 pounds (-7, 2.75%)
Pink Total: 483 pounds (-12, 2.42%)

Against their wishes, Tracey chooses Amanda to weigh-in, which they whine about. Next time somebody wants to make a deal, make the deal, or don’t and get over it. Don’t refuse, demand your side only, and pout.

Antoine: 330 pounds (-11, 3.22%)
Sean: 405 pounds (-6, 1.46%)
Red Total: 735 pounds (-17, 2.26%)

Sean’s numbers will count for the red team.

Daniel: 287 pounds (-6, 2.05%)
Shay: 437 pounds (-6, 1.35%)
Orange Total: 724 pounds (-12, 1.63%)

Going against Daniel’s expectations, Shay’s numbers will count. Tracey’s just making enemies left and right here. She’s gonna have trouble surviving much longer at this pace. With that, Rebecca continues her earlier tantrum.

Tracey: 217 pounds (-11, -2, 5.70%)
Mo: 326 pounds (-1, 0.31%)
Purple Total: 543 pounds (-12, 2.16%)

For all the bashing Tracey took this week, she made a genius choice. If somebody else took control of this game (and somebody else would have eventually) and picked Mo, they’d be below the yellow line. Beyond that, for all the talk about how 2 pounds wouldn’t matter, since only 1 person’s weight counted, it ended up making a big difference, as both of those who fell below the yellow line could have been saved by it. The bad news for Tracey is that her life there is bound to be short-lived because she’s got some serious fence mending to do. She receives no applause for knocking it out the park this week without a trainer. Nobody’s even willing to fake it.

The red and orange teams have fallen below the yellow line, and one of them will be eliminated. Since she’s still the heaviest woman ever, Shay is likely to get the sympathy votes. It’s too early for voting out a threat just yet. Granted, Sean’s over 400 pounds himself and as such both needs to be there and is a big threat, although I think he’s more likely to stick to it.

Votes
Julio: Antoine & Sean
Abby & Allen: Antoine & Sean
Amanda & Rebecca: Antoine & Sean
Tracey & Mo: Antoine & Sean

Sean has lost 120 pounds from his starting weight of 444 pounds. He and his wife are expecting another child any day now, which they plan to name Jillian.

Antoine has dropped 105 pounds from his starting weight of 367 pounds. Since leaving, he’s hooked up with Alexandra, who was kicked off the ranch week 1.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 4, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 4

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 3 brought us Russell Ferguson, Channing Cooke, married couple Karen and Matthew Hauer, and Kevin Hunte. Tonight we head to Atlanta.

Billy Bell started out dancing around 5 years ago when he tried hip hop and was told he was terrible. So he went into ballet instead. Nigel likes his legs and technique but wants him to be careful about some of his bad habits. The judges are no for choreography because he’s going straight to Vegas.

Amber Jackson was performing for nobody. She’s going to need to improve that so that her performance matches her dancing talent. She will be heading to choreography, with a warning from Nigel that he intends to slap her around if she doesn’t get better.

I’m going to wager a guess that Travis Denison isn’t really a dancer. That is a winning bet. Nigel had fun, but that’s about as far as it’ll go, even though Travis looks like he may be related to Adam Shankman.

Jamal Jackson and Victor Smalley are lumped into a going to Vegas montage.

Anthony and Antwain Hart have returned. Nigel’s happy to have them back, and he’s seeing some things he’s never seen before. Nigel wants to see them go to choreography because, well, he doesn’t give a good reason why.

Amber will be advancing to Vegas. Anthony will be as well. Antwain, however, will not be joining him.

Matthew “Boogie Links” (really?) Pollard believes he’s a ladies’ man. Cat tells him to not call her because she’ll call him. Honest. Nigel found that interesting to watch because he’s not humanly capable of doing half of those things, but he doesn’t know based on that whether he can actually dance.

Jessica Jensen had cancer in her hand and eventually had it amputated. She was back in the studio two weeks after that. They will be asking her to stick around for choreography, which will be interesting because it will require modifications considering it’s partner work.

Jonathan Bryant says he’s a dope, or that his solo is dope. Something to that effect. It’s not entirely clear what he’s doing. Whatever it is, it’s lost on the judges, who want him to funnel his energy into some sort of structure. He begs to differ. Nigel says that his lecture will be cut out of the show because it’s boring.

Thomas Hamilton is looking to escape from his childhood, in which he was born a crack baby and immediately adopted by his aunt since his mom is a drug addict. He hated contemporary dancing until he did a class with Mia Michaels. Nigel was lost at the end because he was praying rather than dancing to the audience, but the first part was beautiful. Mary sees a bright future. He advances to choreography.

Boogie has been eliminated. Jessica has also been eliminated. Thomas has done enough to go to Vegas.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 5, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 12

Although Suzanne screwed up worse than anybody else in Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 11, Van was eliminated instead.

Dave’s upset that Tennille changed her mind. He went with a stupid decision, so he got what he deserved. Kevin is happy to sit back and watch them fight.

The first individual challenge is about focusing on presentation. It will be judged by the editorial staff of Bon Appetit magazine. Apparently, people still buy magazines. Kevin is making a Caribbean seabass, Suzanne is preparing a calamari salad, Dave is cooking a rack of lamb, Ariel is making a prosciutto-wrapped John Dory, and Tennille is cooking an Asian red snapper.

Tennille’s fish breaks at the last minute. She’s screwed. Dave knows he has made a pan-seared, uh, something.

In fifth place is Tennille. Suzanne comes in fourth, still believing her dish is a piece of art. The highest scoring chef is Kevin. Coming in second is Ariel. She will battle Kevin for the win, to be decided by a tasting. Both of them end up winning in a tie. As a reward, they will be featured in Bon Appetit.

The losers will make LA more presentable by cleaning up Hell’s Kitchen’s adopted street. Dave’s still whining about Tennille. They’ve been given nice orange jumpsuits to pick up the trash in. When they return, they get to continue cleaning Hell’s Kitchen.

After the punishment, Dave’s reinjured himself again. Kevin would like to see that send him home, so he talks to him and pretends he cares.

Dave’s struggling as they prep for service. He tells others there are certain things he can’t do that they can.

In addition to the regular menu, tonight the two winning dishes will also be featured.

Dave is on cold appetizers, while Tennille is on hot apps. Suzanne is on fish. Which will screw up first? Suzanne isn’t delivering the scallops. She blames Tennille.

Ariel warns Tennille that her risotto is mush. She thinks it’s okay. Nope. Denied. Then Suzanne burns some scallops.

Tennille’s next attempt at risotto is also mushy. Ramsay believes he has discovered the problem. Who cooked the rice? That would be Kevin. They’re both willing to accept the blame because they should have known better.

So is Ramsay done yelling after they get new rice? No, he wants them to come over to him. So why’s he yelling at them to come over? To tell them the risotto is now perfect.

Ariel says she doesn’t plan on messing up again. The undercooked chicken would indicate that isn’t going according to plan.

Back to Suzanne. Raw fish that may well be classified as sushi.

An hour and a half into the service, only half of the diners have received their entrees. Ariel’s attempt at lamb is not helping matters any, so Ramsay takes her out into the dining room to yell at her.

Two and a half hours in, and everything’s still coming up piecemeal. When it’s not screwed up, Ramsay’s having to send each individual item out separately. On the last table, they’re still dragging, but at least they haven’t been shut down. Not quite the service that would have been expected from the final five, though. There’s no best of the worst tonight.

Suzanne picks Ariel and Tennille. Ariel nominates Kevin and Tennille. The group seems pretty well divided, each merely hoping they sucked less than the other.

The first nominee is Ariel due to her inconsistencies and performance tonight. The second nominee is Suzanne, who thought she had a good service despite her multiple mistakes.

Despite the fact that Ariel’s getting worse as time goes by, Suzanne’s already had enough last chances. Suzanne has been eliminated, but Ariel’s left with a warning that she should be going, too. For no apparent reason, Tennille’s also warned that she dodged a bullet.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 13, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Survivor: Thailand Episode 7

The last of his group of outcasts, Robb was voted off the island in Survivor: Thailand Episode 6.

Erin’s keeping her eye on Ken and Shii Ann. Ken, meanwhile, is keeping his eye on Penny. Sook Jai continues to get more fractured as we approach the merge.

The tribes get treemail with paint. They pick a color and start painting themselves. Jeff welcomes them and offers them a chance to get to know somebody from the other tribe. They will be paired up with their same color counterpart. The pairs are: Shii Ann and Clay, Penny and Brian, Erin and Ted, Helen and Ken, and Jan and Jake. They’re all given baskets. Two of the baskets contain further instructions. Shii Ann will be visiting Chuay Gahn with Clay, while Helen goes to visit Sook Jai with Ken.

Helen and Ken keep their lips tight, but Shii Ann spills the beans. She tells Clay that their tribe hates each other.

When they get back, Jeff tells them that the two tribes will live together on the same beach. They opt for Chuay Gahn, which Shii Ann raves about. That means a much better shelter but a lengthy trek to the water source.

They are greeted by the traditional merge feast. What they seem to be lacking is a new name and new buffs. The tribes have come up with a new name, though: Chuay Jai.

Shii Ann’s smiling for the first time in a while. She’s cool with Jake and Ken, but she has no use for Penny or Erin (or the three who have been voted out for that matter).

Shii Ann has questions coming at her from both sides. Is she going to join with Sook Jai and vote out Penny with them, or is she going to stick with Ken? She has told Chuay Gahn that she’s onboard with them, but she does not reveal her plans to the other side. Ken warns her not to sink everybody else and herself just because she’s upset with Penny.

The tribes go to the immunity challenge unaware Probst has just played a prank on them. What do you mean merge? Who said anything about a merge? Two tribes living on one beach. That’s not one merged tribe. Shii Ann knows she’s sunk, one way or another.

For this tribe immunity challenge, they will try to escape from prison. Using materials found within the jail cell, they will retrieve keys to unlock all their tribe members. Then they will dig their way out of the jail. Brian gets the first key for Chuay Gahn. Ted gets their second. Shii Ann grabs Sook Jai’s first and second keys. Ken gets a third key. Brian gets a third key. Then they both get their fourth keys. As time speeds up, we see Chuay Gahn leading 13-12. Then 14-12. Then Sook Jai gets 2 to tie it 14-14. It’s a race for the last key. Chuay Gahn has their last key and starts digging. They all escape, and Chuay Gahn wins immunity.

The move here is obvious. Get rid of the traitor. Regardless of what they decide, though, unlike a traditional 5-5 merge, Sook Jai will be down 5-4. One person may split apart and survive if they have it in them, but they are easy pickings.

At tribal council, Erin says she thought they were going to get new buffs when they went to the immunity challenge. That there should have been a hint. No new buffs means no new tribe.

Shii Ann’s final plea is to Ken and Jake. They can trust her, even if Penny can’t be trusted. Unlike them, she may also be able to crack into the other tribe, which is their only hope of surviving.

Votes
Shii Ann
Penny
Shii Ann
Shii Ann

By a unanimous vote, Shii Ann has been voted off the island. Regardless of being bit by this twist, Shii Ann’s still better at this game than those who remain.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Thailand Episode 8 Sleeping with the Enemy.

The Amazing Race 15 Episode 2

Eric & Lisa were eliminated at the starting line in The Amazing Race 15 Episode 1, but there were no more eliminations in the episode as Maria & Tiffany were non-eliminated. As punishment, though, they have incurred a 2 hour penalty (for not completing the task) and must complete a speed bump.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Meghan & Cheyne – 12:19AM
Second: Zev & Justin – 12:36AM
Third: Lance & Keri – 12:40AM
Fourth: Marcy & Ron – 12:41AM
Fifth: Herbert & Nathaniel – 12:42AM
Sixth: Brian & Ericka – 12:44AM
Seventh: Gary & Matt – 12:45AM
Eighth: Garrett & Jessica – 12:51AM
Ninth: Sam & Dan – 12:54AM
Tenth: Mika & Canaan – 1:03AM
Eleventh: Maria & Tiffany – 3:22AM

Their next stop is Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2600 miles away. Since it’s midnight and they’re going to an airport, it’s safe to say that all teams will be bunched up. This makes the 2 hour penalty moot. When they land in Vietnam, they will take a 2 hour bus ride to the rural village of Cai Bei.

Lance & Keri are already getting on each other’s nerves. Garrett & Jessica are using this show to see if they’re meant to be together. Hint: if you need this show to tell you that, the answer is probably no. Sam & Dan plan to pretend they’re straight and flirt with the girls.

Half of the teams stay behind at the hotel and use the Internet to book their flights. The other half go straight to the airport and book there. Hopefully for them this is an easy lesson learned. You book before you arrive, one way or another. A handful of the teams are haggling at the ticket counter to try to get seats. Everybody ultimately ends up on the same flight.

Maria & Tiffany’s strategy has been blown up at the airport. Somebody recognizes them as professional poker players, and Sam & Dan overhear. Meanwhile, Maria & Tiffany jokingly ask if Sam & Dan are gay. The Globetrotters have also found out that Maria & Tiffany are lying.

All the teams land in Vietnam, where they’re greeted by flooded streets. Despite the flooding, people with mopeds are driving through this mess.

First bus (departs at 3:30PM): Maria & Tiffany, Sam & Dan, Herbert & Nathaniel, Mika & Canaan, Marcy & Ron
Second bus (scheduled to depart at 4:45PM): Gary & Matt, Brian & Ericka, Lance & Keri, Meghan & Cheyne, Zev & Justin, Garrett & Jessica

Not wanting to wait another hour and 15 minutes, Brian comes up with a plan. Pay the bus driver more money to make up for the rest of the tickets. This works out just fine and puts them right behind the other teams. On the way over, Zev decides to give the bus driver the jacket off his back.

The teams on bus 2 just wasted their money, although I have to give them credit for their aggressive gameplay. The docks close at 5:00 and don’t reopen until 7:00 the next morning. The teams will all be camping out. Maria & Tiffany are picking apart the competition. They don’t get a warm feeling from Zev & Justin, and they see Lance as just a meathead who can’t possibly be a lawyer. Zev, meanwhile, sees them as not the kind of people who would actually work with homeless people.

Before they get to the first task, Maria & Tiffany must complete their speed bump, in which they will prepare and serve soup.

The next stop is to go by boat to mud puts, where they will fertilize fruit trees. This task is bound to be messy.

From there, teams will take their boats to the Cai Be field. On their way back, Zev & Justin realize something. They don’t know where they’re going. Who has the clue? When they return, they see it was almost dropped in the river. They grab it, but this puts them roughly even with the last place Maria & Tiffany.

When they arrive at their destination, they see ducks. Everywhere. The road block is to get all their ducks in a row. They will herd 150 ducks from their pen, across the bridge, and back again. If they do not complete this task in 10 minutes, they will have to wait for another turn.

Road block (in order of arrival): Meghan (unsuccessful), Jessica (unsuccessful), Ericka (unsuccessful), Matt, Flight Time, Sam, Keri, Marcy, Mika (unsuccessful), Tiffany, Zev, Meghan 2nd attempt, Jessica 2nd attempt (unsuccessful), Ericka 2nd attempt (unsuccessful), Mika 2nd attempt, Ericka 3rd attempt, Jessica 3rd attempt

Teams will proceed to a market to search for the Bassac III Riverboat, the pit stop for this leg of the race. Although they’re doing well, one of the brothers calls the other a moron on the way there. It’s a race for last between the two teams who needed three tries on the road block.

First: Gary & Matt (win kayaks)
Second: Herbert & Nathaniel
Third: Sam & Dan
Fourth: Lance & Keri
Fifth: Zev & Justin
Sixth: Meghan & Cheyne
Seventh: Maria & Tiffany
Eighth: Mika & Canaan
Ninth: Marcy & Ron
Tenth: Brian & Ericka
Eliminated: Garrett & Jessica

Garrett felt they were a stronger team than their placement shows, which they probably are. But they aren’t really much of a team when you get right down to it. He’s not sure whether they’re any closer to marriage.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 15 Episode 3 It’s Like Being Dropped on Planet Mars (Vietnam), which airs Sunday at 8/7c CBS.

The Amazing Race 15 Episode 1

Last year, brother/sister duo Tammy & Victor were The Amazing Race 14 winners. The Amazing Race returns for season 15 with a two hour premiere. The Amazing Race 15 cast consists of 12 teams with a preexisting relationship.

Or at least it will consist of 12 teams for the next few minutes anyway. In a thoroughly lame twist, one team will be eliminated at the starting line. The race starts off in LA, which is convenient since half the contestants are from California and half wish to get work as actors/models following the race.

Just beyond their backpacks is the first challenge. The team that is unable to complete the challenge will be eliminated right there. It’s like the Family Edition. One team won’t even get out of the US. They will need to search the wall of over 1000 license plates for one of only 11 from the Shinagawa district of Tokyo, their first destination. At the very top of the clue is the symbol for this district, but nobody’s paying attention to that. Justin realizes it eventually. In the meantime, some teams are making dumb luck guesses. Phil will be handing out tickets on a first come, first served basis.

First flight (leaving 12:45PM): Maria & Tiffany, Marcy & Ron, Meghan & Cheyne, Herbert & Nathaniel, Gary & Matt, Zev & Justin
Second flight (leaving 1:15PM): Sam & Dan, Mika & Canaan, Garrett & Jessica, Brian & Ericka, Lance & Keri

Both of the final two teams didn’t bother rereading the clue until they were the last two teams standing, and it was then that both realized what they were looking for. Unable to complete this first task, yoga instructors Eric & Lisa have been eliminated from the race.

The poker players are already bluffing. They say they work for an organization that deals with homeless kids in LA.

The first stop os a television studio at the base of the Tokyo Tower. When they land, Maria & Tiffany are already having their first argument after missing the first shuttle.

The second flight lands earlier than expected, putting the gap between flights at just 8 minutes.

When the contestants arrive, they’re in a room where there’s apparently a game show going on. I’m expecting people wearing padding and falling into stuff, but the words I see are sushi and roulette. The host will spin a wheel containing 9 sushi rolls and 2 wasabi bombs. The sushi should be fine, but wasabi is extremely spicy. Ron and Cheyne get the first wasabi bombs, which they must eat within two minutes. Both of them finish the wasabi to advance to the next task, leaving the remaining teams at the mercy of the roulette wheel. Lame. You wanna talk about dumb luck. Garrett and Justin are the next ones to get wasabi, and they do okay as well. Maria is the only one get wasabi on the next spin, but she’s unable to finish in time. So the next time it’s Maria again. This time, she finishes with 1 second to spare. Big Easy and Lance go next and complete the task. Then Canaan is next, and he does fine. Brian and Gary are next. Gary completes the task, but Brian does not. Dan finally gets his shot, and he finishes in less than half the time. That leaves Brian all alone in the studio. He must wait again for the wheel to land on him. On his second try, he just barely finishes the wasabi. I can’t imagine Ericka’s cheerleading is helping him any, though.

Teams must then get their group of studio audience members to Konno Hachimangu Shrine, the pit stop for this leg of the race. Already? Because this a searching task through chaotic streets, it does provide some degree of hope for the teams who got screwed on the road block.

Meghan & Cheyne have the strategy of asking as many people as they can. Marcy’s looking like she may be a few eggs short of a dozen. Zev & Justin are stuck in the group with the woman with a broken shoe. Maria & Tiffany are trying to hook up with Sam & Dan, brothers who are gay. Brian & Ericka run right into a guy who knows exactly where they’re going and takes them there. Sam & Dan split off from Maria & Tiffany to go follow another team and see if they know what they’re doing instead. In the meantime, Maria & Tiffany have lost two people from their audience group and need to go find them. They aren’t alone. Mika & Canaan have left one person behind, which they don’t realize until they arrive at Phil. Despite the drama this leads to, it looks like only a matter of a couple minutes that they end up losing. Maria & Tiffany, however, have decided to just check in, without enough people.

First: Meghan & Cheyne (win a trip to Aspen and Vail)
Second: Zev & Justin
Third: Lance & Keri
Fourth: Marcy & Ron
Fifth: Herbert & Nathaniel
Sixth: Brian & Ericka
Seventh: Gary & Matt
Eighth: Garrett & Jessica
Ninth: Sam & Dan
Tenth: Mika & Canaan
Non-eliminated: Maria & Tiffany

Maria & Tiffany have incurred a two hour penalty for not completing the challenge, and they will also be faced with a speed bump in the next leg, which they will be advancing to.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 15 Episode 2, which airs next on CBS.