Amazing Race: No Time for Dilly Dally

Posted On February 21, 2011

Amazing Race is back and for once we don’t have to be confused by all the new teams because we all know them! Except for possibly Amanda and Kris who are still not very memorable. The first leg started out crazier than normal. They were told there would be an express pass given to the first team that got to the pit stop at the end of the leg. Been told that before, so got it. Then, they were told that there wasn’t a clue on their backpack since they had to solve a puzzle first before Phil gave it to them. The first eight teams would be on the first plane and the last three teams would be on the second one leaving 90 minutes later. That has happened before with the license plate task at the beginning of a season that also eliminated someone right off the bat. This wasn’t as harsh, but had happened before. The final twist was a new one. The last team to get the clue, would be U-Turned so they had to do both sides of the first detour they ran into. Got all that? Hope so, since you haven’t heard the clue yet!

Paper Airplanes

The teams were all out in Palm Springs, California near the windmills. This must have been filmed in the winter since everyone was wearing jackets and looked like they were freezing to death from the cold and the wind. There were words written on paper airplanes hoisted on poles over a hill from where they were standing. Phil told them the clue was “Queensland and Northern Territories aerial services.” Off they went to find a paper airplane that made sense with that. There were various airlines written on the paper airplanes.

Some teams were just grabbing something randomly and bringing it to Phil. When Phil didn’t get one that was right, he would throw it since it was a paper airplane. Queens Express and Pan Am were not correct. Does Pan Am even exist anymore? Qantas was the correct answer. Mel & Mike, Zev & Justin and the cowboys figured that out around the same time. They were all on the first flight. The goths, Ron & Christina, Globetrotters, Margie & Luke and the cheerleaders figured it out around the same time too and were the rest of the first flight.

The sisters ran up to Phil soon after the first flight was full, but they learned they were on the second flight. That left Gary & Mallory and Amanda & Kris fighting to stay out of last place. Mallory was praying to get help. Amanda asked Kris if they were just grabbing random ones. He said they were. That led Mallory & Gary to figure it out first and get the last good clue, leaving the team no one remembers getting U-Turned almost immediately.

Swimming With the Sharks

The clue had teams flying off to Sydney, Australia. Once there, they had to take a train to a ferry that would take them to Oceanworld in Manly. There was no airport drama, but there was airplane drama! The first flight didn’t get any advantage since there was a heart attack on the plane. They had to land in Hawaii to get the heart attack man off the plane. That made the second plane land first at 10:20 am. While on the train headed to the ferry station, Mallory let the sisters and Amanda & Kris know they were now in first place. She had heard from a flight attendant that the other flight had to land in Hawaii so they landed first. Amanda & Kris were so excited. They were hoping to get an express pass so they would not have to do the detour. I was hoping there would be a detour before the end of the leg so they would have to do one anyway and get out of this race. The 2nd plane landed at 10:47 am. Most of the teams got on the same train to the ferry, but the cowboys, Ron & Christina and Mike & Mel missed it so they were the last three teams headed to the ferry.

When the first teams arrived at the roadblock, they were asked, “Who’s ready to get tanked?” The team member had to search for a huge compass in a 1.5 million gallon tank filled with sharks and a stingray. Once they got the compass, they had to use it to figure out a message with nautical flags that matched the corresponding letter or number on the compass. The message would end up being:

Manly, 16 ft Skiff Sailing Club
Find the Commodore and tell him, “I am between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

Mallory, Kisha and Amanda decideed to do the road block. The sisters had to deal with their fear about the water again, well at least Kisha did. I don’t know if the fear affected Kisha, since she didn’t find the compass as quickly as Mallory or Amanda did. While the second group of teams were headed to Oceanland, the last group was getting off the train. Ron & Christina and Mel & Mike got tickets for the ferry. The cowboys went some other direction and when they figured out they had to take the ferry, they missed it. They were in last place. This was a sign of what was to come for the cowboys.

Compass Clues

While Mallory and Amanda were working on figuring out the flags, Gary told Kris that it was a word puzzle thing. Kris said that Amanda was good at word puzzles, while the camera showed her looking at the flags and the compass, saying “What?” Kisha finally found the compass and was figuring out the message before the next group of teams arrived.

While the second group were swimming around with sharks,Kent said that Vyxsin was a visual delight in the water. She was a pink mermaid. Okay! When Flight Time found the compass, Big Easy was VERY excited. When the last teams, including the cowboys finally showed up, Cord wore both cowboy hats while Jet swam around. Hilarious.

While swimming around though, Vyxsin had a slight panic attack since she couldn’t get used to using the breathing apparatus. She had to force herself to focus to get herself out of the tank after she had the compass. While she was telling this story, though, the most frightening thing was looking at her painted on eyebrows. Ack!

Mallory figured out the clue first and got to the commodore before anyone else. They learned they had to sail a 16 foot skiff. They practiced a bit and then were out in the water, they had to sail to a buoy that had a clue on it. Kisha and Amanda decided to work together to finish up figuring out the message. They ended up right behind Gary & Mallory on getting to the commodore and out onto the skiff.

Cara and Margie worked together to figure out the message too, but that didn’t help them much. When they got to the commodore, they both told him the message was “I am the devil and the deep blue sea.” They were both missing the word “between”. Zen & Justin had arrived to the commodore just before Margie & Luke and the cheerleaders. When they were leaving, they saw the Globetrotters. Since Flight Time only half figured out the message before he was just going to try and wing the answer, he stopped to ask them what it was. Justin shared it with them since he liked those guys.

Margie & Luke and the cheerleaders saw Zev & Justin and asked them for the answer too, but they didn’t help them. Sucks for them! They had to head back to the flags again. Before they did, they followed the Globetrotters and tried to hear the answer. They were sneaky and whispered so that didn’t work. While they headed back, they ran into Ron & Christina and Mel & Mike. They said if the other teams showed them where the commodore was, they would tell them the clue they came up with. That made those four teams all group up together and get their clues around the same time.

Cowboys thought they had it so they took off to the commodore. Kent was getting frustrated and told Vyxsin to hurry up so she left without finishing. The goths did pass by Margie & Luke, who shared the answer with them. Too bad the cowboys didn’t hear it since they got to the commodore and told them the address to where they were standing. They did not have the quote. They didn’t know what they were missing so they had to head back. Oh cowboys! You are in last place!

As for the skiff adventure, not much happened besides the Globetrotters being crazy big on a tiny boat and the cheerleaders tipping over at one point.

Pit Stop

After the skiffs, the next clue was the pit stop clue. They had to head to Shelly Beach to meet Phil and a very disappointing Australian surfer, who my friend Amy said could have been a hell of a lot hotter.

Gary & Mallory were the first team to arrive. Phil told them they received the express pass, but it was also not the end of the leg. He gave them their next clue. Mallory was just flustered and kept blabbing like she was done. Phil told her it was no time to dilly dally. She kept talking. Phil told her to stop talking and keep racing. She finally got the hint and ran away, still blabbing while her dad tried to direct her in one direction.

Soon after, Amanda & Kris came in second place (bleh!) and Kisha & Jen came in third. Later on, Zev & Justin were in fourth place, while calling Phil a “dirty dog” to make them continue racing. The Globetrotters came in fifth place, leaving sixth through tenth place to the cheerleaders, Margie & Luke, Ron & Christina, Mel & Mike and the goths. Where were the cowboys? Well, they were still figuring out the damn clue back at the flags!

The show left it with it to be continued since who knows if the cowboys will even make it past the first leg. Oh cowboys….

Questions

1. After revisiting the teams, anyone annoying you more now than before? Any teams surprising you?
2. Do you think there should have been a detour before the leg ended?
3. Who are you hoping will be in last place when they get at the end of real leg?