by Sam McMillen

The Amazing Race 15

 

This week's episode of The Amazing Race sent the teams from Argentina to Hamburg Germany. The teams were separated between three different flights, which rarely happened on our season. The flight separation definitely provided a little bit of stagger, but the teams were all still pretty close to each other. We see the first intersection, which involves teams pairing up to do a bungee jump. The Detour gives the teams a choice between eating sauerkraut in a hurry or kicking soccer balls through targets in a goal. Before heading to the pit-stop, the teams must drink a huge boot full of beer, a challenge which raised significant jealousy for me. This was definitely a fun episode, so here are my favorite moments and thoughts on the leg.

 

ALLIANCES
This week's episode reveals some pretty considerable alliances: Dan/Jordan and Carol/Brandy, Joe/Heidi and Steve/Allie, Jeff/Jordan and Brent/Caite. The alliance is a strategy that has historically had a huge impact on the results. Look at seasons 13 and 14. Nick and Star allied with Ken and Tina... both teams crossed the finish line. Jaime and Cara allied with Margie and Luke... both teams crossed the finish line. Working with another team increases your man power by two, and your odds of getting lost are decreased significantly. I think the alliance between Dan/Jordan and Carol/Brandy (a.k.a. "the lesbian aunts they never had") is going to be the strongest and most effective this season.

 

A WOLF PACK OF TWO
On the flip side, playing as a loner team tends to put a target on your back. True, most loner teams act that way because they're confident in their racing abilities, sometimes for good reason. The Globetrotters were the ultimate lone wolves for our season, which earned them a unanimous target from the other teams. The same is happening for Jet/Cord this season. If you're going to be a loner team, you have to be able to back it up and never miss a beat or it's over. So far they've done so with two wins under their belts. Lucky for the Cowboys, I think another team is accruing a heavier target on their back based on some offensive personality traits (cough... Joe ... cough).

 

INTERSECTION
This week features an Intersection, which requires two teams to pair up and complete a task together. The rules of an Intersection are that when a team arrives, they must wait for another team to start the challenge. If they don't want to team up with the next arriving team, they have to wait for another one to arrive. This gives the third arriving team the power to choose, so the first place team could get totally screwed if they wait. Lucky for everyone, the teams arrive to the clue box with teams they get along with, avoiding an awkward game of schoolyard "you can't play with us". I especially liked this intersection because not only did they have to do a challenge together, they had to navigate the trains together. This proved difficult for Caite and Jordan (of Jeff and Jordan), as they went the wrong way on the train. Proof that having a tag-along local saves embarrassment and inconvenience. Part of the point of an Intersection is the possibility that one team could get completely thrown off because the team their paired with can't do the tast. It definitely would have been more interesting if someone had a crippling fear of heights. Imagine being the last group to go and being matched up with Mika. Yikes.

 

THREE CHEERS FOR THE LOCALS!
Getting help from the locals is truly a blessing. Especially when they're familiar with Amazing Race. Occasionally, you run into locals who know exactly what you're doing (the camera guy following you around is a dead giveaway). This week, Joe/Heidi and Steve/Allie came across a gentleman named Claus who lead them from the train to the Intersection. Claus reminded me of a guy who helped Dan and me get on the right train in Sweden. He was more than happy to help... a little too happy considering he then followed us around for a while; I can only assume he was just trying to get his 15 minutes. That was awkward. Dan and Brandy also had a local taking them to the same places. Pretty much every time you see a team asking for directions, the question that follows is "will you come with us!?" Being led by a local cuts out the chance of getting lost or going the wrong way on the train, a lesson which was learned the hard way by Caite and Jordan. No matter where you are or what you're doing, locals are one of the best tools to stay in the race.

 

CABBIES
Oh cab drivers. You have no idea just how much power you have when it comes to the race. Getting into a cab is like playing roulette. Will they speak English? Are they knowledgeable about the area? You never know until you buckle up and hold on for dear life. This week, Mike and Louie coincidentally jumped into a cab that was being driven by the Hamburg version of Sacagawea. Edga, as we came to know her, got them everywhere in a flash without so much as a curb check. Getting a cab driver to stay with you the whole leg makes a huge difference, as we saw for Zev and Justin in Cambodia. Mike and Louie have a flawless leg (hence the first place finish), and Edga's mad cab driving skills definitely helped them out a lot. On the flip side, Jeff and Jordan were not so lucky. Their cab driver took them to the Hamburg boonies, a mix up caught by Jeff a little too late. Once the error in the navigation system was detected, the team knew they had a lot of catching up to do. I'm guessing the outskirts of Hamburg are no longer on their "places to go on vacation" list.

 

A PLAGUE UPON YOUR TEAM!
Everyone thinks it, but only a few actually verbalize it. When trailing, your best chance for survival is for another team to blow it somehow. The degree of severity always ranges. I'm sure Steve and Allie would simply pray for a flat tire, or a penalty as Jordan (of Jeff and Jordan) hoped for this week. Jeff, on the other hand, shows no mercy and says "hopefully someone fell off a bridge with cement shoes". Sounds like Jeff has seen one too many mafia flicks. Unfortunately for them, none of the teams were allergic to both sauerkraut and soccer, so everyone was able to finish the tasks without any major mess ups. Plague avoided.

 

DETOUR SUCCESS
This week had some very successful detour action. Mike and Louie absolutely destroy the Sauerkraut detour, as do Brandy and Carol. Brandy was an all-star and pretty much ate the whole plate by herself, thankfully avoided Carol's gag reflex to sauerkraut. My Team Stallie shout out this week goes to their soccer skills at the other side of the Detour. A team that's made up of a professional sports coach and his athletic daughter should have no problem with the challenge, and they didn't. Dan also shows of his mad soccer skills and, like the older brother he is, makes fun of Jordan's unfortunate first attempts. I can laugh at that because it would have been the EXACT same for Dan and me if we were doing that challenge. Doing well on the Detour made a big difference this week, so congrats to the teams that rocked out on the tasks.

 

YAY! BEER!
This week's Roadblock involved drinking a massive boot of beer to receive your next clue. The task looked like a scene straight out of the movie "Beerfest", a personal favorite of mine. So jealous. What an awesome break from a stressful leg. The local crowd is cheering you on (or laughing at you in Jet's case) and all you have to do is put your stress aside and relax with a cold beer. Seems simple enough, but the German flavor proved challenging for most of the teams. In one of the secret scenes, we see Brent (having no help from is beer intolerant teammate) putting skittles in his mouth before drinking to change the flavor. Smart move, especially considering the fact that he had just puked his guts out on the street. I commend his creativity, and at least Caite was able to contribute something to the challenge. The drinking champions of the leg were definitely Jeff and Steve. Next round is on me guys.

 

WHAT GOES DOWN MUST COME UP?
The comedic relief of this episode was, shall we say, of the gastric persuasion. God knows I appreciate a good belch, and Season 16 definitely delivered. Carol lets out a huge one in the cab and she and Brandy have a good laugh about it. We're definitely seeing a new side to the princesses, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Steve and Allie have a great time during the challenge, as Allie reveals that her father has been cruising for a brew since the starting line. You could see the joy on his face at the idea of a humongous, free beer. We get to enjoy their special father/daughter bond in the cab when Steve lets out a huge belch and they have a good laugh over it. The best post-beer reactions definitely came from Joe and Heidi. While chugging the beer, Joe tries to burp a couple times and almost pukes... on Heidi. She has to jump out of the way multiple times to avoid being covered in half digested beer. Quite entertaining, especially because Joe just keeps going like nothing happened. I don't think he was aware of the rule that puking on your partner merits immediate elimination. Close call, Joe! Too bad the challenge didn't involve a burp-off with the locals, that would have been great to see.

 

This week happened to be a non-elimination leg, saving the Big Brother duo Jeff and Jordan. They didn't really seem too excited when Phil announced that they're still in it, probably because they were so beaten down from the rough leg they had. We'll see if they're able to overcome their speed bump on the next leg. The Pit-Stop check-ins were pretty funny this week, as the teams seemed a little bit tipsy from the massive boot of beer. Jordan especially cracked me up when he yells, "Hell yeah we're in the red light district, and I'm drunk!" , and then proceeds to drunkenly dance all the way up to Phil. I'm sure Phil had a good laugh out of it. Next week, I'm really excited about the war challenge we see in the previews. It should be interesting and VERY unique. Hopefully Brent and Caite will be able to finish a leg without some sort of physical ailment. I expect to see a lot more about Joe's knee as it has really been giving him trouble lately. The other teams are starting to notice. Plus there's a U-turn, so I'm expecting a great episode. I have a feeling I know who gets it, which goes to show how important it really is to not make enemies.

 

 

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

Follow Sam at twitter.com/sammcmillen

 

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