| Episode 18.01: Head Down and Hold On
The Leg
  
Phil claims they’ve brought back a cast of “favorites” (that’s very debatable) for a 2nd chance at a million dollars. After the team intros and some questionable, selective memory on the parts of both the Race and some of the teams, Phil introduces a few new twists.
First, the Express Pass is back for the winner of the first leg of the Race.
Second, teams have to earn their first clues by bringing Phil what he wants from a field full of paper airplanes. The first eight teams will get on the first flight while the last three teams to find the paper airplane will take a flight that is scheduled to arrive 90 minutes after the first. Not only that, the last team to complete this first task will receive a penalty of an automatic U-Turn at the first Detour of the Race.
Phil notes there will be 12 legs and that this Race will be different. (We’ll see!)
He tells the teams he’s looking for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services” or QANTAS and he sets them off…
“The world is waiting for you. Good luck, travel safe… GO!”
  
The teams run over to the field of airplanes, not exactly sure of what they’re looking for. Amanda & Kris and Ron & Christina are first to try, but Phil says they’re incorrect. Mel & Mike find Qantas first and they open their clue telling them to fly to Sydney, Australia. The rest of the teams figure it out and the last teams to get on the later flight are Jen & Kisha, Gary & Mallory and the last team (and recipients of the penalty) Amanda & Kris.
  
En-route to Sydney, the first flight has to make an emergency landing in Honolulu after a passenger has a heart attack. That allows the second flight to arrive first in Sydney at 10:20am. The three teams head to Sydney Harbor to catch a ferry to Oceanworld at Manly for their next clue.
10:47am and the first flight arrives just as the leading three teams get to Manly and find the Road Block.
In this Road Block, teams will search the floor of the oceanworld tank for a compass. Then, they must decipher a message written through symbols on nautical flags using their compass. The message tells them to head to Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club, find the commodore and tell him “I am between the devil and the deep blue sea,” to get their next clue.
  
Mallory, Amanda, and Kisha decide to do the Road Block.
Back at the aiport, Ron & Christina, Mel & Mike, and Jet & Cord miss the train and are now at the back of the pack while the rest of the teams head to the harbor and then the oceanworld. When the last three teams go to board the ferry, the Cowboys get left behind.
At the Road Block, Mallory finishes first followed closely by Kisha and Amanda and they head to the commodore who hands them their next clue. Teams now have to sail on a 16 foot skiff, hanging off the side to grab a clue from one of three buoys.
The three teams successfully grab the clue telling them to head to the Pit Stop, Shelley Beach.It’s a footrace between Gary & Mallory and Kris & Amanda, but it is father and daughter that meet a hatted Phil and a shirtless surfer at the Mat and get the Express Pass…
  
…And their next clue as they are not done Racing yet. The leg continues and Phil tells them to get on their way. Amanda & Kris check in 2nd and Kisha & Jen check in 3rd.
Meanwhile, Zev & Justin give the commodore the correct phrase, but Margie & Luke (“I am the devil…”) and Jaime & Cara do not. Flight Time & Big Easy decide not to finish decoding the message and are lucky Zev & Justin are huge fans as they give them the critical bit of information. Margie & Luke and Jaime & Cara go ask Justin too, but he refuses to tell them so they head back.
They run into Ron & Christina and Mel & Mike (who work together) and they decide to have Margie & Luke and Jaime & Cara lead them to where they need to go and then tell them the answer.
  
They all finish as Jet & Cord and Kent & Vyxsin decide solving just the first part of the clue is enough they head to the commodore. Jet & Cord have no clue what they need, but Kent & Vyxsin ask Margie for help and she tells them the answer because she wants a weak team they can beat with them in the finals. (Really now?)
The teams all speed through the skiff and check one after the other… Zev & Justin, Flight Time & Big Easy, Jaime & Cara, Margie & Luke, Ron & Christina, and Mel & Mike. And thanks to Margie, Kent & Vyxsin finish 10th and Kent gets to slap the surfer’s ass before they head off.
That leaves Jet & Cord to wallow in their own idiocy in last without anyone to hand them the clue like other teams and their fate lies in next week’s episode.
  
Episode Thoughts
And they’re back!
First off, boo to not having at least a 90-minute premiere! If ever TAR needed an extended premiere, it was this one. Too much crammed into one hour and still too much left out and then they had to go Amazing Race Asia on us make the first leg a non-elimination, or really, a double-leg, though it wasn’t even because there was no Detour.
Speaking of, the automatic U-Turn at the start of the Race is a nice twist to the twist, better than getting eliminated at the Starting Line (or at some random point on the first leg). But it was cruel and unusual for the one returning team that was done in by a U-Turn be the unlucky recipient of that penalty.
But Bert & Co. couldn’t have planned it better if they tried (or maybe they did?). Amanda & Kris get the penalty and in turn are one of the bottom three teams. There was never going to be a Detour this leg of the Race. Cut to the first flight of 8 teams having to make an emergency landing in Honolulu allowing those three teams to shoot up to the top of the pack and thereby giving Amanda & Kris the opportunity to win the Express Pass and negate that U-Turn penalty. Though it didn’t happen, it would’ve made for some good TV.
Now, what doesn’t make good TV, the continued TAR and CBS hard on love affair with the Cowboys, so much so that they have officially painted Dan & Jordan as cheaters and undeserving of their win and somehow stole what was supposed to be destined for Jet & Cord. What? Huh? Seriously, come on now. That was one of the most egregious bits on TAR ever. What. The. Frack!? Absolutely horrible.
Also horrible? Teams not completing tasks. Flight Time & Big Easy, Margie & Luke, Jaime & Cara, and Kent & Vyxsin did not finish the Road Block. Pretty sloppy task design by TAR there, but they should probably fix that so in future seasons, teams MUST complete the Detours and Road Blocks themselves before getting the next clue.
And finally… HIGH DEFINITION! FINALLY! FINALLY! The show looks absolutely stunning in HD and should get even better when the show goes to other beautiful, scenic locales. It really is about time.
But sad that they didn’t spruce up the intro for HD. While we got nice views, it would’ve nice to do a little tweaking with the graphics. And what is up with doing away with what has become an iconic shot of the 747 in the clouds at the beginning of every intro since season 1!?
Plus, a nice cameo by the Sydney town crier from season 2!
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