Recap: The Amazing Race 36, Episode 2 – “You just got to deal with it.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 36, Episode 2 – Trust But Verify

The second Leg of the Race begins immediately as Rod & Leticia leave the Mat at 12:05pm. Ricky & Cesar are just five minutes behind them while Derek & Shelisa begin the Leg at 12:22pm.

Teams must now make their way on foot to Zona Romantica and find Iguana Bridge for their next clue which reveals the Detour: Balloon Collection or Color Correction. In Balloon Collection, each team member must pick up a bunch of balloons from three different locations and deliver them to a fiesta to receive the next clue. In Color Correction, teams must search amongst rows of colorful papel picados or paper cutouts for a strand of flags that does not match the rest. When they can cut down the correct strand, they’ll receive the next clue.

Rod & Leticia do rock-paper-scissors and end up choosing the balloons as do Ricky & Cesar. The boyfriends, however, initially only grab one bunch of balloons from the first two stations and only realize their mistake when Rod & Leticia run past them.

Derek & Shelisa have trouble finding the Iguana Bridge clue and run into Ricky & Cesar. The grandparents ask if they would like to point them in the right direction, but the boyfriends say nope. Derek & Shelisa end up finding the clue themselves and choose to do the balloons.

Meanwhile, Rod & Leticia deliver their balloons and can now make their way to Lazaro Cardenas Park for the next clue. Ricky & Cesar stay close behind.

Back at the Pit Start, Juan & Shane begin the Leg at 1:07pm, Michelle & Sean start at 1:11pm and Yvonne & Melissa are just one minute behind them. Angie & Danny continue Racing at 1:15pm with the twins Anthony & Bailey just a minute behind them too. Sunny & Bizzy leave the Pit Start at 1:18pm. Cousins Kishori & Karishma depart at 1:31pm, Chris & Mary at 1:41pm and Amber & Vinny in last at 1:42pm.

While Michelle & Sean get lost to Iguana Bridge, Juan & Shane and girlfriends Yvonne & Melissa get there and choose the balloons Detour. Firefighter moms Sunny & Bizzy choose the paper flags as do Anthony & Bailey. However, the twins realize this Detour might be too difficult for them to understand so they switch to the balloons. Angie & Danny choose the paper flags first, but switch too.

At the park, Rod & Leticia and Ricky & Cesar maintain their lead as they open the next clue revealing the Road Block: Who has skeletons in their closet? For this Road Block, teams must paint their partner’s face with a Dia de los Muertos design according to a photo. Leticia and Ricky decide to do the Road Block.

After a few checks, Leticia gets the thumbs up and she and Rod can run to the Pit Stop at Casa Kimberly under the bridge Elizabeth Tayor and Richard Burton used to once escape the paparazzi. Ricky & Cesar continue to stay close behind them. But it is Rod & Leticia who step on the Mat as Team #1 and win enough Expedia key cash for a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Ricky & Cesar have to settle for a close 2nd.

Back at the Road Block, Shelisa decides to paint Derek’s face. And just as they get started, Michelle & Sean arrive thinking this is the Iguana Bridge Route Marker. They start the Road Block as well.

Kishori & Karishma arrive, also thinking this is the Iguana Bridge. After getting confirmation from Michelle & Sean that they are in the right place, they start the Road Block even though they are initially unsure. When Juan & Shane arrive, the cousins ask them if this is the correct location. But military pilot BFFs tell them about the Detour and both Kishori & Karishma and Michelle & Sean realize their mistake. They wipe their faces and Juan & Shane give the cousins some tips to help them find the correct cluebox.

Meanwhile, as they run back to collect their balloons, Angie & Danny run into a lost Amber & Vinny and they point them to the Iguana Bridge clue. The mother and son hope this will help them in the future when the dating nurses might return the favor.

Yvonne & Melissa, Anthony & Bailey and Angie & Danny deliver the balloons and hurry to the park.

Kishori & Karishma, Michelle & Sean and Chris & Mary finally arrive at the Detour clue. The cousins and father & daughter choose the flags, but decide to just switch. After two attempts, Sunny & Bizzy finally get the correct strand and are able to move on.

Kishori & Karishma get lost once more as they cannot find the third balloon station. They find the correct balloons when Chris & Mary pass them.

At the Pit Stop, Derek & Shelisa check-in as team #3 followed by Juan & Shane and Yvonne & Melissa as Teams 4 and 5, respectively.

While Danny paints his mother’s face, Angie feels a bit dizzy and a medic comes over and has her lay down. Angie begins to feel a bit better as Danny continues painting her face while she’s on the ground.

By the water, Chris also feels a bit sick so he and Mary sit to take a breather. She has him drink some electrolytes as he overcomes the urge to vomit. He refuses to see a medic and he soon feels better, so they continue on to the Road Block.

At the Road Block, Anthony & Bailey, Angie & Danny and Amber & Vinny get the thumbs up and leave just as Kishori & Karishma arrive. The three teams hurry to the Pit Stop and it is Angie & Danny who get to the Mat as Team #6. Amber & Vinny and Anthony & Bailey finish as Teams 7 and 8.

Michelle & Sean are 9th to leave the Road Block, but once again get lost on the way to the Pit Stop. That allows Sunny & Bizzy and Kishori & Karishma to finish 9th and 10th, respectively.

It’s now a race to avoid elimination. And it is Michelle & Sean who arrive at the Mat as Team #11. That means Chris & Mary are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Surprisingly enough, I quite enjoyed this episode! In fact, I think this episode was able to fill out 90 minutes/one hour better than most of TAR35.

Now, this Leg was definitely a barebones Leg. Very simple and straightforward. But somehow it was saved and elevated by the teams themselves and their mistakes and stumbles. I don’t know if perhaps the overly simple Leg was actually just that tricky and challenging. Or maybe the fact that it was a Zero-Hour Pit Stop and teams were exhausted from running around all day under the Mexican sun.

But perhaps it all worked hand in hand. Bottomline, this was actually a pretty good episode. I mean, it’s not going to be an episode I’m going to quote or eagerly watch again like the classics of the past. However, comparing it to recent TAR, it was actually relatively good.

Back to the Leg itself, it obviously needed another task. Even if this is the second Leg during a Zero-Hour Pit Stop day, a task in the middle of the Leg would’ve been good. Perhaps turn one of the two Detours into an Active Route Info task.

There’s good reasons for either one to be the extra task. The balloons Detour involving teams having to walk around, especially if they are already exhausted, is good. What could’ve made it more challenging was that teams would need a specific number of balloons at delivery. So if they popped some or lost some, they would need to go back and get new balloons.

This Detour was horribly unbalanced, so even adding those details to the task would’ve helped even if not turned into an extra task.

The paper flags would’ve been a good extra task just because it seemed so difficult and confusing. I had to stop and think what the task was asking for too lol But because it was so tricky, having all teams do it would’ve been really good. And potentially shake up the standings even more.

The Road Block was fine. I don’t think TARUS has done a Day of the Dead task before? So it’s a good task to have here.

But again, this barebones Leg was able to fill a 90-minute episode because the teams were all over the place. The simplicity of the Leg ended up being quite tricky, especially being all on foot. Teams just needed to adjust and adapt to the Race. And even though this was Leg 2, it’s still the first day. So I think that is a unique situation that threw teams for a loop. And having to run around definitely affected how teams processed the Leg.

I think if anything, this is just more evidence to supporting making Legs longer, not shorter.

It’s interesting to think about how this Leg would’ve played out on a regular one-hour episode. They probably would’ve edited out all the instances of teams getting lost or missing Route Markers and clueboxes. Or teams making mistakes at tasks.

But the extra time actually made for better storytelling. We actually got a sense of where teams were with respect to each other for once. That hasn’t been the case in a while now for TARUS. But we were able to see how teams were actually doing compared to others in this episode. And I think showing all the wrong turns and missteps help to explain why. When otherwise, TAR would just suddenly cut to teams arriving ahead of others or teams falling behind without explanation.

It was funny because while watching, I wondered why TAR played the funny “Oops” or “Uh oh” sound effects when Michelle & Sean arrived at the Road Block. And I didn’t realize or I forgot they actually didn’t find the bridge clue yet lol

The leading two teams checked-in, but there was still so much going on with the others that there was still lots of unpredictability.

TAR35 did not properly do that. But maybe the experience of editing TAR35 first before having to re-edit TAR36 helped TAR editors craft better stories and episode flow. Let’s hope!

Also, Crew Sighting!

I love that TARUS has not been strict with hiding crew anymore.

Ultimately, this was a good episode. No matter how much the TAR doomsdayers want to tear this season down, I think this episode was actually one of the better and more complete episodes of the last few seasons. The Leg itself? Just meh, but typical contemporary TAR. The episode though? Refreshingly enjoyable.

Team Thoughts

The teams were all quite good again this week.

First off, Angie & Danny. Is Danny the teenager who would film his own Amazing Race in his neighborhood on YouTube? I know that kid has done several seasons I think. Is Danny that guy, because WOW. That is definitely amazing. What a dream come true for him. And to Race with his mother too is awesome. Relieved to see Angie was alright after needing a breather.

Same for Chris & Mary. It’s too bad we didn’t get all the parent/child teams further in the Race. But they made just enough mistakes to keep them from really catching up. Especially when Amber & Vinny did so well digging themselves out of last place.

Rod & Leticia and Ricky & Cesar are definitely the early frontrunners now. But let’s see how they do once they get to a new country.

Derek & Shelisa are just right behind them. And I could see them easily joining the other two teams as top contenders as long as they keep it up in the coming Legs. They reminded me of Chip & Kim this Leg.

Juan & Shane ran a pretty solid Leg as did Yvonne & Melissa. Anthony & Bailey are quite funny and I could see them being able to step it up just enough each Leg to make it far. Sunny & Bizzy really lost a lot of time at the Detour, so we’ll see how they recover next Leg. Same with Michelle & Sean who just had the worst directional skills this Leg. A change of country could help them next week.

And Kishori & Karishma. I really like them! They are absolutely hilarious. Them flailing around is kind of endearing? Lol All they need is a bit more bickering with each other. Or even better, a rivalry with another team. And they could be one of the more memorable contemporary TAR teams!