Recap: The Amazing Race 37, Episode 2 – “I think I’m better than everyone here.”

Recap: The Amazing Race 37, Episode 2 – “Very Strong Warrior Energy”

Phil tells us that teams will be flying to Osaka, Japan for the second Leg where they will Race through an Expedia-inspired adventure of traditional and authentic experiences. And sometime during the Leg, teams will encounter the Intersection.

Teams begin the Leg by making their way to a pre-determined travel agency to secure tickets to Osaka. Carson & Jack, Brett & Mark and Ernest & Bridget make it on to the flight via Taipei scheduled to arrive at 6:05am. The direct Cathay Pacific flight arriving at 6:35am initially carries Alyssa & Josiah, Jonathan & Ana, Courtney & Jasmine, Nick & Mike and Han & Holden.

With that second flight full, Pops & Jeff, Bernie & Carrigain, Scott & Lori and Melinda & Erika buy tickets to the flight arriving at 7:55am

At the airport, the last flight teams try to get onto the second flight. Scott & Lori are the first to give up while Bernie & Carrigain argue about what they should do before ultimately leaving as well. Pops & Jeff and Melinda & Erika, however, are able to get seats with the second group of teams.

While waiting for their flight, Bernie & Carrigain argue about their disagreements in how to proceed earlier when trying to get on the second flight.

Upon arrival in Osaka, teams must make their way to Tsutenkaku Tower. The waiting clue directs teams to Namba Hatch where they will encounter the Intersection.

Ernest & Bridget arrive first. Brett & Mark arrive next and they pair up for this Intersection Road Block: Who’s ready to beat the competition? For this Road Block, teams will learn how to correctly perform on the taiko drum.

Ernest and Mark decide to do the Road Block together and watch a full performance before they start learning the routine.

Back at the Intersection, Carson & Jack team up with Jonathan & Ana and Jack and Jonathan do the Road Block. Alyssa & Josiah and Nick & Mike pair up with Alyssa and Mike doing the Road Block. Courtney & Jasmin team up with Pops & Jeff and Courtney and Jeff will do the Road Block. Melinda & Erika and Han & Holden pair up with Erika and Holden doing the drums.

That leaves Bernie & Carrigain and Scott & Lori to pair up and Bernie and Scott to team up at the Road Block. They arrive while all the other teams are still struggling through the task. Several teams have already gone for at least one attempt and all have failed.

Jonathan and Jack pass on their third attempt. Alyssa and Mike pass on their second attempt. Scott and Bernie pass on their first attempt.

They rejoin their partners and must now make their way to Dotonbori Bridge.

The clue waiting there reveals a Detour: Mochi or Mawashi. In Mochi, teams must pound enough sweet rice/mochigome to make 12 mochi balls. In Mawashi, teams must learn how to and successfully put on a sumo wrestling mawashi on each other.

All six teams so far choose the mawashi.

Back at the Road Block, Courtney and Jeff pass on their 8th attempt. Holden and Erika get it on their 6th attempt. Ernest and Mark are struggling, now failing their 15th attempt. Ernest feels bad for holding Mark back. Mark feels frustrated and cries. They eventually pass on their 17th attempt.

At the mawashi, Jonathan & Ana get their third check of mawashi and get the thumbs up. Scott & Lori get the thumbs up on their first attempt, Alyssa & Josiah on their third attempt with Carson & Jack close behind. Now they have to face off against the sumo pro who is absolutely unmovable, but just for fun. They are given the next clue after trying to push him and can make their way to the Pit Stop: Tahoto Pagoda.

Jonathan & Ana celebrate their 7th anniversary by stepping on the Mat as Team #1 and winning enough Expedia OneKeyCash to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Scott & Lori check in as Team #2. Alyssa & Josiah are 3rd and Carson & Jack are Team #4.

Back at the Detour, Pops & Jeff, Courtney & Jasmin and Melinda & Erika decide to do the mochi side while Brett & Mark and Ernest & Bridget catch up at the mawashi.

Courtney & Jasmin are the first to get their mochi approved followed by Melinda & Erika and Pops & Jeff. Bernie & Carrigain and Nick & Mike are next to get their mawashi approved with Brett & Mark close behind.

Melinda & Erika get to the Mat as Team #5. Courtney & Jasmin, Pops & Jeff and Bernie & Carrigain are Teams 6 through 8, respectively. Brett & Mark at 9th and Nick & Mike are 10th.

That leaves Han & Holden, who left the mawashi in 11th and Ernest & Bridget who left last. And that’s their final placements for this Leg. Han & Holden step on the Mat officially as Team #11. That means Ernest & Bridget are last and eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

Well then, I have some thoughts indeed!

Let’s start right at the beginning. I know many fans want airport drama back. But as we saw here, it’s just manufactured drama now as opposed to the organic, true maneuvering of the past. Teams probably only had a few flights they could actually get seats on. And the pre-determined travel agency when there was a like a row of agencies on that floor alone, let alone the rest of the building and rest of Hong Kong. I think we’re at a time now where they just have to get teams to the next destination and release them. Find some other ways to reward or penalize teams based on their arrival time at the Pit Stop.

The ticketing drama took up 23 minutes of live TV time, 15 minutes of episode time. Precious minutes they could have devoted to another task or Route Marker instead. Which we will talk more about in a bit.

Nice to see the Intersection back. It was interesting to consider it now with contemporary TAR and having less tension/drama between teams. And being Leg 2, there’s not really much drama to be had with who pairs up with who. But it does offer up some interesting dynamics for competition.

I think this was a perfect example of something Phil has said in pre-season interviews. Something to the effect that good TV isn’t necessarily on the actual tasks or destinations, but how the teams deal with or react each. And we saw that here. Without Ernest struggling or Scott being a dad to help him and Bernie get out of last place, then the Intersection would’ve been a dud.

Anyway, one of the few benefits of the longer episodes is that we got to see the full, uninterrupted performance of the taiko drum by the pros. That’s something we might not have been able to see before. So that was great.

Great to finally feature the taiko drum on TARUS though. It’s about time. 😏hehe

Now the Detour. Pounding mochi is a great task. Thank goodness the three teams decided to do that side of the DEtour. To have such an iconic part of Japanese culinary culture to almost have been ignored like that? Yikes!

But the other side of the Detour? It should have been a lot more than just learning how to put on a mawashi. Teams should’ve had to learn several sumo routines or something like that. Like, come on now. Yes, it’s very intricate and must be done with care. But come on. This is another unbalanced Detour after the horribly matched Detour in the first Leg. What a waste of an opportunity. Especially for a Japan Leg that finally doesn’t need to do a Japanese game show task.

And omg. The way my mouth dropped to the floor when they opened the Pit Stop clue after. That was it? You’re finally in Osaka and that’s all you do? Come on. Osaka is one of those destinations where they could have done so much more. Taiko drums, mochi, sumo wrestling. All incredible cultural assets of Japan. And long-deserved to be featured on TAR.

But if we’re to critique Leg design, my goodness, Osaka deserved much more. How about one more task at least? Forget that contrived flight nonsense. Devote that time to another full task instead. Is it really that expensive to stage one more task?

I could go on a long rant about the 90-minute episodes supposedly giving them more time to feature and highlight the destinations more. Yet, we haven’t gotten that at all, whether on the season that wasn’t planned for 90-minutes (36) or the one that was planned for 90-minutes (35).

I legit cannot understand how TAR Australia (the current version) can pack in more stuff into their same-lengthed episodes with a lower budget. AND still have stuff left on the cutting room floor? Makes no sense.

Well, anyway. Great tasks on their own. A barebones Leg and waste of Osaka. An episode saved by one team’s struggle on a task and another team being able to quickly recover their last place standing on the same.

But thank goodness TARUS actually knows that Japan is more than just quirky game shows! Progress! 37 seasons in.

Team Thoughts

Okay, I think I can tell teams apart now. lol But that doesn’t necessarily mean I have a strong opinion on most of them either way. lol I don’t have a favorite yet or a team I’m rooting for either.

But I do like Jonathan & Ana, if only because I feel like they could be the team that is like ubercompetitive and can ruffle a few feathers, things like that. I saw some comments of people being annoyed by their reactions last episode or whatever. And it’s one of those moments again where I feel like modern fans would hyperventilate at the teams who ran the Race back in the classics. Lol

Scott & Lori though were the standouts this episode for zooming up from last to second place. That was certainly very impressive. Especially considering they supposedly arrived almost two hours after the first teams. The timeline is kinda sketchy there. But nonetheless, it made for a great storyline this episode. And perhaps could be indicative of how the rest of their Race goes.

In a similar way, Melinda & Erika also emerged from the shadows of the premiere as well. Probably doing one of the few genuine acts regarding flights in modern TAR by trying to get on the second flight and succeeding. But also for their good performance across the TWO tasks in Osaka.

It’s too bad about Ernest & Bridget. But I guess their pre-opening credits rap performance was probably a sign this Leg would not go well for them. At least they got a great feature in their short time. And it’s also too bad that a potentially fun parent/child team is gone so soon.

The other teams are all okay. I think the best part is there seems to be good parity among them. So no one looking to dominate just yet. Which is how we should like it, after all.