The Amazing Race 15 – Episode Three
Aired 10-04-09
Ten teams remained in the race after the elimination of on-again, off-again couple Garrett and Jessica. It turns out that there was more hope for them as a couple then we were lead to believe. They are now engaged and gave an interesting interview to TV Guide about their race experience. You can check it out here: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Races-Garrett-1010273.aspx
We picked back up on the riverboat that was the previous leg’s Pit Stop. They were floating down the Mekong Delta from Cai Be to My Tho but the racers weren’t told where they were going. Father and son, Gary & Matt, were the first to depart at 5:45AM. They had to make their way to Ho Chi Minh City and locate the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater. They would have to retrieve the next clue from the mouth of a dragon puppet that was swimming in a pool of water. Matt was feeling a bit frustrated that his father wasn’t taking his opinion into account when making decisions about the race.
Brothers Sam & Dan were the next to leave at 5:55AM. Sam explained that, while they are only 2 years apart in age and are both gay, they’re actually complete opposites. Sam described Dan as being high-strung and impatient while describing himself as a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Flight Time & Big Easy, teammates on the Harlem Globetrotters, followed at 5:56AM. We learned that Easy’s father passed away two days before the race began. His father was a great inspiration for him and he said they were going to race tough to represent for his dad.
Lance & Keri, currently my least favorite pair of racers, left at 5:57AM. They are engaged and really, really, really love to fight. They started off in trouble with Keri insisting that they were already in Ho Chi Minh.
Best friends Zev & Justin departed in 5th place at 6:04AM. They were followed by dating couple Meghan & Cheyne at 6:10AM, poker players Maria & Tiffany at 6:11AM and dating couples Mika & Canaan and Marcy & Ron at 6:14 and 6:15AM respectively. Marcy was very emotional about being in Vietnam because her father was shot down there in 1968. He survived and was rescued and Marcy was inspired by that. She also couldn’t help but get choked up thinking about all the people who didn’t survive the war.
All the pairs searched for cabs to make the two hour drive to Ho Chi Minh except for Lance & Keri. It wasn’t until they stopped to ask someone the location of the theater that they realized they were in My Tho.
The last pair to depart was married couple, Brian & Ericka. They left at 6:29AM. With only 44 minutes separating first from last place, they all had a good shot on this leg.
The Globetrotters were the first to arrive at the theater and, after a few tries, were able to snatch the clue from the mouth of a puppet. The clue was a bullet shaped cylinder that had to be unscrewed. Inside was a stamp with a picture of the city’s main post office. They had to figure out that this was the location of their next clue. That turned out to be pretty easy as passersby and taxi drivers all seemed to recognize it. The only teams that stumbled were Gary & Matt and Lance & Keri. Someone told Gary & Matt that the post office was only a kilometer away and Matt wanted to run it to save money. This time dad listened to him but they quickly discovered that the trip was significantly longer. They eventually got a cab. Lance & Keri didn’t realize that the bullet was the clue so they wasted a bunch of time running around trying to trade it to someone for the clue. They were a classic case of racers getting so hyper about doing things quickly that they never stop to think. Keri did finally figure out that the clue was in the bullet.
Meanwhile, Flight Time & Big Easy arrived at the post office. They found a Detour.
Detour
They had to choose between “Child’s Play” and “Word Play”. In “Child’s Play” the teams had to go to a local park and pick out a concrete animal sculpture at a kiosk. They then had to transport the animal on a dolly through the park while stopping at five vendors to pick up balloons. Once they delivered the animal and balloons to a children’s playground, they got the next clue. In “Word Play” the teams had to go to the observation deck of a hotel. There they had to watch the busy intersection below and pick out six travelers/vehicles that had Vietnamese letters painted on them. Once the hotel security guard confirmed that they had found all 6 letters, they had to head out of the hotel and find some locals to help them unscramble the letters and spell out the Vietnamese word for independence. All the teams picked “Child’s Play” except Marcy & Ron.
Flight Time & Big Easy continued to sail through this leg and easily completed their task. The next clue instructed them to head to a place called Dien Co 008 which kind of looked like a storefront.
Back at the animal kiosk, the teams were choosing statues that were light and/or low to the ground so that they’d be easier to transport. For some reason, though, Zev and Justin went for the biggest and most cumbersome animal there was – a giraffe. They hadn’t gone very far before it fell off the dolly and broke. According to the clue, they were able to continue on as long as they picked up and delivered all the pieces.
Meanwhile, Maria & Tiffany’s dolly broke. Dan stopped to help them but, after a few minutes, the girls insisted he continue on the race. They didn’t want to be responsible for slowing the brothers down. Both of these teams have already engaged in some gameplay so it was nice to see a genuine moment of kindness from both of them. The girls made their way back to the kiosk and got another dolly.
Marcy & Ron were doing OK getting their six letters but messed up big time with the unscrambling. Instead of finding someone to help them, they tried to figure it out on their own. Given that neither of them spoke Vietnamese it was a bizarre choice.
Flight & Easy, still in first place, arrived at the shop and found a Roadblock.
Roadblock
One team member had to disassemble two old VCRs so the parts could be recycled. Once they successfully completed the task, they would be presented with another clue. Meghan & Cheyne arrived soon after and were gaining on the Globetrotters. Gary & Matt also made it there while Flight Time was still working on his VCRs. He finished barely ahead of Cheyne and received the final clue. They had to race across town to the Reunification Palace. It is a place that represents the end of the Vietnam War and was the location of this leg’s Pit Stop.
The teams were starting to bunch together as Sam & Dan and Brian & Ericka arrived as Flight & Easy were still trying to get a cab.
Marcy & Ron finally started asking for help and a nice young man spelled out the word for them. They seemed blissfully unaware of how far behind they now were.
At the Palace, it came down to a footrace between the Globetrotters and Meghan & Cheyne. Cheyne actually got to the mat first but Meghan couldn’t outrun the basketball players. The guys were team number one and received a trip for two to Aruba. Big Easy was sure his dad would have been proud.
Meghan & Cheyne were 2nd.
Justin, Tiffany and Canaan started the VCR task right after Sam and Brian finished.
Gary & Matt checked in 3rd.
Meanwhile, Lance and Keri continued to yell at each other about how much they were yelling at each other and fumbled their way to the VCR place just as Tiffany finished. They were SO on my last nerve. Keri was trying to portray herself as the one being picked on but they were both being childish and obnoxious. They clearly deserve each other.
Brian & Ericka came in 4th. It was a good comeback from last place.
Sam & Dan were 5th.
Lance’s aggressiveness paid off as he basically ripped the VCRs apart with his hands. I was hoping he had broken some rule but he didn’t. He finished just after Canaan and before Justin. All the teams were done by the time Marcy & Ron arrived.
Maria & Tiffany were 6th.
Mika & Canaan were 7th.
Ron finished with the VCRs and the editing made it seem that we had a cab race to the Pit Stop between Zev & Justin, Lance & Keri and Ron & Marcy. In reality, it was just between Zev & Justin and Lance & Keri.
Zev & Justin checked in 8th.
Lance & Keri, sadly, were 9th and we were still going to have to put up with them.
Marcy & Ron were last and eliminated. Honestly, I wasn’t all that fond of this pair either but I so would have preferred to have seen Lance & Keri kicked to the curb.
Next Week: One team loses their passports. We weren’t given a clue as to which team that is but I’m sure it’s too much to hope that it’s The Bickersons.
Full episodes of TAR and bonus clips are available at CBS’ website here:
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