The Amazing Race Review: Still Searching for that Lucky Frog

This week on The Amazing Race the teams travel to Japan in search for some spiritual cleansing. And just to be sure that the teams all have dirty deeds to seek cleansing for, before they get their enlightenment on the teams race through a mud pit and the dizzying streets of Tokyo all in an effort to win that coveted million dollar prize. But for one team, Tokyo is their last step along this amazing journey as health concerns and unlucky frogs combine to put them out of the race.

At the beginning of this leg, the teams are told to travel on to Tokyo which will be their next city in this race. There are two flights that will get them there and the difference of which could make or break the winners of this leg. The first flight arrives at 6 a.m., and offers the teams a slight cushion that could give them a lead over their competitors, but this flight comes with one possibly game breaking gamble: it has a layover. If delayed, this layover could move the teams from a potential race for first to a scramble to prevent being last. The other option is a straight flight from Sydney to Tokyo which will arrive in Tokyo a scheduled 15 minutes later. This option is a sure bet, barring any mechanical difficulties and, of course, the inherent risks of flight. On flight #1 is Kent/Vyxsin, Margie/Luke, Mel/Mike, and Jamie/Cara. Both Zev/Justin and the Globetrotters race to get on this flight, but after hearing that there were only two seats left the Globetrotters give them up to Zev/Justin to pay them back after helping them on the first leg. The trotters join Gary/Mallory, Kisha/Jen, Jet/Cord, and Ron/Chris on flight #2.

The worst case scenario comes up for flight #1, as their flight is indeed delayed due to engine problems and all five teams are now in a race to make up time. The second flight lands first in Tokyo and the teams are told to travel to a Dojo to find their next clue. After getting their cars from some sort of vending machine/carousal garage that I’m certain is car buying in the future, the first teams continue on. The second group arrives, an hour and a half later, supremely irritated and rushed. There’s a lot of anger running around and the teams start to bicker at each other in an attempt to get ahead. In one of the more questionable alliances Mel/Mike, Kent/Vyxsin, Margie/Luke and Jamie/Cara, all decide to work together this leg. I’m assuming that at this point the teams believe that if they show up a four-way tie for last Phil will be forced to let them all stay on. I wouldn’t bank on that.

And anyway, it’s irrelevant as the four-way partnership does not last long. The teams are lost for an extended period of time and Margie/Luke and Mel/Mike decide to ditch their dead weight leaving Kent/Vyxsin and Jamie/Cara to fend on their own. Might I mention, at this point, Zev/Justin who were also on the delayed flight are already performing their next task at the Dojo. Learn to choose your horses people (or stay off the racetrack). But losing their partners is not the end of Jamie/Cara’s worries as they manage to crash into another motorist’s car and are held up waiting for the police to come sort it out. It’s a relatively minor sideswipe and the girls are agitated when the driver insists on calling the cops and not just trading insurance info. But really, how many of us would not call the police when a moving vehicle whose rushed driver you can’t communicate with, because they don’t speak your language, hits your non-moving vehicle. Would you just let them go? Come on people, I need hands; I’m doing a count… Add to that Jamie/Cara’s frantic energy which could easily come off as aggressive if you don’t know what they’re saying. Yeah, calling the cops was definitely the right move.

As a task this week the teams must choose between two Japanese cleansing rituals. For ritual #1, the teams must learn and perform a traditional prayer then stand under a frigid waterfall for 1 minute. In the 2nd task, the teams must search through a mud pit for a rubber frog, all while locals throw mud balls at them. Ron/Chris and the Globetrotters decide to do the first task and make it through without issue. While leaving the site, the Trotters accidentally grab Chris’ pouch containing her and Ron’s passport, an essential item needed at check-in. When they notice their mistake, instead of returning the pouch they leave it on top of Ron’s clothes at the bottom of the hill. When Ron and Christina finish their task and find the pouch missing, they are upset and frantically begin searching for it. They ask around but no one knows where it is. Coming to the only logical conclusion, they begin to think the Gobetrotters grabbed it by mistake. Ron/Chris prepare to go to the pit stop hopeful yet disheartened, but then find the pouch on Ron’s clothes and continue on visibly upset. At the pit stop Ron/Chris tell Phil of the Trotters failure to return the pouch and the other team is hit with a half hour penalty as a result. This means, if all other teams arrive in under a half hour, Flight Time/Big Easy, who have already checked in, could be the last team to arrive. All of the other teams have decided to do the second task and get through without issue. Mel/Mike are the only exception to this. They can’t find the frog and the physical conditions are becoming too much for Mel to withstand. Mel and Mike take an exhausted break in a nearby ambulance, and end up watching as Jamie/Cara, the only team behind them, find their coveted frog and move on. Mel and Mike are the last team to arrive at the pit-stop and are eliminated.

Here are the rankings:
1. Zev and Justin
2. Gary and Mallory
3. Ron and Christina
4. Kisha and Jen
5. Flight Time and Big Easy- formerly third place
6. Jet and Cord
7. Kent and Vyxsin
8. Margie and Luke
9. Jamie and Cara

Season 18, Episode 3: “We Had Alot of Evil Spirits Apparently” (original airdate March 6, 2011).

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8pm on CBS.

Photos courtesy of Robert Voets/CBS.