Two Eliminations On Extended Amazing Race Premiere

The Amazing Race has returned for a fifteenth season and with yet another Emmy win under their belt the show changed their format, slightly, to incorporate a few new twists. Before the race began the teams were showcased and there are some new combos in the mix. We have Zev and Justin who are friends with Zev having asperger's syndrome. It will be fun to see how he deals with the race and I have a feeling he'll be a much nicer version of last seasons Luke. Then we have Sam and Dan, brother who are gay but keeping a secret. Another team is also keeping a secret, Maria and Tiffany are pro poker players and rich. They aren't telling anyone that though, to everyone they are simply volunteer workers. The rest are mostly dating couples, other then the father/son team, so we'll learn more about them as we go.

In the LA River, which is more like a street with a small lane of water going through it, the race began. Phil had some interesting news for the racers though, one of them wouldn't make it past the starting line. It's almost like Survivor Palau in a way. I feel bad for Eric and Lisa for being screwed over. They were the last to find a Tokyo license plate so they didn't even get out of the US. It was mass chaos to find the plates as nobody knew what to look for at first. Some then took the time to actually, you know look at their clue and realized there was a symbol on it. Once that was known plates were found but like I said, Eric and Lisa were out of luck while the rest raced to LAX to get their race on.

At the airport teams got to know each other. That's where the ladies began their lie by telling the brothers, who are also lying, they are the volunteers. The two lying teams are getting together rather well with the guys mostly playing the girls. They're trying to flirt but they want nothing to do with them, they'll use them though and I see it going far. Thanks to airport-less drama the teams arrived in Tokyo around the same time. It was then a race to find a local TV station where everyone met to play an old fashion game of You're On a Japanese Game Show!?!?!? Isn't that another show... you know on ABC? I bet some of them wondered if they were getting punk'd, no it was just Phil's way of stealing a crappy reality show idea and using to for a fun, yet painful, Road Block.

Each team took a spot at a table with a large wheel in the middle. Two Wasabi Bombs, basically rice with horseradish on it, would be placed on the wheel. The two teams who the bomb landed on would have two minutes to eat it, if they did they'd get the clue. If not they'd have to stay and eat another. Cheyne and Ron had the luck of eating first and showed everyone how painful it would be. They easily ate it and learned they would then have to lead 20 people through the crazy streets of Tokyo to the Pit Stop. If that wasn't fun enough, they'd also have to dodge traffic and make sure not to lose anyone along the way. Oh how crazy these challenges are already.

While those two had fun prancing (Marcy) through the streets, more bombs were eaten. The third round landed in Maria alone and after failing to eat the first she got lucky, or unlucky, by getting chosen yet again. She ate the second one with only seconds to spare and the only all female team was off.... their unluckiness would follow them along as well. When it came down to it Brian and Ericka were the last team remaining in the TV station. Brian had failed to eat his first and had to eat yet another, forcing them behind but as you would know that doesn't mean they were out.

The teams had no fun racing through the streets of Tokyo with their 20 followers in tow. Cheyne and Meghan were able to finish first though with little problems. As the other teams began to catch up to each other, the brothers and the poker ladies met up to help each other. That didn't last long though as the brothers decided to split back up and follow another team... we have our official followers of the season! That didn't help Maria/Tiffany one bit as in the shuffle two of their followers (real followers not another team) didn't go along. That forced them to check in with only eighteen people and thankfully, since I like them, it was a non-elimination leg. Yes, you heard that right. The first Pit Stop, for once since it works, was non-elimination and saved the only all female team. They lived to race another day but in front of them was a two hour penalty and a speed bump.

Thanks to the two hour premiere things continued as the group raced on to Vietnam. While some teams booked tickets online, thanks to some Travelocity product placement, others went straight to the airport. There they found that the four teams wouldn't fit but thanks to some noise made by Ericka, the airport reshuffled the seats and made room for them all. That made all teams, even the ladies, even when landing in Vietnam. On interesting thing about the airport experience revolved around Maria and Tiffany. Someone there recognized them and called them out as being world famous poker players. Most of the teams overheard it making their lie null and some teams not wanting to trust them ever again.

In Vietnam the teams landed to a flooded city. Their first task was to cross the flooded street with their shoes on, or if you're Zev shoe-less, and book tickets on a bus. The first bus filled up quickly and with an hour between them those on the second bus piled their money together to get their bus moving early. The plan worked allowing all teams to arrive at the next task around the same time. I'm wondering where the Detour has been all night and it still hasn't made an appearance, I wonder if it's gone? The task was to boat to a fruit farm where they would then pile mud to cover roots of a tree. It was fun watching everyone get muddy and slip and slide. Some (Justin mostly) slipped too far going into the muddy water. Doing so almost cost him and Zev the race as he left their clue behind but after going back they found it... luck follows them I swear.

Thanks to their last check in in Tokyo the ladies had to complete the Speed Bump of being given ingredient to a local soup and serving it to a dock master. Maria had made the dish several times before so she had no problems, allowing them to catch up, finish the task. They were still in last but not far behind. A Road Block finished up the night as one member of each group had to herd 100 ducks across a bridge, back again and into a cage. It was hilarious to watch and some actually did well at the task. Meghan and Cheyene arrived first with Meghan doing the herding. Most of the ladies did this challenge and most of them freaked out about it. Zev was surprisingly good though as he got all the ducks across rather quickly, thanks to being calm.

Matt, son to Gary, also had no problems thanks to his farmers life. Actually he's pretty vocal about being opposite his dad, but I'm sure he impressed him with that task. Thanks to having a duck as a child, Tiffany was able to surpass most of the others and that put the ladies back into the race and luckily not in last yet again. In the end Gary and Matt finished in first place, making it the first season in awhile where first place wasn't a repeat in the first couple episodes. Last place was once again between Brian/Ericka and Jessica/Garrett (who arrived second at the Road Block). Both were screaming at the ducks so that's where their issues arose and after finished a few minutes apart the run to Phil caused Garrett and Jessica to finish in last and become the second team eliminated from the race.

So far things are going well for the 15th season of The Amazing Race. I like this cast and we're seeing some new places early on so hopefully the pace will continue and so will the drama. The small twists they've made so far have worked to their advantage and as long as the ladies stay in I'm all for it.

What did you think of the Amazing Race's season opener? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts on the twist and new cast.