By Jim Memmott
Amazing Race, Season
24, Episode 3
China/Sabah, Malaysian Borneo – Things heated up, on, near or in the
water, in this, the third segment of an All-Star season featuring duos from
races past.
Bad news first:
They may be veterans, but in the end it was a rookie mistake that sent YouTube sensations Joey and Meghan home. Could you believe it? They didn’t hold their taxicab early in the race and went on to lose valuable time hunting for another ride.
The duo was
chipper after being eliminated, Meghan’s only regret being that they had let
down their fans (not to mention their pool sponsors, Team Bushnell).
“Fans?” one
viewer asked, prompting a Google search that shows JoeyGraceffa (one word) to
have 3,136,256 subscribers.
Strawburry17,
Meghan Camarena’s nom de Tube, has 640,393 subscribers.
In other words,
they’re the real deal.
 |
| Dave and Connor |
So, too are
Dave and Connor. The father-and-son team took first on an episode that
featured Dave rappelling down a waterfall and both of them making a raft and
floating it down a river.
Along the way,
they overshot a checkpoint and had to go back on foot to receive the next clue,
lugging about 50 pounds of fruit and vegetables.
Almost obsessively, Dave kept contrasting their healthy showing this time around to their bad
luck on Season 22 when they had to drop out early after he ruptured his
Achilles tendon.
The Cowboys,
Cord and Jet, were not that far behind in second place even though Cord had to
rappel the 10-story waterfall twice because he zoomed by a clue the first time
down. (The brothers commit about one serious error an episode but they always
make up the lost time.)
 |
| Raft design |
The
Afghanimals, Leo and Jamal, came in third. In an ah-ha moment, they decided that they
were going to play nice this season rather than be “sneaky and manipulative” as
they were in Season 23. (We’ll see how
long this lasts.)
The Animals crashed
their raft, as did some of the other teams. Newlyweds Brendon and Rachel (their
shirts say “Brenchel”) capsized the most and finished eighth, or next to
last.
 |
| Brenchel |
Rachel also
showed more of her derriere than is normal on Amazing Race – really, the kids are still up on the East Coast .
True to her
Season 20 form, she took all calamities personally, forgetting to express
concern for the water-logged Brendon as she feared for herself. “I didn’t want
to die,” she explained.
The other
racers?
Margie
improvised and used her shirt to tie together the raft she and Luke had built
after the rope tie was lost;
Big Easy of the
Globetrotters got banned from the rappelling challenge because he’s too big
(has that ever happened?);
Jennifer channeled
her grandfather, John Wayne, and made child’s play of a blow-dart challenge;
 |
| John Wayne |
Jessica and
John built a disaster of a raft that nonetheless floated.
The Travelocity
Gnome? Product placement was alive in the jungle, and the racers carried a
gnome throughout the challenges. Up the river, down the river, the Gnome was an
All-Star. Some things never change.
Overheard:
Meghan: The Internet is our job, and to unplug
completely has been incredible.
Caroline (on where Jennifer put a clue): Shoving
it in the breast, she’s got a spot for everything.
Caroline (on raft building): We’re like Huck Finn and Oliver Twist
Brendon (to Rachel): I’ll massage your butt tonight.
Flight Time: After we got our birds we had to party
with the locals.
Rachel: I don’t want to go home. I’m not ready
yet.
Meghan: It was so cool; it was like something
out of the Jungle Book.
Order of finish:
1) Dave and Connor
2) Jet and Cord
3) Leo and Jamal
4) Margie and Luke
5) Flight Time and Big Easy
6) Caroline and Jennifer
7) Jessica and John
8) Brendon and Rachel
