Never Ninja on The Amazing Race

 Amazing Race 37 Episode 3

 

By Jim Memmott

 

Kyoto, Japan – Lesson learned. If you’re on The Amazing Race never, ever, take on a Ninja Warrior challenge that involves throwing or blowing things at targets.

 

Really, don’t do it. Just go immediately to the giant orgami-folding challenge.

 

Again and again in this episode racers tried and then abandoned the Kinja challenge. Too hard. Way too hard.

Like the others, Lori and Scott Thompson, married parents of eight, switched to origami. And they won. Finished first. Went bonkers.

 

You may remember that I was anti-Scott in the last blog. I’ve softened. I think he’s just a little goofy.

 

Besides, there’s something about Lori – a Kristin Wiig SNL vibe, according to veteran Race watcher Cindy Schmitt.

 

Put Lori on a bullet train from Osaka to Kyoto, and she’s going to go bonkers about being on a well, bullet train from Osaka to Kyoto.

 

Good grief, there were a lot of bullet trains. Six, I think. Han and Holden Nguyen, the bickering siblings, were on the last train. Still, they caught up and survived.

 

Courtney Ramsey and Jasmin Carey, dating nurses, weren’t so lucky. Courtney had trouble with the soccer-ball kicking challenge. They lost time as Ninja warriors. They were glad to have competed, but they’re gone.

 

Ana and Jonathan Towns, married parents, came in second and picked up an Express Pass that I’m sure will come into play in future episodes during what Phil Keoghan has called a “Season of Surprises.”

As well as they’ve been doing, I wonder if Ana and Jonathan are in an Amazing Race narrative arc that peaks with a total meltdown.

 

Whenever she has trouble – perhaps in kicking a soccer ball – he has to turn his back, look away, try not to vent. That would have to be annoying.

 

The episode was marked by some alliance forming. One solidarity pact united parent-child teams. Melinda Papendeas and her daughter, Erika, joined Pops and Jeff Bailey. It was proof-positive that the generations can work together without backbiting and scorn. Good to know.

 

Overheard

 

Jack Dodge: We are nerds. We watch anime.

 

Alyssa Borden: I’m the first person at a cornhole party saying,  “Who’s my partner?” And it’s always him (Josiah).

 

Nick Fiorito: Mike (his brother) doesn’t even fold his own clothes at home.

 

Order of Finish

 

Lori and Scott Thompson

Carson McCalley and Jack Dodge

Ana and Jonathan Towns

Melinda and Erika Papadeas

Brett Hamby and Mark Roman

Pops and Jeff Bailey

Alyssa and Josiah Borden

Nick and Mike Fiorito

Han and Holden Nguyen

Bernie Gutierrez and Carrigain Scadden

 

Eliminated

 

Courtney Ramsey and Jasmin Carey

Amazing Race opens with a crowded dance floor

Amazing Race Season 37

Episodes One and Two

By Jim Memmott

Hong Kong and Osaka – It’s early, very early, in Season 37 of The Amazing Race. I’ll keep this short.

All I could think of when watching the first two episodes was a great song by Flight of the Conchords about a dance floor crowded with too many, well, guys.

OK, maybe you don’t remember the song. But my point is that Season 37 of The Amazing Race began with 14 teams, one more than each of the last two seasons.

That’s too many, and it’s no wonder that, as a favor to viewers, two teams were eliminated in the first episode, which took place in Hong Kong.

Nonetheless, even after a second episode in Osaka, Japan, I’m a little unsure of who is who, and, more importantly, whom should I root for, whom should I root against.

Speaking of someone we might root against: 

ScottThompson got some boos in our house when he announced that, when he was away from home, he had empowered his wife, Lori, to make decisions “without his approval.” Ouch.

Then, too, because of that remark, I can pick Scott and Lori out from the crowd. 

First episode, I also could also identify the Retired Firefighters, Mark Crawford and Larry Graham. They were cheerful, self-deprecating, and, in a rare Amazing Race moment, Larry even broke the Fourth Wall, giving their signature thumbs up to the camera after something good happened.

The firefighters fell victim to the first episode’s double elimination, one created by a Fork in the Road that sent half of the teams to one challenge, the other half to the other. The last team in each challenge got the heave ho. They were last in one.

Also out were sisters, Jackye Clayton and Lauren McKinney. A steep flight of stairs did Lauren in, and they never recovered. 

The loss didn’t ruin Lauren’s day. “When I pass from this earth,” she told host Phil Koeghan, “I want my tombstone to read, ‘I ran the Amazing Race Season 37.’”

Just one team was eliminated in the second episode, the father/daughter duo of Ernest and Bridget Cato. 

Ernest just had a bad day, especially on a drum challenge that sapped his soul.

It will be 11 teams on the dance floor for Episode 3. And when the cast is reduced to 10, the longtime members of the Amazing Pool will make their selections.

By then, everyone may be able to distinguish the Married Nurses from the Dating Nurses, the Lumberjacks from the Vegas Performers. Until then, I won’t say who they are. You’re on your own.

Best quote:

Josiah Borden: “We karaoke the hell out of any bar that serves Yuengling.”

Order of finishes:

Episode One:

Dance                                         Song                     

Carson and Jack                   Alyssa and Josiah

Brett and Mark                    Jonathan and Ana

Ernest and Bridget               Scott and Lori

Bernie and Carrigan             Pops and Jeff

Nick and Mike                    Han and Holden

Courtney and Jasmin            Melinda and Erika

Mark and Larry                  Jackye and Lauren  

Episode Two:

Ana and Jonathan 

Lori and Scott

Alyssa and Josiah

Carson and Jack

Melinda and Erika

Courtney and Jasmin

Pops and Jeff

Bernie and Carrigan

Brett and Mark

Nick and Mike

Han and Holden

Bridget and Ernest