It seems like people help their partners verbally every now and then. However, this last episode they said they can't say anything.

• Read your clue
• Learn how to drive a stick shift
• It ain't over until Phil says it's over

Something else?

Who are your contenders for the winner?

If so, what was the application process like? I know you and your partner have to submit an audition video, but what’s the actual application like? How long are the applications usually open? Trying to convince one of my best friends to apply with me, all the info on the website was outdated last time I looked.

This episode began by ending that tense cliffhanger that had me on the edge of my seat. Even though Jody and Jenn could have had an almost guaranteed win with the strategy I outlined in my previous post, they didn’t do this, and Doug and Dylan managed to survive by the skin of their teeth. It was a shame for J+J to not have their comeback story come true, and it also proved that they really did waste their Express Pass in the previous leg (which was now two episodes ago, mind). Had they saved it, they could have used it at the pot-smashing roadblock and made it through.

Luckily for Doug and Dylan, the previous times were scrubbed, and the next morning, the ten teams were made to leave two minutes apart. Dafina and Saran left in 7th place at 2:12, and reminded viewers that they were part of the ‘boss lady alliance’ but that they weren’t sure if they were still aligned after Joanna and Ali didn’t help them after the tomatoes in Madrid. It’s clear to me that Dafina and Saran are the only team that ever cared about that alliance; the other teams forgot about it as soon as they walked away, I’m sure. Or maybe they were just celebrating being strong women rather than actually allying. D+S are overthinking it, and this could land them in trouble.

Their first destination was quite familiar; the S25 contestants had needed to do tanning at this location. I still remember Bethany Hamilton managing to do impressive tanning using her legs. Fortunately, the task wasn’t going to be repeated as the teams were about to partake in another Scramble. The last two scrambles I saw in 37 and 38 were not very exciting as they took place at the end of the season when there were few teams left. With ten teams racing around the confusing streets and alleys of Marrakech’s dense medina, this would be far more exciting.

However, the 6 possible orders that teams could complete the scramble were sadly cut down to only 2 after all ten teams discovered that the Slipper Search roadblock was the closest to the tannery. This drastically cut down the chaos factor; when designing a scramble, they should really try to make the challenges equidistant from the starting point. 

After plenty of shots of the teams getting bamboozled by the streets and also getting confusing directions from locals “Right left”, “Your first second”, etc, teams finally made it to Souk Smata for a particularly devious challenge. TAR 26 had teams finding one clog out of 100s, but this season escalated that to 1000s of slippers (although they were slippers of various colours), across different vendors. Michelle played a smart game by choosing the least ornate slipper, making its pair easiest to find, while others struggled with minor pattern or colour differences. Dafina and Saran used their Roadside Assistance immediately; I noticed that it was used up after one attempt. I had thought that they would be able to continually use it until the end of the next leg. Whatever, it seemed to help them through the challenge quickly. Erin regretted doing the challenge as she felt Javi’s eyesight was better.

At the back were Jaime and Garrett. Garrett was close to losing his cool and burning the Express Pass, but they decided to hold on to use it later in the leg as he’d already spent so much time on the task. Jaime had no such option and had already made five wrong attempts before getting her last. But even further back were Doug and Dylan, who seemed hopeless at both getting directions from locals AND following them. It felt upsetting to see this team squander this chance that they’d just lucked out on the previous evening.

The other teams split up, with some deciding to do the rug run first while the others went to dye some yarn. Cody and Jaime spoke about their Oma, who had to manufacture gloves for German soldiers during WW2… always a backstory with these tasks. Matt and Michelle were the first to complete Rug Run and decided to play dumb about completing that task. This is the kind of ‘villainous’ stuff I can get behind, playing a selfish game but not being malicious.

While boiling the yarn, Andrea spoke about how she was a firefighter and a first responder during COVID. I was astonished as she does not look like a big, strong firefighter, but that just goes to show looks can be deceiving. Cody and Jaime must have been bricking themselves to see D+D turn up at the yarn dyeing (Doug called it a “Do AND Dye” challenge; I chuckled). To make matters worse, C+J only made one yellow yarn on their first attempt, wasting even more of their time.

It still didn’t seem possible to me that D+D would have a chance of catching up until more teams ran the Rug Run and Ali+Joanna and Cody+Jaime got lost and overshot the restaurant. C+J were now 3/3 on messing up the scramble challenges, having wasted a significant amount of time on each of them, and to my amazement, Doug and Dylan actually overtook the Dutch team.

I was nervous about the teams running with rugs. While it wasn’t as bad as those giant bamboo poles from S21, teams could be seen knocking things like fridge magnets off their stands and even whacking people in the face.

Matt and Michelle were the first to complete all three challenges and were able to complete the three-piece puzzle that gave them their next clue in Arabic, which would direct them to another site from Season 25: the beautifully ornate Madrasa Ben Youssef (which merely held a clue box in that episode). The sneaky snakes (as they called themselves) slithered their way into first and won a trip to Okinawa. Matt stated that his grandfather fought in Okinawa in WW2 (two mentions of WW2 in one episode, crikey!), so he said it felt special to win that trip. In all the seasons I’ve watched, I’ve never seen someone connect so personally to the destination they’re winning a trip to. That being said, there's something awkward about handing out a prize of “here’s where your grandfather was traumatised!”

The next group of three teams all bundled in at once. From my perspective, it was difficult to differentiate E+J touching the mat vs Daisha and Dalton (I’ve just realised I can’t keep calling Doug and Dylan ‘D+D’... I mean, I can, but it may confuse). Dalton literally tried to slide to get ahead, but this may have disqualified the extra place, causing his team to come fourth instead of third. They were perfectly happy with the result, though.

I clapped my hands and laughed as Doug and Dylan stepped through the door in 9th place. “That’s all we need!” exclaimed Dylan, while Doug said their nickname should be changed to “The catfish, the bottom-feeders.” I’ll definitely use that, going forward.

And it was Cody and Jaime who kicked the metaphorical bucket this time. There seemed to be something wrong with Cody’s eyes; either he’d rubbed some dye in them, or he’d been crying heavily before they reached the pit stop. They seemed crestfallen, but there was still time for one more dig “We’re always going to look out for each other… even when he doesn’t wear deodorant.” I enjoyed their vibe, and it was surprising seeing a team that looked so physically fit bow out so early on. But it was a case of losing time in the challenges vs losing time with directions; Doug and Dylan had actually completed all their challenges on the first attempt and had made up enough time doing so to keep going. It’s giving Beekman energy. I can’t wait to see how they do in Albania.

Ive heard and read that a litany of changes were introduced following s7 because of how rob and amber ran it, but i cant find anywhere that clearly lists any of those changes, so am curious if any long term or super fans know what that kinda stuff was ?

5 legs = 5 eliminations

leg 12 = final 3

leg 11 = last elimination

12 teams @ start

5 gone by end of leg 5

leg 11 has only 4 teams

3 eliminations in 5 legs before leg 11, so 2 non-elimination legs in this season. my guess leg 6/upcoming leg will be one of two non-elimination legs

Looks like we're finally getting some of that "diversity" in locations the Finnish show needs!! We will see mountain ranges, urban cities, sand dunes and beaches!

Screenshots from the new ARS trailer (Credits: Nelonen media/Ruutu)

And what is your favourite thing about it: the destination, the challenges, moments with contestants, etc?

A double Driver's Seat? How curious. Speaking of doubles, two Express Passes remain in circulation, and the next leg is the last chance to use them...

For links to my stats spreadsheets and explanations of the stats, see here.

Individual Placements

Group Average Placements

The number in parentheses is the number of teams in that group that competed in that leg.

Individual Stats

Each continuously-varying stat is followed in parentheses by the team's percentile in that stat, compared to all other teams worldwide.

Pseudo-Elo Ratings

1. Michelle & Matt, +983 (up 244) (93%)
2. Conner & Garrett, +401 (up 143) (75%)
3. Ann-Marie & Riley, +391 (up 54) (75%)
4. Anuar & Andrea, +286 (down 202) (71%)
5. Ali & Joanna, +164 (down 5) (65%)
6. Daisha & Dalton, +53 (up 281) (60%)
7. Erin & Javi, +45 (down 259) (59%)
8. Cody & Jaime, –239 (44%)
9. Katie & Charlotte, –248 (43%)
10. Jody & Jenn, –296 (40%)
11. Zach & Nate, –370 (30%)
12. Doug & Dylan, –531 (down <1) (17%)
13. Dafina & Saran, –637 (down 256) (9%)

Group Stats

Group stats are totals for leg wins and averages for all other stats.

Next Leg Probabilities

These probabilities are based on 1,000,000 Monte Carlo simulations of the next leg, based on the teams' positions in all legs so far. These simulations do not take into account Express Passes or potential U-Turns.

A bold probability indicates the most likely placement for a team, and an italic probability indicates the most likely team for a placement.

Trivia

• This is the first leg to feature two Driver's Seats.
• In the first Driver's Seat:
  • The 2 teams assigned 50 pounds, excluding Michelle & Matt, both had prior racing averages of 4.75. Their average placement this leg was 6.00.
  • The 3 teams assigned 75 pounds had a collective prior racing average of 7.00 and an average placement this leg of 4.67.
  • The 3 teams assigned 100 pounds had a collective prior racing average of 6.08 and an average placement this leg of 6.00.
• In the second Driver's Seat:
  • The 3 teams assigned 12 byrek had a collective prior racing average of 7.08, and two of them (Dafina & Saran and Doug & Dylan) both had prior racing averages of 8.25. Their average placement this leg was 6.33.
  • The 5 teams assigned 16 byrek had a collective prior racing average of 5.50 and an average placement this leg of 5.00.
• When taking into account the fact that only one team could be assigned 8 byrek in the second Driver's Seat, Ann-Marie & Riley were given the easiest tasks this leg, whereas Ali & Joanna and Anuar & Andrea were given the hardest tasks this leg.
• The following teams' first five placements match a prior team when ignoring order:
  • Michelle & Matt (1st x2, 2nd, 3rd, 6th): 4 prior teams (Tyler & Nathan, Baggio & Thành Phúc, USA24 Jet & Cord, and Marcus & Michael).
  • Ali & Joanna (1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th): 1 prior team (Brandon & Adam).
  • Conner & Garrett (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th): 1 prior team (Reichen & Chip).
• Uniqueness of teams' 5-leg racing averages:
  • Michelle & Matt (2.60): 19 prior teams, incuding 5 U.S. teams.
  • Conner & Garrett, Ann-Marie & Riley (4.60): 37 prior teams, including 15 U.S. teams.
  • Anuar & Andrea (5.00): 30 prior teams, including 10 U.S. teams.
  • Ali & Joanna, Erin & Javi (5.40): 38 prior teams, including 18 U.S. teams.
  • Daisha & Dalton (6.60): 17 prior teams, including 6 U.S. teams.
  • Doug & Dylan (7.80): 6 prior teams, including 4 U.S. teams. The only prior all-male team to do this is Ben & Ran.
  • Dafina & Saran (8.40): 1 prior team (Lindy & Stella).
• Do you have any other trivia? Leave it in the comments!

That’s it. Two words. 😂

Watching teams count every seventh word on that cassette tape and then get stuck trying to figure out whether “no one” was one word or two was something else.

But here’s the thing. We’re sitting at home watching this stuff with no pressure. They’re tired, probably hungry, and trying not to finish last. I wonder how many of us would start second-guessing ourselves too.
Was that actually a clever challenge, or did the pressure make something simple way harder than it should’ve been?

My husband asks me every single season why everyone has such white teeth on the amazing race. Do they whiten their teeth before the start of the race?

And what is your favourite thing about it: the destination, the challenges, moments with contestants, etc?

I know many (including myself) lament the loss of the days of spending the first 15 minutes of an episode watching teams jockey for the best flights to wherever, but I think it’s a pretty neat trade-off for legs like the one in Albania where we get wildly different placings from one challenge to the next based on teams’ abilities to self-nav. The “I think we’re going the wrong way” montage was brilliant. I have to imagine renting several cars is infinitely cheaper on production than accounting for multiple trans-continental flights, though I imagine the bigger barrier becomes concern for safety for driving in some countries. I’d like to think maybe the cleanest solution is hiring drivers but telling teams they have to tell the drivers themselves where to go.

Is it just me or am I having Afghanimal flashbacks? It just seems too close of how Matt and Michelle are acting… seems really obviously similar to how the Afghanimals played their U-Turn in poland and lied about it next leg with the express pass and the drivers seat. It could just be me being an old head but its still weird. How close it is. I shall watch them with great interest.

Do any of the teams this season do recaps? Like a YouTube channel or podcast?

Okay, yeah, it's a COVID season; them teleporting from place to place still doesn't feel right, and the route is extremely lackluster in terms of The Amazing Race standards.

However, I'm a strong defender that a good cast can salvage a mediocre route and viceversa (looking at you, Season 6), and this one definitely falls into that category; I was heartbroken at pretty much every elimination and a bit angrier at others (Walla Walla, but that situation feels like it's very hard to judge)

Also, I'm southamerican and I watched all the LATAM versions of the show, so this route was kinda nostalgic for some reason, and as a venezuelan, the colombian and dominican legs were great! We share a lot of visual identity, so I'm happy on that front.

I knew Ricky and Cesar had won, and I heard all the comments about them, em but I didn't feel like they 100% had the advantage on every leg, because the cast this season was extremely weak for some reason, but even during tasks where many teams were huddled together, they were always in the top; it's insane. They easily could have lost the finale had Juan and Shane not gone to New Jersey

I definitely would like to see them in a proper season to see how much of it was the circumstances and how much came from them, but overall? It's an average season, not as bad as expected, but certainly not top-tier either

[Spoiler]

It’s episode 5 and I think I reached my boiling point watching them especially Riley. This help each other mentality is just not a great tv to watch. So surprised when Daisha pulled that stint on them, thank you finally some drama. Last week they also complained when Andrea left her at the roadblock. But when it comes to the rug mission, they seemed fine that Ali and Joana left them. What’s the standard here?

To top it all, she makes a holier than thou speech at the pit stop. I mean she didn’t help Sharan in the tomato challenge five minutes after making the boss lady alliance pact. So her speech was just meh.

Just remember what Matt said don’t blame the player, blame the game.

Personally as a huge reality compeititon show person i prefer final 2's and idk why Amazing Race has never tried doing a final 2

In a sense, it's a combination of a U-turn and a Scramble, but specifically, a Wrong Way is a detour that doesn't produce the next clue. Contestants don't know which Detour is the Wrong Way until completing it.

This adds a bit of luck to the game and requires contestants to choose carefully. I figured the Wrong Way can usually be the easiest-sounding task or the quickest-sounding task, tricking contestants into thinking it will be the best way to go.

I specifically bring up the Scramble because I'm sure the show wouldn't want to take much planning time/money for an incorrect path, so this idea could involve less travel time, so that not much time is wasted. Plus, if teams ally with each other, they can let each other know which path not to take.

Let me know if this sounds cool or if there's something that could be implemented to improve it.