Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there also an unaired Blind U-Turn on TAR15 at some point?
Yes, it looks like you are right:
In an unaired scene, Lance & Keri used a Blind U-Turn on Sam & Dan. However, Sam & Dan were already in front of them and the U-Turn had no effect.
I did not discover this until you raised the question, so now I know something I previously did not.
Yeah, I remember heading something like that during TAR15, but I didn't remember exactly. Looks like we both learnt something really interesting today, apskip!
What if Uchenna & Joyce didn't make that costly blunder to Malaysia? Would they have made the final 3?
The chances are good for them. Oswald & Danny would definitely finish last in Malaysia (just like that TAR15 Blind U-Turn, I remember reading that the Malaysia leg was originally planned as a NEL, but I may be severely mistaken). Oswald & Danny did great with the flights to Hong Kong and claimed the Fast Forward, so assuming they still manage to do so, this will remove their Marked For Elimination penalty. And also, Eric & Danielle would go home (and we would have the best Final Four of all time, in my opinion
).
Then in Macau is where this could become interesting. Assuming that Oswald & Danny still have their financial troubles, Dustin & Kandice can't tell them to Yield Eric & Danielle any more, as they are gone. Assumably, they will want to Yield Uchenna & Joyce, who are strong former-winners. However, due to Oswald & Danny's many struggles of that leg, they will finish last and be Marked again.
On to Guam, and that Guam leg - which was quite enjoyable - offered little chance for teams to make huge blunders, unless they really had problems operating the GPS locators. So I'd assume Uchenna & Joyce would survive and Oswald & Danny would go home.
And then the Final Three would be Uchenna & Joyce, Dustin & Kandice and Charla & Mirna. And with that exceptionally weird Final Task in San Francisco (one of my least favourite tasks of all time, personally) it would be quite difficult to predict a winner!
Of course, my scenario might be extremely different to what would actually happen, but these are my thoughts, and I have to thank
redskevin88 for a GREAT question!!!
A question of my own:
What if Jet & Cord were sent home in The Seychelles and the next leg (Malaysia) was converted to a NEL instead? Do you think that Steve & Allie could possibly go on to replace Jet & Cord in the Final Three, given the U-Turn in Singapore and Louie & Michael's struggles in China, and if not, who do you think will be in the Final Three instead?