Topic: Amazing Race coincidences/irony/karma/poetic justice

[ryanmissing27]

The word karma should really be banned from the amazing race >< lol i dont even believe in karma, but I believe it might help you all understand what I am about to attempt to explain:
What are the best, or your personal favourite, examples of coincidences, irony, karma *shudder* or poetic justice from the amazing race? Which teams got what was coming to them in creative or imaginative ways? Which little details link up with each other and make you smile?

examples!

TAR15: The globetrotters... let's say convince to remain impartial, convince Mika to quit the waterslide so that they could stay in the race. They are later eliminated when they themselves are forced to quit in Prague. FRANZ!
TAR18: Kent and Vyxsin have fallen so far behind in China, their only chance to stay in the race (or so they thought) was to catch up to and pass Zev and Justin, however they lose their money/passport bag, the same thing (similar at least) that happened to Zev and Justin in TAR15.
TAR11: Joe and Bill fall days behind the other teams, the same thing that happened to them in their original season.
TARAUS: Tyler and Nathan Uturn Richard and Joey to delay them in South Africa, Tyler and Nathan are delayed in Israel on the how alike do you and your teammate think challenge, the answer they needed: Richard and Joey
TAR18: The first three people to finish the tea tasting roadblock had all drank or smelt tea on their original seasons, Ron in Taiwan (random task), Jet in Malaysia (speed bump), Kisha in China (before foot massage). However Luke also had the foot massage tea and he finished last...
TAR11: Kevin/Drew has knee problems, the one who went up the Eiffel Tower in Paris in TAR1 complained about their knees/legs (I haven't researched this as thoroughly)
TAR11: Charla and Mirna win their first leg ever in the country that eliminated them on their original season: Tanzania.
TAR17: Chad proposes to Stephanie in Oman, they then go on to win a leg that features rings and a wedding detour option (even though they didn't take it)
TAR16: While she didn't get to go to Iraq or South Africa, Caite races through and even wins a leg in "the Asian countries"

Now it's your turn! add your own. I'll happily clarify any of the above if anyone is confused.
Try to avoid obvious examples like the first team that is eliminated having previously expressed their intention of winning it all or a team planning on winning every leg winning none, etc.

[Mug Costanza]

Biggest karma fail I can remember on the show was Ari in TAR 12, Leg 1 in Ireland:

Team introductions - Ari says, "Karma's a bitch, but I'm a bigger bitch."
Somewhere in Ireland - Ari & Staella steal another team's cab.
After the Roadblock - Ari's donkey completely shuts down and refuses to move.
Ari & Staella come in last and are eliminated. Ari says during exit interview - "So, karma kicked my ass."

[balfour]

Biggest karma fail I can remember on the show was Ari in TAR 12, Leg 1 in Ireland:

Team introductions - Ari says, "Karma's a bitch, but I'm a bigger bitch."
Somewhere in Ireland - Ari & Staella steal another team's cab.
After the Roadblock - Ari's donkey completely shuts down and refuses to move.
Ari & Staella come in last and are eliminated. Ari says during exit interview - "So, karma kicked my ass."

Mug beat me to it. I just watched it yesterday.... and I was laughing because they annoyed me so much. Particularly Ari.

[ryanmissing27]

While that is a nice example, it is one of the show's token examples of arrogant individual/team gets screwed by the race; it's too obvious!
What I'm looking for here are the more subtle examples that aren't spoon fed to you by the producers/editors, the ones that you have to go looking for or that make you think outside the box.

Another example is that in both of their races Dustin and Kandace bickered with another all female team, both who made it to the end with them and both came in third: Lyn and Karlyn; and Charla and Mirna.

[redskevin88]

  ryanmissing27

Also in TAR 18, the Globetrotters were beaten by a girl, delayed karma for taunting Mika up that water slide.

[Prophet]

  ryanmissing27

[Flamant]

Jaime & Cara are eliminated in China

[Declive]

Jaime & Cara are eliminated in China

And their taxi driver stopped to get gas

[Flamant]

The 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th and 4th placed teams in TAR18 were all eliminated because one of the teammates choked at the roadblock.
The two times Margie & Luke didn't win/were eliminated, it was because of Luke who choked at the Roadblock.

[ryanmissing27]

the 5th place result was also determined by events at the roadblock. Thanks this is the kind of stuff Im looking for!

my next contribution: in unfinished business the globetrotters give jaime and cara hell for using the u turn on them in china yet they later u turn jet and cord almost unnecessarily in switzerland, i hope it was a long fall from their high horse.

[ryanmissing27]

season 12, leg 3 Burkina Faso 1
5 teams are on the mat at the same time, these teams go on to be the final 5!

[Declive]

Season 18 : The leg in Kolkata.

Jet and Cord,Ron and Cristina,Zev and Justin and Kent and Vyxsin at the same time in the mat.

After that leg,they all were eliminated in sequence (not the same sequence)

[Declive]

Gary and Mallory's leg 8 karma.

[Neobie]

And every team that Blake and Paige tied with was eliminated the very next leg...

[Zack.]

And every team that Blake and Paige tied with was eliminated the very next leg...

Plus they shared a tent with Peggy/Claire before the start of leg 3. 

In TAR 3, Flo/Zach, despite being members of the "Twin Hunt", struck up an alliance with them (D/D) once the other members had been eliminated in hilarious ways...only to (un)intentionally get the twins eliminated.   

[ryanmissing27]

And every team that Blake and Paige tied with was eliminated the very next leg...

In TAR 3, Flo/Zach, despite being members of the "Twin Hunt", struck up an alliance with them (D/D) once the other members had been eliminated in hilarious ways...only to (un)intentionally get the twins eliminated.   

love it.
as recently as TAR19, the finishing order for the Tintin task in Belgium was also the check in order at the end of that leg in Panama! some nice foreshadowing there

[redskevin88]

Laurence and Zac were eliminated beside a ship!

[ZouLy]

Laurence and Zac were eliminated beside a ship!

THIS! is really ironic... and their skills were proven too in Thailand, can't navigate the right way to the right islands...

[Dobby]

Coincidence:

In TAR Allstars there were only 4 seasons with 2 teams represented:
TAR 1, TAR 3, TAR 7 and TAR 10.

Right on the first four legs, John Vito and Jill, Kevin and Drew, David and Mary and Rob and Amber were eliminated. (Leaving only one team represented from each season)

The other 4 teams still remaining in Allstars also beat these four teams in their previous season.

Joe and Bill beat Kevin and Drew (3rd place VS 4th place in TAR)
Teri and Ian beat John Vito and Jill (2nd place VS 5th place in TAR 3)
Uchenna and Joyce beat Rob and Amber (1st place VS 2nd place in TAR 7)
Dustin and Kandace beat David and Mary (4th place VS 6th place in TAR 10)

This trend of "4 teams eliminated" seemed to also occur in TAR 18, where FIVE teams were represented from TAR 14. However, right on the first 4 legs, 4 of the TAR 14 teams were eliminated and leaving only one team from TAR 14 represented... though Kisha and Jen went on to win the race.

Just a small coincidence which are not related in anyway.

[mjriches2005]

TAR-All Stars
Danny and Oswald were the last team eliminated before the final 3, in which it was the same on their previous season TAR2.  Also which makes it more ironic it was on a island country in Oceania (New Zealand-TAR2 and Guam-TAR11). 

TAR1 and TAR10
Not regarding teams but places that were visited-
Both seasons visited New York City
Both seasons visited Beijing, China and the Great Wall
Both seasons visited India
Both seasons visited Paris, France

[theamazingracer21]

What about joey and richard from TARAU1 having a bad leg in south afirca (car stuck in mud, bad goat at a whitchdoctor task and the u turn) after they had they head shaved for the fast forward druing the last leg (hong kong/macau) and also for an over compenative team they offen finshed in the back end of the pack.

[ZouLy]

What about joey and richard from TARAU1 having a bad leg in south afirca (car stuck in mud, bad goat at a whitchdoctor task and the u turn) after they had they head shaved for the fast forward druing the last leg (hong kong/macau) and also for an over compenative team they offen finshed in the back end of the pack.

yeah, I think that's what we call  "karma" ...

[Dobby]

It's more of stupidity, they dive their car straight into the mud and got it stuck.

[redskevin88]

It's more of stupidity, they dive their car straight into the mud and got it stuck.

I think it's a mixture of karma and arrogance, and stupidity. Explain to me how they nearly caught up to Dumb and Dumber sorry Mo & Mos, and yet Mo & Mos beat them because of the goats...

[ryanmissing27]

It's more of stupidity, they drive their car straight into the mud and got it stuck

I think it was more bad luck at being the first team in line (like i think luke and jeff said) rather than stupidity, it could have happened to anyone unless they got out and inspected the track or something.

once again, try to avoid textbook examples that the show serves to you on a silver platter; think outside the box!

this comes directly from wikipedia but i still find it pretty interesting
for tar12: tk, rachel, nathan and staella all went to the same high school, given their close ages they could have even been in the same year and maybe even shared classes hahaha

from tar19: i remember from the second malawi leg just after the snowboarders outran ernie and cindy to the pit stop, they said something to the effect of, "we're willing to do anything it takes to win the race" or "we want to win the race most out of anyone here". they obviously weren't or didn't since on that same leg they passed on a u turn that laurence and zac used. had they been most willing or most wanting they would have uturned any of the 5 teams behind them at that point, all of which had the potential to go far (imo)

the globetrotters were eliminated in tar15 because they stumbled (understatement) at the penultimate leg's roadblock effectively not making the final 3. in unfinished business (tar18) they made the final 3 by beating out one team, zev and justin, because zev stumbled (literally) at the penultimate leg's roadblock. this is one of those examples of cruel irony though...

[Declive]

Ron and Bill AND Ethan and Jenna were first to book the tickets on the first leg.
On the second leg,they faced the double elimination by themselves.

[ryanmissing27]

this is only semi amazing race related but on the current season of the biggest loser australia there's a woman named Margie (with a hard g) on the over 30s girls team and a man named Luke on the under 30s boys team, they're both seen as fierce almost cut throat competitors. this season is also the first to feature a deaf contestant, Selena!

[Dobby]

Completely Coincidence.





"We both finished the starting line last. No, we're not related."

Lesson Learnt for all-female teams:
Don't put something on your head if you want to win the race.

[ryanmissing27]

"We both finished the starting line last. No, we're not related."

misa and maiya are sisters...

from this premiere: at the starting line, one of the twins was wearing a purple shirt with black shorts and the other a black shirt with purple shorts haha i highly doubt its a coincidence but i feel it belongs here

and i think someone else mentioned it somewhere but phil encouraged teams to "jump right on the mat" or something to that effect after last season's standing in front of the mat effect, a subtle gem.

[Dobby]

misa and maiya are sisters...

You didn't get the full joke apparently.

[ryanmissing27]

You didn't get the full joke apparently.

ah youre saying that kaylani and lisa are not related to misa and maiya... i thought that was a given. i was under the impression that you were comparing misa and maiya to kaylani and lisa as a ff team who look alike but are not related like jaime and cara as another example or even katie and rachel. i get what you mean ^^

[ianthebalance]

Here are 2 strange coincidences about Amanda and Kris from seasons 14 and 18. Ill do the obvious coincidence first.

1. (obvious) In both of their seasons, they were eliminated because of a u-turn.

2. In the legs before the leg of their elimination, TAR 14 Leg 3 and TAR 18 Leg 1, they finished second in both of them.

[ryanmissing27]

This has the possibility to be foreshadowing (ok i just wanted to revive my own thread) but it's subtle and interesting, check it out for yourself

If my memory serves, Mark and Bopper have thus far had every "hot dog!" moment this season.

what is a "hot dog!" moment, you ask? the single clip after phil says "who will be eliminated tonight?" in the recap but before the intro, named of course after Bill and Cathi because that was the first one that came to mind ><

[ryanmissing27]

Brendon and Rachel have broken the Big Brother team wins the first leg trend! (i.e. they didn't win the first leg) The irony is that they are already the most successful Big Brother/Race team no matter where they place from now on.
Most successful but yet to win a leg.

[ryanmissing27]

Since two teams have already taken the fast forward, this will be the first season since S13 that a team who won the fast forward does not win the race (assuming of course that there won't be a shocking twist that allows two teams to win the race)

Season 20 will also be the first season to visit Africa without visiting a previously unvisited African country, which I find a little sad but oh well.

[ryanmissing27]

A shameless revival of one of my old posts? perhaps... ><

Season 20:
There were three clues that came at sunrise: The chasquis in Argentina, The fire temple in Azerbaijan and the Orange Gate in Hiroshima.
On the second Indian leg Dave and Rachel paid a ferry so that they would be the only ones on it, on the very next leg, Dave and Rachel were the only team not on the ferry in Japan.
While season 15's switchback was supposed to slow teams down (with haybales) no team was eliminated, Season 20's switchback was supposed to help a team (head shaving fast forward) but it only caused them to be eliminated (mark and bopper).
Season 20 was the first season since season 4 to have more than two fast forwards and a team of clowns; and the first time since season 3 to have a fast forward come in last (and both instances were all male teams).

the final 6 of season 20 actually almost match up with the final 6 of season 15
Winners: the overly competent couple with the blond female who was seen as the better racer, both teams won the first leg, a fast forward and the last four legs straight.
2nd: all male team who bickered with other teams and occasionally each other, excluding fast forwards both won two legs.
3rd: bickering couple that hadn't won any legs with the whining/crying/stressed out female
4th: Somewhat villainous team that had abrasive interactions with other teams
5th: All male team from the country, eliminated on the leg of their speed bump, won 1 leg.
6th: All female team that lied about their occupations, didn't win any legs and were close with one of the all male teams.

[Marionete]

the final 6 of season 20 actually almost match up with the final 6 of season 15
Winners: the overly competent couple with the blond female who was seen as the better racer, both teams won the first leg, a fast forward and the last four legs straight.
2nd: all male team who bickered with other teams and occasionally each other, excluding fast forwards both won two legs.
3rd: bickering couple that hadn't won any legs with the whining/crying/stressed out female
4th: Somewhat villainous team that had abrasive interactions with other teams
5th: All male team from the country, eliminated on the leg of their speed bump, won 1 leg.
6th: All female team that lied about their occupations, didn't win any legs and were close with one of the all male teams.

Wow, that's really interesting, but I can't remember - which M/M team were Nary & Jaime close to? :?

[Declive]

Bopper and Mark.

[APAD]

In the first and latest episode of The Amazing Race Australia 2, Shane and Andrew had trouble finding the buttons for their cars' boot and bonnet.

[Platinum]

Seasons 15, 16, 17, and 22 all had only 1 fast forward for the whole race. The teams that won the ff went on to win the race.

In season 22, the teams that got on the 1st flight were eliminated consecutively. (10th --> 6th) The weakest among the 5 teams was the last among them to go.

In seasons 15 and 22, Maria & Tiffany and Chuck & Wynona were the 1st teams on the 1st flight. Both teams barely survived the 4th leg, and they both finished 6th.

In season 22, the team who came up with the idea of making the "express pass alliance" was the last team to arrive among the teams from the alliance.
A team member from the team who won the express passes started the 2nd leg saying "Loose Lips Sink Ships". Later on, they told a team who was not in the alliance about the alliance. That team later on gave their 2nd express pass to the 2nd team from their alliance, who used the express pass and won the leg. The team that gave them the pass was 2nd that leg. In the following leg, the team who had won 2 express passes was eliminated without even using their express pass.

[gamerfan09]

S20:

Art and JJ: "We got beaten by a girl."

Rachel: "They're just mad that a girl beat them!"

FINALE:

Art beats Rachel at the Final Roadblock.

[PC0828]

In season 22, all except one team (Matt & Daniel) on the second flight from LAX beat the teams that were on the first flight from LAX.

1. Bates & Anthony   (second flight)
2. Max & Katie (second flight)
3. Mona & Beth (second flight)   
4. Caroline & Jennifer (second flight)   
5. Joey & Meghan (second flight)   
6. Chuck & Wynona   (first flight)   
7. Pam & Winnie (first flight)
8. Dave & Connor (first flight)
9. Jessica & John (first flight)   
10. Idries & Jamil (first flight)
11. Matt & Daniel (second flight)

[RaceUntilWeDie]

Posted this a long time ago on the other topic "Some interesting facts, records..." :

TAR 21:
The team that finished 2nd on the first leg were eventually the 2nd team eliminated from the Race. (Amy & Daniel)
The team that finished 3rd on the first leg were eventually the 3rd team eliminated from the Race. (Caitlin & Brittany)
The team that finished 2nd-to-last on the first leg made it to the finale and placed 2nd overall. (Jaymes & James)
The team that finished 3rd-to-last on the first leg made it to the finale and placed 3rd overall. (Trey & Lexi)

[Parovic]

Oman curse on chad and stephanie,fran and barry.Both of them finish first on oman leg and immediately get eliminated on next leg
 
 

[Daniel]

If it's about 'karmas', the one that I can think right now is Hippies yielding MoJo (a footrace to the Yield mat with MoJo) then lost to them by seconds on a footrace for last place to the pit stop. My other favorite 'karma': 'Pray to our deceased grandmother to help us! Lying bitch! Bitch!' One of my favorite moments ever on TAR.

[Airlinesguy]

Phil's voiceover at the start of Leg 4 of TARAS:

Will Rob & Amber continue their three leg winning streak or will another team knock them out of first place?

[Paldog]

Phil's voiceover at the start of Leg 4 of TARAS:

Will Rob & Amber continue their three leg winning streak or will another team knock them out of first place?

That's one of my favorite episodes because the Mirna vs. Rob showdown! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<333333333333333

[WinTar]

Karma (sort of): In Leg 9 of Season 9, Eric & Jeremy (and Joseph) canceled the taxis of Ray & Yolanda and BJ & Tyler. Both teams' taxis didn't show up, as well as Eric & Jeremy's.

Even though this didn't matter since they were just going to the airport, it was still funny (for me) to watch.