Topic: The Greatest Amazing Race Episodes

[NMC]

Hi Guys! 

So I was sitting thinking of the best episodes of a number of TV Shows, and it got me thinking, fans of TAR never seem to list out what they believe to be the best episodes, the way we do for scripted shows, like Breaking Bad, Lost, The Walking Dead, and so on.

So quite simply my question is, what individual episodes of TAR do you think are the best?

From this, I don't mean episodes that you like because of 1 or 2 things that happen, E.g. Your most hated team gets eliminated, etc..

But episodes that are great all round, taking into account all the following:

- Teams still racing at that Point
- Locations
- Challenges & Tasks
- Drama / Excitement / Suspense
- Shocks & Surprises
- Music
- Entertainment Factor

For me, the two episodes, of the top of my head, that I'd have to pick for this are:
Season 18 Leg 1
and Season 23 Leg 2 - I don't know why, but I genuinely think this episode has everything, and there's something about it that gives me a Super-Leg vibe. 

[gamerfan09]

TAR 23 Leg 9 in Indonesia.

Seriously the best episode for me Post UB.

It had everything, meltdowns, great tasks, and drama.

[stekay]

All Stars Leg 4. Flawless.
TAR 9 Leg 9 -  It had everything and more and saved one of my favourite teams!
TAR 10 Leg 10 - Perfect Karma would've been completed if the leg was an elimination.
TAR 20 Finale - The accidental finding just makes it stand out!

Many more.

[Air]

All of TAR11 from Ushuaia onwards.

[Jimmer]

Just watched TAR12 the Croatia leg!

~ Beautiful City
~ Flight Drama <33333
~ So many good quotes like Hendekea saying she knows a Bosnian word that means "There's a party in my pants" and "You won't take us because we're wet" and there we other ones that I forgot but were good
~ So much drama with stacked flights, Nate & Jen's taxi and Azaria and Hendekea trying to catch up
~ Task were decent, but the rowing task created tension <3

[Hooky]

I definitely have to agree about All-Stars Leg 4. In terms of storyline, that episode was the real crux of the entire season.

Other amazingly well-done episodes include TAR 5 Leg 11; TAR 6 Legs 2 and 3; TAR 7 Legs 3 and 12; TAR 9 Leg 6, TAR 10 Legs 2 and 10; TAR 12 Legs 1, 6, and 10; and TAR 14 Leg 1.

These episodes are simply stellar because they combine 3 important factors: (1) dramatic and unpredictable storylines, (2) captivating editing to match those storylines, and (3) amazing tasks and destinations. These are among the true "classics" of TAR episodes.

[theschnauzers]

TAR 2, the leg that started in Hong Kong and ended in Sydney has always been one of my favorites. So many classic elements, including a classic shopping expedition and a fantastic roadblock that really hasn't been recycled in any subsequent season.

[Platrium]

I can only remember the recent season ones, and a few of the older seasons. (So I'll be naming everything for TAR22 and TAR23 only.)

The night legs!
TAR14's penultimate leg

TAR22:
-Bora Bora 2 (2 teams were 2 hours behind all the others and both teams managed to catch up, beautiful place. )
-Botswana 2 (A team who got to the detour 1st finished it last, the detour location was cool.)
-German night leg (From detour, to roadblock, and NEL, plus nighttime. )

TAR23:
-Norwegian night leg (daylight at night time , "TBC", EP drama, Exes' placement. )
-Gdansk, Poland (detour locations , roadblock itself , Oklahoma's polka drama , new w-turn board.)
-UAE (1: Exes' dates drama, Bunnies' missing the boat by a few seconds, nice city. 2: personal w-turn drama, sandy leg , water adventure + roadblock, pit stop.)
Indo 1 (Angklung roadblock!!! Plus ER Doc's epic breakdown.)
Japan (location, retro pit stop, roadblock, placements, game show detour, Exes got booed by audience after Tim said "She broke my heart!" , Afghans blowing their lead, okay speedbump)

Imho, I think Japan and Bora Bora are nice places to visit. TAR having legs in those places just makes things better.

[SamualDude]

I've got to say the final leg of TAR 7.

What a nerve racking leg.

Could Uchenna and Joyce come back? They manage to catch up to Rob and Amber & Ron and Kelly.
Could Uchenna and Joyce get on the flight? They manage to get on the flight
Could Uchenna and Joyce get the money they need to do so to beat Rob and Amber? They do and go on to win.

A simply amazing final leg. I honestly think it was the greatest comeback between legs in Amazing Race History.

[nosyrabbit]

All Stars Leg 6-7 for me.

[Hooky]

I've got to say the final leg of TAR 7.

What a nerve racking leg.

Could Uchenna and Joyce come back? They manage to catch up to Rob and Amber & Ron and Kelly.
Could Uchenna and Joyce get on the flight? They manage to get on the flight
Could Uchenna and Joyce get the money they need to do so to beat Rob and Amber? They do and go on to win.

A simply amazing final leg. I honestly think it was the greatest comeback between legs in Amazing Race History.

Definitely agree with you on that one!

[redskevin88]

I know you guys hate it because according to most of you guys the "wrong team" won, but Season 21's finale in New York City was quite good, and the France leg that preceded it really showcased the French countryside (well compared to the legs of Season 16).

Last season's Poland leg and the Indonesian leg was also quite good.

[David]

Personally, I think that the second to last leg has to be a grueling task, to show who deserves to be in the finals. I think TAR 5 in Phillipines was great, just that I hated the outcome of one of the best F/F teams ever.

[Keepcopz]

I really like Tanzania I in TAR20, the task was suck, but the drama and team interaction in that episode was so EPIC. 

For TOP3 I can recall right now,

3rd - France, TAR12
I love the night driving since it look super hard and a lot of team struggled with it. The RB and Detour was pretty cool too. If this turned out to be elimination leg and took out the FF, it would be more fun. Anyway, this leg is very good.

2rd - Bora Bora I and Berlin, TAR22
Both was my favorite from Post UB, Bora Bora I was the most ENTERTAINING premier episode of the entire series! The drama, RB with the double EP twist just lead to the perfection of this leg. Then, Berlin! Night leg with so much fun task especially that lunatic room! It had a everything good leg should have: self-navigation, RI that not pointless, creative detour, crazy RB and drama! If only this was EL... It would be 1st...

1st - Russia II, TAR13
Really AMAZING task, everything was so perfect: clever RB, creative and hard Detour and unpredictable result with drama. It was my all time favorite.

[redskevin88]

3rd - France, TAR12
I love the night driving since it look super hard and a lot of team struggled with it. The RB and Detour was pretty cool too. If this turned out to be elimination leg and took out the FF, it would be more fun. Anyway, this leg is very good.

They didn't visit France in TAR12, I think you are talking about the Italy leg.

[TARP_Lover]

I would say The Amazing Race 14 Leg 1.

The cheese task is classic lol

[David]

3rd - France, TAR12
I love the night driving since it look super hard and a lot of team struggled with it. The RB and Detour was pretty cool too. If this turned out to be elimination leg and took out the FF, it would be more fun. Anyway, this leg is very good.

They didn't visit France in TAR12, I think you are talking about the Italy leg.

Or TAR4?

[Keepcopz]

3rd - France, TAR12
I love the night driving since it look super hard and a lot of team struggled with it. The RB and Detour was pretty cool too. If this turned out to be elimination leg and took out the FF, it would be more fun. Anyway, this leg is very good.

They didn't visit France in TAR12, I think you are talking about the Italy leg.

Yep, I mean Vinci, Italy. Sorry, my bad.

[redwings8831]

TAR 2, the leg that started in Hong Kong and ended in Sydney has always been one of my favorites. So many classic elements, including a classic shopping expedition and a fantastic roadblock that really hasn't been recycled in any subsequent season.

this

[Norwegian Boy]

It's hard for me to choose a favorite leg, but I think my favorite is Leg 8 of Season 6. The exciting and dramatic detour, the fabulous destination of Ethiopia, the teams yelling at each other and Johnathan's comment when Victoria cut herself, and Kendra's response to his behaviour. "I don't know what is wrong with her!" All that made it a great leg! The Roadblock was kind of boring, but the excitement is just so fantastic that I love this leg.

MY FAVORITE AMAZING RACE LEG!

[georgiapeach]

to RFF, Norwegian Boy!!

[RachelLeVega]

I'd have to say Legs 1-4 of TAR11 are my all-time favorite Legs. WRP brought out the best of the all-star teams including navigation troubles, task troubles, and team interactions. South America also featured the best of the South American west had to offer including Cotopaxi National Park ( to visit Ecuador some day), the deserted mining and valley areas of Chile, Bariloche, and who could forget the infamous Leg at "the end of the world", Ushuaia?

For very honorable mentions, TAR12 had some incredible Legs. My favorite would be Leg 6 in Split, Croatia despite the disappointing elimination. I never knew a country in the former Yugoslavia could feature so many different modes of transportation (taxi, on foot, zip-line, boat) in one Leg. Plus, the taxi drama Nathan & Jennifer got into was exciting. Donkey karma!

From the pioneer seasons, my favorite episode would be Leg 2 of TAR2 in RDJ and Iguaçu Nat. Park, Brazil. I found the Detour between paragliding and metal detecting quite interesting. It featured the mountains and beaches of Rio beautifully. Iguaçu Falls is one of the places I dream to travel to. Like Peggy, "Seeing those falls [will be] really worth it!" As much as I enjoyed the originality of the Leg in Sydney, Australia... Brazil still tops it by a centimeter for me.

As for the HD seasons, my favorite would be Leg 10 of TAR23. After three seasons of unforgivable visits to Indonesia, I found myself loving the Javanese forests this time around. All the tasks in this Leg required a strong sense of mental toughness including mind over matter, patience, and detail. Marie not knowing how to hard-boil eggs and still succeeding on the first try still stuns me. Also, I adored how Amy never freaked out over eating a piece of cobra and just ate it like beef jerky.

[TheWorldIsWaiting24]

It might not have had a lot of inter-team drama, but TAR20 Leg 9 was one of the most heartwrenching episodes I've ever seen. This was the one in India where Mark tried dozens upon dozens of times to do the Bollywood dance challenge, but even after basically getting heat stroke, he still pressed on, and Bopper was the most encouraging and amazing friend that whole time. And of course, their expressions when they realized that it was a NE.

By the way, I'm new here and this is my first ever post!  I love TAR and can't wait to talk about it with everyone!

[Platrium]

  and to RFF, TheWorldIsWaiting24!

[Boring Dude]

Although I feel many people are not liking the current season as much, I feel that episodes 4-7 of season 24 (especially leg 6) have been some of the best HD era episodes.