Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 1, "Double the stakes, double the eliminations"
Film date: 2024-05-18 - 2024-05-20
We are all very happy that the race is back. The first episode starts with a montage of Phil hyping the season. Then we get transported to the starting line at the Academy museum of motion pictures in Los Angeles.
The teams are:
- Bernie & Carrigain - friends
- Brett & Mark - married Vegas performers
- Han & Holden - siblings
- Nick & Mike - brothers, have been applying for 7 years
- Carson & Jack - best friends/gamers and Dungeon & Dragons streamers
- Pops & Jeff - father/son lumberjacks
- Scott & Lori - married parents of eight
- Jonathan & Ana - married
- Courtney & Jasmin - dating nurses
- Melinda & Erika - mother/daughter
- Ernest & Bridget - father/daughter
- Alyssa & Josiah - married nurses
- Jackye & Lauren - sisters
- Mark & Larry - retired firefighters
Phil tells them that during the first leg they will encounter the first ever Fork in the Road, and that there will be two eliminations. And then they are off. They have to run down the stairs to find their bags with the first clue on top of them at the entrance.
This clue tells them to fly to Hong Kong. When they land they must race to the Tian Tan Buddha to find their next clue. There are cars parked around the corner which they can use to drive themselves to the airport (15km).
There are two flights to Hong Kong an hour apart. Both are operated by Cathay Pacific so it is the same check-in line.
The first flight is:
CX883 LAX-HKG 23:33 - 05:30 (+2) (scheduled 23:30-05:45+2)
This carries:
Jonathan & Ana
Carson & Jack
Melinda & Erika
Courtney & Jasmin
The second flight is:
CX881 LAX-HKG 00:16 - 06:17 (+1) (scheduled 00:30-06:45+1)
This carries:
Han & Holden
Ernest & Bridget
Brett & Mark
Nick & Mike
Scott & Lori
Bernie & Carrigain
Alyssa & Josiah
Jackye & Lauren
Mark & Larry
Pops & Jeff
We get signs on the screen that the first flight arrived late at 06:03 but given the different clocks shown I would guess it was rather 07:03 which seems as a reasonable time for them to exist customs after having landed at 05:30. The same sign says that the second flight landed at 06:34 (I assume they mean 07:34) so those teams are about 30 minutes behind.
Teams get out of the airport and into taxis for the trip to the Tian Tan Buddha (28km). Once at the Buddha they must ascend the stairs towards the Buddha. The clue box is located approximately 2/3 of the way up (~200 steps). Teams reach it in the following order:
1. Carson & Jack
2. Jonathan & Ana
3. Melinda & Erika
4. Courtney & Jasmin
5. Brett & Mark
6. Bernie & Carrigain
7. Alyssa & Josiah
8. Scott & Lori
9. Han & Holden
10. Nick & Mike
11. Ernest & Bridget
12. Pops & Jeff
13. Mark & Larry
14. Jackye & Lauren
Route info: Take the Sun ferry to Cheung Chau island and search for your next clue along the promenade.
On their way to the ferry Jonathan & Ana borrow their driver's phone and see that there is a ferry which leaves in 28 minutes at 09:00 and the next one leaves at 09:45. Their driver says it may take 25 minutes to get to the ferry terminal from where they currently are o they hope they will make it.
Jackye had a nasty accident in some stairs earlier in her life so she is a bit nervous and subsequently they are falling behind at the Buddha statue.
"My sister doesn't do well with stairs", Lauren,
Ferry #1 departs at 09:00 and carries:
Jonathan & Ana (they bought their tickets at 08:58)
Ferry #2 departs at 09:45 and it carries:
Carson & Jack (arrived to the terminal at 09:04)
Melinda & Erika
Courtney & Jasmin
Han & Holden
Ernest & Bridget
Brett & Mark
Nick & Mike
Scott & Lori
Bernie & Carrigain
Alyssa & Josiah
Mark & Larry
Pops & Jeff
Ferry #3 departs at 10:15 and it carries:
Jackye & Lauren (missed #2 with a couple of minutes)
While on the ferry we get a short segment where Jonathan & Ana talk about how they have had ups and downs in their relationship, but found common ground over the race.
The teams from the second flight are very happy that they catch up to most of the teams from the first flight at the ferry.
Jonathan & Ana are very happy they made the first ferry which left 45 minutes before the next. But it turns out they are on a regular ferry and the 09:45 is a fast ferry which is 20 minutes faster. So their lead when they arrive is only 25 minutes. But poor Jackye & Lauren arrive 50 minutes after ferry #2.
Nobody seems to have any issues finding the next clue box which is just beyond the ferry terminal.
Road block: Who's ready for some ups and downs?
In this road block contestants must climb up a bamboo tower and grab their next clue at the top. The task takes place at the Pak Tai temple football court which is about 400m away. There are 8 safety lines available and as usual the principle of first come first served is applied.
This task is made harder by the fact that it has started to rain so the bamboo is getting slippery.
"I do this for a living", Brett, who subsequently flies up the bamboo tower
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
| 1. | Jonathan & Ana* | (0-1) | Left before the other teams arrived |
| 2. | Brett* & Mark | (1-0) | |
| 3. | Bernie* & Carrigain | (1-0) | |
| 4. | Alyssa & Josiah* | (0-1) | |
| 5. | Han* & Holden | (1-0) | |
| 6. | Scott & Lori* | (0-1) | |
| 7. | Carson* & Jack | (1-0) | |
| 8. | Nick & Mike* | (0-1) | |
| 9. | Ernest & Bridget* | (0-1) | |
| 10. | Melinda & Erika* | (0-1) | |
| 11. | Courtney & Jasmin* | (0-1) | |
| 12. | Pops* & Jeff | (1-0) | Seems to only use his arms to climb up the tower |
| 13. | Mark* & Larry | (1-0) | |
| 14. | Jackye & Lauren* | (0-1) | |
Route info: Travel to Lok Kwan street park to find your next clue. Warning, Fork in the Road ahead!
Teams must start by taking the ferry back to central Hong Kong. Jonathan & Ana get to the ferry terminal at 10:12 and find out that the next ferry leaves at 10:45. From this we can conclude that it took them under 20 minutes to find the clue box and perform the road block. And when they realize they have to wait they go away to get information about their next destination.
All teams but Jackye & Lauren make the 10:45 fast ferry. As Jackye & Lauren got to the island around 11:10 I do not think they made the 11:15 ferry back and we see that they are on a regular ferry so they can not be on the 11:45 fast ferry. Therefore they are probably on the 12:15 ferry which means that they will land in central Hong Kong almost 2 hours behind the other teams.
Back in central Hong Kong teams jump into taxis and make their way to the Lok Kwan street park (8km). The only ones struggling here are Courtney & Jasmin. It seems they say the name of the park instead of showing the driver the additional information where the name is written out in Chinese letters. Once they realize that they need to show this to the driver they get a taxi.
In the park teams encounter the Fork in the Road. Basically they have to choose which path to follow (dance or sing). The paths will be separate until the Pit Stop and the first team on each path will win a price while the last team on each path will be eliminated.
Teams reach the fork in the following order:
1. Nick & Mike, select dance
2. Carson & Jack, select dance
3. Alyssa & Josiah, select sing
4. Ernest & Bridget, select dance
5. Bernie & Carrigain, select dance
6. Han & Holden, select sing
7. Mark & Larry, select dance
8. Jonathan & Ana, select sing
9. Brett & Mark, select dance
10. Melinda & Erika, select sing
11. Pops & Jeff, select sing
12. Scott & Lori, select sing
13. Courtney & Jasmin, select dance
14. Jackye & Lauren, select sing
"The Fork in the Road changed everything. Double the stakes, double the eliminations.", Mike gets the title
In dance teams must learn the steps of an ancient lion dance. Then properly perform the dance to earn their next clue. This takes place at Jao Tsung-I Academy (5km). The judges here are fairly strict, it is not enough to do the right moves. They need to have the correct timing and be in sync with each other.
In sing teams will have to perform a short sequence of Cantonese opera. They must sing, in Cantonese, and perform correctly. this takes place at the Tea House Theater (5km). Teams will first be made up and they also have to dress up before they start learning the play. The text they have to sing is:
MALE: DUEN GOR CHUNG
FEMALE: SING YIN SAAN,
DUNG TING CHI HAU
WU GWONG GAAM
MALE: TIU SOI JUU NAAAN
These lyrics are also shown to the contestants at the performance stage so it is perhaps not surprising that it is the performing part which is the hardest.
Ana wanted to dance as she is a dancer but they see that five teams have already chosen that side and only 2 are doing sing. As they know they can not be last on either side they select sing where they are not as much behind.
When Courtney & Jasmin arrive to the board there is one spot left on each side. They look at the other teams and what they have chosen and try to figure out which side contains the most teams they can beat.
On both sides the judges will actually say what the teams did wrong, which helps a lot.
Teams complete the dancing in the following order:
1(+1) Carson & Jack, on their 3rd attempt
2(+4) Brett & Mark, on their 3rd attempt
3(+1) Bernie & Carrigain
4(-1) Ernest & Bridget
5(-4) Nick & Mike, on their 7th attempt
6(+1) Courtney & Jasmin, on their 2nd attempt
7(-2) Mark & Larry, on their 4th attempt
Teams complete the sing in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, on their 4th attempt
2(+1) Jonathan & Ana, on their 3rd attempt
3(+2) Pops & Jeff, on their 2 attempt
4(-2) Han & Holden
5(+1) Scott & Lori, on their 6th attempt
6(-2) Melinda & Erika, on their 5th attempt
7(+0) Jackye & Lauren, after a lot of attempts
The next clue tells teams to make their way to the pit stop on the West Kowloon cultural district art park terrace. Here they will find two mats, one with a pair of lion dancers as greeters and one with an opera singer. Teams are also told to keep part of their costume, pants from the dance and the headdress from the opera, so it is easy to see which mat they are supposed to go to.
Everybody jumps into a taxi except Melinda & Erika who ask a local and he shows them which way to go. It is actually rather close so this is not as bad an idea as it seems.
Teams reach the pit stops in the following order:
| Dance | Sing | Team | |
| 1(+0) | | Carson & Jack | Win $3,000 |
| 2(+0) | | Brett & Mark | |
| 3(+1) | | Ernest & Bridget | |
| 4(-1) | | Bernie & Carrigain | |
| 1(+0) | Alyssa & Josiah | Win $3,000 |
| 5(+0) | | Nick & Mike | |
| 6(+0) | | Courtney & Jasmin | |
| 7(+0) | | Mark & Larry | Are eliminated |
| 2(+0) | Jonathan & Ana | |
| 3(+2) | Scott & Lori | |
| 4(-1) | Pops & Jeff | |
| 5(-1) | Han & Holden | |
| 6(+0) | Melinda & Erika | Arrive just as the previous teams step off the mat |
| 7(+0) | Jackye & Lauren | Are eliminated |
An observation here is that with two mats active Phil can be a bit rushed. And we see that as Nick & Mike arrive to the dance mat Phil is actually busy talking to Alyssa & Josiah on the singing mat.
"It has been an absolute honor to be here", Lauren
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 8, "We are letting race brain win"
Film date: probably 2024-05-04
The last leg ended in the village of Elin Pelin, Bulgaria. This is also where teams are released for this leg of the race in the following order:
| Pos | Team | Time | Delta |
| 1. | Alyssa & Josiah | 07:34 | |
| 2. | Brett & Mark | 08:10 | +0:36 |
| 3. | Jonathan & Ana | 08:33 | +0:59 |
| 4. | Han & Holden | 09:47 | +2:13 |
| 5. | Melinda & Erika | 10:06 | +2:32 |
| 6. | Carson & Jack | 11:15 | +3:41 |
The first clue envelope contains two clues. One route info and a separate Express pass clue.
The route info tells teams to drive to Lake Ariana in Sofia to find their next clue.
To win the express pass teams must make their way to Fabrica 126 in Sofia where they must perform a task. The clue explicitly says that there is only one express pass but multiple teams can attempt to win it. Alyssa & Josiah go for the express pass and all other teams assume they did and as they have a sizable lead there is no point for the others to even try going for it. And looking at the episode this seems to be the correct conclusion. Unless Alyssa & Josiah get lost on the way there, and their navigation has been spot on so far, there is no way anybody else can get it before them.
Jonathan is pissed and comments that if their car hadn't been stuck in a ditch for an hour in the last leg they might have had a chance to go for this Express pass.
At the express pass location teams are greeted with a number of fires and a sign:
WALK BAREFOOT ON HOT COALS TO WITH THE EXPRESS PASS!
* There is a demonstration of how to walk on hot coals.
* Both of you must walk the entire length of hot coals, one at the time.
* If one or both fail. You may try again. However you must go to the end of any line that may have formed.
* The two minute rule applies to this event.
* There is a short safety briefing. Listen carefully to all instructions.
I find the mention of the two minute rule intriguing. I assume this means that once you get to the front of the line you have two minutes to start doing the actual task before you have to go to the end of the line.
Alyssa gets excited when she sees the sign while Josiah is less enthusiastic as he does not like hot things. The actual hot coal walking takes place inside the building. The difficulty with this task is purely mental. As long as you keep walking you will not get seriously hurt.
"It hurt, it was a lot longer than I though it was gonna be.", Alyssa
"[]I'm on the beach. I'm on the beach[/i]", Josiah
In the end Alyssa & Josiah do not hesitate so they get the Express pass, which turns out to be valid through leg 10. This whole Express pass detour probably cost them about 40 minutes.
"I'm gonna do way better at directions today", Erika
"Spirits were high but delusional", Jack as they know they are more than an hour behind the team in front of them
"You're not on my map anymore", Erika realize they are lost
Teams arrive to lake Irina (25km) in the following order:
1(+1) Brett & Mark
2(-1) Alyssa & Josiah
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Han & Holden
5(+0) Melinda & Erika
6(+0) Carson & Jack
Here teams must retrieve a golden cross thrown into a lake by a priest. This is normally a part of the Jordan Day festival. The task is simple, the depth is less then a meter and teams see where the priest throws the cross. The only snag is that the water is cold. There is a bunch of worshipers standing in a circle in the water and there is music (drums and bagpipes) and generally a boisterous atmosphere.
None of the teams eve see each other here so they complete the task in the same order they got here.
Route info: Make your way to the neighborhood of Russian Monument Square and open the doors of the marked Klek shop to receive your next clue.
The Klek shop is located in the basement of the building next to Boulevard "General Mihail D. Skobelev" 75. The shop is more like a kiosk so you do not enter it. But to find it you must open the doors which look more like a utility box. The doors are marked with a small sticker but there is also some red and yellow graffiti which reads AR37 (masked among some other unrelated tags).
The clue also says that teams can not take a taxi for the rest of the leg, they must travel on foot or by public transport. Brett & Mark decide to go on foot to the next location as they do not know which bus to take.
"You must travel by taxi for the rest of the leg", Erika misses a crucial NOT when reading the additional info
So all teams either travel by foot or public transport to the Klek shop, apart from Melinda & Erika who take a taxi. We can assume that they will get a time penalty at the end and we can also feel fairly certain that this will doom them.
"Maybe somebody else will make a bigger mistake than us?", Erika, refers to their navigation and does not even realize they just made an even bigger mistake by taking a taxi
Carson & Jack jump onto a bus, and there they randomly run into the wood-chopping judge form last leg. They ask him what a Klek shop is and he does his best to explain, but he does not speak that much English.
The Klek shop is surprisingly hard to find for most teams. Alyssa seems to be the only one spotting the graffiti. The other teams eventually spot the small race flag sticker. When Melinda & Erika run around looking for it we can see an open Klek shop next to number 77 but they do not make the connection.
Teams find the shop (2.5km) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark
2(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Han & Holden
5(+0) Melinda & Erika
6(+0) Carson & Jack
Route info: Make your way to Sofia University's St. Kliment Ohridski Central Library
This library is actually very close to lake Ariana so teams are making their way back.
Teams reach the library (2.5km) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark
2(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, just as #1 are leaving
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Han & Holden
5(+0) Melinda & Erika
6(+0) Carson & Jack
Route info: Use a cypher to translate a passage from Cyrillic to English
The Cypher is a round metal disc where one part holds the Cyrillic letters and this can be rotated. There is also a book open on a page with some text in Cyrillic on it. The trick is to turn the disc over and on the back there is a window where you can read English letters. To make this translation work the message must have been written in English but with Cyrillic letters.
Mark seems to be fairly quick to look at the back and there he spots the English characters. Alyssa & Josiah starts looking for a book which can help them, the problem with that plan is that they are in a library so there are lots of books around. Alyssa & Josiah struggle with this task. They are still there when Jonathan & Ana arrives. Jonathan seems to quickly find the back of the Cypher and then they are careful to not let Alyssa & Josiah see them turn their Cypher over. Once Jonathan & Ana have received their next clue they tell Alyssa & Josiah to flip it over. They see this as an investment and hope that Josiah & Alyssa might help them in the future.
Han & Holden are stumped. While they look dejectedly at their Cypher Melinda & Erika arrive, both teams decide to work together. But that does not really help because none of them have any idea.
When Carson & Jack arrive to the library Han & Holden and Melinda & Erika are still there and having no clue as to how to do the task. They boys are very happy to have caught up and the others are not.
It seems as if Jack fairly quickly looks at the back of the Cypher. Then they do their best to solve the puzzle without the other two teams seeing what they are doing. But Han is observant and see what they are doing. Then Melinda & Erika leave the room to try their solution, TZKONTZKOMMOTNKMMTZKO, which gets rejected. While Melinda & Erika are out Han & Holden turn to Carson & Jack and offer to work together. Once Han & Holden get approved the decide to wait for Carson & Jack to get it before they tell Melinda & Erika to turn their Cypher over. Carson & Jack are not impressed by their decision to tell Melinda & Erika as it is always good to have a buffer.
The translation is "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word". Teams get this in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark
2(+1) Jonathan & Ana
3(-1) Alyssa & Josiah
4(+0) Han & Holden
5(+1) Carson & Jack
6(-1) Melinda & Erika
Route info: Make your way to the museum of Socialist Art and search for the sculpture garden for your next clue.
Han & Holden work together with Carson & Jack to find the museum but they have trouble locating it. Eventually the boys stop to ask for directions but Han & Holden keep running.
"We're letting race brain win", Holden gets the quote
Teams arrive to the museum (4.4km) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark
2(+1) Alyssa & Josiah
3(-1) Jonathan & Ana
4(+1) Carson & Jack
5(-1) Han & Holden
6(+0) Melinda & Erika
Route info: Make your way to the Central Military Club to find your next clue.
Looking at a map it seems teams are very much just traveling back and forth between two areas. To get to the Central Military club teams can ride the metro back to the stop next to the library.
Teams arrive to the clue box at the Central Military Club (4.6) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark
2(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Carson & Jack
5(+0) Han & Holden
6(+0) Melinda & Erika
Road block: Who wants to step back in time?
In this road block contestants will learn to dance an old Bulgarian dance called to Horo. They will learn what Phil calls a complicated routine which they then have to perform together with a group of dancers. Before they can learn the dance they have to get into costume.
Mark feels confident going into this as he feel that this task plays at their strength. And he is right to be confident as he aces the dance.
Carson thinks the task is going to be military history so they select Jack to do it.
The last three teams are all at this task together.
Teams leave this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
| 1(+0) | Brett & Mark* | (4-5) | On his 1st attempt, and before any other team has arrived |
| 2(+0) | Alyssa & Josiah* | (4-5) | On his 3rd attempt |
| 3(+0) | Jonathan & Ana* | (4-5) | On her 3rd attempt |
| 4(+0) | Carson & Jack* | (3-5) | On his 2nd attempt |
| 5(+0) | Han* & Holden | (4-5) | On his 2nd attempt |
| 6(+0) | Melinda* & Erika | (4-5) | On her 1st attempt |
The next clue tells teams that they will find the pit stop by the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
The edit makes it look like it was a close race between Melinda & Erika and Han & Holden. And perhaps it was, they probably arrived from different directions so we do not see both teams in the same shot. But we hear Erika saying that she see Han & Holden. We do not know if she see them running to the mat, on the mat or walking away from the mat. All of this could be very exciting if we did not remember that Melinda & Erika has taken a taxi when they were supposed to walk so they must have a substantial penalty waiting for them.
Teams reach Phil and the mat (300m) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark, win $15,000
2(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana, just after #2
4(+0) Carson & Jack
5(+0) Han & Holden
6(+0) Melinda & Erika, are eliminated
At the mat Phil tells Melinda & Erika that they misread the clue and he has them reread the relevant note. As it turned out their mistake did not matter as they arrived last, but in interviews after the race we heard that they would have received a 30 minute penalty for each taxi trip they took. As they took four trips that would have meant a 2h penalty.
"We've loved it. Thank you. It's a gift.", Melinda to Phil