The Amazing Race: Season 22: Expressly twice.
This season was, for many, a bit of a mixed bag. But I'll get into that at the end. The one change that needs to be mentioned is that the team who wins first place in the first leg gets two Express Passes: one they keep, the other they have to give away before the end of the fifth leg.
This season was filmed between mid-November to early December 2012.
The Cast
Dave and Conner: Father and son cancer survivors. Honestly, they are an ok team.
Joey and Meghan: YouTube hosts. These two are extremely annoying.
Bates and Anthony: Hockey brothers. Goofiest team this season.
Caroline and Jennifer: Friends and Country singers. Caroline is a direct descendant of Daniel Boone and Jennifer is John Wayne's granddaughter.
Max and Katie: Newlyweds. Good people if a little over bearing, even for a villain team.
Jessica and John: Dating. John is a little too overconfident, which nearly costs them the race.
Chuck and Wynona: Married couple. They are alright.
Pam and Winnie: Best Friends. Smart people and funny.
Idries and Jamil: Twin doctors. Make too many mistakes on the show.
Mona and Beth: Roller Derby moms. They are athletic enough for the show.
Matt and Daniel: Firefighters. Another team competing for their families.
The Race
Leg #1: "Business in front, party in back."
Original Air Date: February 17, 2013.
Starting at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, teams get $200 and instructions (via a recorded message in their Ford Fusions) to fly to Bora-Bora, French Polynesia. On arrival, teams are immediately confronted by a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to sign up for one of six helicopter flights, each with enough room for two racers. Once they get to 10,000 ft they will tandem skydive with an instructor, back to their partner on the ground in Anau.
Teams then make their way to Eden Beach, where they find a second Roadblock. In this Roadblock, the team member who didn't do the first Roadblock has to dig through 400 sandcastles for their next clue. If the sandcastle doesn't have a clue they have to rebuild the sandcastle. Then teams have to build an outrigger canoe and paddle to the Pit Stop: Motu Cafe.
1. Jessica and John 9:52 A.M. Won two Express Passes.
2. Dave and Connor 9:58 A.M.
3. Bates and Anthony 10:04 A.M.
4. Caroline and Jennifer 10:22 A.M.
5. Pam and Winnie 10:43 A.M.
6. Mona and Beth 11:11 A.M.
7. Joey and Meghan 11:34 A.M.
8. Chuck and Wynona 12:00 P.M.
9. Max and Katie 12:15 P.M.
10. Idries and Jamil 12:36 P.M.
11. Matt and Daniel 1:01 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #2: "Just between us."
Original Air Date: February 24, 2013.
Getting $150, teams are told to search the immediate area for a Polynesian priest who will bless them then give them their next clue. Teams then go to Povaie Bay for the Detour: Pick a Pearl or Take a Trunk. In both Detour options, team have to take a snorkel and mask. In Pick a Pearl, teams have to go to a point a half mile off shore and dive to get at a line of pearl oysters. Then they have to shuck them until they find two red pearls. In Take a Table, teams have to wear diving helmets, dive underwater and then take a trunk and unpack a table and set it up at an underwater umbrella.
Teams then got back to shore, gat a personal water craft and get to Motu Tapu. This is where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to use a pair of stilts to walk down the beach while kicking a coconut for 35 yards. If they fell off they have to go to the starting line again. Then teams can walk to the nearby Pit Stop.
1. Dave and Connor 10:15 A.M. Won a trip for two to London.
2. Bates and Anthony 10:35 A.M.
3. Meghan and Joey 11:01 A.M.
4. Caroline and Jennifer 11:13 A.M.
5. Mona and Beth 11:33 A.M.
6. Jessica and John 11:34 A.M.
7. Chuck and Wynona 11:45 A.M.
8. Pam and Winnie 12:03 P.M.
9. Max and Katie 12:16 P.M.
10. Idries and Jamal 12:43 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #3: "James Bond all over again!"
Original Air Date: March 3, 2013.
Getting $190, teams have to fly to Christchurch, New Zealand (which looks great. Of course, this was filmed before the earthquake that effected the area happened). Once there, teams have to pick a Ford Focus and drive to Rakaia River Gorge and spend the night there. The next morning teams have to cross the river and get the Detour: Rev It Up or Reel It In. In both Detour options, teams have to get there by ATV. In Rev It Up, teams have to drive a modified vintage car through a set of cones under 83 seconds, combined. In Reel It In, teams have to use a rod and reel to fish for a 12 inch long fish. For this one, if one team member catches the fish the task is complete.
Teams then go to Mount Hutt Station, where the Roadblock is. In this Roadblock, one team member has to complete an obstacle course known as a Shemozzle. The team member has to dress in gum boots, a pair of stubbies shorts and a burlap sack, then with a farmer and a sheep dog, run the course where they are cover in molasses and feathers, climb over hay bales then rode an inner tube into a pile of manure all while collecting chicken eggs. If they put 12 unbroken chicken eggs into the basket at the end of the course they get the clue to the Pit Stop: Terrance Downs, where they are told to keep going.
1. Jessica and John 10:43 A.M. Won a trip for two to Bangkok.
2. Dave and Connor 10:49 A.M.
3. Pam and Winnie 11:02 A.M.
4. Bates and Anthony 11:10 A.M.
5. Caroline and Jennifer 11:35 A.M.
6. Joey and Meghan 11:56 A.M.
7. Mona and Beth 12:05 P.M.
8. Max and Katie 12:34 P.M.
9. Chuck and Wynona 12:58 P.M.
Leg #4: "I love monkeys!"
Original Air Date: March 10, 2013.
Getting $200, teams have to fly to Bali, Indonesia. On arrival, teams, after a brief unaired stop at Kenanga Terracotta Restaurant, teams go to Ubud Monkey Forest. Here teams put a coconut where a monkey can get to it and they open it to get teams the Detour: Sandy Bottom or Fruity Top. In Sandy Bottom, teams have to dredge the bottom of the Ayung River for volcanic sand and then drag it 200 yards up hill to fill a container to a certain line. In Fruity Top, teams have to dress in sarongs and then prepare an offering called a gebogan carry it in a procession to the Pura Desa Puseh Temple in Batuan and put it on the altar.
Teams then go to Uluwatu Beach and find Ketut's Surf Shop. There they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to search through the surf boards for one with an image of a Tahitian priest on it. Then they find their partners and head to the Pit Stop: Pura Luhur Uluwatu Cliff. If they're right, they can check in.
1. Pam and Winnie 3:03 P.M. Won $5,000 each.
2. Dave and Connor 3:15 P.M.
3. Caroline and Jennifer 3:45 P.M.
4. Max and Katie 4:02 P.M.
5. Mona and Beth 4:16 P.M.
6. Joey and Meghan 4:34 P.M.
7. Bates and Anthony 5:01 P.M.
8. Jessica and John 5:13 P.M
9. Chuck and Wynona 5:44 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #5: "That's a pretty cool tan."
Original Air Date: March 17, 2013.
Getting $250, teams fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. Once there, teams have to make their way to the Rap Cong nhan Theatre Gallery 42, where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to watch a performance of a patriotic Vietnamese song and at the end memorize a phrase that translates to Glory to our young generation in English. Then they have to search outside the theatre for the right propaganda poster with that phrase on it, amongst several wrong ones, without taking notes, in five minutes. If they are wrong, or run out of time, they have to sit through the performance again. Teams then go to Cong vien Thong Nhat and participate in a traditional bamboo dance called mua sap to get the Detour: Make You Move or Make Your Meal.
In Make Your Move, teams have to get to the Temple of Literature and put human Chinese chess pieces, with matching symbols on them, into place according to a nearby diagram. In Make Your Meal, teams have to pick up the ingredients for pho and then take them to Ngoc Son Temple and prepare two bowls of it. Teams then go to a Vietnam War Memorial: a downed American B-52 for the U-Turn. The memorial caused a minor bit of controversy, along with the song that was performed for the Roadblock, among conservative groups as well as various veteran's groups, which the show did apologize for. Anyways, no one U-Turns anybody and teams go to the Pit Stop: The National Museum of Vietnamese History.
1. Pam and Winnie 10:15 A.M. Won a trip for two to Whistler, B.C.
2. Dave and Connor 10:34 A.M.
3. Jessica and John 11:01 A.M.
4. Caroline and Jennifer 11:03 A.M.
5. Bates and Anthony 11:19 A.M.
6. Max and Katie 11:45 A.M.
7. Joey and Meghan 12:12 P.M.
8. Mona and Beth 12:23 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #6: "The scorpion master!"
Original Air Date: March 24, 2013.
Receiving $210, teams go to the Hair of the Dog Bar for an unaired task involving dancing. No idea of the specifics. Teams then fly to Maun, Botswana where they have to sign up for a charter flight to the Xhumaga Airstrip in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Once there they have to pick a Bushman who will accompany them for the rest of the leg. Teams then go to one part of Old Xhumaga Road where they run into the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to follow a Bushman to a hole where they are taught how to dig up a scorpion and place it safely in a jar.
Teams then have to go to another part of the Road with their Bushman where they run into the Detour: Fire or Fowl. In Fire, teams have to create a fire using two sticks, some zebra manure and grass. In Fowl, teams have to set up a trap for a guinea fowl and, once it's properly set, imitate the call of the guinea fowl to catch one. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: Meno A Kwena Safari Camp.
1. Jessica and John 1:21 P.M. Won a trip for two to Phuket, Thailand.
2. Bates and Anthony 1:23 P.M.
3. Dave and Connor 1:43 P.M.
4. Pam and Winnie 2:13 P.M.
5. Caroline and Jennifer 2:27 P.M.
6. Joey and Meghan 2:56 P.M.
7. Max and Katie 3:07 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.
Leg #7: "Please don't hit anything."
Original Air Date: March 31, 2013.
Getting $250, teams travel to Makoro Poling Station in Boro Village. Here Max and Katie get their Speedbump. In this Speedbump, Max and Katie have to complete a traditional beaded skirt and wear it during a ceremonial seduction dance. The Fast Forward is here too. In this Fast Forward, teams have to water ski for over a mile in the Okavango Delta through crocodile infested waters. Bates and Anthony get it. Teams also did the Roadblock here. In this Roadblock, one team member had to punt their teammate and two goats to a delivery point down river and then return to the start once the goats were dropped off.
Teams then head to, and cross using "Safari Taxis", the Thamalakane River to the Royal Tree Lodge Game Preserve where they find the Detour: Brains or Brawn. In Brains, teams have to go on a horseback safari and spot ten wooden cutouts of animals: zebra, African buffalo, kudu, giraffe, meerkat, boomslang snake, leopard, warthog, ostrich and hippopotamus with a heron. Then they have to get to a nearby campsite where they have to arrange a set of tiles in the order that they saw the animals (with many animals they didn't see, no tile for the hippopotamus but one for the heron). If they don't arrange the tiles in the right order they have to do it all over again. In Brawn, teams have to fill a traditional sand sledge with fire wood, then use a carrot to lure the donkey pulling it to a camp 1/2 a mile away. Then teams have to search the Preserve for the Pit Stop.
1. Bates and Anthony 10:10 A.M. Won $7,500 each.
2. Dave and Conner 12:36 P.M.
3. Caroline and Jennifer 12:54 P.M.
4. Jessica and John 1:06 P.M.
5. Pam and Winnie 1:22 P.M.
6. Joey and Meghan 1:43 P.M.
7. Max and Katie 2:13 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #8: "My cheese is out of control."
Original Air Date: April 14, 2013.
Receiving $270, teams fly to Zurich, Switzerland. Once there, teams have to search the airport of a conductor in a red hat. He gives them the clue to go to Grindelwald by train and wait at the Kirche Grindelwald for a shepherd. The clue he gives them tells them to get to Kleine Scheidegg by train and go to the Hotel Bellesvue des Alpes and get a rescue dog. They must take the dog by train (I know a lot of train travel in this one) to Jungfraujoch and give it to a handler. Then they must search the Sphinx Observatory for the next clue.
Teams then head by train to the Eiger Mountain and head up it to get to the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to put on a safety harness climb out onto the ledge on the north face of the mountain and pick up a Travelocity Roaming Gnome and bring it back in. No Detour this leg. Teams then head to Grund where they cross a bridge and listen to an Alpine horn to get to perform a Switchback task. In this Switchback, teams have to bring four 50 pound wheels of cheese from the top to the bottom of a hill using the provided sleds. They may not roll the cheese at any time. Teams then head to the Pit Stop: Bodmi Snowboard and Ski School.
1. Bates and Anthony 2:01 P.M. Won a trip for two to Bora-Bora.
2. Pam and Winnie 2:15 P.M.
3. Dave and Connor 2:16 P.M.
4. Jessica and John 3:24 P.M.
5. Caroline and Jennifer 3:49 P.M.
6. Joey and Meghan 4:59 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #9: "This is crazy, man."
Original Air Date: April 21, 2013.
On getting $200, teams have to go by train from Interlaken to Basel, Switzerland then fly to Dresden, Germany. On arrival, teams have to go to the Saxony Ministry of Finance and pick up a 2013 Ford Fusion. Their next clue comes in the form of three questions: 1. Who said "Tear down this wall?" 2. Who did he say it to? and 3. Where did he say it? The answers are: Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Brandenburg Gate. At the Gate, teams are told to go to Park Inn Berlin, where they BASE jump from its roof. Then teams get the Detour: Train Trials or Font Follies.
In Train Trials, teams go to the Deutsches Technikmuseum and put together a model train track using all the pieces to complete the circuit. After the train completes a circuit without falling apart, derailing or hitting the scenery, they get the next clue. In Font Follies, teams have to go to Alexanderplatz, pick up two large neon letters and deliver them, on foot, to the Bundestabenmuseum, without damaging them. Then teams go to the Salon Zur Wilden Renate for the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to answer the question "who said 'Ich bin ein Berliner'?" and then enter an indoor labyrinth beneath the night club and look for their clue. Teams then go to the Pit Stop: Joachimsthaler Platz.
1. Pam and Winnie 3:12 P.M. Won a 2013 Ford Fusion each.
2. Jessica and John 3:45 P.M.
3. Caroline and Jennifer 4:03 P.M.
4. Dave and Connor 4:36 P.M.
5. Bates and Anthony 5:13 P.M. NOT ELIMINATED/SPEEDBUMPED.
Leg #10: "Working our barrels off."
Original Air Date: April 28, 2013.
Getting $120, teams have to fly to Edinburgh, Scotland. Once there, teams have to pick up a Ford Fiesta and drive to Gosford House, where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to dress in the uniform of the Royal Scots Regiment and learn how to play a drone on the bagpipes. Then they have to hold the drone for two minutes while walking around Gosford House's Marble Hall. Teams then have to head to Craigmiller Castle where Bates and Anthony hit their Speedbump.
In this Speedbump, Bates and Anthony have to play a British version of 10 pin bowling called skittles. Once they both hit a strike, they can search the Castle fireplaces with the other teams for the Detour: Tasty Puddin' or Whisky Rollin'. In Tasty Puddin', teams have to go to the Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston and make four portions of haggis, while a Robert Burns impersonator recites Address to a Haggis to them. After they eat a bit of haggis, they get the next clue. In Whisky Rollin', teams have to roll eight barrels of whisky up a slope to a party. Teams then head to Duddingston Kirk where the Double U-Turn is. Bates and Anthony U-Turn Jessica and John. No one U-Turns anyone else. Then teams head to the Pit Stop: Niddry Street South.
1. Pam and Winnie 3:14 P.M. Won $10,000 each.
2. Dave and Connor 3:56 P.M.
3. Bates and Anthony 4:39 P.M.
4. Caroline and Jennifer 4:44 P.M.
5. Jessica and John 5:03 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #11: "Beacon of Hope." Part I
Original Air Date: May 5, 2013.
Receiving $150, teams go by train and ferry to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Once there they have to go to Peatlands Park where they find the Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member has to go Bog Snorkeling. After putting on full snorkel gear, have to swim through a bog for a 100 yard lap in under four minutes. Teams then have to find the "Thing with the Ring" and have to figure out it's the Beacon of Hope. There teams find the Detour: Tray it or Spray It.
In Tray It, teams have to go to the dry-dock in the Titanic Quarter and prepare and serve a five course meal, using a period menu and a seating chart (though the seats themselves are unmarked in practice). In Spray It, teams go to the T13 Skatepark and, using a photo, complete a graffiti painting. Then teams head to the Pit Stop: Ulster Hall.
1. Bates and Anthony 2:22 P.M. Won a trip for two to the Dominican Republic
2. Dave and Connor 3:10 P.M.
3. Pam and Winnie 3:31 P.M
4. Caroline and Jennifer 4:02 P.M. ELIMINATED.
Leg #12: "Beacon of Hope." Part II
Original Air Date: May 5, 2013.
Getting $200, teams go by ferry to Liverpool, England. Then they travel by train to London's Euston Station. Teams then have to go to the Euston Tap, where they drink a pint before going to their final destination city: Washington D.C. On arrival, teams have to go to the place where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech: the Lincoln Memorial. There they find a man standing where Dr. King stood who will give them their next clue. Teams now have to go to 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue where a "Secret Service agent" will take them to get a picture taken with President Huntsman. In reality, their photo is superimposed onto someone meeting with President Huntsman. Teams then have to go to the Tidal Basin, where they have to search for limo and knock on the rear window three times to get a briefcase and their next clue. It's the Roadblock.
In this Roadblock, one team member has to search the surrounding area for one of 50 spies who will use a code phrase in response to their code phrase (Pam and Winnie: "Where can I get a Half-smoke with chili?"/"I know a great place on U Street."; Bates and Anthony: "I did not dress warm enough for this weather."/"Perhaps you would like to borrow my gloves."; Dave and Connor: "The cherry blossoms are beautiful in April."/"I'll bring my mother next spring."). Once they do that, teams have to open the briefcase with the numbers of their positions in the third, fourth and fifth legs. Teams then have to go to Nationals Park. Here, in what I think was half a Detour that was never fully aired, one team member has to ride a zipline while throwing a baseball to their partner on the ground who has to catch it while wearing one of the mascot costumes of the team. Teams then go to Hains Point, where they search a ball pit for the globes with names of the countries they went to on them. Only one member of each team can go in at a time. Once they put them in order they can go to the finish line: Mount Vernon.
1. Dave and Connor WIN
2. Pam and Winnie PLACE
3. Bates and Anthony SHOW.
The Review
This season was only notable for Joey and Meghan and maybe Caroline and Jennifer. The tasks were average, the course, while great to look at, was places the show has done before. It's my number 23 season. Still the show did see a small uptick in the ratings, especially in Canada. Speaking of, from now on we will be alternating between the Canadian version of the show and the American version. Starting next week. See you then.
-Globetrotting: An Amazing Race Blog for the website Reality Rewind, January 30, 2017.