The More I Think About The Last Amazing Race Episode, The More Frustrated I Get

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I’m still frustrated after watching the latest Amazing Race episode four days ago – the more I think about it, the worse I feel! The leading team was eliminated during a surprisingly easy leg, including a very gentle last-place speed bump and a live double U-turn that didn’t seem to challenge anyone. While the remaining contestants celebrated, most fans online felt it wasn’t a fair outcome and definitely wasn’t a satisfying result.

Let’s talk about episode 9, “I’m Not A Big Fan Of Olives” – though honestly, “You’re Gonna Run Over A Turtle!” would have been a better title. Be warned: if you haven’t seen the episode yet, stop reading now, because I’m about to reveal spoilers.

Glad you’re still reading! Before I share my criticisms, I want to explain my general approach to the show. I don’t usually accept excuses or complain when strong teams are eliminated. While I dislike excessive collaboration or eliminations caused by external factors, I generally believe contestants should focus on completing the challenges and dealing with the situation at hand.

The latest episode had a major flaw in its design. The challenges felt unnecessarily unfair and were clearly stacked against the leading teams. It heavily favored the team that had performed the worst in the previous round, creating a chaotic and frustrating experience. While I wasn’t upset to see Tucker and Eric eliminated, I was disappointed they went home during a leg that was so poorly planned and biased.

Let’s rewind to the start so I can explain where I think the show’s producers made mistakes. In Episode 8, Joseph and Adam were the last to arrive at the mat, but they weren’t eliminated because it was a surprise non-elimination leg. This happens occasionally on the show, and I usually don’t mind it – it often creates dramatic and entertaining scenes. As expected, they were told they’d face a penalty in the next episode.

Okay, so Episode 9 kicked off with everyone flying to Athens. Once they landed, we saw all the teams make their way to Pnyka Hill to meet Phil Keoghan. But here’s the catch: they had to wait for everyone to arrive, and that completely wiped out the lead Tucker and Eric had worked so hard to build over the last four legs of the race! Then, Phil dropped a bomb – the teams would be voting to decide which two racers would face a U-Turn. Talk about a twist!

Normally, being first to a U-Turn gives a team a big advantage, letting them decide which teams, if any, do both parts of the detour. However, a Live U-Turn works differently. Because all teams vote simultaneously on who to penalize, the team in first place is almost always the target. Having won four of the last five legs, Tucker and Eric were heavily favored to be chosen.

Joseph and Adam finished last in the previous leg of the race, so they were given a penalty: an automatic extra vote towards being U-Turned. However, since they hadn’t won any legs and were already likely to be U-Turned, this penalty didn’t actually change anything. They were such a weak team that no one was realistically going to vote for anyone other than them, so they didn’t lose any time at all.

Let’s recap what’s happened. Tucker and Eric had a significant lead over the other teams for several weeks. However, production erased that lead – which they previously shared with Jas and Jag – by making everyone fly on the same plane and waiting until all teams arrived at the Hill. Then, the teams voted on who should be slowed down, and predictably, they chose Tucker and Eric, who had won most of the legs. To add to that, the team that should have been penalized for being saved during a non-elimination leg wasn’t penalized at all.

Following the vote, the top three teams – Tucker and Eric, Jas and Jag, and Kyland and Taylor – were given both parts of the detour, while the remaining teams – Izzy and Paige, Joseph and Adam, and Jack and Chelsie – only had to complete one. The teams then began the detours, which involved identifying olives, performing as a street musician, or doing both. As expected, Tucker and Eric and Jas and Jag quickly took the lead. They found and finished the detours efficiently, while other teams struggled to find the locations or needed multiple tries to complete a single task.

It might seem like the easy detours gave teams a big advantage, and getting sent back didn’t hurt them too much. While that’s partly true, it’s also a bit misleading. The initial challenges were so close together and simple that mistakes didn’t really set anyone back. For example, Kyland and Taylor spent six tries identifying olives, but quickly recovered because they could easily try different answers. The boulder push was also quick for everyone. This meant even the next roadblock – memorizing the Greek alphabet – didn’t create much of a gap between the teams.

This part of the race was much tougher and more complex than anything the teams had faced so far. None of the teams completed it on their first try, and it required a significant amount of running between memorizing the alphabet and making their guesses, making it very time-consuming. Although Tucker and Eric arrived at the roadblock third out of six teams, they struggled immensely and finished last. By the time they reached the pit stop, they were several minutes behind and unfortunately had to be eliminated.

Look, I’m not trying to say Tucker and Eric didn’t mess up or deserve to be eliminated. They really struggled with the Greek alphabet, and honestly, if they’d kept pace with the others, they probably would have made it through this leg. They had their shot, but they lost, and that’s just how it goes. No need to make things complicated.

Okay, as a big fan of the show, watching that episode just felt…off. It was so obvious the producers were pulling strings with who got eliminated. They took out teams – Tucker and Eric, who’d been leading for weeks – and basically set them up to be U-Turned. And it didn’t make sense that the team who came in last the week before faced no consequences! Plus, all the challenges were super easy and fast except for this crazy memory test at the very end. There was hardly any driving or navigating, and nothing really physical. It felt like they didn’t even want the teams to get a good lead on each other.

I’m a big fan of The Amazing Race and similar competition shows. It’s clearly a high-quality program, having won ten Emmy Awards and received many more nominations. But the latest episode wasn’t one of its best, and honestly, the more I dwell on it, the more annoyed I become.

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2025-11-23 17:39