‘The Amazing Race’ Season 28 Episode 1 Recap: “I Should’ve Been a Boy Scout”

By 02/16/2016
‘The Amazing Race’ Season 28 Episode 1 Recap: “I Should’ve Been a Boy Scout”

[Editors Note: This article and all others in this column WILL contain SPOILERS. If you have not seen Episode 1 of ‘The Amazing Race’ season 28, it’s highly suggested you do so before you read the below. You have been warned and may Phil Keoghan have mercy on your soul. You can also find all of our The Amazing Race recaps right here.] 

And thus begins, according to host Phil Keoghan, a “very special season” of The Amazing Race. And while “special” may not be the appropriate qualifier, it was definitely a different beginning than usual.

The Opener

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The 11 teams all composed of at least one YouTube and/or social media star started the competition from their respective homes with a video message from Keoghan. My theory is at the time of filming, the teams weren’t actually aware this season of Race was to feature a lineup of all social media influencers. So, this video message was a clever device to keep that reveal for when the teams would be literally running into each other during one of the initial legs.

Another difference pro Race watchers may have noticed during the season premiere: There was no talk at the top of what the winner of this year’s Race actually gets. Are they running for charity or do these teams get the $500,000 paycheck usually given to the winners? Are they doing it just for the fame? It’s very clear that almost all of these teams consist of die-hard fans of the show, but one would assume there is more on the line than simply bragging rights and a chance to appear on a traditional media platform.

But back to the starting videos. After the message from Keoghan concludes, what follows is a lot of running, shouting and shrieking…and more than one (more than two even) cutaways to Cole LeBrant being particularly emotional. C’mon Cole, there’s no crying in The Amazing Race! At least not this early in the show! But honestly, it was interesting to see Cole, as the youngest runner of the Race this season, being the most reluctant to leave a very obviously tight-knit and supportive family. But as we’ll see later in the episode…he gets over it.

Next we witness an 11-way split-screen of glory followed by Tyler Oakley already being recognized by his first taxi driver and asked for an autograph from a fan all before the end of the opening credits (whose jingle another one of the teams already begins humming before it starts. Again, most of these teams are fans in true fanatical sense of the word).

The Teams

After a commercial break, we get our first introduction to the teams. I’ll do my quick first impressions, keeping in mind I’m actually familiar with a good number of these people and I’m a little biased (Go team Rooster Teeth!). So, these aren’t all my personal first impressions of the individuals, but I am looking at them through the lens of the chosen edits. I’m also going to establish the team nicknames, which I will be using for the rest of the season (unless better ones are suggested in the comments below).

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The Dancers: Dana Borriello and Matt Steffanina have been engaged for three-and-a-half years, but as Dana is quick to point out, they haven’t set a wedding date yet. She also points out their relationship is “high stakes” because they work together. Hmmm…I’ll be keeping an eye on these two…

Team Clevver: Erin White Robinson and Joslyn Davis are hosts for Clevver Media. That’s about all we get. This usually means they won’t be around long or the interesting bits about them are yet to come. I’m hoping for the latter since they seem fun.

The Kings: Rachel and Zach King have been married 11 months…still Newlyweds in my eyes so that bodes well. The nice thing about Zach is that because he Vines, we get to see a few of them during their intro, which I love because I think Zach’s Vines are totally genius (more on that later).

Team JuicyDad07: Okay look, Blair’s Fowler‘s channel is named JuicyStar07, okay? And she’s running with her dad, Scott. So it works. Kinda. And while she introducers herself by going right to the YouTuber stereotype of “I made videos in my bedroom and now I have a career!” that could define a thousand different individuals, for her, that actually is what happened, so I’ll let it slide. Plus, it was amusing when Dad says, “I bring the maturity”, followed by Blair adding, “and I bring the lipstick!”. These two could be a hot mess but they are going to do it in style.

Team Family Time: Not the best team name so I might adapt it later but the aforementioned Cole and his mom Sheri just seem so jazzed to be having this experience together, it seemed the most appropriate. Although, Cole is still crying in their opening interview clip. But it’s become clear already that’s just how Cole roles.

Frisbee Boys: Brodie Smith and Kurt Gibson met while doing competitive frisbee events, where they started documenting their trick shots (which make for awesome videos, by the way, so after reading this go check them out). For some reason they really want us to know that Brodie is single. Hmmm #2…

Team Rooster Teeth: Burnie Burns and Ashley Jenkins have been dating for three years. This is usually the danger zone for couples on Race. Legs further down the road can devolved into epic ranting fights. But, its also equally likely to end up in a during-Race engagement. I don’t know if either of those two familiar outcomes will be true for this couple, but I’m not afraid to say I ADORE THEM AND HOPE THEY DO WELL! Also, I think Burnie comparing their life-long love of gaming to running the Race, which is basically a giant game in real life, was spot on.

The Models: Jessica VerSteeg and Brittany Oldehoff are Instagram models. They outright state they are going to use their looks on the Race. Their on-camera musing about whether or not they’re cougars is intercut with footage that appears to show them flirting with Cole, who -as previously mentioned – is the youngest runner of the Race this season. This is usually an edit setup for potential villains. We shall see.

Team Tyley: Yes, Tyler Oakley and Korey Kuhl are just friends, but I’m merging their names together anyway. Because I find them delightful. And I totally ship it. Their intro gives us a rundown of how they met and what they do together. And then there more cutaways of Tyler being recognized not only by strangers, but by other teams as well (especially Blair of Team JuicyDad07).

Side note: There is also one random shot of Burnie and Ashley getting recognized in the airport. The fan tells them how they helped him through some rough times. And while I found it endearing, the cut was slightly awkward in how it was presented. It gave the feeling the producers of the show still don’t quite know how to deal with the teams getting recognized so much and how that will work into the competition and on television.

Team Viral Mom: The least influencey of the influencers, Hagen Parkman is quick to let people know that Marty Cobb (her mom) is the YouTuber of the two. Marty is a Southwest flight attendant whose video “HILARIOUS SOUTHWEST FLIGHT ATTENDANT” (obvs) went viral last year. If we’re covering all areas of social influencer, this is our token Viral. But they both seem nice and down-to-earth, if maybe less used to camera time than the others.

Team Vine Bros: To me, this team’s strategy is the antithesis of The Models. Darius Benson and Cameron Benson say they are going to downplay their intelligence to fly under the radar. I believe they can do it, too, considering the kind of minds it takes to succeed in a medium where you have to think creatively to fit within the confines of six seconds. Plus, siblings that work together and are close in age tend to do well on the show.

With introductions out of the way, it’s time for MOAR SPLIT SCREENS (seriously, am I just noticing all the split screens in The Amazing Race or are they actually using them more this season?). There’s also the first fall of the season (I’m pretty sure it was Brodie of Team Frisbee…he did a nice roll out of it and everything) and our first montage of people lost and confused! Editing fades meant to heighten tension! Panicked voice-overs! Cole getting the first “uh oh” music sting when he states he and his Mom don’t even know whose car they are in!  And that’s when you know this is still the Amazing Race.

The First Detour

Which leads us to our first Detour of the season. Teams start out in Mexico City and are given two options of potential tasks and must pick one to complete. Traditionally, one is usually more physical than the other, but the non-physical one is more tedious in that it generally involves attention to detail. For this Detour, teams must choose between Mariachi Madness and Great Bulls of Fire. I mean, to me there is a clear winner here (I’m a sucker for song-related puns) but the teams end up splitting up pretty evenly between the two options.

Mariachi Monday involves finding a single musician that is fake playing out of a group of over 300 hundred musicians. It also marked a milestone of every season of The Amazing Race. The first hashtag! #MariachiMonday had fans chiming in about the utter insanity of this challenge.

Even teams who hadn’t done the #MariachiMadness challenge chimed in.

But even though Mariachi Madness seemed the more difficult of the two Detour options, the insanity of the task did not appear to be too much of a hindrance as all teams made it to the next leg and the fastest were able to snag the earlier spots for the Road Block the next morning. Here’s how it shook out:

  • 1st: The Dancers 7:30 AM Slot
  • 2nd: Frisbee Boys 7:30 AM Slot
  • 3rd: Team Clevver 7:30 AM Slot
  • 4th: Team Family Time tet last 7:30 AM Slot. They thought they were last so they are very excited. There is hugging and more crying.
  • 5th: The Kings 7:40 AM Slot

Back at Great Bulls of Fire… Teams must put together a kind of weird bull-shaped sculpture that also has wheels on the top and then they will light it on fire?!?!? Anyway, there is a model for them from which they can base their sculpture, so it’s one of those intricate pay attention to details things I was mentioning earlier. Except then they destroy it at the end. Bring it on.

Team Rooster Teeth is the first to start putting together their bull and Ashley states this should be no problem because she saw a bunch of bulls castrated one time (or something like that?!). It wasn’t said in a creepy way, but I guess you had to be there. Team Viral Mom and Team Tyley arrive next, followed by all the other teams that didn’t do Mariachi Madness.

Team Tyley then proceeds to CRUSH IT. Tyler and Korey whip that bull up in no time, getting approved on the first try, light it the frak on fire, and get out of the way. The rest of the teams finish pretty close behind and everyone is off to the next leg check-in. Here is how it turned out:

  • 6th: Team Tyley 7:40 AM Slot
  • 7th: Team Viral Mom 7:40 AM Slot
  • 8th: Team JuicyDad07 7:40 AM Slot
  • 9th: The Models 7:50 AM Slot
  • 10th: Team Vine Bros 7:50 AM Slot
  • 11th: Team Rooster Teeth 7:50 AM Slot (I am yelling “nooooooo” at the TV at that moment)

The First Road Block

The next thing we see is a fancy clock graphic (split screens and now this? The editing team is going for it!) that clicks to 7:30 AM and the first teams are off to grab their Road Block clues!

A Road Block is a task that only one of the team members can perform and each team member has to perform a certain number throughout the season (you can’t just have the same team member do them all, is really the point), so there is strategy involved. You also have to pick the team member based off one sentence, usually a question, before you get the entire clue. The sentence for this particular clue is, “Who is ready to pick up the pieces?”

roadblack-burnie

Once each team chooses which member is doing the task, we learn the task is to go into an underground cave and dig up 13 pieces of a tribal mask, then take those pieces to where you hear drums to assemble them. Once the mask is fully assembled, teams get their next clue. It is only then that we learn that not one, but two of the team members that choose to do this task are claustrophobic. This is going to be good television!

This also leads to the second hashtag of the season: #PutInSomeWork. Which was yelled by Brodie of Team Frisbee as his teammate Kurt was running into the cave. It’s existence met with some…resistance.

Questionable hashtags aside, this Road Block is a doozy. Most people don’t realize right away that just because they are meant to find 13 pieces of a mask doesn’t mean that there are only 13 pieces in their excavation area. The members of Frisbee Boys and Team Family Time (Cole’s Mom, who is one of the two claustrophobic ones) figure it out relatively early and start each other out (early alliance?), but as more team members arrive, it becomes every individual for him or herself.

Scott of Team JuicyDad07 ends up OUTSIDE the cave looking for the drummers and in the process, somehow scatters his mask pieces all over the ground and spends a great deal of the challenge trying to find them again.

At one point, Cole’s Mom ends up bleeding. She is literally shedding blood for this challenge.

The First Pit Stop

Matt of The Dancers finishes first, followed very closely by Tyler of Team Tyley. They find out they are heading to the Pit Stop of the leg, which is at Museum Soumaya. What follows is first a cab race (no word on if this cab driver also asked for Tyler’s autograph) and then a foot race to the Pit Stop.

The Dancers arrive first followed closely by Team Tyley. Phil apparently is concerned about Tyler’s hair but Tyler is quick to respond, “Don’t come for me Phil”. I’ll be keeping an eye on this potential rivalry…

tyler-korey-cab-amazing-race

The Kings are the third team to arrive, where Zach explains that his Vines are made with magic but that he doesn’t plan to use magic on the Race. Suuuuuure Zach (BTW: I have absolutely no problems with magic whatsoever). We also get our first selfie of the season, which includes Zach disappearing in a puff of smoke (more editing fun!).

Team Vine Bros, Frisbee Boys, and Team Rooster Teeth are the next group of teams to the mat. And then begins The Stupidest Idea for a First Leg in the History of The Amazing Race conversation. Erin from Team Clevver suggests to Cole’s Mom (who seems to have gotten the bleeding under control) that they should take the four hour penalty that comes from dropping out of a challenge. On the first leg of the race. When there are still other teams around who are still looking for their masks. Erin is the second of the two claustrophobic people, so this might just be paranoia and fear setting in, but…THAT IS INSANE AND THE WORST STRATEGY EVER! Perhaps it was just a one-time suggestion…

…meanwhile Team Models gets to the mat, followed by Team Viral Mom

…and Erin is STILL suggesting they take the penalty! WHAT IS HAPPENING!? Luckily, just as it seems this bat-shit idea is going to come to fruition, Erin gets her puzzle done. And while she almost makes up for her temporary madness by offering to stay and help Cole’s Mom finish, she still doesn’t fight all that hard when Cole’s Mom turns down the help. But then Cole’s Mom finishes, followed closely by Scott (having finally figured out that most of the pieces he had dropped outside, he ironically didn’t even end up needing).

Eliminations!?

In what I’m going to chalk up to karma, Team Clevver ends up in the slowest cab ever and get surpassed by Team Family Time, who takes 9th place on the mat. Team Clevver comes in 10th and in a move that I called from eight gazillion miles away, Team JuicyDad07 was told this first leg is non-elimination.

As a hard-core fan of The Amazing Race, I hate this move. But as someone who understands the digital space…there was no way in hell they weren’t going to take advantage of all these teams’ audiences for one more week. To me, it just means that next week no one is spared and they better #PutInSomeWork. Okay, it’s a lame hashtag but still…we managed our first tag line out of it…

So how are people feeling about the season so far? Well, it seems decidedly mixed. Most, but not all viewers are still on board to ride it out a little longer, at least according to a few Twitter feeds.

 

 

For me, the season started strong hammering too hard on the “famous” nail. It lightly touched on the celebrity status of the individuals in the race (with the exception of the random Team Rooster Teeth bit, which felt awkward and misplaced) and focused primarily on what makes The Amazing Race the kind of primetime television broadcast show that can have 28 iterations. The spotlight was on the teams and their dynamics and let the relationships drive the narrative.

But something the producers of Race definitely have to work on, especially with a show featuring all those social media influencers, is the hashtags. They were too few and too random. If you’re going to hashtag one side of a Detour, hashtag the other as well, so participants in both sides of the challenge are motivated to join the conversation. Develop some hashtags with some true meaning and not just catchphrases randomly yelled out. In other words, the social team at Race needs to #PutInSomeWork.

What are your thoughts on the premiere? Who are your early favorites or were you rooting for a team even before the show started? Let me know in the comments below and also be sure to Tweet during future episodes and you might see your Tweet featured in a future column!

Photo Credits: Top hero photo image from Davin Tjen. All the rest from CBS. 

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