Amazing Race 22 Episode 3 Discussion and Recap *Updated* with Poll

Welcome back for another episode of Amazing Race. We are down to 9 teams but David from Team Kickass seems to have hurt his Achilles and not sure if he will be able to race any further so they may be eliminated before the leg really gets started. If that is the case I expected we will see a non-elimination at the end of the episode. But you never know. That’s why we keep watching.

Before we get started here are last week’s rankings:

1. Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia (Team Hockey)

2. David O’Leary and Connor O’Leary (Team Kick Ass)

3. Jessica Hoel and John Erck (Team Young Love)

4. Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena (Team YouTube)

5. Chuck McCall and Wynona McCall (The Old Timers)

6. Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere (The Derby Moms)

7. Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle (The Stealing Angels)

8. Max Bichler and Katie Bichler (The Newlyweds)

9. Pamela Chien and Winnie Sung (The Besties)

10. Idries Abdur-Rahman and Jamil Abdur-Rahman (The Doctors) Eliminated

Come back later for my recap and until then feel free to comment below.

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We start off with David being advised that he needs to get his leg looked at to see if he can continue the race. He is crying but he says it is not over until it is over.

We start off at 8:54am with all teams heading to Christschurch, New Zealand.  There is a stop in Tahiti where they will need to grab new tickets to reach New Zealand. It is apparently Phil’s home town.  Once they land they will need to drive their Ford Focus to drive themselves to the Rakaia Rover Gorge where they will find their next clue.

Team Hockey were off first followed by Team Kickass. David says he will need to see a doctor for a sonogram. Team Young Love says they will be giving Team Kickass the second express pass in hopes of slowing down the Hockey players.

At the airport Team Hockey and Team Young Love get on the same flight. Team Kickass needs to go to the hospital first so Young Love hands over the express pass which brightens David’s day but Team Hockey sees the exchange so they know the express pass is gone.

The next keep of teams all grab tickets to Tahiti and are all on the same flight including Team Kickass. The only team left in Bora Bora is Team Besties.

Team Hockey and Young Love arrive first in Tahiti but nothing is open until the morning. The second flight arrives and they are all running for tickets but discover nothing is open so they are stressing over nothing.

At the hospital it is confirmed that David has a small tear in his Achilles. He is fitted for a boot and it looks like they will be able to continue but it won’t be an easy race for them. Young Love is worried about Team Hockey so they are working with Team YouTube and Derby Moms  as an alliance. They are planning to share all travel information between the three teams to help eliminate the Hockey Players because they are the strongest teams. Elsewhere it appears a friendship is forming between the Hockey Players and Team Stealing Angels as the ladies find the guys cardboard to sleep on.

The next morning all teams are able to board the same flight and are off to New Zealand. Amazingly Team Besties jump from last to first as they are on the first flight for 5pm. The second flight has Team Younglove, Kickass, YouTube, and Newlywed and leaves at 5:30pm. The third flight has Team Hockey and Team Stealing Angels which is leaving at 6pm. The final team of the Old Timers think they played it smart by using a courtesy phone to buy tickets for the 7:30pm flight but start panicking when they realize no other teams are in the airport.

Team Besties land first and are making their way to the gorge. Once there teams must reserve a jet boat and travel up river to the next clue.  The other teams land soon enough and now everyone but Team Old Timers who are still flying.

Team Besties seem to have gotten lost and are over taken by four other teams. There are no trips until the morning so everyone is together sleeping in tents for the night. There is a little bit of hilarity as the Stealing Angels walk around in circles looking for their number even through everyone else pointed out the sign. The Hockey Players almost sneak in to grab the lower number first but the girls were able to grab it just before.

The next morning the teams are off down the river one team at a time. Team Kickass are the first to get to the clue and it is time for the Detour. Teams must use ATV to get to the challenges.

  • Rev it up: Requires teams to drive through a course of navigating through cones in 83 seconds.  Both members must complete task.
  • Reel it in: Each member must check a 12 inch fish using a fishing rod and net.

Kickass, Young Love, Newlyweds and YouTube all choose Rev it Up and are off on the ATVs.  Team Kickass arrive first but they have to go fishing because the cars have a clutch and David is not able to do it with his boot.

The next teams to arrive on the shore are Besties, Stealing Angels, Derby Moms, and Team Hockey who all choose to Rev it up. Finally Chuck and Wynona arrive and decide to go fishing.

At the Rev It up detour Young Love is starting to drive the course and are having trouble because John was driving with the Parking Brake on. Conner and Dave are at the river and say they will try the fishing for a few minutes before using the Express Pass if needed.

On the first run John does 40 seconds but Jessica does 44 so they have to go again. Joey seems to not know how to drive stick but he does fine on his first run driving 46 seconds. Meghan from YouTube also does 46 so they must go again.

Max does it in 55 seconds and now Katie has to go and she says she just learned stick before leaving for the race. Together they are above the 83 seconds.

Team Kickass is not getting any bites from the fish so they use the express pass and are off to  the Mt. Hutt Station for their next clue.  Team Young Love get it done on their second run and are off for the next stop. They are followed by Team YouTube. Katie is rushing it in that she is driving better than Max. The two of them together still drive me crazy.

Team Besties are off on their first run and quickly stall. Hockey Players, Derby Moms, and Stealing Angels are starting their first runs. Over at the river Chuck and Wynona are starting to fish. Chuch is apparently a avid fisherman so it was worth giving it a try,

Derby Moms finish the detour and are off in fourth. Max is still having trouble driving the course and is holding up the Newlyweds.  Meanwhile the front four teams are off on the roads.

The hockey players are off next and they are followed by the newlyweds who just land on 83 seconds and the Besties. Over at the river Chuch and Wynona are getting some bites and reel in some fish. Wynona gets her fish and then tosses it back in to the water since it is slime and gross. They are off in eighth and are followed by Stealing Angels who finish their detour.

As the hockey players and newlyweds are on the road Team Kickass arrive and are ready to do the Roadblock:

  • Teams must take part in a Shemozzle Race which is a muddy obstacle course. The must dress up in Gummers, a weird pair of shorts and a burnap sack. They must make their way down the course collecting eggs and make it to the end with 12 unbroken eggs to get their next clue. It actually looks like an awesome course.

It appears that as Conner gets started on his course Team Young Love discover that they have driven in the wrong direction.  Conner makes it through a box full of molasses and then a tube of feathers. He then goes down a manure slide and ends with five eggs so he is off on another run. He at 10 after 2 runs so needs one more run.

Back on the road Katie talks Max into turning around as she thinks she saw the turn off but she was wrong so they lose some valuable time going in circles. They pass the hockey players and both teams go up the wrong road until a local gives them directions to the station. Conner finishes off the roadblock and is off to the pit stop at Terrace Downs. The last team to arrive may be eliminated.

Team Young Love arrives at the roadblock followed by the Besties, Stealing Angels, and Old Timers. Shortly after the Derby Moms, and YouTube arrive and are off. . Finally the hockey players and Newlyweds arrive and it ends up being at the place Katie originally told Max to go to.

Team Young Love finishes the roadblock followed by the Besties and Stealing Angels. Team Kickass are the first to arrive at the Pit Stop and win a trip for two to Bangkok.  They discover that the race is not over and are handled their next clue.  The episode ends with David trying to decide if they can continue into the next leg right away or will they need to drop out. There’s nothing like a cliff hanger to last you for the week.

It wasn’t one of my favorite episodes. Overall I’m not a huge fan of the episodes that feature a lot of travel footage especially when there is little reason for the teams to rush since the episode had two points where they had to sit around waiting for things to open. I am also not fully enjoying the season as there are a lot of teams who are annoying me over all especially Young Love and the Newlyweds. I’m also quickly growing tired of Team Kickass. I know surviving Cancer is a great thing and should be celebrated but there is only so many times I need it to be mentioned before it becomes annoying. Maybe I’m just a horrible person for growing tired of them.

It looks like the Stealing Angels will be having a tough week next week as it looks like one of the challenges will be a memory challenge.