The Amazing Race 15 Episode 1 Part 1 Recap
Two teams are eliminated in the premiere episode.
Sep 28, 2009
The 12 teams of The Amazing Race gather at the starting line in the Los Angeles River Basin, where host Phil Keoghan tells them what to expect on the Race. He also tells the teams that, for the first time in the history of The Amazing Race, the first challenge would occur as soon as the teams received their first clue.
License Plate Challenge
The teams are instructed to retrieve their luggage, and their first clue. The clue instructs the teams to search a wall of license plates for one of eleven plates representing the Shinagawa District of Tokyo, Japan, the first destination of the Race. The first eleven teams to present Phil with a correct license plate would receive airline tickets to Tokyo. The remaining team would be eliminated from The Amazing Race.
The teams started a frantic search among the wall of license plates to find the correct plates. Teams began to realize that the license plate they wanted corresponded to a Japanese symbol on their clue. One by one, ten teams presented Phil with the correct license plate and received their tickets. Two teams, yoga instructors Eric and Lisa, and engaged couple Lance and Keri were frantically searching the license plates, hoping to find the one correct remaining plate. After realizing the symbol was printed in their clue, Keri spotted the plate, securing the final tickets to Tokyo for her team. Having failed at the challenge, Eric and Lisa were the first team eliminated from The Amazing Race.
The Amazing Race in Tokyo, Japan
The remaining eleven teams were on two flights to Tokyo. Once the teams arrived in the city, they were instructed to make their way to the television station located at the base of Tokyo Tower. Once the teams arrived, they had to participate in a Roadblock. One member of each team became a contestant in a Japanese game show, Sushi Roulette. Each person stood around a giant roulette wheel. The game show host would spin the wheel, and the contestant were required to eat whatever was on the wheel in front of them when it stopped moving, either sushi or a very hot wasabi bomb. Teams that received the wasabi bomb had two minutes in which to devour the entire delicacy to the host's satisfaction. If successful, the team would receive their next clue. Teams had to continue to play the game until they received a wasabi bomb and successfully ate it. Most of the teams finished the delicacy on their first attempt; only Brian Kleinschmidt and Maria Ho had to make a second try.
The Pit Stop in Tokyo
Along with their next clue, teams received a colored flag that corresponded with colored visors on the game show audience. Twenty tourists had to follow each team out of the studio and through the streets of Japan to the Pit Stop at Konno Hachimangu Shrine. Teams had to arrive at the mat with all twenty of their tourists in tow before Phil could check them in. Meghan and Cheyne arrived at the Pit Stop first, followed by Zev and Justin, Lance and Keri, Marcy and Ron, and the Globetrotters. Brian and Ericka, who left the television studio last, arrived at the mat in sixth place. Garrett and Jessica, and Sam and Dan followed. The two remaining teams, Mika and Canaan, and Maria and Tiffany, had lost some of their tourists and were searching for them so they could check in. Canaan carried their straggling tourist up the steps to the mat, to finish in tenth place. Maria and Tiffany could not find their two missing tourists, and elected to check in without them.
No Elimination for Tiffany and Maria
Arriving at the mat in last place, and missing two of their twenty tourists, Tiffany and Maria were informed by Phil that they would receive a two-hour penalty for not completing the task. Phil also informed them that this was a non-elimination leg and they were still in The Amazing Race. However, in addition to their two-hour penalty which would delay their start time the next day, the team would also have to face a Speed Bump. The Speed Bump would occur at some point during the next leg, and it would be a task that only their team would have to perform.
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