‘The Amazing Race 27’ episode 11 review: Were Justin & Diana eliminated right before finale?

Going into Friday night’s new episode of “The Amazing Race,” the show hyped up some drama involving Justin & Diana like nobody’s business. The Green Team have been very polarizing all season long; you can love their passion for the race and their zeal in embracing it, but their cockiness can at times be grating.

Thanks to the editing, we knew at one point or another she was being set up for a full. That is what happened in this leg in Hong Kong / Macau, where they first fell victim primarily to what is a common show mistake: Having a bad taxi. Maybe they could have asked more locals and tried to make sure they were going in the right direction before leaving, but we’re sure that they probably did some of that. We’re not sure just what else they really did wrong, since Diana was able to leapfrog Krista at the awesome pirate / acrobat themed Roadblock near the end of the episode.

At the mat with Phil, they fell victim to what was their second mistake earlier in the race (another common one): Not reading their clue properly. They did not take the ferry as instructed, and incurred a fifty-five minute penalty at the mat. This opened the door for Tiffany & Krista, but because she could not complete the Roadblock in a reasonable amount of time (and then got a bad taxi of their own), they were still able to squeak in.

We will say this: Those who dislike the Green Team probably got some more fuel for their fire courtesy of how Justin treated one of the cab drivers. He was frustrated, but still, not the best look. We want to root for them because they’re huge fans, but the edit for the most part here supports a Kelsey & Joey win with their whole “we’ve never won a leg” story. We’d still pick them to win because of that, but they’re going to have a Herculean effort to top the challenge beasts this season.

In some ways, this leg probably was the best thing that could happen to Justin & Diana, even though they didn’t come close to winning it (that went instead surprisingly to Logan & Chris). It probably humbled them (though we didn’t see that much in the closing confessional), and that should have them more prepared (and even more likable) going into the finale. Grade: B+.

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