‘The Amazing Race 26’ episode 3 review: Who got engaged?
Is this technically an all-dating season of “The Amazing Race” if one of the couples is now engaged? We suppose the theme has to still work, since there’s one blind-date team that has already given up, and another one is almost sure to follow them soon after.
The engaged team tonight is none other than Matt & Ashley, who interestingly popped the question despite not having the best leg in the world. They struggled mightily at the Detour hauling plates of food in Phuket, and when Matt forgot his fanny pack at the drag-themed task near the end, it felt almost like they would be bummed out more than anything else at the Pit Stop. Then again, this was a pretty darn pretty Pit Stop for them to be at. This is the sort of place that inspires one proposal after the next.
As for those couples on the rocks, Kurt & Bergen have already realized that the relationship is impossible, mostly because there is no real attraction there. This is mostly the cast making a faux pas of pairing up two guys who look exactly like each other. They’re not narcissists! Meanwhile, Hayley & Blair may straight-up loathe each other by the end of this; he hasn’t listened to her, and really has not seemed particularly interested in her since the start of the entire race. We’re not saying she’s perfect here, but we don’t think anyone could get along with this guy.
It was a big win tonight for Mike & Rochelle, who managed to not only place first, but be completely endearing in the process as they really tackled almost every single challenge with glee.
Now, we turn to the episode’s flaws. First of all, why is there a Detour this season when one task is almost impossible to do? This is the second straight episode where it feels like no one really tested things out to make sure the choices were even; nobody completed the wakeboarding task at all, even Olympians Aly & Steve.
Then, there was a non-elimination leg so early in the race. We almost feel bad for the show in a way here given that Harley & Jonathan came in last. Now there are going to be a whole bunch of conspiracy theorists online, even though the show clearly plots all of these out beforehand. It may have been bad for drama, but we’re glad they stuck around because they had a ton of bad luck at the airport. We never want to see someone eliminated for that. Episode Grade: B-.
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