"The Amazing Race 14" debuted with eleven teams transported by U.S. Marine Corps helicopters to the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California.
Featured teams included flight attendants Christie & Jodi who claimed inside travel tips would aid them in the race, first ever deaf contestant Luke teamed with his mother Margie, gay father/son team Mel & Mike and the shorter brothers/stuntmen Mark & Michael.
After host Phil Keoghan gave the classic "Go!" command, teams rushed to their bags and opened their first clues directing them to travel to Locarno, Switzerland by a 3:35 p.m. Lufthansa flight connecting to Zurich, Switzerland or a 4 p.m. Air France flight connecting to Milan, Italy. Teams would have to board trains from Zurich or Milan respectively to reach Locarno.
Cue newly reconfigured show credits and remixed theme music.
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Post-credits, Keoghan quickly summarized the team flight information with siblings/lawyers Tammy & Victor, flight attendants Christie & Jodi, ex-NFL cheerleaders Jaime & Cara, brothers Mark & Michael, marrieds Brad & Victoria and mother/son Margie & Luke taking the first flight out.
Seeing info that the Milan to Locarno train connection would be quicker, sisters Kisha & Jen waited for the 2nd flight out with father/son Mel & Mike, daters Amanda & Kris, daters Preston & Jennifer and marrieds Steve & Linda.
Upon arrival in Milan though, Preston & Jennifer ran out of the airport in an unsuccessful attempt to find a train station, forcing them to miss the departure to Locarno. Preston told Jennifer to shush on their belated train ride.
SWITZERLAND
The first team to arrive in Locarno though was all by its lonesome. On the train ride in, flight attendants Christie & Jodi talked to a woman who told them about a quicker train connection. The extra boost placed Christie & Jodi ahead of all other teams at Church of San Antonio where they signed in for a 7:15 a.m. next day departure.
Other teams from the Zurich connector came in with the Tammy/Victor, Margie/Luke and Mark/Michael teams racing in by foot to take the remaining 7:15 a.m. slots. The Brad/Victoria and Jaime/Cara teams signed for 7:30 a.m. departures.
With the Milan train now in, Mel & Mike claimed the remaining 7:30 slot leaving the Kisha/Jen, Amanda/Kris, Steve/Linda and late arriving Preston & Jennifer teams stuck with 7:45 departures. To husband Steve's dismay, Linda grew visibly exhausted and couldn't keep up running to the church, a fact that Steve took her to task for during the nighttime camp out.
ROADBLOCK
At their respective times, teams were given a picture of their next destination. Mark & Michael were the first to learn the actual name of their destination, Verzasca Dam, from a local and take off by taxi, followed by Tammy/Victor and Margie/Luke. Christie & Jodi though decided to wait at a taxi station for transportation, instead of picking up one of the taxis near the church. The delay allowed mid-tier teams Mel & Mike and Brad & Victoria to pass the blonds.
Ex-NFL cheerleaders Jaime & Cara made the same mistake in waiting for taxis, dropping them to the lower third of race teams. Meanwhile, Mark & Michael reached the dam first to uncover a Roadblock. In another change, Phil Keoghan no longer explained the Roadblock concept in general, simply saying that one team member would bungee jump 70 stories off the dam, the second longest such jump in the world.
Though his team arrived second at the Roadblock, Victor actually took the first bungee jump off the dam to swing his sibling/lawyer team with Tammy into the top spot. Being a stuntman, Michael took the 2nd plunge without fear. Deaf racer Luke dove straight in to keep his team with mother Margie in third. Son Mike stayed in 4th with father Mel.
Victoria did the Roadblock to keep her married team with Brad in the fifth position. Despite much televised angst, flight attendant Jodi completed the Roadblock to exit with Christie in sixth place. In rapid-fire succession (complete with time-checks), we saw the bungee jumps for Kris, Jaime, Preston, Jen & Steve to end the task.
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After Roadblock's completion, each team was directed in turn to take a train to Interlaken. Sibs Tammy & Victor arrived at the train station first followed by Mark/Michael, Margie/Luke & Mel/Mike to equalize the top of the field again. In an attempt to throw off other teams, Victor told the teams that he wasn't sure the train they were waiting for would take them to the destination.
Of course, there was no chance to be taken as the other top teams decided to take the train anyway. En route, Mel stated in the nicest way possible to Tammy & Victor that he didn't trust them.
The Christie/Jodi & Brad/Victoria teams arrived at the train station next in line. Christie & Jodi immediately took the next train out without realizing that it would arrive at Interlaken later than another choice. In fact, the flight attendants wayward train trip wayward would drop them straight down to last place. Christie & Jodi later blamed Brad & Victoria for lying to them about taking the same train ride.
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In Interlaken, father/son Mel & Mike arrived first by seconds at the Kleine Rugen Wiese to receive the clue for their next task. The unnamed endeavor (subbing for the Detour this round) was for each team member to lift a large antique cheese rack up a large, muddy hill then use the racks to transport giant circular mounds of cheese. When 200 pounds of cheese were successfully stacked by a team, the task would be complete.
Aside from the struggle of climbing up the hill, race teams quickly found the cheese racks too flimsy to actually handle the large cheese for long distances. Luke took an actual tumble with his cheese down the hill. The mother/son team though was able to recover the lost cheese and transport down the other cheese 'things' by hand to complete the task in first place.
Tammy lost her first cheese wheel but Victor proved a more supportive partner than some others. The pair finished the task together in second place followed by brothers Mark & Michael in third place. The physical task slowed down the older Mel & Mike with Mel seen actually carrying a cheese mound downhill from a seated position. The father & son would clock out in fourth just in time for the arrival of most other teams.
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With top teams already done with the task, daters Preston & Jennifer and marrieds Steve & Linda would later reach the hill well behind the pack. Jennifer and Linda both became visibly winded just climbing up the muddy hill. With their train well behind the others, Christie & Jodi finally arrived at the cheese site in last place.
Amanda & Kris completed the task fifth. Steve came up with the ingenious idea to use one side piece of the cheese rack, tie mounds of cheese to it and simply slide it down the hill. Wife Linda followed close behind taking her cheese down the hill in the seated position. Together, Steve & Linda jumped back up into sixth place. As other teams emulated the Steve & Linda approach, Brad & Victoria completed the task 7th, Jaime & Cara 8th, Kisha & Jen 9th.
Preston and Jennifer sniped at each other during the task and lost more time after Preston lost a mound of cheese which rolled down the hill. The daters still finished their cheese work though ahead of the delayed Christie & Jodi.
PIT STOP
Teams were finally directed to taxi to Stechelberg, Switzerland where they would be guided by yodelers to the Pit Stop. Mother/son Margie & Luke maintained their lead to complete the leg in first place and win a Mexican resort vacation. Phil Keoghan used American Sign Language to tell Margie & Luke "you are team number one," a special touch for the show's first deaf contestant.
Siblings/lawyers Tammy & Victor arrived soon afterward in second place with brothers Mark and Michael near simultaneously in third place. The father/son Mel & Mike pitted in the fourth spot. Amanda & Kris finished number five. While Steve misdirected his wife Linda away from the yodelers, Brad & Victoria finished in #6 and proudly displayed the proof that they didn't fall or slide down the hill.
Ex-cheerleaders Jaime & Cara completed the leg in the #7 position followed by sisters Kisha & Jen in 8th. Steve & Linda finally reconnoitered to reach the Pit Stop in 9th place leaving two more teams in a race to avoid elimination. The race turned into a rundown as Christie and Jodi passed by Preston and Jennifer to claim the final remaining spot on the next leg.
Preston & Jennifer would arrive with Jennifer on Preston's back to be eliminated from "The Amazing Race 14," leaving all the arguments that could have happened between the couple unspoken or at least untelevised.
____________________________Labels: recaps, tar 14.1, the amazing race, the amazing race 14
