Episode 1 Bonus Clips
From my days of recapping the deleted scenes for Realitynewsonline, I thought I’d do it again to provide a service to those who don’t want to have to deal with the forced ads, etc. I’ve found that the deleted scenes add a great detail of color and background info to help one appreciate the racers a bit more.
For the main recap, click here; with no more further ado though, the deleted scenes, and if you want to watch them yourself, simply click on the associated screenshot. There’s typically three sections of clips: Extra/Deleted Scenes from the Leg; Pit Stop interviews with Phil; After the Race Team thoughts. Here goes!
Extra/Deleted Scenes
Behind the Scenes: “Back in the Saddle”: We get a quick recap from Phil of the whole Bopper/Mallory swap and then some more commentary from Mallory. She recognizes it’s going to be a hard race but it’s one she’s ready to fight for, not only for Bopper’s sake but also because she knows it’s what her dad would have wanted and would have done if he were in this position. Hold up, is Gary dead? Mallory gets close to tears when talking about her dad, so now I need to look this up, as that bums me out. Okay, just looked it up – NO, Gary is just fine. But Mallory is just that sweet and emotional. It will be interesting whether the Kentucky folk can make this work.
Tough Teams: Caroline & Jennifer are driving to LAX and discuss the fact that there are pretty tough teams they’re competing against. Easily recognize that the Cowboys are a force to be reckoned with; they also indicate they love the Twinnies and plan to align with them (bad idea!!!). Caroline respects all the teams, including the Globetrotters, and she admits that she has a slight crush on Flight Time, admitting that she has to have a race boyfriend. Jennifer is amused by Caroline’s constant ability to find a boyfriend everywhere they go, and guesses she’ll be spending a lot of time with Big Easy.
Jessica’s Language Lesson: Jessica nervously laughs as she prepares to try out her Chinese while John encourages her. She’s got the words ready for asking about “wedding dress district”. John admits he knows how to say Ni Hao (“Hello”) and Coca Cola. Jessica tells us she took a semester of Chinese in college but made a concerted effort to really study up on Chinese before the race. She didn’t waste too much time on the various pleasantries of every language as that’s something you can do while flying. She’s relieved China is the first destination as it makes the work worthwhile.
Twinnies Very Bad Day: After their terrible leg, Natalie & Nadiya look back and can’t believe how bad they raced today; they don’t recognize who those people were. Their high spirits weren’t there (I noticed that too) and it was a non-stop bickerfest. They admit they didn’t have any fun this time which was a surprise as in their previous season, they were always able to look back and remember how much fun they had. Natalie recognizes that during this leg, she took Nadiya for granted – normally they can bitch at each other and it doesn’t matter, but today it didn’t work. They both realize that maybe it’s not a good thing to talk so terribly to each other. Will this change immediately? Neither think so and laugh.
Joey & Meghan’s Mixed Emotions: Joey & Meghan are excited to be back but feel the pressure as they want to do better than their previous 5th-place finish and actually win. They recognize their error in their previous season was in not being thorough and trusting others (Mona & Beth) with regards to available flights out of Scotland. Meghan believes if they had been more thorough, they’d have been easily in the Final 3. Sure, Meghan, although it’s pretty easy to armchair quarterback. Another issue they’re improving on is their communication, because during the first season, it was testing their relationship in new ways. They’ve done exercises to practice and strengthen their communication skills in preparation for this season.
Globetrotters’ Disappointment: Big Easy was really disappointed that Bopper had to drop out of the race. He remembers last year when the Globetrotters were performing in Kentucky that there was a guy in the crowd really screaming and cheering and it was Bopper with his daughter. Big Easy likes Bopper’s energy and that he’s a nice guy. Flight Time agrees and tells us that he had been practicing his “Bopper” voice and expects there will be a time in the race that he’ll get to use it.
Clearing the Air: At LAX, Caroline & Jennifer and Meghan & Joey are chatting and wanting to not get too stressed out like they were in their last race. Meghan mentions she just wants to have fun and win the million. Joey points out how hard it was to have Caroline & Jennifer lined up against them in their previous race which gets an immediate reaction from the Country Girls, leading to lots of high-pitched comments and smiles as the girls claim it was all Team YouTube. Caroline points out that YouTube made their alliancemates at the very beginning of last season, so it wasn’t anything due to what the Country Girls did. Caroline admits that the alliance with the hockey players just happened plus they were boy-crazy so win-win. It was nice to have friends on the race, which the girls think YouTube had with Mona & Beth. YouTube recalls how that friendship fractured a little in Scotland when everyone was out for themselves. They all reminisce about how tough that challenge was, especially having to play the bagpipes. I hope you all remember your Season 22 trivia!
Bringing Out the Claws: Natalie & Nadiya are at a ticket booth at the Canton Tower and don’t have enough Chinese currency and the clerk isn’t okay with taking dollars. Caroline & Jennifer are behind them and are willing to lend them money but the twins ask for a hundred which the Country Girls realize is too much to give up and it was their last bit of money too. As Country Girls depart, Caroline lets the Twinnies know they’d give them money if they could. In a later confessional, Jennifer admits it’s time to look out for themselves so the claws are coming out. Honestly, it wasn’t mean at all and fair game – the Twinnies should have got more money exchanged!
Dave & Connor Meet the Twinnies: At the LAX ticket counter, Dave & Connor meet Natalie & Nadiya and hug them. Connor knows that the Twinnies are tough competitors so this first leg will be a slugfest. Meanwhile, Dave keeps flirting with the girls in a good-natured dad way and bets he’s older than their dad. Turns out he is, as their dad is 55 and Dave’s about to turn 60. The Twinnies joke Dave is definitely faster than their dad though as he’s nowhere near in as good a shape. Connor tells us he knows the Twinnies have a certain reputation but so far, they’ve been really nice and he looks forward to getting to know them. Dave does joke though that he isn’t going to leave any money around (referring to the Twinnies’ “theft” of the rockers’ dropped money in that previous season).
Princess Rachel: In the LAX parking lot, Rachel reviews the contents of their baggage and ensures it’s all there. Brendon opens the trunk of the car as Rachel happily exclaims that she feels like a princess as her “hubby” is carrying all the bags and is driving her around. Rachel also explains that they’ve strategized that since Brendon is the stronger and faster of the team, they’d only bring one big bag containing their stuff. She’ll only have to carry a tiny camelbak and a fanny pack. Brendon seems up for the challenge…for now.
Inner Goddesses: While the Country Girls drive on the 405 towards LAX, Caroline and Jennifer both feel calmer thus far on the race than the last experience. Caroline mentions something about their inner calm goddesses coming out and Jennifer can’t believe this is coming up. Caroline proclaims Jennifer is “Goddess Guinevere” while Jennifer explains she has no idea where this whole concept is coming from as Caroline brought it up just two nights ago. Caroline expects Guinevere to be present a lot this race and reveals that she has a Goddess Sophia inside her. Jennifer figures since Guinevere is associated with magic, hopefully some of that will rub off on them.
Bikes Meet Broncos: At LAX, Dave & Connor (Bikes?) introduce themselves to Jet & Cord (Broncos, or Cowboys…which is it, CBS?). They make some smalltalk as Jet points out this isn’t Connor’s first race experience because he has experience in professional cycling. Dave is impressed by what Jet & Cord do in the rodeo and Jet explains that all he has to do is last 8 seconds. The initial smalltalk seems to fade away and Jet suggests they all head to the gate.
Meet and Greet: The Globetrotters enthusiastically meet up with and hug all the other teams, which then seems to cause a big hugfest amongst all the teams as it’s the first relaxed moment they’ve had all together. There’s joking around (Leo offers Jamal to one of the Twinnies since he’s single), singing (Leo & Jamal sing the Country Girls’ Amazing Race song to them), and more. In what is clearly a deleted scene, we get scored footage of the first flight’s boarding with the Afghanimals, the Twinnies, Dave & Connor and the Cowboys. (Shit – I recapped that only three teams made it on the first flight! D’oh!) The Twinnies joke to the camera that the Afghanimals really suck at racing but of course Jamal can totally hear them and gives them some appropriate sass.
Hard to Say Goodbye: While driving to LAX, Rachel tells Brendon that it’s crazy that Mallory is in the race. They’re both shocked at the suddenness of Bopper’s departure from the race, as he was almost like family as he’s been present in much of their non-race life and is truly a good friend. It was disheartening and sad to both to see their friend lose the opportunity to do the race, something he loved immensely.
The Moneymakers: Leo & Jamal are thinking ahead and are asking for donations from other travelers at a hotel right outside of LAX. People are actually giving them money to the tune of $135. They’ve effectively doubled the money that they started with on this leg. Leo thinks that it’s likely the other teams are going to accuse them of being sneaky especially since they’re not at LAX socializing. He figures it may be good to not be too socially involved and let the other teams have their drama. Jamal thinks you can see this behavior as either smart or sneaky, but either way it’s who they are.
The Big Plan: Back at the first challenge at UCLA, Luke tells us that no sooner had they started that he and Margie got separated. After about a minute of searching for her, he found her and almost immediately after that found a matching hat. Margie counters that they got split up because Luke ran right off in conflict with their plan for this season of racing in calmer fashion. Luke realizes he did mess up and figures everything happens for a reason, which earns him a huge eyeroll from mom. When Margie asks if Luke has learned anything from this error, he blames her for not keeping up with him. They both agree that tomorrow will be a better day for sticking with the plan, even if it means he has to drag her along by the hand.
At the Pit Stop with Phil
Twinnies’ Bubble Burst – Twinnies/Last Place: Phil asks how the Twinnies were towards each other and they admit they were terrible. It was worse than normal and their worst moment was in the ferris wheel. They couldn’t stop blaming each other. Natalie asks if there is going to be a leg in Sri Lanka but Phil tells her that he can’t give away any later info. The Twinnies then beg for a second chance and Phil reminds them that this was their second chance! They both joke that they wish they could just jump in the river to end this terrible day.
Phil is sorry to see the girls go as he expected them to bring the fireworks to this race. He’s curious what they’re going to do immediately afterwards and if it will involve screaming some more. They both know that there’s no point in doing that since the race is over. Natalie can’t tell if it’s harder to be eliminated first or eliminated right before the finale (like they were last time).
Cool Like Cucumbers – John & Jessica/8th, Caroline & Jennifer/9th: Phil points out to these two teams that there are some superstar teams this season but Caroline wonders if Phil is trying to intimidate them as she is NOT intimidated. He points out that the two teams here are the most chill of the teams racing. Caroline reminds Phil that a professional competitor knows how to stay cool as a cucumber in the midst of the game.
Phil asks for the Country Girls to remind who else is racing from Season 22, as like I’ve pointed out, at least half the teams racing are from that season. He also asks if they’ve composed a new song for this season, which they happily try to sing but Jennifer keeps cutting Caroline off as she sings the song wrong. Phil seems to remember this happening the last time too. Eventually, they get it together and they sound really really good. John & Jessica look on awkwardly although Phil points out that it seemed John was dancing along. Jessica even twerks a little per the Country Girls’ request.
A Familiar Spot – Joey & Meghan/10th: Phil asks if Joey & Meghan are glad to be back, but also wants to know if they’re aware that they’re racing against very fierce competitors. They’re definitely aware and they’re okay with being in the back of the pack for now, as they were in that position a lot in their first season and it keeps them constantly racing hard.
When asked what they think about the leg so far, Joey thinks it’s been one of the most insane legs thus far, even from the very beginning. They were running around like a chicken with its head cut off this whole time. As for their competition, Joey & Meghan are most worried about Dave & Connor. They competed in their first season and never saw them, even with one of them in crutches. And again, they’re crushing it. They also are weary of the Cowboys as they may not look like they can race, but they are sneaky and get things done. Phil asks if they’ll suck up for the Express Pass – Joey thinks they should but Meghan reasons they didn’t need it their first season, they don’t need it now.
A Different Race – John & Jessica/8th: Phil asks John & Jessica what they thought when they found out they had another shot at the race. Jessica was excited to get to do the challenges again and is fine with being in the back of the pack for now as it’s all about the experience and visiting foreign lands. Phil asks how the communication has improved since last time: John pledges to work as a team and this time, Jessica will call the shots while he surveys the scene and support her. Can’t be any worse than their elimination leg last time!
What’s In a Name? – Leo & Jamal/5th: Phil asks about the origin of their nickname, “The Afghanimals”. Leo explains that it originated from when screennames were all the rage and it kinda stuck. The name also applies as it does reflect their approach to the game – it’s not about being a beast, but being able to adapt to any situation like a smart animal. Phil asks about representing their home country. Jamal tells him that because their parents emigrated from Afghanistan and yet they were raised in America, they have a respect for both heritages. It’s also a pleasure to be considered an All-Star and to have had such a positive response from the viewers. They also recognize their competition as intense and the “biggest winners of losers of the Amazing Race.” Ha!
The Brenchels on the Mat – Brendon & Rachel/2nd: Video didn’t seem to work. Boo.
Cord, The Auctioneer – Jet & Cord/1st: Phil hands Jet & Cord their Express Passes and asks if they know who they’ll hand over the 2nd pass to. They don’t know yet, but Phil’s heard a rumor that perhaps they’re going to auction it off. Phil clearly wants to hear some of that fast-talkin’ magic, so Cord rattles off an impressive stream of it to him. Phil is excited now and pretends to bid $10 which Jet laughs at. Cord gets into it now though and starts off a true auctioneering spiel, starting the bidding at $100 this time.
After the Race
Becoming a Team: In an “After the Race” clip, it’s clear that Mallory & Mark still have some work to do to properly gel. Mallory worries that she has to fill the role her dad played in terms of navigating while Mark lets her know that he’s actually pretty good at that as well. As he’s making his case, Mallory’s face says it all, in that she’s not sold on Mark’s skills just yet. Both recognize that they have to build trust but they’re not there yet.
Mark wants Mallory to give him a chance and not feel like she has to do 200% of the work, but she responds that he hasn’t really stepped up to want to take leadership of certain aspects. Mark tells her that he won’t be able to ever yell or shout at a pretty girl like her as it’s not in his nature to do so. He never wants to hurt her feelings. It’s clear that Mallory isn’t expecting to be treated like a princess but Mark is stating plainly that he won’t lay the law down.
Mark jokes that when it was just him & Bopper, they were two dumb southern boys. Mallory shakes her head at that assessment, but Mark continues that now he has a smart partner and doesn’t know how to deal with that. That gets a big laugh out of Mallory.
Links:
Leg 1 Recap | Leg 1 Bonus Clips
Leg 2 Recap | Leg 2 Bonus Clips
Leg 3 Recap | Leg 3 Bonus Clips
Leg 4 Recap
Leg 5 Recap
Leg 6 Recap | Leg 6 Bonus Clips
Leg 7 Recap
Leg 8 Recap | Leg 8 Bonus Clips
Leg 9 Recap
Leg 10 Recap
Leg 11 Recap | Leg 11 Bonus Clips
Leg 12 Recap