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The 27th Season of The Amazing Race. The initial twist of this season was not only a Bait-and-Switch fast forward in the first leg, but a "transferrable" express pass which meant that a team who used an express pass in the race had to give it to another team. Apparently the producers were obviously taking notes regarding the difficulty of previous seasons and the ever-increasing presence of savvy teams and decided to hit them with even more challenges. Other changes included a leg with 2 Roadblocks and a Detour, 3 separate legs with U-Turns, a speed bump that required both team members to finish a Roadblock, and a finale which included not one, but three separate memory challenges. While the previous season was heavily criticized for its premise of dating and blind dating teams that ended up with a relatively boring season as the finished product, this season's cast was only slightly better. Despite the cast itself being rather uncompetitive, there were better interactions between the teams compared to the previous season. This allowed them to overcome an issue with 1 team dominating the entire season, and ended with a surprise finish for a team who was Out of Focus for pretty much the entire season. Overall this resulted in the race finishing on a better note than the previous one.
Kelsey Gerckens & Joey Buttitta
Dating News Anchors from Santa Monica, California. They started off slow, with eighth and seventh place finishes in the first two legs, but quickly became a fixture in the top four. Come leg 7, they would go on to finish second for five consecutive legs, always minutes behind the lead teams and becoming Justin and Diana's main threat after the Texas boys were eliminated. Though they usually kept smiles on their faces, being the only team in the top three that hadn't had instances of consistent bickering, they were very much of the This Is a Competition mindset, playing around with both sides of the Justin & Diana debate and using the second U-Turn on Tanner and Josh, even though they had a Speed Bump to complete. Though they were initially in third for the first part of the finale, they were the only team to keep their cab at the Roadblock, ushering an intrusive Logan and Chris out when they tried to steal it, and never lost their lead after that, finishing in first and winning the race.
- Always Second Best: They won 5 consecutive 2nd place finishes which, as the legs went on, would frustrate them to no end. Subverted for the final leg when taxi issues deep-sixed both Justin & Diana and Chris & Logan's games, allowing them to win.
- Always Someone Better: Kelsey and Joey regarded Justin & Diana as this, when coming in second place behind them three times.
- Beware the Quiet Ones:
- How Krista described them U-Turning Tanner & Josh.
- Joey said that if Logan and Chris did not leave the cab that was waiting for them in the finale, Joey was going to physically throw them out.
- Didn't See That Coming: Joey's reaction at the Pit Stop in Leg 11 to Justin & Diana's penalty. Even Phil Lampshaded this by saying this word-for-word.
- Drives Like Crazy: Kelsey according to Joey whether it would be a vehicle or a shopping cart which is why she was the navigator in the Ship Detour.
- The Good Guys Always Win: While all three teams could have been considered villains (as they too tried to manipulate the race to their advantage, leading to U-Turning Tanner & Josh), they were the only team in the finale who weren't always bickering at each other unlike Justin & Diana and Logan & Chris.
- History Repeats: The third Flawless Victory which had the winning team win no legs before the finale.
- Informed Attribute: Their alliance with Justin & Diana they claimed to have in leg 10, in leg 11 they were just as openly hostile to them as the other team had been to them all season.
- Out of Focus: Until the end.
- Underdogs Never Lose: They were underdogs relative to Justin & Diana.
Justin Schemans & Diana Bishop
Engaged from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Justin is known for creating a fake Amazing Race proposal that went viral on YouTube. They struggled on the first leg when they decided to go for a weather-dependent Fast Forward, but still survived to place ninth. From then on, they never fell below third place and went on to win a total of seven legs while setting a franchise record of 5 wins in a row. Naturally, this resulted in Justin getting more and more cocky as the race went on, gaining much hatred from their fellow teams. They would luck their way into the final 3 after a disasterous 11th leg in which they would survive a 55 minute penalty. However this momentum would not carry them in the finale as they would make a critical mistake in allowing their cab to leave them at the Fireman Training roadblock. The time it took to grab another cab was enough for Kelsey and Joey to just finish ahead of them, leaving them in 2nd place.
- Ascended Fanboy: Justin created an fake Amazing Race course that lasted 5,000 miles.
- Book Ends: Their only Reality Show Genre Blindness moments came on the first and last legs of the race. Each moment came with a serving of Manly Tears by Justin during that leg.
- Break the Haughty: The entire penultimate leg was this for them, culminating in them just barely beating out the cheerleaders. Justin went right back to being his cocky self before the final leg, and would be hit with this again when they finished second to Kelsey and Joey.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Diana has a knack for building furniture. This was ultimately subverted as while it did allow them to make up some time at the Adirondack challenge, it was not enough to overcome the deficit to Kelsey and Joey.
- Disaster Dominoes: The 11th leg saw them on the receiving end of a major change in luck for the worst thanks to two bad cabs. Subverted as they (barely) survived the leg.
- Epic Fail: The penultimate leg saw them make multiple mistakes with transportation that nearly saw them get eliminated from the Race in an embarrassing manner. First, they drove away from the end of their Detour, and their non-English speaking driver had to stop and ask for directions back when he drove them to a hotel on the other side of Hong Kong. Then their next cab driver misinterpreted their directions and took them to an incorrect ferry, which led to them receiving a 55 minute penalty upon reaching the Pit Stop. Had it not been for the cheerleaders struggling with the Roadblock and getting lost in Macau, they would have failed to reach the final three and been eliminated due to the 4-team final leg not returning from the previous two seasons.
- Failed a Spot Check: After completing the phone Detour in Hong Kong, they were supposed to take it to a shop just a few steps away. This was highlighted by a street sign that had the street they were looking for. Instead, they got in a cab with a driver who did not speak English and did not know what they were looking for, not only ruining their chances of winning the leg, but starting the dominoes falling to their near-elimination from the Race prior to the final leg.
- Failing a Taxi: During the finale, when they didn't pay their cab driver enough, he bailed on them after they completed the Roadblock. As they were located in an island that did not see regular cab service, they were forced to board a bus instead.
- Jerkass: Justin, especially to Diana when they argue about running the race the correct way, which was essentially his way. Most notable during the Drops Mic Detour in Paris which he wanted to do, but Diana wanted to do the Crab detour as she could not speak French. While they completed the Drops Mic detour fast enough, this cemented Justin's reputation as this trope.
- Keet: Justin tends to have very high-energy on the race. Especially seen in Leg 3 during his calling out at the Gaucho Roadblock and his dancing at the subsequent clue.
- Large Ham: Justin, again.
- Manly Tears:
- Justin after missing out on the Fast Forward and risking elimination in the first leg.
- Justin again during their disasterous 11th leg when Diana was struggling with the Swimming roadblock.
- Justin once more during the finale when they lost to Kelsey & Joey.
- Motor Mouth: Justin. Sense a pattern here?
- Oh, Crap!: Justin, when they were slapped with a 55-minute penalty in Leg 11. Even Phil lampshaded this to the other teams by saying "Didn't See That Coming, huh?"
- Read The Freaking Clue: Already behind due to their Failed a Spot Check moment during the detour, they asked a local to direct them to the Hong Kong Ferry to Macau. But the local (who probably didn't understand they were on the Race) gave them directions to the Kowloon Ferry claiming it was faster, Had Justin & Diana read the clue properly, they wouldn't have gone there and probably would not have had that 55 minute penalty. Given Krista's struggles with the subsequent Roadblock, they were likely safe regardless of where they went.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness:
- Despite being a superfan, Justin opted for the weather-dependent Fast Forward in Leg 1, which nearly cost them the race.
- They allowed their cab to leave at the Firefighting Roadblock in the finale, in a place where there were no cabs to be found, forcing them to find a bus back to Manhattan. This would essentially cost them the race.
- Satellite Character: Justin's Ascended Fanboy and Keet nature, as well as his rivalry with Tanner & Josh, put Diana in the background for most of the first half of the season. She would gain more characterization during the second half.
- Second Place Is for Losers:
- At the end of Leg 5, Justin stated that second place was the first loser.
- Their attitude during the finale highlighted by the fact that they won 7 legs but could not win the finale.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Justin, with Tanner & Josh. Once Tanner & Josh stopped dominating they took up as sole Spotlight-Stealing Squad.
- Tempting Fate: This started way back in Leg 9, when they won their 6th leg. They mentioned at the pit stop that they had a chance to beat Rachel & Dave's record for most wins in a season. And at the beginning of Leg 11, when they had a chance to at least tie the record, they stated that they were on track, only to suffer their worst leg since Leg 1. Finally during the finale, they mentioned that they were going to tie the record with Justin pretending to be Phil declaring them the winners of the Amazing Race.
- Villainous Breakdown: Justin during the last 2 legs, first when they were in danger of being eliminated in the 11th leg, and second during the finale when they were put behind after allowing their cab to leave.
Logan Fazio & Chris Gordon
Dating Paparazzi from Miami. Notable for their bickering, they ran at the back of the pack for most of the race, getting their first placement above fourth in Leg 9. Despite that, they still survived long enough to make it to the final three, surviving an unprecedented third U-Turn and winning the penultimate leg. This lead was all dashed when their cab left them at the Roadblock and Chris allowed Kelsey and Joey to reclaim their cab, despite Logan's being adamant that taking their cab was not against the rules. This was further worsened by the duo struggling at the lobster challenge and they eventually finished long after in third place.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- In Leg 5, they tried following Cindy and Rick to the Roadblock, neither team noticing the sign leading them there. This dropped them to the back of the pack.
- Again on Leg 6 when Logan was the only one to fail to spot the word Fraternite from an airplane, sending them into last place.
- Global Ignorance: Twice in the finale, first during the firefighting roadblock where Chris mixed up the African capitals (he got the capitals switched for Zambia and Zimbabwe), and again during the Lobster Trap task when they mixed up the flags and assumed that Africa was one country and one flag.
- Henpecked Husband: They may not be married, but Chris seems to be falling into this.
- Jerkass: Logan
- The Masochism Tango: At the finish line, they both said that their time on the race actually improved their relationship.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Logan would not shut up about Chris allowing Kelsey and Joey to reclaim their cab. When Chris asked if Logan was okay with finishing in third place, Logan rebutted that if Kelsey & Joey won the race, she would be even more upset.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Their fighting seems to get worse each leg.
- Tomboyish Name: Logan.
- Villainous Breakdown: Logan totally lost it when Chris got out of the cab when Kelsey & Joey confronted them.
Tiffany Chantell Torres & Krista DeBono
Friends. Tiffany is from Hoboken, New Jersey while Krista is from Staten Island, New York. They started off the race with everyone seeing them as little to no concern and were relatively Out of Focus until they teamed up with Spotlight-Stealing Squad Tanner & Josh. This allowed them getting more camera time eventually becoming the Decoy Protagonist of the season to Justin & Diana. Despite their consistently low placements and underdog status, they still got a very positive edit showing their determination and strength. Indeed, on three separate occasions, they were running in first only to suffer a setback that dropped them a few placements. On Leg 11, they were in a 3 way tie for first, only for Krista to struggle so badly on the swimming Roadblock, putting them behind Justin & Diana. While the Green Team would incur a 55 minute penalty for taking illegal transportation, Tiffany & Krista would have issues with a cab getting them lost, forcing them to get out to find another one. This would ultimately save Justin & Diana as Tiffany & Krista would check in just after the penalty time, leaving them in 4th place.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Krista being a speech pathologist, combined with both girls' showmanship skills as cheerleaders, allowed them to easily breeze through the Drop the Mic Detour option in Leg 6.
- Double subverted in Leg 7 when they were the only team to even try the Skip Detour and got it on the 2nd try.
- Down to the Last Play: They had the potential to knock Justin & Diana out of the race, but their cab driver got them horribly lost. Ultimately, they would finish minutes after Justin & Diana served out their penalty.
- Failed a Spot Check: In Leg 3, they picked the Carriage Detour, but after cleaning and delivering their cart to the assigned area, they had to return to where they picked up the cart because they left the whip back.
- Genki Girl: Both of them, particularly Krista.
- Global Ignorance: Krista thought Rotterdam was in Germany
- The Glomp: Krista after completing the Drop the Mic Detour to the task judge.
- Ms. Fanservice
- Squee: After finding out the Roadblock in Buenos Aries was a dancing task.
- Tempting Fate: After leaving the detour and making it to the ferry between Hong Kong and Macau in Leg 11, they stated that they were on the right track and were confident of making it to the finale.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: Ultimately they were eliminated because Krista wasn’t a good enough swimmer, even though there is always a swimming task and several have taken out teams before.
Denise Williams & James Earl Corley
Mother & Son from Alabama, hoping to repair their relationship after James Earl came out to his family. They started off the race strong, only falling below fourth once in the first five legs (which was due to a penalty) and being the first team to win a leg that was neither the Texas boys or the Green team. After that win, however, they fell to the back of the pack when Denise struggled with the Detour in France and never quite resurfaced after that. After finishing Leg 9 just ahead of Tanner & Josh, the next leg saw them starting far behind the rest of the pack without an equalizer to catch up as James Earl struggled to untangle the balloon net at the Roadblock. Despite Chris & Logan getting U-Turned, they were not able to recover and were subsequently eliminated in 5th place.
- Affectionate Nickname: Denise calls James Earl "Spud".
- Down to the Last Play: They finished just behind Chris & Logan.
- Failure Montage: Denise struggling to rap in french on the Drop the Mic Challenge.
- Out of Focus: Had the most interesting bio pre-race but the surprising lack of conflict led them to this, not even a Death in the Limelight.
- Unwanted Assistance: Denise couldn't keep herself from giving James Earl advice while he was performing the Roadblock in Leg 3, resulting in a penalty and a drop in position at the end of the leg.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: James Earl has said that he wants his mother's approval after coming out. Subverted when Denise has already come to terms with this.
- Expy: Duke and Lauren
Tanner Kloven & Josh Ahern
Best friends from Dallas. They started out strong, finishing in first and second for the first four legs and becoming Justin and Diana's main rivals. However, they got too overconfident and ended up taking their time on the later legs, allowing other teams to pass them. Their alliance with the Cheerleaders in Leg 8 resulted in their sacrificing a second-to-last place finish in that leg to their alliance mates, but they were luckily saved by a Non Elimination Leg. Alas, their difficult Speed Bump (which forced them to do a Roadblock twice) and their subsequent U-Turn led to their being eliminated anyway in the next leg in 6th place.
- The Casanova: They describe themselves as being popular with women and hope they can make alliances with all-female teams.
- Down to the Last Play: They allowed Tiffany & Krista to finish ahead of them in the 8th leg, leaving them in last. Subverted as it was a non-elimination leg.
- Foregone Conclusion: Their elimination. Because of the Speed Bump, you knew their elimination was coming even before Kelsey & Joey U-Turned them.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Tanner pulled his hamstring running to the second Pit Stop trying to beat Denise and James Earl and Logan and Chris, all because they didn't want to come below 2nd place.
- Graceful Loser: While they were pretty upset about Kelsey and Joey U-Turning them, they ultimately accepted their fate both during the Non Elimination Leg and the next leg where they were eliminated.
- Honor Before Reason: Tanner let Krista cut in front of him knowing they were fighting to avoid last place in the 8th leg. They would have been eliminated had it not been a non-elimination round, but this led to their elimination in the next leg thanks to the Speed Bump and Justin & Diana continuing their dominance of the race.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: See Reality Show Genre Blindness.
- Mr. Fanservice
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: They let the girls pass them on the previous leg. Come the next leg, they are seen as a threat, U-Turned, and eliminated in 6th place.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness:
- On a leg of a Double U-Turn where they planned to pull what Natalie & Nadiya pulled with the U-Turn back in Season 21, instead of using their Express Pass to bypass the Detour and guarantee their opportunity to U-Turn Justin & Diana, they used it on a first come first serve Roadblock. Predictably this backfired on them, not just because they struggled on the Detour but because the Detour was an equalizer allowing Justin & Diana to catch up.
- Again in Leg 7 when they didn't bother looking for an earlier train to Rotterdam while the other teams that were ahead of them did and went to sight-see around Paris instead.
- Real Men Love Jesus: Both openly talked about their relationship with God at the beginning of Leg 3.
- Second Place Is for Losers: They said in Leg 2 that if you're not in first you're in last.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: With Justin.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Kelsey and Joey U-turned them knowing that they had to complete a difficult Speed Bump and saw an opportunity to take them out.
- The Rival: They have openly discussed finding a way to eliminate Justin & Diana due to how annoying Justin comes across. They attempted this in Leg 4 by using the Express Pass on the Roadblock. This backfired when they hit an equalizer prior to the Detour and got passed up.
- Unskilled, but Strong
Cindy Chac & Rick Chac
Newlyweds from San Diego. Despite their intelligence and Rick's Ascended Fanboy status, they were an average team placing in the middle of the pack, with only once placement above fifth. When they got to Rotterdam they faced a series of mistakes involving transportation which would put them behind. While they still had a lead over Denise & James Earl, they would take the wrong tram leading to the pit stop, resulting in their elimination in 7th place.
- Ascended Fanboy: In their introductory video, Rick said he had been watching The Race since he was an student.
- Babies Ever After: Cindy said that their next step in their relationship was to start a family.
- Control Freak: Rick is said to be one in their last leg.
- Death in the Limelight: While they did get some camera time before their elimination, their last leg was the only one to give them in depth characterization.
- Failed a Spot Check:
- They lost a lot of time at the Carriage Detour in Leg 3, as they forgot to grab a whip before they arrived there, forcing them to return to the start of the detour.
- In Leg 5, they missed the sign for the Roadblock and drove away from it, dropping them and Logan and Chris (who tried following them) to the back of the pack.
- In Leg 7, they mistook Rotterdam for Amsterdam and while they were looking at their travel brochures trying to figure out where to go while the station sign that mentioned "Rotterdam" flashed by them. They would make an even bigger mistake getting on a tram to the pit stop and boarded a Route 9 tram instead of a Route 1 tram, which would end up taking them the wrong way from the pit stop and getting them eliminated.
- Graceful Loser: Despite having a horribly embarrassing elimination, they still managed to take their loss in stride and look at the benefits they got from their experience.
- Humiliation Conga: Their last leg consisted of mistaking Rotterdam for Amsterdam making them miss their stop, choosing the wrong train when they had the option to switch trains, waiting for a bus, taking the wrong tram, and getting eliminated.
- Malaproper: They mistook Rotterdam for Amsterdam.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: They decided to wait for a bus after completing the Detour in Rotterdam. This pushed them in a race to avoid last with Denise & James Earl who finished far behind everyone in the previous leg.
Jazmine Lewis & Danielle Littleton
Athletes from Los Angeles. After roller coaster placements in the first four legs, they would become victims of the Failed a Spot Check trope in Leg 5 when they failed to read their clue for the Lion Encounter properly challenge properly. This resulted in their missing the clue in the encounter and they ended up having to wait for the next tour, allowing the two teams that had been behind them at that point to pass them up and getting them out of the race in 8th place.
- Failed a Spot Check: A fatal example: they did not interpret one of their task clues properly, leading to them screwing up the lion encounter task and directly knocking them out of the competition; the show lampshaded this with #ReadYourClue.
- Before that, they also made the mistake of going directly into the area where racers had to put the fruit baskets on their head and walk all the way to the pitstop. They did not notice their mistake until they saw Phil, realizing they did something wrong and returning to properly read their clue, wasting even more time in the process.
- Global Ignorance: At the Zambia/Zimbabwe border they didn't know what country they were in, only that they were in Africa.
Ernest Phillips & Jin Lao
Brothers from Boston. Both of them were previously known for appearing in the first season of America's Best Dance Crew where they were the runners-up. Although they were fan favorites from the start, being the one team that could arguably put the prize money to its best use, they never placed above seventh and fell way behind in Leg 2, barely scraping ahead of the cousins. Alas, due to the lack of an equalizer in the third leg, their late check-in resulted in their never seeing another team and they were eliminated from the race in 9th place.
- All or Nothing: How they describe the need to win the race, win or go back to poverty.
- Foregone Conclusion: Their final leg, as they never saw another team despite several mistakes on the part of other teams.
- Sibling Team
Alex Manard & Adam Dingeman
Cousins from Chicago and Des Moines, Iowa, respectively. After a sixth place finish in the first leg, they fell to the back of the pack at the vertical tango Roadblock in Leg 2 due to Alex's fear of heights and poor coordination. Although they managed to finish and leave the Roadblock before Jazmine and Danielle, the athletes were able to get a taxi before them, and they finished in 10th.
- Brains and Brawn: Self-described in their intro video, with Adam the brains to Alex's brawn.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Alex's fear of heights caused him to struggle on the tango Roadblock, even though he was only about 3 feet off the ground
Kelly Berning & Shevonne Sullivan
TMZ editor and post production supervisor, respectively, from Los Angeles, California, who brought the vicious gossip that TMZ is known for to the race. Despite arriving at the Detour in Copacabana rather early, they got stuck on the slide puzzle and slowly fell to the back of the pack. By the time the women completed the puzzle, after almost four hours of trying, Phil had already arrived to eliminate them in 11th Place. Their Jerkass behavior has made them rival Ari & Staella for the most satisfying first elimination
- Bring It: They knew their co-workers would give them a lot of grief for being the first team to be eliminated, and they told them to "bring it on".
- Call It Karma: They wondered if Karma played an role in their elimination.
- History Repeats: Just like in The Amazing Race 2, This season's first leg taken place in Rio de Janeiro and resulted in an all female team being eliminated.
- Jerkass: Being TMZ workers, it was to be expected. Early on in their one leg, they made several gossipy and mean spirited comments about the other teams.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: They said they would never heard the end of this from their mostly male Co-Workers
- Self-Deprecation: Calling themselves the biggest losers of the race, mixed with a pinch of Call It Karma.
