The Amazing Race's First Episode: Luke & Margie #1

I don't recollect watching the first episode of a new The Amazing Race and quickly having a favorite who I want to win. But this time I do. Luke and his mom, Margie Adams.

Luke and Margie got to the first Pit Stop first, where Phil let them know they were Team #1 by using sign language. If you watched you already know, if you didn't I'll tell you, Luke is the first deaf person to be on The Amazing Race.

Luke's mom talks to him with sign language. The other teams think this may give them an advantage. It sure did not seem as if Luke's "handicap" was much of a handicap for him.

After the teams arrived at the Los Alamitos training base, via Marine helicopters, they got their first clue, telling them to travel to Locarno, Switzerland. There was a little airport drama at LAX with the teams having to choose between 2 flights, one going to Zurich, arriving earlier with a longer train ride to Locarno, the other landing in Milan with a shorter train ride to Locarno.

The Swiss scenery made me want to go to Switzerland. The couple who eventually ended up getting eliminated, Preston and Jennifer, turned out to be this Amazing Race's first bickering couple. Bickering never works out well on The Amazing Race. The pair became befuddled looking for the train station, getting on a later train than anyone else.

The next bickerers were Steve and Linda. Steve nagged Linda about being too slow, putting them in last place.

The first Roadblock of the race was a doozy. A 70 story bungee jump off the second highest dam in the world. The jumpers were pretty nervous and scared, for the most part. The first to jump was Victor of the Victor/Tammy brother/sister team.

After bungee jumping the next clue told the racers to travel by train to the town of Interlaken and find Kleine Rugen Wiese. When they found Kleine Rugen Wiese the racers learned they had to haul 200 pounds of cheese in the form of 50 pound rounds, down a steep hill. Sounded easy enough, but it turned out to be difficult. And amusing. Particularly to the group of Swiss natives laughing at the struggling teams.

Luke and Margie and Victor and Tammy finished delivering their cheese and got the clue directing them to the Pitstop in the town of Stechelberg, where they had to find the last postal stop. Margie heard the yodelers before Victor and Tammy did, which had Luke and Margie first on the mat, with Phil speaking in sign language.

Great first episode.