Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 6, Episode 1 – "My fingers are sticky from those dates."
The 6th season of The Amazing Race Australia begins in Melbourne at the Flemington Race Course. Beau welcomes the ten teams to the Starting Line where he tells them the ultimate winners will win the biggest prize in TARAu history: $250,000 cash and two brand new Isuzus: the D-MAX and MU-X.
After Beau wishes the teams race hard and safe, he flags them off and they run to their bags outside the track with the first clue telling teams to fly to Ouazazate in Morocco.
Teams hop into taxis and hurry to the airport. And upon arrival in Morocco, teams hop into more taxis to take them to Kasbah Tifoultoute. Here, teams must identify five different spices by taking a spoonful of each. When teams can identify the pepper, cumin, turmeric, ginger and paprika, they'll get the next clue.
Newlywed teachers Kelly & Georgia arrive first followed by engaged parents Chelsea & Jamus. Though you can spit out each spoonful of spice, Tammy swallows them.
Having a bit of trouble, Kelly & Georgia team-up with barista sisters Flick & Gabby and together are able to get the five spices.
The next clue reveals the Detour. Teams must head to Ouazazate Old Town to choose between In a Line or Off the Line. In In a Line, teams must identify five variety of dates by ordering them from cheapest to most expensive. When correct, they'll get the next clue. In Off the Line, teams must sort through a basket of laundry and identify each piece using local family nametags on each. After folding them into separate, neat piles, they will receive the next clue.
Flick & Gabby and Kelly & Georgia choose laundry while Chelsea & Jamus are close behind, but choose the dates.
Hubbies Pako & Mori overhear aunty & niece Tiffany & Cynthia's answers and just add their missing ones to their list. Dragon boat mums Jodie & Claire get the thumbs up next followed by country kids Fliss & Tottie. Scientific siblings Tammy & Vincent leave the spices in 8th with dating models Jake & Holly in 9th. That leaves dad and daughter brokers Paul & Rachel now in last.
Pako & Mori and Jodie & Claire arrive at the laundry and get started while Chelsea & Jamus are only just arriving at the dates. All the other teams choose the laundry as well. Though Paul & Rachel initially choose dates, they end up at the laundry location so they decide to do it instead.
Flick & Gabby ask for a check and get the thumbs up. The next clue reveals a Road Block: Who wants the starring role? For this Road Block, teams must head to Atlas Studios, one of the biggest film studios in the world. Here, they will become stuntmen. After mummifying themselves, they must complete a course that includes walking barefoot over hot coals, crossing a narrow beam with a spear, leaping through rings of fire before doing rolls on the ground and finally crashing through a brick wall… all within 45 seconds.
Tiffany & Cynthia leave the Detour in 2nd while Tammy & Vincent move up to 3rd. The scientific siblings manage to move ahead when the aunty & niece's cab is too slow.
Kelly & Georgia finish the Detour in 4th and run past Chelsea & Jamus, telling them the laundry is pretty easy so they can switch if they like. That is exactly what the Engaged Parents decide to do as they were getting nowhere with the dates.
The Barista Sisters arrive at the film studio and Flick gets started with the Road Block. Gabby helps Flick with the mummification as Tammy and Cynthia arrive and begin getting wrapped up as well. Georgia decides to do the Road Block between her and Kelly.
Flick gets doused with water and easily gets through the course on her first attempt with two seconds to spare.
After the Road Block, teams must find the sixteen Sphinx statues somewhere in the studio. They must decipher the riddle, "The King sits to the right of his brother and across from his sister. Below the King sits the rock that you seek." in order to locate the correct rock at the king's feet which they can exchange for a clue.
Meanwhile, Charles & Jamus and Fliss & Tottie are still at the laundry. The Country Kids are able to leave first between them. Pako & Mori lose some time when their taxi driver is nowhere to be seen.
Back at the Road Block, Scientific Siblings lose time by being too meticulous with the mummification. That allows Georgia to go for her first attempt through the course and she passes with three seconds left on her time. Tammy finally goes for her first attempt, but she takes too much time. Cynthia is the fastest so far with seven seconds to spare.
Rachel goes for her first attempt, but her bandages fall off and must go back to start again. She starts having anxiety and she rips the bandages off her body. Earlier while her father had been wrapping her up, she had pointed out how she was feeling choked with the bandages around her neck. Paul tries to comfort and encourage her.
Pako & Mori manage to move up to 4th after their "taxi debacle." But Jake has to fix his bandages after his first attempt.
After some time, Rachel decides she will not do the Road Block so she and Paul have to wait out a 30-minute penalty.
Meanwhile, Tammy finally passes through the course followed by Claire and Fliss. Chelsea uses her children as inspiration to overcome her fears and get through the course. Paul & Rachel finish their penalty and leave before Jake goes for his second attempt.
Pretty soon all teams are the Sphinxes. Barista Sisters, Newlywed Teachers and Hubbies decide to work together. Putting their heads together, they find the correct rocks and can now make their way to Ksar Ait Ben Haddou, the Pit Stop for this Leg. Tiffany & Cynthia also get the correct rocks and it's a four-team Race to the Mat.
Tammy & Vincent and Jodie & Claire are next to leave the Sphinxes followed by the Engaged Parents and the Country Kids who work together. Jake & Holly and Paul & Rachel are still trailing behind.
At the Pit Stop, Kelly & Georgia spot a flag and follow it. They cross the river and manage to step on the Mat just before Pako & Mori who go a different way. The Newlywed Teachers are Team #1 and win trip to a resort in Victoria.
Pako & Mori settle for 2nd followed by Flick & Gabby and Tiffany & Cynthia in 3rd and 4th, respectively. Scientific Siblings Tammy & Vincent are Team #5 and Jodie & Claire are Team #6.
Jake & Holly manage to move up to 7th. Fliss & Tottie are 8th and Chelsea & Jamus are 9th.
That means Paul & Rachel are last and eliminated. Beau gives them a hug and the Dad & Daughter Brokers head home.
Can we just stick with 10 teams at a time? Lol After last year's mess, this Leg and episode felt so normal and not-Network 10-like. Lol I really enjoyed it. And especially compared to the current TAR Canada's usual blandness as well.
The Leg seemed to be well designed considering teams appeared very close to each other all day. Either it's a well-designed Leg or just clever editing. lol
Seeing an Amazing Race running through a non-European (or Canadian!) country after so many years was also very refreshing. Another refreshing thing was seeing a Starting Line in Australia too after TARAu4 started in Seoul.
The first task with the spices was pretty good actually, especially with teams not even getting a list of spices or any clues. I think it should've just been a Road Block though since only one team member ended up doing it. If not, should've stipulated that each team member must take at least two spoonfuls.
Thank goodness though that this task wasn't on TAR32 or TARAu5. Because it is very much an alliance-ready spoonfeeding(!) the answer-type of task. At least the two teams that worked together each brought answers to put together.
The Detour was okay. I think a better task on the laundry side would've been teams actually doing laundry instead of just sorting.
The Road Block was excellent though. Of course, the only bad thing about tasks like this is that it's a first come, first served. So teams have to get in line. But it should move pretty quick considering it's only 45 seconds per team.
Now with the penalty, I was kind of shocked by the 30 minutes. The usual penalty for quitting a Road Block is four hours. And maybe some might argue that's too harsh. But I certainly think 30 minutes is too lenient. It opens up the possibility of teams just quitting tasks in the event it'll take less time to just quit than do a task. (Hello TAR Canada!)
I mean, I understand what Rachel was going through. But maybe even an hour would've been better? I dunno. I guess it doesn't matter since they were eliminated anyway. But we can't be sure this will be the only quitting we see during these 42 Legs.
The Sphinx riddle task scared me a little because it was definitely another alliance-ready task. Just go and tell your alliance mates which rock to pick up. I know TAR32 and TARAu5 would've done exactly that. But here, at the very least, teams were trying to figure it out together. Unless the show edited out where one team went for a check before going back to feed their friends the answer. I don't think they did that. And I'll just judge based on what's in the episode. So working together like this is DIFFERENT from the nonsense that was going on in TAR32 and TARAu5. Don't believe anyone that says otherwise. Lol
Finally, were teams supposed to follow a specific path to get to the Mat? Like there were flags, but teams went a different way. And then the clue mentioned a crossing at the river, but only a few teams actually went over that rock crossing while others just got in the water. So strange. Loose rules? That kind of annoys me, to be honest.
What might annoy me more is the fact that in Episode 3, we'll have to figure out how to manage 18 teams Racing at the same time! Yikes! At least when HaMerotz LaMillion did this twist first (yes TARAu, Israel did it first, not you! Lol), they only started with seven teams each so when they came together there was the usual 12.
We'll see how it plays out. But I still don't understand why we can't just have two back-to-back regular seasons instead lol
Elsewhere, I kind of like that they did not adopt the new minimalist lower-third graphics introduced on TAR33. And I like the new team ID box with the photos. It's a bit TAR China-ish and good.
I also have to express my love for the TARAu maps. It seems like the only thing Network 10 carried over from the original Seven TARAus.
Anyway, overall I very much enjoyed this premiere. It felt like normal TAR. And in the COVID Era, that's very welcome. Of course, things will get a bit not-normal soon. But for now, it's nice to enjoy something familiar.
My Subjective Team Thoughts
So all the teams were pretty good. A few definitely didn't get much screentime. Which then worries me about when we have 40… I mean, 18 teams on-screen. But we'll cross that Moroccan river when we get to it.
My early favorites are definitely Tammy & Vincent. They seem like a fun duo and I just immediately want to root for them. I also really like Flick & Gabby. I honestly had a first impression of them that did not match what they actually were. And I liked being surprised. They seem friendly, but competitive. So I can see them going very far.
I was also surprised by Jake & Holly. They bear a striking resemblance to a certain team from TARAu4. But they seem to be the complete opposites. So that's good. Seeing them struggle a bit and trailing was also a bit of a surprise.
Kelly & Georgia have definitely set themselves up as big contenders almost immediately. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain that through 62 Legs.
Chelsea & Jamus were definitely one of the stars of the episode. They got the fullest Race experience in one Leg of any of the teams. Pako & Mori are 50/50 for me. They look like they could be a strong team, but I don't know if I'll get too tired of their personalities. Lol
Paul & Rachel seemed like a nice father and daughter team. But I think it was their time to go, unfortunately.
I think Tiffany & Cynthia, Fliss & Tottie and Jodie & Claire got the least amount of screentime this episode. They disappeared for much of the Leg. And again, that worries me about Episode 3 and beyond. lol
Vincent: "What a time to be alive."
Paul: "Where's the Spice Girls when you need 'em?"
Tammy: "I hope I don't need to go to the toilet."
Rachel: "Are you trying to choke me?"
Jake: "Can you not zoom in so much on my manhood, sir?"
Georgia: "I think I broke my arm, but worth it."
Chelsea: "My fingers are sticky from those dates."
Gabby: "We can rest when we're dead."
The Amazing Race Australia 6
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