The Amazing Race 20 Secret Scenes, Episode 2: Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

During this second leg, the true, exhausting nature of the race came shining through for most of the teams, yet all of them decided to buck up and face the challenge head on.  Whether it was Dave sticking to the math problem or Nary & Jamie facing elimination, they kept positive, even if one was eliminated and one was rewarded with a race miracle.  Meanwhile, Vanessa wishes that real life came with an Amazing Race editor to cut out all the traveling and Andrew & Elliot (pictured) recover at the leg start from a potentially race-ending blunder!  Read on to find out more!

Extra Race Footage

Featured Team:  Rachel & Dave

Rachel Gets Burned:  As Rachel & Dave wait for their water to boil, Dave digs through his bag for some sunscreen as Rachel is apparently “allergic to sun.”  Suddenly Rachel realizes her hands are all cut up from their work assembling the solar panels.  Dave starts feeling the solar panel surfaces and notices that they’re not even hot.  Rachel heads to the back of the structure and as soon as she touches the teapot, her hand sizzles upon contact and she screams out in pain.  She can’t believe that whatever Dave was touching wasn’t hot!  She prevents him from touching it too while also dancing around trying to minimize the pain of the burn.  Dave can’t get over the fact that the panels themselves weren’t hot but still laughs that Rachel would go and touch the stove.  He figures that maybe the burn was good as it could have cauterized the cuts on her hands.  Rachel isn’t buying it.

Featured Team:  Art & JJ

Art & JJ’s Common Bond:  JJ explains that “Major Dave” is not only an Army officer but also in the National Guard.  Their border patrol unit also has plenty of National Guard members in it.  They have nothing but respect for military folk, including Army, Navy & Marines.  Hello, what about Air Force (which I am a veteran of) or the Coast Guard?  Art tells us that what they do as border agents is key to preserving and protecting the American way of life and their goals are one and the same with those in the military.  JJ also believes that he & Art think critically about things the same way that Dave & Rachel do.  I’m not sure how to interpret that since how could you possibly know that after only three or four days together?

Featured Team:  Art & JJ

Shout Out For Big Love:  As Art & JJ drive away from their successful donkey Detour, Art tells us that they named their donkey “Big Love.”  That name came from somebody they know who is just as stubborn and looks like the donkey, although he definitely doesn’t have as much hair as it.   After finding out that the donkey didn’t have a name, JJ thought it would be nice to bring something from home and apply it here.  The name or the association seemed to resonate with the donkey as much like their Big Love from home, if you whistled at him that seemed to get him moving.  JJ is surprised that the people didn’t name their donkeys but Art believes the locals have more pressing issues than naming donkeys.  JJ also liked the lady at the end of the challenge and actually understood most of her Spanish.

Featured Team:  Vanessa & Ralph

Vanessa’s One Complaint:  Vanessa mentions that if she could have one thing, it would be the ability to teleport immediately to her destination.  Ralph can’t figure out why she wanted to be on The Amazing Race then.  She jokes that the show is edited that way where people just show up where they need to be, and that’s how she wants her life to be at the moment.  She needs an editor and producer for her life.   Ralph gives her a hard time about this and Vanessa admits that she loves being in new places, but hates the “getting there.”  Her first example is 20-hour bus rides and the fact that they’re not her thing.  Ralph points out that she slept through the entire ride so how would she know?  She laughs and admits she’s grateful for the sleep.

Ralph wishes there was a pill to make Vanessa run faster.  She insists she’s faster now than she was the first day but Ralph isn’t so sure. Vanessa directs her attention back to the task at hand and hopes that their taxi driver is going the right way.  Ralph is mostly sure that they are and that Vanessa is freaking out about things.  She reminds him that it was his idea to bring her on a race when he knew full well that she is always late for things and also freaks out about every single thing.  Vanessa considers it being detail-oriented while Ralph just laughs.  

Featured Team:  Kerri & Stacy

Kerri’s Pit Stop:  Stacy is waiting out on some patio and tells us that they had to stop on their way to the bus terminal because Kerri needed a potty break.  Stacy is mostly smiles but admits she wishes Kerri could hold it like a big girl as they are losing time.  It’s the second day in a row they’ve stopped when time has been an issue and always at the worst possible time.  This frustration isn’t new though as Stacy tells us that their relationship is just like sisters, with both the good and the bad.  So if Kerry doesn’t hurry up out of the bathroom, they’re going to fight like sisters soon.  She hears a door close finally and Kerry appears around the corner, telling Stacy that she heard everything Kerry said.

Featured Team:  Elliot & Andrew

Andrew’s Long Bus Ride:  On the 20-hour bus ride, Elliot talks to us about Andrew not feeling well.  Andrew is noticeably trying to sleep but not succeeding.  They’ve been on the bus for a few hours and Elliot has noticed that Andrew’s body is just falling apart and not getting any better.  It’s not clear what exactly is wrong, but Elliot admits he doesn’t like seeing his brother having problems.  He wants to see color in his brother’s face again.

Flash forward to daylight in the bus and Andrew tells us that he seems to be feeling better.  He got some sleep last night and is determined not to give up.  The uncertainty of where they are compared to other teams has also been heavy on his mind and the broken window issue didn’t help at all.  Andrew tells us that last night he had the shakes and every single symptom you could think of but with some sleep and some aspirin, he’s doing better.  He just hopes that he keeps getting better as he isn’t going to give up.  

Featured Team:  Elliot & Andrew

Twins’ Lost & Found:  At the Starting Line, Elliot tells us that at the previous leg’s Pit Stop, they misplaced their car keys.  They think they left them on a table when washing their hands before making empanadas.  Andrews admits it wasn’t a great way to start the next leg as they have to search and find the keys.  Elliot refuses to let this bring them down and pledges to carry on.  Once their leg starts, they open the clue, reading the details (they get $344 for this leg) informing them that until further notice, they are self-driving.  Now they are off to try to find their car keys since it’s clear they still need to drive.  As they run through the villa de empanadas, it is cool to see what the aftermath of a challenge looks like.  It’s mostly cleaned up but you can still see a few tables here and there where the empananda madness occurred.  (Un)surprisingly, their keys are exactly where they left them, which was a pillar right near the empanada table.  The brothers happily run off to truly start the leg.

Featured Team:  Dave & Cherie

Dave Cannot Calculate:  At the cattle Roadblock, Dave is all alone and confesses he is having major difficulties with the math.  He recognizes it’s simple division but it’s been a long time since he’s actually had to do it.  He refuses to give up and will keep plugging away until he gets it.  Dave is sure that Cherie is frustrated as she’s the math-minded member of the family and could have breezed through this.  He knows that this is a teachable moment to all the kids out there:  learn math!

Featured Team:  Joey “Fitness” & Danny

Danny’s Guide to Dating:  Danny explains that New Yorkers never want to be last, so they’ll always ensure they’re first in food or at a club.  He hesitates a second and corrects himself, noting that New Yorkers don’t get to a club too early.  Joey points out that Danny also runs through girls super fast, which Danny takes a little offense.  Joey has a girlfriend and asks what Danny’s status is.  It’s “single and ready to mingle.”  He admits to having two girlfriends at the moment.  What a winner.  Danny explains that having multiple girlfriends is a lot less stress and that Joey is just jealous.  Danny bets he can get more girls now that they’ll have seen him make empanadas and he can wine and dine them at home.  Joey jokes about Danny’s inability to pick the girls up in a stick shift car although Danny points out that he can go forward, just not in reverse.

Featured Team:  Joey “Fitness” & Danny

No Shame in Asking:  Joey admits that they were concerned about not being able to use a GPS but so far, they’ve been able to get by by asking locals for directions.  Danny is proud of being a typical guy and not asking for directions but knows that there is no place for that mindset in The Amazing Race.  Joey isn’t willing to lose ground just because they refuse to ask for directions.  They’re determined to not make any more mistakes even if their first leg was pretty dismal.  Joey is shooting for a top 5 or top 6 finish and is pretty confident they’ve got that in the bag.

Featured Team:  Brendon & Rachel

A World of Difference:  At the Starting Line, Rachel explains that The Amazing Race is totally different than Big Brother, as you’re always on the move and there’s always stress, but fortunately it’s not emotional stress like in BB.  She’s glad that you don’t have to play that social game and there’s no stress over getting evicted, but even with all that out, the race is tougher.  Brendon agrees but the race is tougher as they are exhausted.  You never see that aspect of the show as everyone looks happy but all Brendon wants is to just get a chance to sleep.  They actually did get to sleep in a real bed last night and even though it was only for four hours, it was glorious.  Rachel misses the plentiful Big Brother sleep hours.

Featured Team:  Nary & Jamie

Nary & Jamie’s ‘Last’ Ride:  In their cab to the Pit Stop, Nary tells Jamie that she was delayed as she kept doing the math wrong.  Jamie didn’t notice that Nary took long but Nary is nevertheless upset at how long it took.  Nary remains frustrated as it took her five tries, even calling herself idiot.  Jamie keeps reassuring her that it’s great as she got the answer despite all the crazy things happening around her.  Oh, no I understand why Nary is upset, as she was last to leave after Kerri & Stacy and they knew they were on the last bus and had no idea about the broken window in the second bus.  Nary believes they’re in last place.

To further reinforce where Nary & Jamie are mentally, Jamie is giving her how-much-I’ve-learned-on-the-race speech to us.  Jamie is proud of how tough they’ve been despite being utterly exhausted.  Jamie happily continues that they’ve also enjoyed meeting the other teams while Nary looks pretty pissed.  Jamie is thrilled to have had this journey as that is what life is all about, and I wonder how close Nary is to smacking her.  

Featured Team:  Bopper & Mark

Kentucky on Their Minds:  At the Starting Line, Bopper & Mark tell us that when they were at the Pit Stop of the previous leg, all they could think of was their families back home in Kentucky.  Life is all about family and even though they are having a good time on the race, their kids aren’t and don’t get to experience all this travel.  When their families finally get to see this on television, they’ll know that Bopper & Mark spent the entire race thinking about them.  Mark explains that their families are the only reason they have to be on the race.  It’s also Mark’s 17-year-old daughter’s birthday today.  Bopper doesn’t care how big the obstacles are in front of them, they’ll plow through it.

 At the Pit Stop

Featured Team:  Dave & Cherie (eliminated)

Clowns’ Farewell:   Phil chastises Dave & Cherie for not having the confidence to succeed from the beginning of the race.  Dave isn’t sure he agrees and thinks it was about not understanding the wrong turns they made and learning from them.  Cherie tells Phil that she usually underestimates and then overperforms, but when they got in the second bus she allowed herself to get confident and bam, the broken window incident occurs and now they have to scramble.

Phil won’t let them off the hook and asks if they were immediately intimidated when they first saw the other teams.  Dave admits that there was a little bit of that for him and Cherie knows that they never would have won a footrace against most of the others.  Cherie counted on making good decisions and thinking cleverly to beat the others.  She never counted herself & Dave out though based purely on the other teams seemingly looking better suited to The Amazing Race.  

Phil is happy to note that they worked well together and are overall happy.  Were they happy to have been on the race?  Dave confesses that while on the skydiving Roadblock, he wasn’t ever scared, rather, he was enthralled with the knowledge that so many events in his life had to go just right for him to be at this exact place and moment.  It was exciting and he was so thankful to be so fortunate.  

Featured Team:  Elliot & Andrew (9th place)

Determined Twins:   Phil is worried about Elliot & Andrew, as while he knows they’re determined, they’re at the very back of the pack.  Andrew doesn’t think that their placement means anything.  Elliot tells Phil about their bus’ broken window problem and that their bus ended up making more stops than they expected.  That time delay hurt them but they expect that they will perform better on the next leg.  Andrew thinks that they can improve by paying more attention to detail as even at the cattle challenge, he ran right past the challenge.  Seconds matter and he knows that every little bit of smart racing helps.  Andrew’s goal for the next leg is to finish in the front of the pack.

Featured Team:  Vanessa & Ralph (7th place)

Vanessa’s First Bus Ride:   Vanessa tells Phil about their disastrous bus ride and the broken window.  She thinks the twins (Elliot & Andrew) were lucky as it was their seat window which shattered yet luckily they are okay.  Ralph was amused at the cardboard and duct tape solution to fixing the window.  The worst part for both was that the bus had to make four or five more steps, each one taking 20 minutes or so.  Vanessa admits that it was her first bus ride and found the experience crazy and not something she anticipates doing again.  Phil asks why, and Vanessa explains that it was a bit cramped and the ticketseller was mean.  She was happy that she got to sleep though.  They kept getting fed on the bus too, and suddenly Vanessa reconsiders bus travel.

Featured Team:  Nary & Jamie (6th place)

Nary & Jamie’s Close Call:   Phil asks about their experience thinking that they were in last place and racing against another team to stay in it.  Nary responds that she & Jamie kept focused and refused to stop competing, no matter what.  Phil points out that in the last leg, they came in confident but now it has come down to this one-on-one competition.  Jamie recognizes that in that kind of situation, one wrong mistake can possibly set you back hours.  Your bus might be an express bus or it may make tons of local stops, and that unlucky choice could make all the difference.  It’s this unpredictability that Jamie thinks is what makes The Amazing Race what it is.

Featured Team:  Brendon & Rachel (4th place)

Brendon & Rachel’s Big Plans:   Phil asks if it’s true that Brendon & Rachel got help from Bopper & Mark.  Both enthusiastically says yes and that Bopper & Mark are genuine guys.  The love of their families is what really touched Rachel’s heart.  Phil knows why Bopper & Mark are doing the race (in order to help their families), but he asks why Brendon & Rachel are here.  Rachel of course declares it’s because they’re getting married and that the money will be for their future, such as buying a house and having babies.  Brendon wants to use the money to open a low-cost imaging center so that people in third-world countries can have access to such medical technology.

Featured Team:  Art & JJ (2nd place)

The Shower Curtain Salesmen:   Phil is surprised to learn that Art & JJ revealed to everyone else what they do for a living as he thinks it could reveal their strengths.  Art doesn’t think people actually know their skillsets really are as no one really knows what it is they do as border agents.  Phil figures they’ll keep their true skillsets on the down low and let people assume they stand in guardposts all day looking for border crossers.

Art tells Phil that he wanted to come up with a cover identity of being a shower curtain salesman but JJ wasn’t going to let him.  JJ tells Phil that Art was still coming up with fake careers all the way up till the race started, including spy, bus driver, and curb painter.  JJ is happy to have been honest though as people will be intimidated by he & JJ being in law enforcement.  Other teams may get nervous when they’re around  which throws them off their game.  Art mentions that the other teams call them the middle-aged guys and Phil takes offense, as that means he’s an “old” guy too.

After the Race

Featured Team:  Dave & Cherie

Clowns’ Final Bow:    Dave is proud of himself for not giving up on the Cattle Roadblock, despite all the math anxiety he was feeling.  He was able to put things in perspective and realize that he was just counting cattle and doing some simple long division.  It’s not a terrible situation or anything to flip out about.   Cherie was relieved that Dave wasn’t getting upset as she would have had a much tougher time of things as empathy would have kicked in.

Dave tells us that they’ve been through much worse (than math stress) in their lives as well as their 20 years of marriage.  The race has taught them that they’re not math wizards yet they are still very good clowns and good teammates.  Cherie is thankful for the chance to take on this amazing opportunity and Dave is also glad to have met the other teams.  They both look forward to continued new experiences in their future.  

Hobie Barnes lives in Santa Monica, California and can’t stop reading the Game of Thrones series of books.  He recently traveled to Turkey, Italy & Greece and can’t wait to see if the places he visited end up on this season of the race.  When not busy fighting the 405 and 101 freeways on the commute to Burbank, he is patiently waiting for an Amazing Race or Survivor scout to cast him!  He can be reached at <a href=”mailto:hobiewan76@gmail.com”>hobiewan76@gmail.com</a>.