SCan's Amazing Race Ep. 1 Recap

Here is a recap of the teams:

1. Andy and Tommy (CS): snowboarders, now pro, once Olympians, always stoners

2. Ethan and Jenna (SL & JJ): both "Survivor" winners (who seem to think they can conceal that from the other players, as if competitors on one reality TV show haven't watched other reality TV shows).

3. Laurence and Zac (KCar): father and son. In 2009, Zac became the youngest person to sail around the world solo.

4. Ernie and Cindy (AM & LF): recently engaged.

5. Justin and Jennifer (JM/SCoo): brother and sister (who bicker). Jennifer is mean to Justin.

6. Bill and Cathi (BD & DS): long-married grandparents who are farmers and used to be educators.

7. Liz and Marie (KCoo & MR): twin blonds. "We don't even literally have to talk to each other," one says.

8. Jeremy and Sandy (BH & KW): dating now, but they don't cohabitate.

9. Ron and Bill (MO): domestic partners who are flight attendants.

10. Marcus and Amani (KA): a former NFL player and his wife. He is evasive about his former football career, except when he's talking to the camera, when he readily points out that he used to guard Peyton Manning.

11. Kaylanie and Lisa (SCan): former Las Vegas showgirls who look freakishly similar for people who aren't related.

The last team to finish the first challenge-- Kaylani and Lisa -- got a new penalty (called a Hazard) that gave them an additional task to be completed in the first leg of the race.

Before the teams got on the plane to their first destination-Taipei, Taiwan- word got around that Ethan and Jenna had both won "Survivor.” Knowing that meant they had won a million dollars each, someone called them "greedy."

Meanwhile, Kaylani, out to prove showgirls can be smart too, dropped her passport at a gas station and drove away, oblivious. Once she realized the passport was gone and she couldn’t race without it, Kaylani declared she was “seriously gonna vomit all over the place.”

Luckily, a passerby who was asked by another team how to get to the airport picked the passport up and tweeted what had happened. A fan of the show urged him to bring the passport to LAX, and he did (this all seems a little too convenient for me).

Once in Taipei, Bill and Cathi fell deeply behind, competing only with the two two-girl teams. Bill and Cathi apparently are firm believers in “slow but steady wins the race” because they never hurried or ran or even walked quickly.

The blondes had a terrible time with the challenge -listening to a phrase, then walking across a square and repeating it, but eventually finished ahead of Bill and Cathi, who were slowly touring Taipei.

The showgirls easily completed their hazard, which turned out to be bungee jumping in a big mall. Kaylani, perhaps repentant about the whole passport fiasco, did the jump.

First to finish this leg were Ernie and Cindy. Last in were grandparents Bill and Cathi, but it was a non-elimination round, so they have another chance. But next round, for the first time on "The Amazing Race," will be a double elimination. If Bill and Cathi continue at their current staggering pace, they will surely be eliminated next week. They are probably still trying to complete the second leg.

~~SCan