On-Air Now
On-Air Now
Listen Live
,

The Amazing Race: Episode 3

By Tiff Wells.

The Amazing Race. A 33,000-mile trek around the world for a $1-millon grand prize starts in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Bowl. One of the eleven teams for Season 32 is comprised of a pair of Punahou School alums, brothers Riley (’07) and Maddison (’09) McKibbin. The professional volleyball players on the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals), more commonly known as “The Beard Brothers,” are also easily spotted throughout this season by the yellow shirts they wear. We’ve gone to Trinidad & Tobago. We’ve gone to Colombia. Now we’re headed to Brazil. 9 teams remain. Season 32 of The Amazing Race airs each Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. on KGMB. We here at ESPN Honolulu will follow their journey throughout the race with a Wednesday recap that looks back at the previous episode and previews what to expect for the upcoming episode.

Episode 3 (“We’re Makin’ Big Moves”) into a preview of episode 4 AND 5 – We left off with Riley and Maddison at the Parque Nacional in Colombia, third place out of 10 teams. Each episode is titled after a quote from one of the racers. We had said the title for episode two could have been “Read All of The Instructions.” Well, this also could have been the title for episode three.

How early is too early to form an alliance? When do you begin to fully place trust in teams?

Relationships seem to be established and there is a noticeable pact with the teams in the front. Are the Hawai`i boys too nice to the other racers? Have they placed their trust in the other teams too early in the race? Racing the fair and right way seems to be the strategy of the Beard Brothers…again, at least for now. Willing to exchange useful information with everyone, not just their alliance; they are friends with everyone. There is no giving of wrong information to the other teams. But with some other teams (mainly the Dating Couple, Will and James), there seems to be some thoughts of finding ways to get rid of a certain team or two.

We also know that as professional beach volleyball players, they’ve travelled the world, coming across many languages. Riley is fluent in Italian, understands and speaks some Spanish. He knows that Portuguese (language primarily spoken in Brazil) is basically a combo of the two. Always pay attention in your foreign language classes y’all! This proves to be useful as they enter the Mercado Municipal with this grocery list.

I know it can feel like a jungle (Manaus is known as the jungle city) when traveling to a new place. These guys are doing it with $1-million on the line. Having to navigate this market with a grocery list in a foreign language seems quite hard. I’m nervous for the guys as they wander through the market, but they seem to understand what the items are. Kindness and generosity of the McKibbin brothers is shown as they ask the locals for some help in locating a couple of the items instead of searching on their own. Guys asking for help? Who would have thought! It’s also nice that the alliance is sticking together. Whether it’s helping to locate an item in the market or to see what they are missing, for now, they are all in to help one another stay in the top half. It is easy to make friends and maintain those alliances when you’re in the top half.

Yes the boys forgot an item but watching the other groups unload their bag, they realize what they left out and quickly find it. We also see another test of the alliance when the Dating Couple (they are the ones that say the phrase that becomes the title of this episode) come back to where the dock manager was checking the brothers bag and with two machetes on the table, no sabotage here from Riley and Maddison as they politely tell the couple to take the machete, that it’s probably theirs.

Episodes 2 and 3 could have been called “Read All of The Instructions.”

Attention to detail is key.

Yes it’s a race, but they aren’t in a panic (like some of the racers). Reading the whole clue, taking their grocery bag with them, it’s proving to be quite vital. It’s also refreshing to see that even though it’s a race around the world for $1-million that while on the boat, they put things into perspective and take it all in. Travelling around the world, it’s special to take part in other cultures’ routines and daily lives.

They are having so much fun that they even give Chief Piñón a fist bump after he uses a blowgun to knock a clue down from a tree. You’re in front of a chief. I mean, why not give him a fist bump right? Also, how cool was it seeing a blowgun in use?

We see the alliance between the top and bottom half where some racers either take an item from someone else’s bag OR wait until they are a half hour or so into their boat ride to ask if they have their bag of groceries. Strategy, it’s always present. Sports fans know that come tournament time, you’re in survive and advance mode. Survive the leg, advance to the next leg of the race.

Paying attention to detail is always important and could be used as the title for every single episode. From weaving together babassu palm leaves and covering a portion of the chief’s new roof of his house to making a nutritional meal, steps must be followed to gain the chief’s approval. Really taking into account of the roof example on the house nearby, Riley and Maddison paid attention. From which way the leaves went to where rope was used, time was taken and the boys thought out the whole process, they effectively communicated with one another. Receiving approval from the chief, they get back on their boat to navigate the waters of the Rio Negro and find the Barco Correa Filho, the third pit stop of the race. The brothers stay in the top half, but drop a spot to fourth place. In the end, the Father and Son of Jerry and Frank are the third team eliminated.

Episode 4 is titled “Olé, Olé!.” Episode 5 is titled “You Don’t Strike Me as a Renaissance Man.” Yes, two episodes. That means…BACK TO BACK EPISODES! 2 STRAIGHT HOURS OF THE AMAZING RACE!!! In episode four, Riley and Maddison will make their way from Manaus, Brazil to Asunción, Paraguay. Finding the right taxi driver helps, right? Do you choose to stack a pyramid of watermelons or perform a traditional Paraguayan bottle dance? Do the brothers make it from Paraguay to France for Episode 5? If so, just how good are their cooking AND carnival skills? Find out who says the quotes for these two episodes TONIGHT at 7:00 AND 8:00 p.m. For more of a video preview, click here:

To follow along via social media, visit @AmazingRaceCBS and @TheMcKibbinBros on Twitter or you can head to Instagram to visit @theamazingrace or @themckibbinbros. You can also subscribe to their YouTube page by searching for The McKibbin Brothers.  

#          #          #