"Time to Destroy a Relationship"

**"Time to Destroy a Relationship"** is the first episode of Sleepy's Amazing Race: Blind Dates.

## Route Markers

   **Starting Line:** The race begins at Castaic Lake in Castaic, California, United States.

**Route Info:** At the Starting Line and only moments after first meeting each other, teams must run through a mud run obstacle course by the lakeshore. Once both members have finished the course, they may retrieve a ring that would contain tickets for their first destination: Tokyo, Japan. The first four teams will be on the first flight. The fifth and sixth teams will be on the second flight, arriving 45 minutes after the first. The bottom five teams will be on the last flight, arriving one hour after the first. The order that teams completed this challenge is as follows:

* Fuyu and Benny
* Cal and Edna
* Aaron and Nova
* Angie and Damien
* Vendetta and Morel
* Caspar and Evie
* Johona and Lynn
* Vera and Paloma
* Jeanne and Seth
* Camilo and Abi
* Diane and Cecilia

Once in Tokyo, teams must make their to Kanda Myōjin, where they'll find their next clue.

**Detour:** Syncing Steps or Samurai Sake

For Syncing Steps, teams must make their way to Shinjuku Central Park, where they must learn a series of synchronized "robotic" dance moves performed by members of World Order to the satisfaction of World Order leader Genki Sudo to receive their next clue. If they could not perform the steps properly, they must go to the back of the line before they are allowed to try again.

This task was chosen by Aaron and Nova, Cal and Edna, Camilo and Abi, and Vera and Paloma.

For Samurai Sake, teams must make their way to Nakano Sakaue Station Tavern, where they would be shown ten bottles of sake: *kanbe*, *michisakari*, *momokawa*, *nanbubijin*, *okunomatsu*, *shōchikubai*, *tōkō*, *tsukasabotan*, *yoshinogawa*, and *zaou*. One member must then take an order from a table of samurai, then relay the order to their partner, who must find the correct bottle from a much larger display of bottles. Once they have presented the correct sake bottle to the samurai, they would make a toast before receiving their next clue.

This task was chosen by Angie and Damien, Caspar and Evie, Diane and Cecilia, Fuyu and Benny, Jeanne and Seth, Johona and Lynn, and Vendetta and Morel.

**Double U-Turn:** Teams must make their way to Wakaba Higashi Park, where they would have the option to U-Turn another team, with two anonymous slots available. Johona and Lynn used the first slot to U-Turn Vendetta and Morel. Vendetta and Morel used the second slot to U-Turn Caspar and Evie.

**Pit Stop:** Teams must make their way to the Akihabara UDX Building and search around the vicinity of the building for a marked parking space for the Pit Stop to check in. The winning team won the Express Pass.

## Placements

### First Place

1st- Fuyu and Benny

Fuyu and Benny ran a really strong first leg. They were the first team to complete the opening challenge and were able to reach the Pit Stop in first place despite having three other teams ahead of them on the way there. They did have a pretty major advantage on this leg, though, as Fuyu is Japanese and speaks the language. This definitely gave them a major boost over the other teams as Japan has proven in past seasons to be quite difficult to navigate. For their first place finish, they won the Express Pass, which allows them to skip any single task on the first eight legs of The Race. They also made friends with Diane and Cecilia at the airport, which was kinda an alliance forming and also kinda just a friend group forming.
Obviously, The Race is not exactly an environment conducive to romance, but Fuyu and Benny got along well enough! Once they learn to trust each other, I think there could be some potential for a relationship.

### Second Place

2nd- Aaron and Nova

Aaron and Nova finished third in the opening challenge, and then stayed consistently in second place for literally the entire rest of the leg lol. They were far less consistent socially, as they found that they are not very compatible with each other or with the other teams. Aaron bothered everyone by being overly energetic and chaotic, while Nova bothered them by being stubbornly mystical and strange and also trying to convert people to Christianity. These social faux pas landed them a massive U-Turn target on their backs. However, through an alliance with the other hated team, Angie and Damien, and by totally crushing the Detour, they managed to avoid getting U-Turned and finished in second place.

### Third Place

3rd- Angie and Damien

Angie and Damien were another team that found themselves in hot water socially. When they first met, Angie called Damien handsome and he called her "an efficient worker." Damien then proceeded to bother all of the other teams by inserting himself in their conversations and starting arguments. Though Angie was well-liked by the other teams, they were still prime U-Turn targets. Abi even told Angie, "Girl, I love you but I'm gonna U-Turn Damien's sorry ass if given the opportunity." This lead Angie and Damien to make an alliance with the other most hated team, Aaron and Nova, which Aaron dubbed the Bad Bitches Alliance. Once in Japan, Angie and Damien were very successful and managed to avoid the U-Turn by being the very first team to reach it! They then finished the leg in third place, right behind their friends Aaron and Nova.

### Fourth Place

4th- Cal and Edna

Rounding out the top four teams is Cal and Edna! These top four teams were all on the first flight and had no troubles completing the leg, so they all ended up at the Pit Stop at practically the same time. Though there was a lot of drama with certain other teams in this top four, Cal and Edna ended up being uncontroversial enough to play both sides. They made an agreement with the Bad Bitches Alliance not to U-Turn them, but they also made an agreement with the teams that wanted to U-Turn the Bad Bitches Alliance. They ended up maintaining both of these bonds, as they didn't U-Turn the Bad Bitches, but they also didn't break their word to the other teams because the Bad Bitches reached the U-Turn before them. As for the non-social side of The Race, they proved to be strong physical competitors, finishing the opening mud run in second and completing the Syncing Steps Detour before the second flight had even landed.

### Fifth Place

5th- Johona and Lynn

Johona and Lynn ran a solid leg! They barely missed out on the second flight during the opening challenge and managed to make up a lot of time once in Tokyo. They notably U-Turned Vendetta and Morel this leg. Their reasoning behind this aggressive strategic move was that they were on the last flight and only saw two other teams at the Detour. From this, they figured they could be in the bottom three teams and U-Turned the only team they knew for sure was behind them for safety. Socially, they mostly kept to themselves and didn't really form any kind of bond with other teams, though Vendetta and Morel probably aren't fans of them anymore for obvious reasons. Romantically, Johona and Lynn are both very private people so they're gonna need a little bit more time before any feelings could take root.

### Sixth Place

6th- Diane and Cecilia

Diane and Cecilia had a solid premiere episode! Their relationship has solid potential as they're both very kind and genuine people that worked together super well. Though they struggled a LOT with the opening challenge, they never gave up or stopped supporting each other and got it done eventually. Once in Japan, they made up a lot of time and jumped from last to fifth place by the end of the Detour! They proceeded to avoid getting U-Turned and finished in a comfortable sixth place.

### Seventh Place

7th- Vera and Paloma

Vera and Paloma had an interesting first leg. Their relationship was pretty rocky, as Vera was extremely closed off and unreceptive to bonding with their partner, while Paloma was dead set on getting through to Vera in a way that was partially positive and partially "I can fix them!" They stuck around the middle of the pack the entire episode and finished in a comfortable seventh place.

### Eighth Place

8th- Camilo and Abi

Camilo and Abi ended up being a surprisingly good match! The pair had enough differences and similarities that they balanced each other out well without conflicting too much. They got off to a rough start on the opening challenge, as they both struggled to get through it and finish in second-to-last. Once in Tokyo, they weren't an incredibly strong team but they also weren't an incredibly weak team, hanging around the back of the pack for most of the leg before making up some time at the end. Despite struggling a bit, they had a lot of fun dancing together during the Syncing Steps Detour and maintained an extremely positive and supportive attitude throughout the leg.

### Ninth Place

9th- Vendetta and Morel

Vendetta and Morel ran a very solid leg until they didn't. They secured seats on the second flight and finished the Detour comfortably in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, after Johona and Lynn U-Turned them, they fell to the very bottom of the pack and had a very close brush with elimination. Despite defensively U-Turning Caspar and Evie, they still ended up in a nearly even race to the Pit Stop between the bottom three teams and just narrowly managed to beat their competition. Socially, they formed bonds with a solid handful of teams, namely Cal and Edna and Camilo and Abi, though they didn't form a formal alliance. They were partially responsible for leading the charge against the Bad Bitches Alliance, so perhaps them getting U-Turned was karma for that.

### Tenth Place

10th- Caspar and Evie

Caspar and Evie were kinda a disaster this leg. They started off well enough by landed seats on the second flight, but didn't manage to maintain that lead at all as they immediately got lost upon arriving in Tokyo. Literally every team from the third flight ended up passing them before they could even reach the Detour! Though they did finish Samurai Sake with two teams still behind them, they proceeded to get lost AGAIN and also got U-Turned, putting them very much in contention for last place. Eventually, they found themselves in a very close race for last with the rest of the bottom three and just barely edged out Jeanne and Seth.

### Eleventh Place

11th- Jeanne and Seth

Oh Jeanne and Seth, what are we to do with you? They were one of the last teams to finish the opening challenge, they struggled with Syncing Steps for wayyyy too long before switching sides of the Detour, and then they got beaten by not one by two teams that had been U-Turned. Truly a pathetic performance on all accounts, but God must love them because Khil Pheoghan (the show's lovely and imperceptible host) told them that their race was not over and that they were still racing! That's right, it was a keep-on-racing leg this whole time and the first team won't be eliminated until next episode! Can the bottom three teams make up enough time to avoid elimination? Will any of these teams find love? Find out next time ;)

## Leaderboard

1st- Fuyu and Benny
Blind Dating
2nd- Aaron and Nova
Blind Dating
3rd- Angie and Damien
Blind Dating
4th- Cal and Edna
5th⊂- Johona and Lynn
Blind Dating
6th- Diane and Cecilia
Blind Dating
7th- Vera and Paloma
Blind Dating
8th- Camilo and Abi

9th⊃⋐- Vendetta and Morel
Blind Dating
10th⋑- Caspar and Evie
Blind Dating
11th- Jeanne and Seth
Blind Dating

**⊂** The team used the U-Turn
**⊃** Recipient of the U-Turn
**⋐** The team that used the second slot of the Double U-Turn