Recap of The Amazing Race season 34 premiere: [Spoiler] eliminated

Season 34 of The amazing race heralds some shocking “firsts.” Not only has the show never started outside of the United States before, teams were surprised to learn at the starting line that it will zero this time without excretory legs. Whoever comes last goes home. (As if the race even needed more stress and pressure!)

As the teams meet in Munich, we meet some of the newcomers, including Luis and Michelle, a married couple (“grew up with croquetas”) from Miami, and Molly and Emily, identical twin sisters who met just a year ago. Then of course there’s Derek and Claire from big brother 23who have been together for eight months. (For a full rundown of this season’s cast, click here.) The teams fly down a big thing that looks like a log (OK, that looks like a lot of fun) and make their way to meet host Phil Keoghan to meet at Nymphenburg Palace.

When Phil drops the news that there are no non-elimination legs this season, the cast is there shook. If they arrive last, they will be eliminated. Without this safety net, the stakes are higher than ever. There’s really no messing around this season: on this very first stage, they also have to drive themselves to three destinations before finding Phil at the pit stop. (Although we don’t see anyone struggling with a manual gearbox, so I’m guessing the cars were automatic?) Luckily for most teams, they can find plenty of English-speaking people in this large German city. You’re given some quick directions and you’re gone!

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Here are the highlights of the three challenges of Stage 1:

ROLL | Teams must roll a beer keg back and forth through a series of obstacles in under a minute. Michael and Marcus, two military brothers who previously lived in Germany, are first, and it turns out the teams have to roll the barrels around and not Above the obstacles! (Who would have thought?) They laugh about it and complete the task in just a second on the second try.

However, Rich and Dom fight difficult with this one, but eventually complete the task on the fourth try. You stick with it, but you waste a lot of precious time.

SEEN | Here, the duos must completely saw through a log to get a piece of the pit stop clue. After realizing how much energy Rich and Dom was wasting, father-daughter duo Linton and Sharik worked smarter, not harder, and let the saw do most of the work for them. Their smaller moves and teamwork actually make the dream come true.

SMASHED | Finally, the teams have to use a chisel to break through a huge block of ice. Molly and Emily and Luis and Michelle are the first to champion this act of frozen violence. When Derek and Claire get there, the ice seems to have melted a bit. He seems to smash it with just a few quick chisels (unless that was editing magic to make Derek look pretty beastly). Regardless, team bb becomes the first pair to get all three clues.

PIT STOP | The teams are directed to meet Phil at the Friedensengal, the city’s Angel of Peace. Derek and Claire arrive to find out they took first place and won $2,500 each! Second place is Glenda and Lumumba and third place is Quinton and Mattie. But one team had to finish last and be eliminated, and unfortunately that team was the engaged couple Aastha and Nina.

Were you happy that Derek and Claire got the win? Which teams are your early favourites? Rate the episode below, then turn the sound off!