The BEST Episodes of The Amazing Race
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Mar 25, 2021
Network: CBS
This reality television game show pits 11 teams against each other in a worldwide, 30 to 40-day journey through diverse cities and countries spanning the globe. The first team to reach the final destination will be rewarded with $1 million.
#1 - The Final Push
Season 12 - Episode 11 - Aired Jan 20, 2008
Ronald Hsu & Christina Hsu, TK Erwin & Rachel Rosales and Nicolas Fulks & Donald Jerousek are the three teams racing for the top prize of one million dollars. TK and Rachel have issues with a Detour, while Donald comes down Nicolas after he makes a mistake. Meanwhile, Ronald watches as Christina hangs on for her life in a challenging task.
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#2 - It's a Great Place to Become Millionaires (2)
Season 20 - Episode 12 - Aired May 6, 2012
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#3 - Amazing “Crazy” Race (2)
Season 23 - Episode 12 - Aired Dec 8, 2013
The final teams take part in a human bowling competition in Tokyo; one team wins $1 million.
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#4 - Take Down That Million (2)
Season 21 - Episode 12 - Aired Dec 9, 2012
The final four teams race through France and then fly to New York City, where they face a Houdini-inspired challenge before running to the finish line to claim the $1 million top prize.
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#5 - This is the Worst Thing I've Ever Done in My Life
Season 15 - Episode 7 - Aired Nov 8, 2009
The lack of cooperation hinders one team's efforts at an explosive Detour. Also, during the series' first ever "Switchback," Teams return to one of the most infamous Roadblocks in the history of the show.
8.33 #6 - If I Were In Town, I Would Ask For Your Number (2)
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired Apr 1, 2007
Unhelpful locals and a tricky language barrier cause one Team to falter as their rivals surge ahead in a double Race leg through Poland. An All-Star fan favorite Team cannot overcome a time penalty and fall victim to the clock and are eliminated.
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#7 - We're Not Working With Anybody, Ever, Anymore!
Season 15 - Episode 9 - Aired Nov 22, 2009
Tempers flare when one team goes back on their word and a Team spirals into last place when their taxi is stolen by another Team.
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#8 - This is Not My Finest Hour
Season 15 - Episode 6 - Aired Nov 1, 2009
Teams go to The Netherlands, One team tells the others a personal secret. Also, the stress of the race is mounting as one contestant breaks down in tears.
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#9 - Desert Storm
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 10, 2001
The seven remaining teams start off in El Jem Coliseum, the pit stop for the fourth leg. Upon departure they are given a route marking which tells them they must find a monument known as the Tataouine which is 300 miles away. Although Paul and Amie arrived fifth in the last leg, production problems cause them to move ahead one place in front of Frank and Margarita. When the teams arrive at the Tataouine, they are given a Detour. They must chose between an easy and a difficult game. The easy game is at a hard to find location and the hard game is at an easy to find location. The games are called "Puzzle" and "Listening" .All the teams chose Listening in which they must find the clue using a walkie talkie and find where the other one is. There they will find the clue. The clue says that must find a "yellow and white flag" in the middle of the Sahara Desert and that there are rocks to guide them there. Some teams are a little bit confused as to how the rocks guide them there. But eventual
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#10 - Man, They Should Have Used Their Fake Names
Season 9 - Episode 10 - Aired May 3, 2006
The teams receive a clue instructing them to travel fifteen miles from their Pit Stop at the South Breakwater to the Silver Bells Tower. Tensions ensue when Eric and Jeremy cancel other teams taxis and then shift the blame to Joseph and Monica. However, it doesn't affect placings as all teams make the same flight to Darwin, Australia --- 1,700 miles away. The teams wade through crocodile-infested waters for a clue and then travel 50 miles to an airfield in the town of Batchelor. One team just manages to reach a Yield before another and then Yields the team they beat. In a Roadblock, one member of each team must take part in a tandem skydive. The teams then travel to the Magnetic Termite Mounds where they face a Detour choice of either Wet or Dry. Some teams fall behind after choosing the extremely challenging Wet task, requiring them to hike and swim one mile through treacherous wilderness. The other two teams choose Dry and duplicate a note on a didgeridoo. While one team arrives comfortably in first place, the rest find themselves facing a three-way foot-race.
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#11 - Beacon of Hope (2)
Season 22 - Episode 12 - Aired May 5, 2013
After the final four teams go bog snorkeling in Belfast, Ireland, one team's race comes to an end; the three remaining teams scour historic landmarks in Washington, D.C.; the winning team is determined. Part two of two.
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#12 - It Was Like a Caravan of Idiots
Season 14 - Episode 4 - Aired Mar 8, 2009
The eight remaining teams set off from the Vila Panoramic and receive a clue instructing them to fly through Moscow to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and then travel to the hydroelectric dam depicted on the back of Russia's ten ruble note.
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#13 - Mow'em Down Like Grass
Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired Apr 12, 2005
The teams travel from their Pit Stop at the Khwai River Lodge to Lucknow, India. The teams then take a series of flights, some prescheduled and some that they have to schedule themselves to make their way to Lucknow, India. Some teams stick with the pack and secure a later flight, while two less-liked teams manage to make their way onto a slightly earlier flight. Once in Lucknow, the teams all choose not to Yield each other and then do a Roadblock that involves searching heavy steel boxes for one of ten clues. Some teams get lucky and find them quickly, while one has a real time of it, but makes it out okay in the end. The teams face a Detour with a choice of Solid or Liquid. All teams pass on Solid, which involves smashing coal and instead choose Liquid, which requires them to make tea deliveries to five people at a local business. As one team lags behind, they receive a standing ovation when they reach the Detour clue. A surprise waits for the teams as they make their way to a locati
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#14 - Accidental Alliance
Season 24 - Episode 9 - Aired Apr 27, 2014
Tension rises as the finish line gets closer; three teams form an alliance.
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#15 - Do It for the Hood! Do It for the Suburbs!
Season 15 - Episode 5 - Aired Oct 25, 2009
The seven remaining teams depart the Souk Madinat Jumeirah pitstop, staying in Dubai. The Roadblock involving retrieving a watch to use to unlock a briefcase and Detours of weighing a half-millon dollars in gold or assembling a dozen hookahs are made even worse by stifling 130° heat. But Mika faces the ultimate test of courage when a six-story waterslide clashes with her dual fears of water and heights.
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#16 - Sorry, Guys, I'm Not Happy to See You
Season 12 - Episode 10 - Aired Jan 13, 2008
The four teams travel from Osaka, Japan to Taipei, Taiwan. One person celebrates their birthday on this leg, but the only present she wants is a place in the final three.
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#17 - Your Target Is Your Partner’s Face
Season 14 - Episode 2 - Aired Feb 22, 2009
The remaining teams set off from their Pit Stop in Stechelberg in the Burmese Alps and receive a clue instructing them to fly to Munich, Germany and then drive to Ruhpolding, where they will ride a cable car to the top of the mountain. A scramble for flights results in eight teams boarding the earliest-arriving flight, with two lagging behind.
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#18 - Sleep Deprivation is Really Starting to Irritate Me
Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 5, 2006
The teams take off from their Pit Stop at the Tempio di Segesta and receive a clue instructing them to drive 135 miles to Catania, Sicily and find the Antiteatro, Romano. This theater doesn't open until 8:30 A.M. and B.J. and Tyler jokingly put up an "official" sign-in sheet which is quickly declared a phoney by Eric and Jeremy. As it stands, these two teams are the only ones to make it in at the opening time, as the others find themselves stuck in traffic or confused on directions. After counting heads on the fence surrounding the grounds of the theater, the teams do a Detour --- Big Fish, requiring each member to carry a 17 kilo swordfish 1/3 of a mile, or Little Fish, requiring them to travel 1/3 of a mile to the same market and then sell 4 kilos of small Sicilian fish. The teams then travel approximately 40 miles to Siracusa, where one member of each team does a Roadblock requiring them to score a goal in kayak polo. Finally, they make their way on foot to the PIt Stop, the natural spring Funte Aretusa, and another team is eliminated.
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#19 - Do You Know How Much Running I Did Today, Phil?
Season 9 - Episode 9 - Aired Apr 26, 2006
The teams receive a clue instructing them to travel by plane over 9,000 miles to Perth, Australia. After receiving money from some of the teams (following being stripped of all cash and possessions in the last leg), B.J. and Tyler then make the same flight as everyone else, disappointing them, as they were hoping they might miss it. Once in Australia, the teams travel to the State War Memorial in King's Park and then receive a clue directing them to travel to Rottnest Island via ferry. They then travel on tandem bikes to a lighthouse and then do a Detour. Sand requires them to drag forty large branches to a marked sand dune (a task called "brushing the beach") while sea requires them to search through fifty crayfish traps and retrieve two crayfish (one per member.) The teams then travel to Fremantle Prison where one member of each team takes part in a Roadblock. The task requires them to search inside the unused prison for a Duracell flashlight and batteries. They then travel through wet and dry waterways to locate a clue. It's a close race to the Pit Stop at South Breakwater by the Fremantle Fishing Club and one team finishes literally right behind another. Unfortunately for another team, this Pit Stop is the end.
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#20 - 5 Continents...10 Countries...And More than 59 Thousand Miles!
Season 9 - Episode 12 - Aired May 17, 2006
One team is ecstatic thinking they have a serious advantage when they learn the location of the next destination...a place they’ve been to and where they know the language two teams race in paddle boats that look like ducks during a sprint to the first pit stop of this 2-leg finale.
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#21 - I Feel Like a Monkey In a Circus Parade
Season 18 - Episode 6 - Aired Mar 27, 2011
Overwhelmed by a swarming sea of people on the congested streets of India, one team narrowly dodges a traffic collision while another's clumsiness threatens to spoil their chances of acing the Detour.
8.02 #22 - We Got a Chance, Baby!
Season 27 - Episode 12 - Aired Dec 11, 2015
The final 3 teams race to Long Island, New York where, after five continents, 10 countries, and more than 34,000 miles, one will be crowned winners and awarded the $1 million prize.
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#23 - I Feel Like I'm in, Like, Sicily
Season 16 - Episode 10 - Aired Apr 25, 2010
After noodling their way through their first Roadblock, Teams are forced to complete a second Roadblock, and the fate of two Teams lies in the hands of confused cabbies
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#24 - They Don't Even Understand Their Own Language
Season 16 - Episode 11 - Aired May 2, 2010
The Final 4 teams struggle with the language barrier in Shanghai while sorting through hundreds of golden Buddhas and thousands of Chinese stamps in their pursuit for a spot in the Final 3.
8.01 #25 - It’s Not Easy Beating Green
Season 27 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 4, 2015
The final four teams race through Hong Kong and Macau, China where they take part in a spectacular water show at The House of Dancing Water and compete for a chance to race in the final leg.
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