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The show began with its usual premise: Twelve two-person teams all start in the same location. They must do various tasks during their participation in the race and must arrive at particular Pit Stops. These Pit Stops mark their completion of that leg of the race. The team who arrives last at the Pit Stop will be eliminated. The host, Phil Keoghan, noted that there are 13 legs in this race. If these correspond to episodes, we can expect no eliminations during two of the 13 episodes this season.

To make my summaries and analyses easier, I will refer to the teams with the following nicknames. Some nicknames are boring, but until I get a better sense of the personalities behind the teams, this is the best I can do on short notice. Here is my < http://www.the-trades.com/column.php?columnid=1410">first column on TAR3 with a brief description of each team and their strengths and weaknesses based on the CBS website.

Team Ally McBeal: Heather and Eve – roommates and graduates from Harvard Law School who want to get through the race on their charm. They said that they plan to play off the "dumb female/ditz" preconception to get people to help them. I'm here to tell you that they actually are a little ditzy.

Team LDR: Michael and Kathy – They are in a long-distance relationship and have not been in each other's company for long periods.

Team Dad: Dennis and Andrew – Andrew is the gay, cheerleading son of Dennis – who is conservative.

Team Platonic: Flo and Zach – good friends, but not in a romantic relationship

Team Zoolander Twins: Derek and Drew - they are twins, models, and quite possibly the dumbest team in the race

Team Soccer Moms: Gina and Sylvia – stay at home mothers from South Carolina

Team Sibling: Tramel and Tralicia - brother and sister raised in Gary, Indiana.

Team Will & Grace: Aaron and Arianne – he is gay, she is not, they are good friends. They describe themselves as colorful characters.

Team Married Couple: Teri and Ian – they have been married for decades; they say that because they are older, they have experience and knowledge that will work in their favor.

Team Third Watch: Andre and Damon – are friends from Los Angeles. One is a cop the other is a fireman.

Team Odd Couple: Ken and Gerard– they are brothers, but claim to be relative opposites. Ken is gay and liberal, Gerard is married with kids and conservative.

Team Vito: John Vito and Jill - I think John Vito is using that name so we all on the internet don't call the team "Jack and Jill." But I'm tempted. I'm really tempted. Jill's brother died in the World Trade Center in the 9/11 attacks. Her brother was also a best friend of John Vito's.

From the Everglades to the Angel of Independence

All twenty-four contestants started the race in the Everglades. Airboats transported each team to an "isolated" location. The host introduced us briefly to each team. After the teams landed, Phil gave the teams their instructions. A specific flag would mark every place the teams needed to go. The teams would get route markers that had instructions or clues for the next step in the race. The teams were also informed that they would get a small amount of money for expenses but their plane tickets would be paid for.

The teams were told to start the race and they had to run several yards to their backpacks and then, after reading the first route marker (in the pocket of the backpack), each team ran to an SUV and tried to make their way as quickly as possible to the Miami airport. The teams' first destination is the Angel of Independence in Mexico City. They received $100 for that leg of the race.

Most of the teams had very little trouble getting to the airport. The exception was Team Zoolander who missed their turnoff and got a little lost. A few of the other teams seemed to get caught in traffic. The first flight to Mexico City carried seven teams. The second flight, which arrived almost one hour later, carried 5 teams. The teams realized how important it was to get on the first flight. Tramel told his sister Tralicia in a teasing manner, "you need to drive a little less like mommy and a little more like daddy." Apparently Tralicia wasn't driving fast enough. Eve (Ally McBeal) drove aggressively and cut off Flo & Zach (Platonic).

Heather and Eve (Ally McBeal) were the first team on the first flight, followed by Team Vito. Team Third Watch crawled underneath the row ropes to get to the desk quicker, they were third. Aaron & Arianne (Will & Grace) were fourth on the first flight, and Michael and Kathy (LDR) were fifth. After dropping off the vehicles, Teri and Ian (Marrieds) and Platonic were riding the same shuttle to the airport terminal. The Marrieds decided to get off the shuttle at Aero Mexico (to get on the second flight to Mexico City), while Flo and Zach decided to risk it and try for the first flight. Their risk paid off and Flo and Zach were the sixth team on the first flight. The final team on the first flight out was Team Dad.

While Team Ally McBeal was waiting for their flight to leave, they decided to flirt with men in the airport and ask them for money. The men obliged and they seemed to net at least $50. The first plane landed in Mexico City at 4:00 p.m. Viewers next saw footage of each team speaking with their cab drivers, trying to get to the Angel of Independence. Most of the teams spoke bits of broken Spanish at the drivers. Zach (Platonic) held a conversation with the driver and haggled over the price. Flo tried to get Zach not to haggle because she was afraid the cab driver might not take them all the way to the Angel. Next, we see an interview segment with the team, where Zach described Flo as a high-maintenance woman.

Find Pablo

Team Will & Grace arrived at the Angel first. Then Team LDR was second to arrive, followed by Team Third Watch and then Platonic. The next task for the teams was to take the picture of a man named "Pablo"(in the route marker) and locate him. He was somewhere in Mexico City. The teams asked nearby individuals what the building was that Pablo was standing in front of in the picture. As the teams were leaving the Angel and getting into taxis to go to downtown Mexico City to the Cathedral in Constitution Plaza Square, they realized that the second plane had just landed.

The second plane landed at 4:47 p.m. As the second set of teams made their way to the Angel, Aaron and Arianne were the first to locating Pablo and picked up the next route marker. The next place the teams needed to go was the Hotel de Cortes to sign up for charter buses the next day. The charter buses left two hours apart, and each bus only had room for 4 teams. The next teams to find Pablo were Third Watch, Platonic, and LDR. Aaron and Arianne arrived at the hotel first. Third Watch was having a difficult time getting directions to the hotel. They couldn't locate anyone who spoke English. While they were still trying to find directions, Vito and Platonic had arrived at the hotel and booked seats on the first bus. LDR was the last team on the first bus.

Team Ally McBeal was the first team on the second bus, as were Team Dad, and Third Watch finally made it to the hotel. For Third Watch to go from second place to seventh is awful. They really lost their lead because of poor language skills. The Zoolander Twins decided to put their luggage in the cab, while the cab drove around in a circle. All the other teams took their belongings with them. Teams Odd Couple, Soccer Moms, and Zoolander were the last teams to find Pablo.

Soccer Moms and Odd Couple immediately found taxis and headed to the hotel. Zoolander had to wait several minutes (and worry if their belongings were gone forever) for a taxi to arrive. Team Marrieds were the last team to get on the second bus. So the three teams in last place in meeting Pablo were on the last bus to leave the Hotel. The fourth team on this bus was Team Sibling (Tramel and Tralicia).

Sprinting, Jackasses, and Sky Diving

We next see the teams at 7:24 the next morning. The teams who were leaving on the 8:00 bus were getting packed up to leave. Team Odd Couple was concerned because they were booked on the last bus (or as they called it, "the loser group") and so they and Team Zoolander decided to try for the Fast Forward in order to stay in the race.

Fast Forward (FF) is a task that only one team per leg can complete. The FF allows the team to skip all other activities in that leg of the race and go directly to the Pit Stop. Once a team uses the FF, that team cannot use a FF again. The FF in this leg of the race was in Santo Domingo Plaza – an area filled with typists. The team had to find out which worker had a special message for them – which was the FF with instructions to the Pit Stop.

The Twins asked the Odd Couple to scream really loudly if they get the FF so they won't spend time looking for it. Given that the teams were trying to find the FF before 8:00 a.m., and their bus didn't leave until noon, I'm not sure why the Twins were trying to save so much time. The Twins decided to RUN to the FF location, while the Odd Couple, fully aware of their physical limitations, decided to hail a cab. Gerard speaks Spanish quite nicely and gave good instructions to the cab driver. Because they took a cab, the Odd Couple arrived at the FF location first and located the worker with the FF envelope quite quickly. They were instructed to go directly to the first Pit Stop: the Hacienda San Gabriel de las Palmas. The team needed to use a beat up VW bus and drive themselves to the Pit Stop. After receiving the instructions, Gerard did not want to wait for the Twins. He wanted to just start heading toward the Pit Stop. Ken insisted that they wait because "we told them we would."

The other eleven teams had to take buses to the Tequesquitengo (say it five times fast!) Airfield. The first bus (left at 8:00 a.m.) arrived at the airfield at 10:05 a.m. The teams discovered that they had a Detour. A Detour is a choice between two tasks – each task with its own pros and cons. This Detour was Wings or Wheels. In Wings, teams needed to board a small plane, climb to an altitude of 10,000 feet and sky dive in tandem with a jumpmaster. The teams would arrive at the next route marker very quickly if they chose this task. In Wheels, the teams had to climb on to a donkey cart and using a map, direct the car driver through a 7-mile course that would take them to the next route marker. The donkeys were really really slow. Oh, and the drivers spoke no English. So this was a time-intensive task, to be sure.

Team LDR immediately decided to go the burro route. Michael refused to sky dive. Flo wasn't that interested in sky diving, but when Zach found out the burro trip was 7 miles, he said "we aren't doing it" and they jumped up to sky dive. Flo wasn't that excited to sky dive, but Zach lugged her and his bag to the plane. Michael was seen pushing the donkey cart from behind while he and Kathy noted the plane flying overhead.

Of the first three teams who sky dived, Team Vito seemed the most pumped. Team Will and Grace didn't say a word (or utter a sound) when they jumped. Flo was clearly panicked by the prospect of jumping, but Flo really dug the sky diving after she did it. Arianne (Will and Grace) was really overwhelmed after her jump. The jumpmaster said it was because of the adrenaline. I'm not sure I understand this explanation, but I just report it as I hear it. The next route marker indicated that the teams had to travel 30 miles to a nearby town where they then must locate the Hacienda. This Hacienda was the next Pit Stop. The first to arrive at the Pit Stop was Team Odd Couple due to the Fast Forward. However, because the team was the first to arrive, they received a special prize: a weeklong cruise!

Of the teams on the second bus, Team Third Watch immediately took the burro, as did Heather and Eve (McBeal) and Team Dad. While these teams were riding the donkey carts, Team Vito was getting nearer to the Pit Stop. Jill was crunching the gears as the team rode in the van. Yikes! Smoke was coming from the floor of the vehicle. Turning back to the donkey cart teams, all of the sudden, the cart that Heather and Eve were riding in collapses in a heap on the ground and Heather fell out onto the road. This is really a very funny moment in the show. At this point Heather jumped up and started her hard sell to get Eve to sky dive. Eve asks the jumpmaster, "Do people die? Ever?" Eve was scared of doing this and said this is her biggest fear in life.

Eve started sobbing and carrying on, saying, "I don't know if I can do this." Heather was trying to reassure Eve asking the jumpmaster, "There is a backup parachute, right?" Heather said to Eve, "It will be so amazing if you do it." Eve hates flying. I'm not sure if she saw previous seasons of "The Amazing Race", but there is an awful lot of plane flight in store for her. This is kind of a weird show to go on if you hate flying. Was she a "Big Brother" contestant and her application got mixed up? Viewers next see Heather and Eve in the plane, and Eve was sobbing into Heather's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ian and Teri were trying to progress as quickly as possible with their donkey. Teri was shown pulling the donkey while her husband rode in the back, standing erect on the cart. It was a weird image to see his wife doing all the hard labor. Back to Eve: It was soon Eve's turn to jump and she told her jumpmaster, "I'm sick! I'm scared." She admitted her eyes were closed and the jumpmaster said, "That's o.k." Now comes the funniest moment in the episode. This tops Danny and Oswald's bungee jump in season two.

When Eve jumped, she flapped her arms and legs like she was climbing out of a deep ditch. This had the net effect of flipping her jumpmaster and herself into a weird head first position. I don't know how they righted themselves, but the next thing viewers saw was Eve in the correct sky diving position, but her cheeks were flapping like mad (like something out of a Memorex ad or Nine Inch Nails video)! The whole thing was so dang funny, I think CBS needs to upload a whole clip of this to the website. Eve was really excited when she hit the ground and was surprised she actually performed that task. She was glad she conquered one of her fears.

Just as John Vito and Jill became the fourth team to arrive at the Pit Stop, the third bus arrived at the airfield with the three teams in last place. These teams were Sibling, Twins, and Soccer Moms. All three teams decided to sky dive, realizing that they needed to get to the Pit Stop as quickly as possible in order not to be eliminated. The teams sky dived in the following order: Sibling, Twins, and Soccer Moms.

Sibling got into their car first, with Tralicia driving again. The Twins were following close behind them. The three teams needed help with directions and stopped along the way to get directions to the Pit Stop. Tralicia had to stop short at a construction area and the Twins passed them. Because of the short stop, Tralicia had difficulty getting the van moving again, so Tramel had to help her push the vehicle. Tramel was convinced they were in last place, not knowing that the Twins were still asking people for directions and the Soccer Moms had gotten horribly lost. At one point, the Soccer Moms had to get out and push their van also.

Tramel and Tralicia arrived at the Pit Stop convinced that they would be eliminated. Tramel said to his sister that they were taking the Walk of Shame. When Phil told them they were tenth, the team screamed, hugged each other, and Tralicia even hugged Phil and wouldn't let go of him. This too was hilarious. When Derek and Drew found out they were not eliminated, they said that they are by far the worst at this game than some of the other teams. At least they acknowledge their weakness. The Soccer Moms arrived at the Pit Stop last and were eliminated from the race.

1. Team Odd Couple: Gerard and Ken
2. Team Platonic: Flo and Zach
3. Team Will& Grace: Aaron and Arianne
4. Team LDR: Michael and Kathy
4. Team Vito: John Vito and Jill
6. Team McBeal: Heather and Eve
7. Team Third Watch: Andre and Damon
8. Team Dad: Dennis and Andrew
9. Team Married: Teri and Ian
10. Team Sibling: Tramel and Tralicia
11. Team Zoolander: Derek and Drew

I don't have enough information to predict well enough how the teams will fare in the future, but here are my assessments of the teams generally:

Top Tier: It seems thus far that the teams to beat are Platonic and Will & Grace. They did amazingly well in the first leg of the race. Both teams showed a facility with Spanish that, if this translates to other languages, they will continue to do well in this race.

Bottom Tier Zoolander, Married, and Dad are teams I would put in the bottom tier. They did not all finish in the bottom three this week, but I see significant weaknesses in the teams that may translate to early exits. For instance, Married and Dad did not sky dive. If they had done so, they could have finished much higher up in the order. Married also assumed they were already late for the second flight and didn't try to get on the first plane. If these kind of decisions are a pattern with this team, the team is doomed. Derek and Drew (Zoolander) are not the brightest bulbs on the tree. I think their mistakes will catch up with them within two episodes.

The other teams I expect will finish up somewhere in the middle.

The Amazing Race 3 will next be on next week, Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. on CBS.