The Amazing Race 14 Kicks Off with New Look & Feel

Just like Survivor the Amazing Race is back, this time for its fourteenth season. The first leg kicks off from Southern California, as many others do, with the teams flying in by marine helicopters. After introducing the teams, which includes the first deaf contestant, two really short brothers and many others, it was time for the race to start. They all raced for their bags and quickly learned they were off to Switzerland! As the teams raced to the airport it was time for the brand new intro video! It's refreshed with new video and audio which makes the whole entire season seem like a "fresh start". With a lack of airport drama it was time for the teams to head out. The brother/sister team, were on the plane first along with the two female teams, Brad/Victoria, the brothers and mother/son. Wow its hard keeping track of all these new people! Plane two held the sisters, father/son and a few others which I forget.

After arriving in Switzerland we had a few quick changeovers to the train station, all with a brand new Phil voice over. It's odd the way they are doing this this season, it's focusing more on the action then the people. I'm going to have to get used to this. In the the Milan train station Preston and Jennifer were instantly in last by missing their train. On the first train were the blondes who jumped trains, after learning some tips from a friend. Everyone stayed on, which proved helpful to the girls as they were the first to arrive. With the first two trains at the location they had to find a church to sign in for a departure time. All the first teams got either a 7:15 or 7:30 departure while the rest had 7:30 or 7:45. Their stay for the night was a campsite which allowed the players to relax, and some to freak out. Linda had trouble running during the day and came in second to last. Her husband Steve wasn't any help though, considering he was the one who yelled at her. This caused her to break down, our first tears of the season and its only 15 minutes in!

The next morning in Switzerland restarted the leg which gave teams their first route info through a picture of a bridge. The first departees were off and in a taxi race. Two of the female teams messed up by going to the wrong spot for taxis. Apparently they were behind the church, while they went to the front. At the first Road Block one of the teammates had to complete the second longest bungee jump in the world. Victor was "ready to die", which was a joke of course but funny! Back at the church the rest were off to the Road Block with Cara and Jamie STILL waiting for a taxi. They would quickly join the rest at the bungee which freaked everyone who took part in it out. Victor was the first to go and doing it first made everyone else nervous. It also seems like they are easily making the final placement considering it takes so long to reset the bungee.

As everyone bungeed it was obvious who was scared: Jodi. It seemed at times she wasn't even going to attempt the jump but she did, pushing them out into the taxi race. Back to those who were post-bungee it was into the train and in route to Interlaken. That leveled them all out and it was time for strategy. The brother/sister team lied about knowing when the train was arriving, but the others caught on. Well not completely but they expected. Following the rest of the jumps it was time for everyone to travel to Interlaken. At the bus terminal Christie/Jodi got fooled by jumping on the earlier, but arriving later, train. Brad and Victoria caught the time though and jumped on the better train one. They did lie to the girls about which train they were getting on though, do I smell a new rivalry?

While the back of the pack trained to Interlaken, the rest of the teams arrived at the Detour. They had to carry blocks of cheese down a hill using a vintage wooden backpack. Just getting up the hill was hard, while getting down the hill was slippery. When teams started to descend down it was obvious that they would be dropping some cheese along the way. Many tripped and broke their backpacks at the same time, making it one of the most humorous detours ever! Everyone was sliding down the hill and it was pretty damn funny! The Swiss people at the bottom were dieing of laughter! Although he was just doing it because he was in pain, Mel started a trend by sliding down the hill. Even the strongest of competitors were sliding on their butts which proved to be a great strategy in the end.

With four cheese blocks down Luke and his mom Margie were the first done with the detour and the first off to the pit stop. Several others also completed the task, giving them some competition to meet Phil. Mel and Mike were the only team from the first group still there when the other group arrived. They fell behind thanks to the sliding method, maybe it wasn't that great after all. Since they didn't see the first group doing the cheese task, the second group fell into the same traps. All had trouble up the hill, Linda especially, and had even more trouble going back down. It seems the last team ended up being the blondes, who took the bait of the early leave but late arrival. They did have a chance to survive though considering Linda had trouble walking.

With yodelling it was time to welcome the first team to check into the new Pit Stop. Phil welcome Margie and Luke, through sign language, as being the first team. Victor and Tammy arrived second, following by Mark/Michael, the brothers. Back at the cheese drop the rest were hauling their blocks. We were welcomed to more falling and more complaining. Steve got smart, proving he isn't a hick after all, by using the backpack as a sled. It worked really well, allowing him and Linda to bring down four blocks all on one trip. Back at the pit stop Mel and Mike arrived along with Amanda and Kris. Linda and Steve were next to get to the pit stop, but took forever to check in. They slipped through the snow searching for Phil, allowing Bill and Victoria, Jamie and Cara and lastly Kisha and Jen to surpass them. Linda and Steve ended up in the ninth spot, when in reality they were there head of three teams. Ok I take back that statement about being smart.

With only two teams left it was a race to the mat as both were only a minute apart. Jodie and Christie arrived a few seconds before Preston and Jennifer who ended up being the first team eliminated from the race. Their short bickering seemed to have cost them the game but I'm sure we'll see more of them in the Elimination Station as it premieres tomorrow on CBS.com.