The Amazing Race 4, Episode 1: The Race Is On, but There Is Always Time for Coffee

We find out that flight one is Swiss Air and will only have room for four teams. The second flight, Lufthansa, will carry three teams, while the third flight, KLM, will carry the remaining teams. Russell and Cindy get there right away and book their flight on Lufthansa. They are not aware which flight leaves first, so they take their chances with Lufthansa. Meanwhile, Monica and Sheree get to the shuttle, and are stiffed by Jon of Jon/Kelly when he tells the driver to keep going. Other teams in the shuttle cheer while Kelly gets upset with Jon telling him that karma will come around and bite them in the ass. Monica and Sheree look pissed, as well they should be.

Back inside the airport, Jon and Al have landed seats on the first flight leaving out of Swiss Air, as have Jon and Kelly. Millie and Chuck, along with Amanda and Chris, have booked seats on Lufthansa. I don't understand why they didn't ask the ticket people to check Swiss Air and KLM to see which flight was leaving first. All those teams so far on the second flight could have been on the first. Next, we have Josh at Swiss Air booking tickets for himself and his dad. He has Monica and Sheree standing behind him, yet reserves tickets for Steve and Dave, who are behind the two ladies. When Monica and Sheree find out, they are pissed because there is no more room on the first flight. Josh tries to tell them that he's sorry and directs them to KLM, but Monica and Sheree tell him not to talk to them. I'm glad they tell him off, that was a jerk move on Josh's part but he says it is valuable to be in the good graces of the air traffic controllers instead of the two women. So this is how the teams look concerning flights:

Flight One - Swiss Air - Jon and Al, Josh and Steve, Steve and Dave, Jon and Kelly

Flight Two - Lufthansa - Russell and Cindy, Amanda and Chris, Millie and Chuck

Flight Three - KLA - Reichen and Chip, Debra and Steve, Dave and Jeff, Tian and Jaree, Monica and Sheree

Each flight takes off as we see how bitter everyone on the last flight is - except Debra and Steve. I love their positive attitudes. Monica and Sheree have a right to be bitter though because they were screwed over twice at the airport. Time to land, and it turns out that the Swiss Air flight is delayed a little and makes it there not much sooner than the Lufthansa flight. This makes it interesting as both flights are so close. Off to the Galleria Victoria as each team grabs a cab and gets going.

Kelly and Jon get there first, find the route marker, and find out they have to search the common area for bus tickets that will take them to their next destination. Once they find a ticket and pull it off the line, they must take that bus and cannot exchange their tickets for better ones. Buses leave at 2 am, 4 am, and 6 am, but they aren't told that in the instructions - they need to figure it out for themselves. Russell and Cindy get there next, followed by Amanda and Chris. Wow, most of the second flight people are getting there before the ones that were on the Swiss Air flight. Really shows you how much luck is a factor in this race. Russell and Cindy and Kelly and Jon find tickets for the bus that leaves at 4:00 and they both take them. Amanda and Chris find the 4:00 bus, but don't take it and look for something better. Jon and Al find and keep the 4:00 bus tickets. Millie and Chuck start hunting and find the bus tickets for the 2:00. They quickly show Amanda and Chris where they are and then state that the four of them get along really well so they plan to stick together. Just then, Josh and Steve and Steve and Dave get to the Galleria and start looking.

Time for the final flight to land and as they are running through the airport Debra falls. I find myself on the brink of tears. She is so cute! At this point, we find out that Reichen and Chip have formed an alliance with Dave and Jeff. I really don't think this is going to be that strong of an alliance because it was not so much formed on the basis of friendship but more along the lines of, "Oh dear, one of us could be going."

Back at the Galleria, Josh and Steve have found the 2:00 bus and direct Steve and Dave over to the tickets as well. That bus is now full. Debra and Steve get there and find tickets for the last bus, while Monica and Sheree find tickets for the second bus with a little help from Josh, the one who screwed them over earlier. They say they forgive him and that everything is back to normal. Josh tells the camera he didn't mind helping Monica and Sheree because he doesn't want "The two blondes with the fake tits to make it." By that, he means Tian and Jaree. Monica and Sheree are the last for the second bus and all the other teams are stuck with the last bus. This is the bus rundown:

Bus one - 2:00 - Millie and Chuck, Amanda and Chris, Josh and Steve, Steve and Dave.

Bus two - 4:00 - Monica and Sheree, Russell and Cindy, Jon and Al, Jon and Kelly

Bus three - 6:00 - Debra and Steve, Dave and Jeff, Reichen and Chip, Tian and Jaree.