"Dating Couple" Marcy Maloy and Ronald Shalita chose a difficult Detour task and paid the price for it.

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Marcy, a 60-year-old advertising photographer, and Ronald, a 59-year-old stock trader and math tutor -- both of whom reside in San Francisco, CA -- became the third team eliminated from The Amazing Race's fifteenth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

"My dad always used to say you can't hit a home run unless you step up to the plate," said Marcy.  "I think going on The Amazing Race was stepping up to the plate for me."

The Amazing Race's second fifteenth-season episode began at the previous Pit Stop -- the Bassac III, a local riverboat that picked up anchor and traveled from Cai Be to My Tho, Vietnam, a destination unknown to the teams.

Since "Father/Son" Gary and Matt Tomljenovich were the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop, they were the first team to depart at 5:45AM.  They opened their clue, which instructed them to travel by taxi to Ho Chi Minh City and search for the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, where their next clue awaited in the mouth of a water dragon.

Gary and Matt were followed by "Brothers" Daniel and Samuel McMillen (5:55AM), "Teammates" Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton (5:56AM), "Engaged Couple" Lance Layne and Keri Morrione (5:57AM), "Friends" Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew (6:04AM), "Dating Couple" Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney (6:10AM), "Professional Poker Players" Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle (6:11AM), "Newly Dating Couple" Mika Combs and Canaan Smith (6:14AM), "Married Couple" Ericka Dunlap and Brian Kleinschmidt (6:15AM), and Marcy and Ronald (6:29AM).

All of the teams found cabs and began the approximate two-hour drive to Ho Chi Minh City -- except for Lance and Keri.

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"We don't even know if we're in Ho Chi Minh City," said Lance to Keri after opening their clue.

"We are in Ho Chi Minh City," incorrectly stated Keri.

The couple ran around My Tho until they asked a local, who told them they needed to travel to the city, which they did.

Meanwhile, Marcy explained being in Vietnam was emotional for her since her father was shot down in 1968 while fighting in the Vietnam War before being rescued.

"After surviving being shot at, I'm not sure how he did it," she said.  "Sheer adrenaline, will, determination... I've always thought that's what I'm made of."

Flight Time and Big Easy were the first to arrive at the theater, where Flight Time grabbed the next clue from the dragon's mouth.  The clue was a small bullet that -- when opened -- revealed a postage stamp.  The teams had to figure out that their next clue could be found at the building shown on the stamp, the Ho Chi Minh City Main Post Office.

All of the teams were able to grab the clue from a dragon's mouth and determine what the postage stamp was trying to tell them -- except for Lance and Keri, who failed to open the bullet and ran around the area frantically searching for the clue, thinking they had missed something.

"It's just a bullet!  Where's the clue?" frantically exclaimed Keri.  "Clue, clue, we need the clue!"

The couple argued about where the clue might have been before subsequently realizing they had to open the bullet.

Flight Time and Big Easy were the first to arrive at the post office, where they were met by a Detour and had to choose between "Child's Play" or "Word Play."

In "Child's Play," teams would travel to a local park and chose a concrete animal from a kiosk. Then, they had to transport the heavy and unwieldy animal along the bumpy pathways of the park, picking up five different-colored balloons from vendors along the way. After delivering the animals and the balloons to the children's playground, they would receive their next clue.

In "Word Play," teams would travel to a hotel and locate the observation deck. Then, scanning the crowded intersection below, they had to identify six Vietnamese letters moving with the congested traffic. Once they checked with the security guard that they had the correct six letters, they had to leave the hotel and get assistance from the locals to unscramble them to spell "DOCLAP" -- the well-known Vietnamese word for "independence."

Zev and Justin, Gary and Matt, Cheyne and Meghan, Maria and Tiffany, Sam and Dan, Canaan and Mika, Brian and Ericka and Lance and Keri all arrived at the Detour and chose to do "Child's Play" -- while Marcy and Ron arrived at the Detour in fifth place and were the only team to chose "Word Play."

"Your good with words," said Ron.

"Okay, let's do 'Word Play,'" decided Marcy.

Zev and Justin had the biggest problem with the "Child's Play," mostly because they chose an unwieldy giraffe as their concrete animal.  It fell off their dolly and broke, and since the clue told them they needed to recover any broken parts, they spent several minutes picking up the broken pieces of the animal.  Maria and Tiffany's dolly broke, forcing them to carry their animal the rest of the way.

"Every other team has a man to lean on and we don't," opined Tiffany.  "It's just us. Stinking hard."

Lance and Keri also had a brief problem, losing one of their balloons and forcing them to get an additional one.

None of the teams had as big of a problem as Ron and Marcy.  While they were able to spot the first five letters, they couldn't properly identify the Vietnamese D -- mistaking it for an O.  Once they corrected their mistake, Ron and Marcy decided to use signs from around the city to unscramble the letters -- a big mistake that seemed to cost them quite a bit of time.

Flight Time and Big Easy were the first to complete the Detour, followed by Cheyne and Meghan, Gary and Matt, Sam and Dan, Brian and Ericka, Maria and Tiffany, Zev and Justin, Lance and Keri, and Mika and Canaan.  Ron and Marcy eventually asked a local for help and received the correct answer, but found themselves in last place after doing so.

Upon opening their next clue, the teams learned they had to travel to Dien Co 008 at the busy intersection of Durong Vinh Vien and Durong Ly Thurong Kiet.

Once there they were met by a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member had to break down two VCRs using a set of provided tools and toss the parts into separate piles before receiving their next clue. 

Flight Time chose to do the task, and he was followed by Cheyne, Matt, Sam, Brian, Tiffany, Justin and Canaan.

Flight Time was the first to finish the Roadblock and learned they had to take a taxi to the Pit Stop at Reunification Palace.  However the teammates had a tough time finding a taxi, allowing Cheyne time to complete the Roadblock and catch up with Meghan. 

In a footrace to the mat, Flight Time and Big Easy were able to get their just ahead of Cheyne and Meghan.

"I gotta feeling we're gonna see some more sprints to the finish with these guys coming up," commented Cheyne.

For winning this leg of the race, Flight Time and Big Easy each won a trip for two to Aruba.  Big Easy was emotional since his father passed away shortly before The Amazing Race began filming.

"We ran hard, we ran tough for my father.  He was taken from us too early," said Big Easy.  "But he's proud of me, he's proud of what I've become."

Gary and Matt were subsequently the third team to arrive at the Pit Stop, followed by Brian and Ericka in fourth, Sam and Dan in fifth, Tiffany and Maria in sixth, and Mika and Canaan in seventh.

Lance and Keri continued to struggle, as they exited a taxi without knowing where they were going and were unable to find the Roadblock. 

"Lead the way wherever you want," said a defeated Keri.

"Keri, cut it out!" instructed Lance.

"I just don't want to be responsible because I don't know where we are," she opined.  "I'm doing the best I can and I'm getting yelled at."

The two continued to bicker about who would ask for the next set of directions, causing Lance to tell her, "I'm done with you."

Despite their struggles, Lance and Keri were able to find a taxi that took them to the Roadblock.

"Believe me, my frustration's not on you -- it's on this whole friggin thing," said Lance to Keri.

"Really?" she responded.  "Because all you do is yell at me that it's all my fault.  I'll take my apology now."

"Alright, well if that's the case I'm sorry," he said.

Upon arriving at the Roadblock, Lance didn't use many of the tools and primarily used his bare hands and a hammer -- making quick work of the VCRs and dismantling them before Justin finished.  However Zev and Justin secured a cab before Lance and Keri, as the two raced towards the Pit Stop.

Ron and Marcy subsequently arrived and realized they were in last, however Ron did his best at taking apart the VCRs.

Justin and Zev were the eighth team to reach the Pit Stop, followed by Lance and Keri in ninth. 

"Would you say that you're the most competitive person on this race?" host Phil Keoghan asked Lance.

"Phil, I will wrestle you right now on the ground," replied Lance.

Ron and Marcy subsequently arrived at the Pit Stop and learned they had been eliminated.

"We gave it our best," said Ron.  "I'm disappointed -- deeply disappointed."

"But I'm really, really grateful I got the opportunity to be here," added Marcy.

The Amazing Race's next fifteenth-season episode will air Sunday, October 11 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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