The Amazing Race eliminated Matthew Davis and Daniel Moss during Sunday night's premiere broadcast of the CBS reality competition's 22nd season.

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The "Best Friends and Firefighters" became the first team eliminated from the around-the-world competition after they arrived at the Race's first Pit Stop at Motu Cafe in Bora Bora in last place.

"When we agreed to take the penalty, we never thought for one second that we would be eliminated canoeing," Daniel said following his team's ouster.

"That's what makes us feel so bad, I believe. To get beat canoeing by two blonde girls, I'm sure we're never going to hear the end of this at the firehouse," Matt added.

The first episode of The Amazing Race's 22nd edition began with the Race's 11 teams arriving at the Griffith Conservatory in Los Angeles, CA, where they met The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan and learned the team that wins the first leg of the Race would receive an Express Pass for themselves and an additional Express Pass to give to another team. The winning team would have the power to determine who gets ahead, but the pair must make the decision before the end of the fourth leg.

The Express Pass will allow both teams to skip any task they want if it proves to be too challenging or taxing, allowing them to automatically move on to the next task.

In a departure from last season, the team to cross the final leg in first place and win The Amazing Race could only claim $1 million -- even if that team had won the Race's first leg.

The 11 The Amazing Race teams this season are Matthew and Daniel, "Twin Doctors" Idries Abdur-Rahman and Jamil Abdur-Rahman, "Newlyweds" Max Bichler and Katie Bichler, "Roller Derby Moms" Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere, "Hockey Brothers" Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia, "Married Couple" Chuck McCall and Wynona McCall, "Father and Son" David O'Leary and Connor O'Leary, "Friends and Country Singers" Caroline Cutbirth and Jennifer Kuhle, "Friends and YouTube Hosts" Joey Graceffa and Meghan Camarena, "Best Friends" Pamela Chien and Winnie Sung, and "Dating Couple" Jessica Hoel and John Erck.

Phil then explained to the teams in order to receive their first set of clues, they had to each hop in a Ford vehicle and drive themselves to the airport.

Once inside the cars, the teams discovered via video they must drive themselves to Los Angeles International airport and get on one of two available flights leaving for Bora Bora that night. The first flight would land one hour before the second flight and only five teams could get on that flight.

When traveling on shuttles, Idries and Jamil told Pam and Winnie they were delivery men but the girls were immediately skeptical and asked if they were lying, so the twins admitted they were doctors. Meanwhile, a lot of the teams were introducing and getting acquainted with one another. 

Chuck and Wynona arrived at the airport ticket counter first and booked the first pair of tickets on the faster Air Tahiti Nui flight. They were then followed by Pam and Winnie, Idries and Jamil, Dave and Connor, and finally Jessica and John. All the teams were thrilled to have a jump on the other six teams.

While waiting to board their flight, Idries and Jamil made an alliance with the four other teams seated on their flight. The twins suggested that whoever came in second place -- as long as it was one of the five teams -- should be given the second Express Pass from the winners. The twins deemed the plan fair since the second-place team would be deserving, and the majority of pairs seemed to agree. 

Upon landing in Bora Bora, the first five teams got their next set of clues first, which instructed them to complete a Roadblock.

The Roadblock task required one member from each team to sign up for one of six helicopter flights -- each carrying a maximum of two teams. Then, in a The Amazing Race first, they'd have to jump out of a helicopter as it hovers at 10,000 feet and skydive. Once safely on the ground, they'd reunite with their team members and earn their next clue.

The team members who opted to sky dive were John, Jamil, Connor, Winnie, and Chuck. John and Jamil got on the first flight, Connor and Winnie got on the second and Chuck got stuck on the third helicopter flight.

Jessica and John finished the skydive in first place and they were followed by Idries and Jamil.

The teams' next set of clues instructed the teams to participate in another Roadblock task, which noted the teammate who completed the prior helicopter Roadblock could not compete again. For the task, one member of each team had to find their next clue buried in the sand under one of 400 mini sandcastles. They had to dig in extreme heat to discover the clue, but the catch was that they'd have to rebuild every mini sandcastle they destroyed that did not contain the clue.

Jessica was forced to attempt the Roadblock task for her team and Idries joined her.

Meanwhile, the second flight landed and Bates and Anthony snagged their next clue first, putting them in sixth place. Following Bates and Anthony were Caroline and Jennifer, Mona and Beth, Max and Katie, Matt and Daniel, and Joey and Meghan.

Caroline signed up for the Roadblock skydive in addition to Anthony, Matt, Max, Mona, Meghan. Caroline and Anthony would get the first helicopter ride, Matt and Max would share the second and Caroline and Anthony would skydive in the third round. Mona would've gotten on the second flight but she accidentally signed the wrong line and it became too late to change it.

David and Connor began the sandcastle Roadblock task in the meantime, with David attempting the challenge. They were followed by Pam and Winnie in fourth place, Chuck and Wynona in fifth, Bates and Anthony, Caroline and Jennifer, Matt and Daniel, Max and Katie, Joey and Meghan, and Mona and Beth. 

Wynona had to do the Roadblock task for her team along with Bates, Pam, Jennifer, Katie, Daniel, Joey, and Beth.

Jessica and John finished the sandcastle Roadblock task in first place.

The teams' next set of clues instructed them to attach a float to a canoe, and once it's set, keep their canoe upright and paddle to the Pit Stop at Motu Cafe.

Most of the teams really struggled with the sandcastle task, especially Idries and Pam, but Bates and Anthony got very lucky and found the clue second. Following Bates and Anthony were Dave and Connor, Mona and Beth, Pam and Winnie, Joey and Meghan, Idries and Jamil, and Chuck and Wynona.

Jennifer and Caroline, Matt and Daniel and Max and Katie were beginning to feel that completing the task would be impossible, so they all agreed to stop working and just take the time penalty and move on together. Their fate would basically come down to a canoe race since they'd all receive the same time penalty upon finishing the leg.

Jessica and John were the first team to arrive at the season's first Pit Stop. They were greeted by Phil and received their two Express Passes. They didn't want to just hand an advantage over to another team, so they wanted to think about whom to give the Express Pass to despite the fact they had made a promise to four teams earlier on in the leg that they'd give it to the second-place team.

Bates and Anthony were the next team to arrive at the Pit Stop in second place and they were followed by Dave and Connor in third, Pam and Winnie in fourth, Mona and Beth in fifth, and Joey and Meghan in sixth.

Following Joey and Meghan were Chuck and Wynona, Idries and Jamil, Max and Katie.

Caroline and Jennifer finished in tenth place. Phil told Max and Katie and Caroline and Jennifer that because they had incurred a four-hour time penalty for failing to complete the sandcastles Roadblock task, they'd be forced to leave the second leg's starting point four hours later than the time they touched on the Pit Stop mat.

Matt and Daniel then met Phil in eleventh -- and last -- place.
 
"Matt and Daniel, I am sorry to tell you that you are the last team to arrive and you have been eliminated from the Race," Phil told the team.

"We left it all on the table and Bora Bora won," Matt said.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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