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**Disclaimer: This article about The Amazing Race is based on the writer’s opinion. Reader discretion is advised.**
The Amazing Race season 37 returned to a familiar format in episode 10, titled Up the River Without a Joust, which aired on May 7, 2025. In this leg, teams arrived in Strasbourg, France, and faced a physical Head-to-Head challenge involving water jousting.
One member from each team had to knock their opponent off a floating platform using a padded lance. The winner received the next clue, while the loser waited to compete again. The last team without a win had to serve a 10-minute penalty.
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Unlike typical Roadblocks or Detours, this challenge came with high stakes before other tasks even began. The Head-to-Head jousting gave a big advantage to stronger teams, while others were eliminated despite doing well overall.
In my opinion, The Amazing Race is usually fair, offering a mix of thinking, memory, and physical tasks. But this challenge focused too much on strength. When one task decides who goes home, it doesn’t feel balanced. The show should keep all types of skills in play to stay fair.
Strong teams like Brett and Mark were eliminated not due to overall racing mistakes, but because they lost in a single physical matchup. That shift, in my view, changes how the race rewards its competitors.
Head-to-Head format exposes uneven matchups between teams in The Amazing Race
In episode 10 of The Amazing Race season 37, the water jousting Head-to-Head in Strasbourg became a pivotal moment for several teams. One of the first matchups saw Han unseat Carson, surprising many given Carson and Jack's dominant performance in earlier legs.
Han’s steady stance and balance gave her team a significant edge, showing that quick reflexes could momentarily override racing momentum. For Brett and Mark, however, this Head-to-Head signaled the beginning of the end. After several losses, they were unable to recover in time, especially after being hit with the 10-minute penalty.
Throughout the season, they had maintained a steady pace—often landing safely in the middle of the pack. But here, their progress was halted not by a wrong turn or failed puzzle, but by repeated physical defeats on a floating platform.
In my opinion, the format placed teams like Brett and Mark at a disadvantage by allowing a single physical challenge to outweigh the strategy and consistency they’d demonstrated in prior legs. During their post-match confessional, Brett remarked:
“We were outmatched out there. It was hard to go up again and again knowing we were just waiting to lose.”
His frustration was evident and understandable. Meanwhile, teams like Han and Holden, who had struggled to break out of the middle ranks, used the challenge to leap forward. While that shift adds drama, I believe this format skews the competition in favor of teams who can deliver under physical pressure rather than those who’ve been racing smart throughout.
The challenge shifted momentum in favor of physically adaptable teams
The water jousting challenge didn’t just eliminate Brett and Mark—it shifted the overall rhythm in The Amazing Race. Teams that performed well early in the Head-to-Head, such as Han and Holden, gained momentum and confidence that carried through the rest of the leg.
Han’s unexpected win over Carson put them in a strong position, allowing the duo to race forward without delay. It marked a turning point for the team, who had previously been hovering around the middle of the standings.
On the other hand, Carson and Jack—who had consistently placed near the top in earlier legs—were forced to reset after Carson’s initial loss. Although they remained in the race, the extra time spent re-competing in the Head-to-Head allowed other teams to catch up. It served as a reminder that in this format, one slip could compress time gaps that had been built over multiple legs.
In my opinion, while The Amazing Race has always incorporated physical tasks, this challenge placed too much weight on a skill that isn’t typically the defining factor of success. Carson later reflected, “That moment on the platform changed everything for us,” acknowledging how one matchup altered their lead.
What makes this twist more complex is the lack of recovery options. Unlike a difficult Detour or Roadblock, where teams can strategize or switch tasks, the Head-to-Head locks them into a format that plays out in real-time—with no room to adapt beyond brute force and timing.
I believe that when a single challenge can disproportionately dictate placements, especially in the later stages of the competition, it undermines the show’s balance between physicality, strategy, and adaptability.
The Amazing Race episodes are currently streaming on CBS.
