Line #8 EliminationHoudini/TheAmazingRace


1	''Series/TheAmazingRace'', being a competition where you only have to beat one other team to the Pit Stop to survive, and bad luck can hit anyone at any time, has featured a large number of {{Elimination Houdini}}s.
2
3	!United States
4	* Lenny & Karyn, Season 1, beat out several stronger teams despite finishing in the bottom 3 in every leg except the first one. They barely avoided elimination on several occasions due to a team getting lost in the desert, another team not having the proper currency to pay their taxi, and a non-elimination leg.
5	* Steve & Dave from Season 4. After an injury in the 1st leg they refused to run, yet lasted 4 more legs thanks to a Fast Forward and major blunders by other teams. On their penultimate leg, the show even played the "sad elimination" music for their finish, only to subsequently cut to a forgotten team that had taken a wrong turn and fallen hopelessly behind.
6	* Kami & Karli, Season 5, finished either last or second-to-last on 6 of the first 9 legs, making many blunders along the way (such as being the only team who didn't figure out how to use puzzle pieces and a map to find out the next destination on their own), before finally getting eliminated on leg 10.
7	* Adam & Rebecca, Season 6, finished in the top half of the field only once on their way to making the Final 3, and that one leg they won was by Fast Forward. They made several mistakes along the way, barely avoiding elimination at least 4 times. In the Sri Lanka leg, they had fallen over an hour and a half behind behind every other team, only to be saved by arguably the most badly placed equalizer in the series (at the END of the leg).
8	** Don & Mary Jean, who stumbled through 5 legs despite accidentally stealing another team's car in leg 2, wasting over 5 hours at the IKEA counting detour in leg 3, and choosing the slower, luck-based fishing Detour in leg 4 (and finishing almost 4 hours behind the first team). They were finally eliminated in 8th after getting lost at the beginning of the 5th leg, after which not even Lori & Bolo accidentally walking several miles could save them.
9	* Meredith & Gretchen, Season 7, who were the first team to succeed while deliberately using the "Just beat one team" strategy, even though Gretchen got injured and they had their bags taken away on an early leg. It should be noted they were more popular than most [=EHs=], even becoming fan favorites, due to being a genuinely nice elderly couple who rarely quarreled and never did a single devious thing against any of the other teams. They also gained sympathy from their injuries and when other teams started [[TrashTalk trash talking]] them, which made their [[DeathByIrony victories against these trash talking teams]] [[UnderdogsNeverLose all the more satisfying.]]
10	* Ray & Yolanda, Season 9, appeared to be slow at ''everything'', surviving mostly because Season 9 teams were extremely mistake prone. They finished second-to-last in 4 of the last 5 elimination legs, and at one point survived because another team Yielded the team right in front of them.
11	** Despite winning five legs, BJ & Tyler went through a Houdini stage in the middle of Season 9. Over the course of four legs, they came in last on two different non-elimination legs, and survived a third time when another team got lost looking for the Pit Stop.
12	* Lyn & Karlyn, Season 10, who were the first female team to make the Final 3 despite being out of shape and constantly struggling to keep up with the more fit teams. They didn't finish in the top half of the field until the 10th leg, and only got that far because of stupid decisions by their alliance-mates Erwin & Godwin.
13	--> '''Karlyn''': We just won't die. Like roaches.
14	* Eric & Danielle, from Season 11, were the first of these to win the race. In the first 11 legs, they had one top 2 finish, and their 5 bottom 2 finishes without getting eliminated is tied for 3rd most ever, trailing only Kami & Karli's 6 in Season 5 and Josh & Brent's 7 in Season 21. They also had 2 legs where they finished more than 12 hours behind the lead team, and were only able to catch up to the leaders due to the most blatantly contrived equalizer in race history. And ultimately, they only won because of a task involving guessing their partner's responses to questions about the other teams. Aside from being hugely [[LuckBasedMission luck-based]] considering it was the final task, the favorites to win, Dustin & Kandice, claimed in a post-race interview that Dustin's initial response wouldn't go through.
15	* Dan & Andrew from Season 13, who only made it to the Final 3 because they were repeatedly saved by non-elimination legs or another team making an even worse blunder than they did. They are probably the Race's worst offenders/best examples of this trope, and are widely credited as being the worst team to ever make the Final 3. Phil even told them at one point that he thought they were going to be the next team eliminated. They even acknowledged how bad they were, saying that there should be a Website/YouTube compilation video of all their mistakes--[[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+amazing+race+dandrew and some have been created.]] They at least are able to laugh at themselves.
16	* Mark & Michael, Season 14, who had a knack for getting tragically lost on every single leg. They are the only team to ever get multiple penalties on two different legs, and two different penalties on the same task (for sabotaging the other teams, and getting outside help when the clue told them that was not allowed), yet managed to barely escape elimination on at least three separate occasions. This includes another team getting U-Turned, a team not having enough time to make up their Speed Bump, and a non-elimination leg.
17	* Brian & Ericka, Season 15, survived twice, despite huge deficits, because another team quit a task. Maria & Tiffany quit a Detour where they were physically unable to do either task, while Big Easy quit a Roadblock where he was unable to unscramble the name "Franz".
18	** Maria & Tiffany. They were saved from elimination twice, by a non-elimination Pit Stop at the end of the first leg, and by Zev & Justin losing their passport in Cambodia.
19	** Mika & Canaan. They nearly lost a tourist in Japan and Canaan had to do most of the Roadblocks for the first half. They finished in 7th, their best placement after Mika's meltdown over not wanting to slide down a water slide even though Flight Time & Big Easy were right behind them.
20	* Brent & Caite, Season 16, went through dehydration, got lost several times, and constantly bickered, yet made it to the Final 3 over several stronger teams.
21	** Cops Louie & Michael. Other than a stretch of three legs without an equalizer, they spent all their time at or near the back of the pack, barely avoiding elimination at least four times thanks to Jody and Shawne struggling with Roadblocks in consecutive legs, Carol & Brandy getting U-Turned, and a non-elimination leg.
22	* Nick & Vicki, Season 17. They spent most of their time in the back of the pack, and rarely completed non-physical tasks on the first try. Yet despite all this, and Nick's verbal abuse towards Vicki, they finished 4th due to other teams making mistakes, and twice were saved by non-elimination legs. On the third-to-last leg, Nick even gave up and ''napped'' during the Detour and eventually dragged Vicki into accepting a 6-hour penalty, ''only to be saved by a non-elimination leg''. It only turned out to delay the inevitable, as their late start time on the following leg caused them to miss the flight the other racers took to South Korea, and never came close to catching up.
23	** It also had mistake prone Chad & Stephanie, who at one point were saved despite finishing in last with a 30-minute penalty because another team had a longer penalty.
24	* Season 18 had Kent & Vyxsin barely escape elimination several times, including after running probably the worst leg of any team ever. Leg 4 started with them driving in the wrong direction for several hours, and catching their mistake so late that ''they missed the production-arranged flight out of Japan''; the usual equalizer that everyone else reached with hours to spare. They continued to panic and melt down throughout the leg, topping it off by leaving their Race pack behind on a gondola, ''losing their passports for the second time in the same leg''. They got saved by the fact that it was a double leg, catching up at the next equalizer. Then, on the next leg, Kent fell off a ladder during a Roadblock, cracking his rib and spraining an ankle, yet the lasted five more legs after that.
25	* Marcus & Amani, Season 19, were constantly making mistakes and putting themselves in the back of the pack and being forced to play catchup, surviving mostly due to other teams making even worse mistakes at the last minute. Marcus, despite being a former NFL tight end, got shown up on physical tasks by a 60-year-old man. And in the penultimate leg, despite not discovering the location of the Pit Stop for themselves, their cab driver got it from another team's cab driver, putting them in the Final 3.
26	* Vanessa & Ralph, Season 20, several times got themselves dreadfully behind the lead pack, yet managed to survive because someone did just a little bit worse than them. They survived once when Elliot & Andrew struggled with the Detour for as long as they did, again when Joey "Fitness" & Danny wasted time on a Fast Forward they didn't get, then later almost blew a two-hour lead on Nary & Jamie on a leg without an equalizer.
27	** Mark & Bopper. While they were competent enough, they were consistently plagued by injuries, illness, and bad navigation (mostly in leg 4, where they somehow ended up about 6-9 hours behind the leaders). They were saved twice by non-elimination legs; and even benefited from great luck on their final leg - just not enough to make up the massive time lost on the previous leg [[note]]''nobody'' else had claimed the Fast Forward ahead of them, and it was shaving their heads when Mark was already bald[[/note]].
28	* From Season 21 were eventual winners Josh & Brent, who set the franchise record for finishing in the bottom 2 for seven straight legs and surviving all seven legs [[note]]Their final leg victory was the first time since leg 4 where they finished above the bottom 2[[/note]]. They were saved by a non-elimination leg, survived a leg where they fell more than 5 hours behind the lead four teams and had to take a 4-hour penalty after Brent was unable to complete the swimming Detour when James & Abba lost their passports and were unable to retrieve them, ''and'' again the next leg after that, in spite of their flight being over 2 hours behind the other teams' when Abbie & Ryan 1) had their earlier flight delayed and ended up arriving at Amsterdam the same time as them and 2) were U-Turned by Jaymes & James. If there was ever a team who suffered from [[UnluckilyLucky unbelievably bad and unbelievably good luck at the same time]], it's them.
29	** Also Gary & Will. They survived two legs in a row consisting of massive blunders (including U-Turning a team ahead of them) and being ready to give up because the teams they beat out were derailed by bad drivers, before finally getting eliminated in leg 4.
30	* Chuck & Wynona in Season 22. In three straight legs they were saved by a fake Pit Stop non-elimination, Jessica & John getting eliminated because they refused to use their Express Pass, and Dave & Connor quitting the race, which saved them despite finishing almost three hours behind the other teams. They were later eliminated due to a 30-minute penalty for not using their sleds on the cheese hill task, even though they were nearly saved by Meghan & Joey ''walking'' to the Pit Stop when a local gave them bad directions.
31	** Max & Katie. After they got two other teams to quit a task with them in the first leg and take a four hour penalty, they were handily beaten by the other surviving team in the next leg, only staying in by having their penalty cut down by an Hours of Operation bunching point and two other teams' major screwups. In the next leg, they screwed up navigation so badly that they were only spared from last place by Chuck & Wynona screwing up worse. They were later saved by a non-elimination leg after being the last team to quit the longer end of a Detour, and in the leg after that, despite a Speed Bump, navigation issues, and having to pay a speeding ticket, they managed to survive again due to Pam & Winnie imploding on the Detour. However, they did end up winning three straight legs in Europe just before the finale.
32	** Mona & Beth took up the mantle in the last third of the Race (when Chuck & Wynona were eliminated and Max & Katie started winning legs) as their ineptitude at navigation and mental tasks started to show, only making the Final Three due to a non-elimination and two other teams struggling with physical tasks. In the 10th leg, they managed to survive both a Speed Bump (one of the harder ones in the series) and a U-Turn, beating out Joey & Meghan because they had also been U-Turned.
33	* Ally & Ashley from Season 23, who ran along at the back of the pack for most of the season, and finished five straight legs in second-to-last place.
34	** Travis & Nicole were a unique case as, despite being established as the strongest team up until then, Nicole broke down at the Leg 9 and 11 Roadblocks and only stayed in the race because Amy helped her out both times.
35	* In Season 24 there's Brendon & Rachel. While they finished in the top 2 for five of the legs, they've barely escaped elimination in every other leg thanks to other peoples mistakes (Joey & Meghan letting their cab go in the middle of nowhere, Leo & Jamal direction issues) or being lucky at the right time (non-elimination, being right on a coin flip flight decision, John telling Rachel what she was doing wrong on a Roadblock and Leo & Jamal U-Turning Jet & Cord instead).
36	** Then there's Caroline & Jennifer. Like Brendon & Rachel they either finish high or being in the danger zone, and the two times they fell to last they were saved by non-elimination.
37	* In Season 25, there was Amy & Maya. They finished near the back of the pack generally and were spared at the penultimate leg by a surprise non-elimination, placing four teams in the final leg for the first time ever. They ended up winning the race.
38	** Also, Brook & Robbie. They admitted to their flaws (NoSenseOfDirection, GlobalIgnorance etc.) during leg 10.
39	* In Season 26, Mike and Rochelle, who had 5 bottom 2 finishes when they reached the Top 4.
40	* In Season 28, there's Scott and Blair. They came in last on the first leg but were saved by it being non-elimination, then barely survived several legs due to mistakes by other teams and their own BornLucky nature.
41	** Also Sherri and Cole. They had frequent navigational issues, were saved twice by non-elimination legs and often received help from other teams. The one time they actually could have helped an ally (Brittany and Jessica), they cut them loose.
42	* Two teams in Season 29
43	** Liz & Mike, despite winning back to back legs have evaded elimination in almost half the legs despite frequent navigation issues and fighting thanks to non-elimination legs, or teams screwing up.
44	** London & Logan have consistently finished at the bottom of the pack yet have made it to the final 3
45	* Despite winning Season 30, Cody & Jessica slipped into this in the middle of the season avoiding elimination 4 times in a row thanks to their U-Turning Trevor & Chris, a super leg, Eric & Daniel's lack of musical prowess, and Lucas losing his passport.
46	* In Season 31, Rachel & Elissa are in the Bottom 3 for 6 straight legs, including placing last in the non elimination leg, they placed 7th after running 8 legs.
47	** Leo & Jamal are an All or Nothing team, if they are not first, they are at the bottom for most of the legs.
48	* Kaylynn & Haley are an almost ridiculous case. They've managed to have been saved by two non-elimination legs and one team spending over 6 hours looking for a location 2 kilometers away. Hell, even the other teams are surprised that they keep surviving legs. Their luck runs out in Hyderabad, but it took being Yielded ''twice'' to eliminate them (though it didn't help either that both they during the Food App detour and their first taxi had NoSenseOfDirection).
49	* Akbar and Sheri (33) rarely ever ran due to the latter getting winded easily and were in the back of the pack constantly, yet still made it to leg six due to other teams making worse mistakes than them.
50	* Arun and Natalia also apply somewhat. They were originally the second team to be eliminated from the race, but then came the Covid pandemic. The race resumed, with them being one of the two teams that returned (a ''first'') and managed to survive two non-elimination legs. They consistently kept getting lost and finishing near the bottom of the pack.
51
52	! Asia
53	* Zabrina & Joe Jer from Season 1. After they were non-eliminated in leg 7, they spent the next four legs in the bottom 2. They managed to win the race. It should be noted that like Meredith & Gretchen, they are one of the more popular EH team for being nice and the first female team to win in the entire franchise.
54	* Terri & Henry, Season 2. They were consistently second-to-last place on several legs. Also, they were spared by two consecutive non-elimination legs despite the huge time deficit between the other racers.
55	* Tania & Ida, Season 3. They were also spared by two consecutive non-elimination legs. The only difference is that they were able get to the final three.
56	* Natasha and Hussein, Season 4. They made several critical mistakes throughout the race such as going to the wrong boat on the first leg, failed the Roadblocks twice in Malaysia and Australia and were forced to take the 4 hour penalties. Despite of that, they were spared due to the other racer's misfortunes and the leg in Australia being a double-length leg.
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58	! China Rush
59	* Henry & Jennifer (3), they were saved by 2 non-elimination legs and avoided elimination twice when one team got lost and another team got penalized for leaving their bags in the wrong area, they managed to last 7 legs despite always placing in the bottom 3 (except for 2).
60	* Chen Yiru & Zhou Weitong (Celebrity), from the 4th to 8th leg, 4 of the legs had them running in 2nd to last or last.
61	** Bai Jugang & Guan Xiaotong, managed to made the final 3 despite being eliminated in the 2nd leg due to having a Save in the 9th leg. In 5 legs they run, 4 of them were either 2nd to last or last.
62	* G.E.M and Zhang [=YunJing=] (Celebrity 2), in the 6 legs they run, 4 of the legs saw themselves placed in last.
63	** Then Xiao Yang & Wang Taili, who manages to finished 3rd despite being the bottom 2 for 8 out of 10 legs
64
65	!Australia
66	* Mo & Mos (1) came last on the first non-elimination leg, were saved from almost certain elimination thanks to Anne-Marie & Tracy quitting the same Roadblock they did, and survived the first leg in South Africa only thanks to [[LaserGuidedKarma karma coming back to bite Richard & Joey in the ass for being unbearable to every other team]]. They finally were eliminated on leg 5 even though fate seemed to give them every chance to survive, first when they got lucky with an Intersection (allowing them to catch up to Sam & Renae), then again when Chris & Anastasia lost their car keys (and even when, by a small miracle, they found the key, they were unable to open with without Sam & Renae's help).
67	** After Mo & Mos were gone, Matt & Tom slipped into the role. First, on leg 6, Matt burned through all his arrows on the Roadblock, and only Jeff's charity kept him from having to take a four-hour penalty. They then came in last at the midpoint of the Super Leg, then were the last to check in ''again'' at the next Pit Stop, only to be saved by Chris & Anastasia's penalty.
68	* Lucy & Emilia (2) is probably the best example in the entire franchise, evading elimination until Leg 10. Despite being outmatched by pretty much every other team, they managed to make it to 5th place due to the following:
69	** Leg 1: Being saved by Ross & Tarryn with the Salvage Pass.
70	** Leg 2: Saved by Adam & Dane's 30 minute penalty for selling personal possessions.
71	** Leg 3: Saved by Sue & Teresa's failure at the step-counting Roadblock.
72	** Leg 4: Even after getting detained by the police, they were still saved by Kym & Donna getting hopelessly lost in Dubai.
73	** Leg 5 & 6: Both Sarah & James and Ross & Tarryn were unable to finish the Roadblock and took 4 hour penalties.
74	** Leg 7 & 8: The only leg (7) they were doing very well in (running in the front of the pack with Michelle & Jo and Paul & Steve), was oddly cut, putting the pit stop in another country, which equalized most teams, sending them once again to the back of the pack.
75	** Leg 9: Sarah & James missing the morning equalizer and running out of money.
76	* Femi & Nick (4) hit this trope hard starting in Leg 2, where they ended up checking in ahead of Nuns Judy & Therese literally in the final moments. On Leg 4, they again finished one place ahead of Mother and Daughter Rowah & Amani, who would go on to be eliminated. On Leg 6, Femi & Nick incurred a two-hour penalty for being unable to find the hidden box in the sand, yet they remained in the game due to Hayley & Mikayla also failing to find the box as well. And on Leg 9, Femi & Nick initially struggled with a challenge to building clay bricks due to using the wrong ingredients. Despite U-Turning Tim & Rod, Femi & Nick finished in 4th Place, one place ahead of Viv & Joey. However, it wasn’t an Elimination Leg.
77	* Viv & Joey (4): Despite finishing second on 4 other legs, they also came close to elimination on 4 legs. During these near elimination legs, they were ahead of the pack before struggling with the last task of the leg.
78	** On Leg 5, despite slowly making their way to the checkpoint (and Joey being unsure of an orientation landmark), they were still in the competition due to Chris breaking his rib falling from a Camel.
79	** On Leg 6, Viv & Joey struggled at the Detour facing further delays from a bad traffic jam when swapping. Yet they checked in ahead of Femi & Nick and Hayley & Mikayla due to them being unable to find lucky clue boxes in the sand digging challenge.
80	** On Leg 8, Viv & Joey struggled with the physically demanding water bucket challenge. However, they checked in at the last minute, ahead of Sid & Ash, due to the latter deliberately going over the speed limit as they attempted to overtake the other couples.
81	** On Leg 9, Viv & Joey finished in last place despite U-Turning Tim/Rod due to taking a long time with making bricks (and the latter finding the answer ahead of them by copying Femi & Nick). Fortunately for them, it was a non-elimination leg.
82	* Brendan & Jackson (5): They narrowly avoided elimination on the first leg, when they couldn't find a pair of tongs in the sugar cane searching challenge. They placed last on legs 11 and 17 on non elimination legs (receiving a salvage card both times) and narrowly avoided elimination on leg 16, but were saved by Holly & Dolor going the wrong way to find Chilly's house (a house for a goat).
83	* Holly and Dolor (5): Placed last during a non elimination in leg 9. Narrowly avoided elimination on legs 6 & 10
84	* Jordan & Violeta (5). Despite doing reasonably well during the first two legs, they ended up suffering an ongoing string of bad luck starting in Leg 3, where they finished 10th. And they've managed to outlast couples that are more lovable.
85	** Bonus points in Leg 3 involved leaving their backpacks behind as they set off to do their Detour, and yet they still finished ahead of Jude & Shannon despite doing a U-Turn to get their bags.
86	** Violeta notably struggled immensely during the firebreathing challenge for a while to the point that all the couples overtook her and Jordan, therefore meaning that she was unable to finish the challenge and the team automatically finished in last place. However, because of Shane & Deb withdrawing from the competition due to Shane’s injury, it was a non-elimination leg.
87	** As a result of finishing last on Leg 5, Jordan & Violeta have been Sabotaged. It would appear that they would’ve been the next to be eliminated as they've been forced to wear snorkels throughout most of the race, and yet they managed to clear the leg. As an ironic twist, they managed to finish ahead of Jobelle & Rani (who were Salvaged that same leg and had a guide with them during the main challenge), who were subsequently eliminated due by fellow Elimination Houdinis Holly & Dolor.
88	** On Leg 7, Jordan & Violeta, despite coming last ''again'' by the time they reached the Roadblock, managed to overtake two teams with Jordan successfully throwing the knife at the target on just one attempt. It appeared that they were on the verge of being eliminated as the latter two teams (Sefa & Jessica and Skye-Blue & Jake) eventually caught up on the final challenge of the leg. Unfortunately, Sefa & Jessica’s luck had ran out.
89	* Stan & Wayne (5): Finished last twice in a row on legs 13 & 14 (largely due to getting lost) without being eliminated and even receiving a salvage.
90	* George and Pam (7): Survived a Speed Bump early on but continued to dwell at the bottom of the pack for several legs, to the point seeing George and Pam was a visual warning to the other teams they were fighting for last place.
91
92	!Canada
93	* Tim Sr. & Tim Jr. in Season 1, who were saved by both of the first two non-elimination legs, and managed to constantly make mistakes that sent them to the back of the pack. They managed to get to the Final 3 and win the Race.
94	* Rex & Bob in Season 2, they barely escaped elimination three times in the first five legs. Leg 2 had them spared elimination due to another team's GameBreakingInjury, despite taking six hours worth of penalties, and were caught up to the other teams in the next leg due to a flight equalizer. Leg 3 had them checking in before two teams who took the Master Chef Detour, which turned out to be a massive time suck, and Leg 5 had them saved by a team [[ATeamFiring who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn]], before finally getting eliminated in leg 6.
95	** Ryan & Rob, also Season 2, passed up Rex & Bob to survive leg 6 after spending most of the leg in last place. They got severely lost in the next leg, only to be saved by a non-elimination, then survived their Speed Bump and getting U-Turned because Michel took 8 hours to do the Roadblock. In the next leg, despite an ill-advised Fast Forward trip when they were already in last place and their inability to do the Cheese Detour after 30+ tries, forcing them to switch, they got saved yet again by a non-elimination. They were then able to overcome their Speed Bump and survive once again when they passed the struggling Alain & Audrey at the Detour. They then barely beat Sukhi & Jinder in the next leg to squeeze into the Final 3.
96	* Adam & Courtney from Season 6 from the beginning were a fixture of the back of the pack and placed in the bottom 2 five times, then broke Josh & Brent's record for the lowest finishing average for a winning team.
97	* Justin & Jermaine have little to no ambition to actually win and quit at the drop of a hat and only get by due to lucky breaks like non-elimination legs, a pass, and finding the sand dollar on the ''first castle''.
98	* Deven & Amanda made it to the final 4 despite never placing above 4th and frequently placing in the bottom 2.
99
100	!Philippines
101	* Pamela & Vanessa ([[OneSteveLimit no not]] [[Characters/TheAmazingRaceAsia2 that one]]) spent their entire season living on borrowed time despite being the least prepared team for the race. First, they were saved by Crystal & Mykey having a health emergency. Next, Anton & Armand got a 24 hour penalty for calling someone outside the race. After that, it was a non-elimination leg. Their luck finally ran out when they missed the first bus, sending them home in 9th place.

Context EliminationHoudini / TheAmazingRace