The Amazing Race 39 Episode 3 Preview: A New Advantage Awaits in Morocco
The Amazing Race Season 39 is heading to Morocco, and after two legs dominated by Express Pass decisions, another strategic variable is about to enter the Race.
Episode 3, “This Is Sick and Twisted,” airs Wednesday, October 7 at 9:30 PM. CBS says a new advantage will be up for grabs in the Moroccan desert, while a fruit-stacking challenge will test the remaining racers.
Photo: Courtesy of CBS/Paramount
Eleven teams remain after the first two eliminations. But perhaps more importantly, the strategic landscape already looks very different from the one racers faced when they left Vancouver.
Thirteen Express Passes began the season.
Six have been used.
Two left the Race unused with eliminated teams.
Only five active Express Passes remain.
And now another advantage is entering the game.
That makes Morocco our first opportunity to see what Season 39 looks like when multiple strategic resources potentially intersect.
From Madrid to Morocco
Leg 2 demonstrated just how quickly position can change on The Amazing Race.
Ali Krieger and Joanna Lohman rebounded from tenth place in the opening leg to win in Madrid. Michelle and Matthew Patterson followed another strong performance with second place, while Cody Langlois and Jaime Tribo made one of the largest moves of the leg by climbing from eleventh in Vancouver to third in Madrid.
At the other end of the field, Katie and Charlotte Schultz became the second team eliminated.
But the standings only tell part of the story.
Madrid reinforced something that has defined The Amazing Race for years: completing a task quickly doesn't matter if you give the time back through navigation.
Erin Taylor and Javi Vintimilla were first out of the tomato Roadblock, only for a Metro mistake to erase that advantage.
That is exactly the type of mistake teams will want to avoid as the Race moves into another unfamiliar environment.
Five Express Passes Remain
The Express Pass remains the defining strategic feature of Season 39.
Three were used during Leg 1.
Three more disappeared during Leg 2.
That leaves only five active passes among the remaining eleven teams.
Express Passes still available
Ali & Joanna
Ann-Marie & Riley
Anuar & Andrea
Conner & Garrett
Michelle & Matthew
Those five teams now possess something more valuable than it appeared to be at the starting line.
Not simply because an Express Pass can skip a task.
Its value increases as fewer competitors retain one.
The first two legs have already shown several different reasons teams might use the advantage: escaping the back of the pack, eliminating waiting time, reacting to another team's perceived position, or protecting themselves when a task begins consuming too much time.
Morocco introduces another question:
What happens when racers holding an Express Pass encounter another advantage?
We don't yet know enough from CBS's official preview to answer that—and we shouldn't pretend we do.
But it gives us something important to watch.
A New Advantage Enters the Race
CBS's Episode 3 description specifically says a new advantage is up for grabs in the Moroccan desert.
That's potentially significant.
Until now, the strategic conversation has revolved almost entirely around the Express Pass.
Adding another advantage means teams may have to evaluate not just their position in the current leg, but the potential value of resources they could carry forward.
And that creates a fundamental Amazing Race dilemma:
How much time should you risk now for something that might help you later?
Until we see the episode, we don't know exactly how this advantage works, who has an opportunity to obtain it, or what its ultimate impact will be.
Those are questions for Wednesday night—not assumptions for Tuesday morning.
The Fruit-Stacking Challenge
CBS has revealed one other intriguing element of the leg: a fruit-stacking challenge that causes trouble for racers.
It may sound simple.
That doesn't mean it will be.
Tasks involving balance, repetition or precision can become particularly dangerous on the Race because a single mistake can erase several minutes of progress.
The strategic question isn't necessarily whether a racer can complete the task.
It's how quickly they recognize when their approach isn't working.
That distinction matters even more for the five teams still carrying Express Passes.
If one of those teams encounters trouble, Morocco could force another version of the question we've been asking since Vancouver:
How much time do you lose before the Express Pass becomes more valuable than saving it?
Five Teams We're Watching
Ali & Joanna
Madrid completely changed their early-season trajectory.
After finishing tenth in Vancouver, Ali and Joanna won Leg 2.
Now comes the more interesting test: can they turn one excellent leg into sustained front-of-the-pack performance?
They also retain their Express Pass, giving them both strong recent positioning and an unused strategic resource.
Michelle & Matthew
Perhaps the most quietly impressive start belongs to Michelle and Matthew.
Third in Vancouver.
Second in Madrid.
And their Express Pass remains available.
Two legs don't establish a season-long hierarchy, but consistency matters. Another strong performance in Morocco would make their opening run increasingly difficult to dismiss as coincidence.
Conner & Garrett
Their second-place finish in Vancouver demonstrated immediate potential, but ninth in Madrid showed how quickly position can move.
They still possess an Express Pass.
Morocco will give us another data point about which version of this team is closer to their normal racing level.
Erin & Javi
Their first two legs illustrate the volatility of the Race better than almost anyone.
They used their Express Pass while near the back in Vancouver and ultimately won the leg.
Then they were first out of Madrid's opening Roadblock before losing ground through navigation.
They no longer have the Express Pass to erase a major task problem.
That makes execution increasingly important.
Dafina & Saran
They used their Express Pass in Vancouver to help escape danger.
In Madrid, they again finished near the back of the field.
They survived both.
But survival and control are different things.
Morocco may tell us whether they can stabilize their Race before repeatedly racing near elimination becomes unsustainable.
Three Questions Heading Into Episode 3
1. What exactly is the new advantage?
This is the biggest unknown entering Wednesday.
Its mechanics could determine whether it becomes a major Season 39 strategic element or something much more situational.
2. Will another Express Pass be used?
Only five remain active.
With the deadline still ahead, teams technically have time.
But the first two legs have shown why waiting isn't always entirely within a team's control.
A bad task, navigation error or suddenly dangerous position can change the calculation immediately.
3. Who can establish consistency?
We've already had two different leg winners.
Positions have shifted dramatically.
After only two legs, that's expected.
But Leg 3 is where patterns can begin becoming more interesting.
Michelle and Matthew have two consecutive top-three finishes.
Ali and Joanna are coming off a win.
Other teams have already experienced dramatic swings.
Morocco gives us another opportunity to separate temporary results from potential trends.
The Route Ahead
Season 39 began by giving every team an advantage.
Two legs later, more than half of those Express Passes are already out of active play.
Now The Amazing Race is introducing something new.
Eleven teams remain.
Five active Express Passes remain.
A new advantage is waiting somewhere in the Moroccan desert.
And every team is still trying to determine how much risk is too much.
That's what we'll be watching Wednesday night.
Because on The Amazing Race, an advantage only matters if you know when—and how—to use it.
Around the Route will have complete Episode 3 analysis following Wednesday's leg, including the updated Express Pass Tracker, Race Board, major strategic turning points and the next episode of the Around the Route Podcast.
The Amazing Race Season 39, Episode 3 — “This Is Sick and Twisted” — airs Wednesday, October 7 at 9:30 PM.
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