"The Amazing Race" (15.1) recap: "They thought Godzilla was walking down the street"

CBS's The Amazing Race has won every Emmy for "Outstanding Reality-Competition" since the award was created in 2001, and it's not hard to see why. With so many teams, it's easy to find at least a few pairings to root for, and at least a few to despise.

And unlike, say, Survivor, the scenery changes every week, so you're not stuck looking at the same rotting palm tree every episode. Combine all of that with nail-biting weekly conclusions, and you have the formula for classic reality television

Of course, it also doesn't hurt that TAR has been one of the most-gay-inclusive reality shows ever made, and this season is no exception, with gay brothers Sam and Dan. In fact, it's been a little remarkable how gay-friendly the show is with last season having three gay contestants, though viewers only knew about two of them.

The two-hour season premiere of the 15ht season starts off in a shocking fashion. Each team emerges from one of those giant sewer entrances at the Los Angeles river basin being chased by a ... giant alligator! And the slowest team is eliminated when the alligator eats them!

I told you to read the fine print for just this reason!

Okay, the alligator part didn't happen, but I can't be the only one who saw those sewer entrances and thought "giant alligator!" or "1950's giant radioactive ant."

We barely get our bearings before host Phil Keoghan (aka the hottest man in reality programming) informs the twelve teams that for one of them, it's going to be a very short competition.

In an inspired but cruel plot twist, one team won't make it past the starting line as the first elimination challenge will take place directly behind them. Each team has to search a wall with over a thousand license plates hanging on it for one of only 11 license plates from the Shinagawa District of Tokyo, their first destination. A clue is placed on each team's backpack, which should provide them with all the help they need.

I said should because part of the fun of watching TAR is then delighting in their panic because we, of course, would never make those dumb mistakes.

In this case, the hint is painfully obvious (the Japanese symbol for Shinagawa is printed at the top of the clue and matches the symbol on the plate), but the teams still run around pulling random plates off the wall. Then they rush up to Phil, who tells them "nope, try again", until finally each team realizes the solution, and picks the right plate.

Next page! The first team is eliminated, and we meet Sam and Dan, and the rest of the racers!