"Amazing Race:" So near and yet so far

By: Mary-Jayne McKay
Topics: Television

Teams search hot-air balloons for clues.

(Credit: CBS Photo)

(CBS) Season 20 of "The Amazing Race" got off to a high-flying start Sunday night when one member of each team dove out of a plane flying over the Argentine countryside.

This season's race got under way in Santa Barbara, Calif., ended in Santa Barbara, Argentina, and featured skydiving, finding 11 clues hidden in the baskets of hot-air balloons, and making 120 empanadas while dancers in native costumes performed in the background. (SPOILER ALERT)

Pictures: The Amazing Race

In what was a first for the hit CBS reality show, the losing team - San Diego sisters Misa and Maiya Tanaka- arrived at the pit stop ahead of another team but couldn't see host Phil Keoghan at the finish-line mat across the courtyard.

Keoghan saw them approaching and then did a double-take as he watched them walk back out the gate. Cameras followed them as they walked around the property and then returned, finally spotting Keoghan in the courtyard.

But the delay gave the team behind them just enough time to slip into safety. Both sisters wept as they voiced their frustration.

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