Here's why I believe The Amazing Race's Melinda and Erika should only have been punished for a misinterpretation mistake

Disclaimer: This The Amazing Race article is based on the writer's opinion. Readers' discretion is advised.

The Amazing Race Season 37 aired its latest episode on April 23, 2025. The CBS show revealed Melinda and Erika's elimination after a few things, including their arriving last at the destination, happened. As fans probably know by now, the other thing was misreading the clue and using taxis, while the teams were notified not to use them.

As a result, Melinda and Erika had multiple taxi trips during the show's eighth episode, which meant a rule violation. The episode ended with the announcement of the elimination by the show host, Phil Keoghan. He revealed the team's misinterpretation of the clue and their late arrival. As a result, the mother-daughter duo was sent home.

I believe that if the misinterpretation of the clue had been given a penalty or a punishment, things might have turned out for the last female team of The Amazing Race Season 37.

The Amazing Race Season 37: Melinda and Erika's misinterpretation of the clue

Teams on the CBS show travelled through Sofia, Bulgaria, in the latest episode. They were given instructions on traveling on foot or taking the metro. What they were not supposed to use were taxis. However, one of the teams, Melinda and Erika misread the clue.

The clue mentioned "not" to use the taxi, which Eria misinterpreted to "must" use taxis. After that, the pair took multiple taxis throughout the series of tasks they were assigned.

It all started at the Klek shop located near the Russian Monument Square. Their next destination was Sofia University's library. After reaching there, they had to translate two pages. They had to use the cipher to do the Cyrillic to English translation, which was quite difficult for most of the teams.

When The Amazing Race stars Melinda and Erika couldn't translate it, fellow teammates Han and Holden shared useful information, that the key was on the other side of the cipher.

Melinda and Erika's April 24, 2025, exclusive interview with Parade Magazine revealed what they thought about the misinterpretation of the clue.

"The taxis are totally not what killed us. It actually kept us in it to see people! But we would have had a 30-minute penalty for each taxi. So four taxis, two hours," said Erika.

Adding more on that, her mother, Melinda, stated the reason that took more time:

"But after all that taxis, it's like, "Let's go ahead!" I don't think the taxis are what took us out. I really think it was a cipher."

In their April 25, 2025, interview with Gold Derby, the duo talked about Han and Holden's help while they couldn't solve the cipher puzzle.

The Amazing Race star Erika shared that they were grateful that Han and Holden helped them solve the puzzle:

"The fact that Holden came back, even though we were the very last team, was really cool to see. I hate to say it, but my mom would have probably been like, 'We can't help them!' To have them come back to help us — we're grateful."

The odds were not in Melinda and Erika's favor, so they arrived last after taking taxis, eliminating them from the race.

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The latest episode of The Amazing Race Season 37 airs every Wednesday on CBS.

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