SirDigbyPollo

The bulbs were hard to screw in, and they had to lean out to do so, which meant that someone with greater upper body strength would find it easier to do. I think that's why D&C passed the Country Clutter. He didn't even want to do the last task, but he had to. It was the least he could do, considering that Connor carried both of their backpacks through most of the race.

Love that Alan Cumming in the final scene. You could see the gears turning in Eli's head, and I knew what he was going to say before he said it, just by the way he looked at Alicia. The argument between Alicia and Cary seemed somewhat contrived. I didn't really understand Alicia's point of view. If they merged, most of the staff at Florrick-Agos would be out of a job, which is a pretty shitty thing to do with people that you've been relying on, day-to-day, for months. And I thought most of the associates that came with Alicia and Cary from LG were partners in the new firm. They probably wouldn't end up as partners back at LG, or FLG, or FLAG, or whatever the merged firm would have been.

Well, now I can say that I have hate-watched a TV show. Ugh. Yes, he did think that Connor should do the final challenge. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the part where Dave was informed that, because Connor had done the Welsh poem RB and the escape-from-a-burning-box RB, Dave _had_ to do the final challenge in order to be consistent with Phil's New Road Block Rules. After Dave's temper tantrum, he was informed that he wouldn't actually have to do anything difficult for this challenge, so he dutifully suited up and headed for the helicopter. I hope that Phil presented Brenchell's cabbie with a special cash bonus. She correctly identified a threat to our world and did what needed to be done to prevent that threat from becoming a reality. Yes, Brendon, you should search ALL of the hotel rooms in the Mirage for the next clue. It's too bad they didn't have to write the number of lightbulbs in Roman numerals. Those two d-bags would still be on that scaffolding. Dear Phil, As much as I love Browsie, if you ever have the sparkly, green meadow muffins on The Amazing Race again, I will hunt you down and shave your eyebrows. Sincerely, A Long-time TAR Fan

The Cowboys seemed to just alternate as to who did the Roadblock. Jet did the manuscript illustration, Cord did the milk dogs, and Jet did the balloon shaving. I would have enjoyed seeing Cord try to recite that Welsh poem. Ah, well.... Instead of just trying to follow Brenchell, Leo & Jamal should have gone into the petrol station to get the same directions. It did seem like they ran into a lot of people who didn't know where the race locations were. I was wondering if that was a knee-jerk response on the part of the locals to being questioned by a "swarthy Middle Easterner."

Argh again. WIth the Cowboys out, Leo & Jamal version 2.0 were my preferred pick to win it. How did they suddenly lose their navigational sense? This is almost as bad as TAR 20, where I didn't even watch the finale because I couldn't stand any of the remaining teams. Hmm. Seems like this season has a common element with TAR 20, something nasty and vile, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is... Hah! Raining in Wales! Rhod Gilbert does a bit about that. I really don't understand why Dave isn't being forced to do all of the remaining tasks. My only hope is that they arrive first at the finish mat, where Phil informs them that they have to sit out a 4 hour penalty because Dave didn't do enough Road Blocks, thus allowing the Country Clutter to sweep in, winning by default and providing a lesson to future racers: don't help another team, ever.

While I think there should be an actual challenge to the roadblocks and detours, with some amount of risk, the problem with the bull balls is that there was no way to control the risk. Smashing into the racers when there are curbs and show racks around... all sorts of bad things can happen. Just ask Jamal's knee. After a rewatch, I saw that the Cowboys picked a bad time to fall apart. They left the Pit Stop at about the same time as Donnor and Lamal, and should have been on the early flight with them, except that they missed the exit to the airport and had to waste time finding their way back. So they arrive in Seville along with the Country Clutter and Brenchell, but they're the last team to find Hercules and Caesar. Somehow, they manage to arrive at the barbershop in fourth place, but don't display their usual alacrity at tasks and leave still in fourth, barely. Then they burn a ton of time finding the next clue, which is really what seemed to kill them.because when they leave, they're barely ahead of the Country Clutter, and at this point they should know that they're racing for last place. I still can't figure out how they arrived at the U-Turn last, because the Country Clutter had to do both the lame Speed Bump and the flamenco dance, and it seems like the dancing would have taken some amount of time to learn the steps.

Argh. Once again, the navigationally-challenged Cowboys are eliminated by being U-Turned. Count me as another person who doesn't like U-Turns on the last half of a leg. Now we have a devil's choice to root for.... Maybe not. Connor has now done the last three Roadblocks, only one of which was a hard physical task. Dave has done four Roadblocks to Connor's six, which means Dave will have to do the remaining Roadblocks, and that could be their downfall. The "bulls" were fun, but other than the greeter, there wasn't really anything impressive about this leg. (To be fair, the outcome colors my impression.)

The Entitled Ones did do the drink mixing/pouring task in Kuala Lumpur. I will say this about TAR 24: I don't recall there being so many close leg finishes in previous seasons.

That was Jet's dry, deadpan humor. "I sure hope my wife doesn't see this." He knows darn well she's going to see it. What surprised me about the room cleaning task: Jet hugged Helga when she gave them the clue! They don't usually do that. They had to give him the card with the "formula" worked out on it. If they hadn't filled in the right mileage with the year answer, I don't think it would have been accepted. Leo & Jamal got a foreshadowing of the perils of bringing "weaker" teams with you into the Final Three. You might be able to beat those teams in a footrace to the finish, but sometimes there's a shorter route that a smarter or luckier team might find.

Nat & Kat won TAR 17. Another all-female team, Brook & Claire, came in second. Kisha & Jen won TAR 18: Unfinished Business. Flight Time & Big Easy came in second. Jet & Cord were eliminated in leg 9 after being U-Turned by Flight Time & Big Easy. Mona & Beth, the Roller Derby Moms, in TAR 22 made it to the final 3, lasting one leg longer than the Country Singers. They weren't bad racers; perhaps a tad directionally challenged, but I liked their "suck it up and get it done" attitude. I would much preferred to have them on an "All Stars" season than the Country Singers or the Twinnies.

Argh. TAR 20. I stopped watching after Mark & Bopper were Philiminated. Couldn't stand any of the Final Four teams. Heard about a year later that Army Guy and his wife won. Thank the stars we don't have to see any of those Final Four on TAR ever again. Oh, wait... Dagnabit!

If the final leg is in Miami, make sure that your taxi driver is NOT named Sterling. (Yes, an otherwise decently-run race can be ruined in the final moments.)

God wouldn't have let Rachell take off her "special" shorts to go down the waterfall to get the clue. Nobody needed to see that.

Kara, Brenchell was first to finish the Detour and first to the U-Turn board, U-turning Dave & Connor. Dave & Connor were riding the donkeys when the Cowboys showed up. Jet & Cord immediately used the Express Pass, giving it to "Geppetto" and getting the next clue, just as Dave & Connor finished with the donkeys and got the next clue. Both teams were then searching for the U-Turn board, and got there virtually at the same time. If not for the danger of being U-Turned, the Cowboys may have been better off using the Express Pass on the Roadblock. They probably could have done both sides of the Detour faster than that Roadblock.

For worst series finale, I hereby nominate The Glades: