S32.E12: Now It's About Winning

[Whimsy]

Quote

With the $1 million prize on the line, the final 3 teams travel to New Orleans where, after visiting 11 countries, 17 cities, and travelling more than 33,000 miles, one team will be crowned the winners.

 

[aemom]

Ugh.  How did the W&J get so far ahead? God, they are insufferable.

That was was not much of a challenge for a final leg: Collect some necklaces, rip apart some cakes, eat some donuts, jump (fully harnessed) to catch a clue, roll a giant ball, stick some stuff on to the ball, and then take a cab to the Superdome.

They should have swapped the ball puzzle with the diabolical music challenge from the previous leg.

If the show ever comes back, they need to do away with alliances. They could also take a page from The Amazing Race Canada.  Season after season, the challenges on that show are deadly.

Edited December 17, 2020 by aemom
Forgot to mention the bridge jump

[mojoween]

Booooooored.

[xcrayon2215x]

These challenges seemed pretty easy for a finale episode. It did make me laugh what Leo said at the end.

[RockShrimp]

I feel like must have it taken Beardo and Hung *a lot* longer to find the baby than the editing made it look.

 

 But beyond the finding the baby faster was there really any way to make up ground in the leg? I guess if they'd been closer they could have outrun each other pushing the ball or seen one of them have to redo the puzzle and get theirs right the first time but it seemed pretty rote otherwise.

Edit: having to parade with the band at parade speed must've been torture, because that's really where they could have outrun each other.

Edited December 17, 2020 by RockShrimp

[Stardancer Supreme]

Meh. It was dull, tension-less, and not exciting at all. 

I can't fault Will & James; Their alliance brought them the win!  

Okay TAR production: No More Alliances. I expect things to be different once you return after the pandemic takes their feet off our necks.

[raven]

[PoultryDancer]

I understand there's only so much the editors can do when it's such a blowout, but that was an absolute snoozer. The problem with those needle in a haystack challenges is that there's always the risk that one team will find it normally and, as we saw, the rest could be there searching for hours, negating any suspense for the rest of the leg. The final globe challenge could have been suspenseful if multiple teams were there.

Between the irritating alliance, and the yawner of a finale  I can see why CBS was sitting on this season for so long. It was....not great, despite a solid cast and great route.  I hope the show can come back better when travel is safe.

[TiredMe]

Ok so Will and James won? So glad I stuck with my decision not to watch. Binging Netflix was a better choice. Lol

[surreysmum]

Well, I enjoyed that and was pleased with the outcome.

Sue me.

[ByaNose]

That really was an uneventful ending. By 8:45 I knew it was over before it ended. It wasn’t even Will & James fault this time. After the baby task it was all she wrote. After, that none of the 3 were in the same shot. I did find it interesting that confessionals were in voice only. I don’t think that’s ever been done. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by ByaNose

[chaifan]

Needle in a haystack challenges do not belong in the finale.  There was nothing in this leg that required skill or talent or knowledge or stamina or anything other than pure luck.  Beads - nothing the racers could do to control how fast they got 50 beads.  Bridge - if even Hung with her "short T Rex arms" got it on the first try, it obviously was set up pretty easy.  Puzzle balls - no one seemed to have to go more than 10 feet to find the trunk, and as I mentioned in the live thread - it's a freaking globe!  A 10 year old could put together a globe puzzle. 

Yawn. 

TAR, you can do better.  Sack whoever was in charge of this leg. 

[lgprimes]

They weren’t my team (in our family we have to pick teams the beginning of episode one, with very little insight- I had the beards), but I can’t really hate on a super fan winning. I’ve watched since season one and applied a few times too. It feels really good to see a fellow super fan win!

[mtlchick]

Well after tons of miles flown and TWO YEARS OF WAITING, Will and James finally get their money.

 

And that's all I can say.  Dear show, I really hope this isn't the last season and when the pandemic is over and you resume the race, you spent enough time in the corner and think about how boring this season was, alliances are lame and sharing of information NEEDS TO BE CLAMPED DOWN, 

[TheRabbi]

Best part was Hung and Chee's cab driver realizing he's on the race. Should have seen more of the cabbies! Other than that, a pretty boring finale.

[ByaNose]

Bad cabbie curse for the brothers. Bummer!

[Twopper]

7 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Needle in a haystack challenges do not belong in the finale.  There was nothing in this leg that required skill or talent or knowledge or stamina or anything other than pure luck.  Beads - nothing the racers could do to control how fast they got 50 beads.  Bridge - if even Hung with her "short T Rex arms" got it on the first try, it obviously was set up pretty easy.  Puzzle balls - no one seemed to have to go more than 10 feet to find the trunk, and as I mentioned in the live thread - it's a freaking globe!  A 10 year old could put together a globe puzzle. 

Yawn. 

TAR, you can do better.  Sack whoever was in charge of this leg. 

I've eaten and made dozens of King cakes;  they should have flipped the cakes over and felt the bottoms.  Would have been faster and less messy.

If it hadn't been in NOLA, I don't think I would have bothered to watch.  Was it really awful of me to hope Will would get sick from the beignets and the team get passed by the other two teams?  Alas, my hope was dashed.   I would hare preferred watching them make a  King cake or beignets to this.

I was surprised that the brothers didn't tell the taxi cab driver to take them to the park entrance.  I always cringe when they have to go to a park because most parks have more than one way to get in. 

They should also have gone with Mardi Gras colors for the beads.  Getting just 2 colors seemed to easy, and I don't think the judge bothered to count them unless that was edited out. 

The only success this episode had was making me a tad homesick for NOLA.  I may have to make beignets for breakfast Saturday.

[Caseysgirl]

No suspense there & I wonder how all those other teams wh cheered for them so heartily felt when they saw all the snarky comments W&J were making about them.

[North of Eden]

Well, a horrific season deserves horrific winners I guess.

Will and James were often mean spirited, petty and little more than spoiled brats and if that weren't enough they cap off the race with an on camera proposal?  Are you serious? How many times have we seen that trotted out on a reality show. Well at least in theory I never have to see them again.

Can you imagine if this turns out to be the final episode? Talk about going out on  a whimper. TAR faced so many challenges since it began starting with the 911 terrorist attacks knocking it off the air right after the pilot episode aired. From there on out CBS treated it like a redheaded stepchild (no offense if you are one)...constantly switching time slots, never having a reunion show and  of late cutting it down to one cycle a year. I don't want it to end on a down note with smarmy alliances and lousy winners.

Listen,I will be the first to admit I LOVE needle in a haystack challenges but production must have had s@#t for brains to include one on the final? Are you kidding me? Why would you throw in a task where  two of the teams might NEVER recover after the first team leaves...which is exactly what happened? Why would you do that? Why would you ruin any suspense? What a joke! As others said-last weeks task with the music and the band instruments would have been a worthy final task? Decorating a globe...really? Pathetic finale and probably the only thing in the world you can't blame on COVID.

Will end with a positive note. It's just a coincidence of course but it was almost as if TPTB listened to our complaints about how the confessional's tip off who gets eliminated. Wisley they kept them as voice overs.

Peace out everyone...hopefully we will meet again to discuss a new (alliance forbidden) race someday and as Phil would say-The World is Waiting...and so are we!

[Pj3422]

I guess I should be relieved that I have AT&T U-verse, and they’re in a fight with the owner of the local CBS affiliate. So I missed this one. I still can’t stand James; but congrats to Will — I guess this makes up for coming in 2nd on that season of America’s Next Top Model. 

[wintrygal]

45 minutes ago, surreysmum said:

Well, I enjoyed that and was pleased with the outcome.

Sue me.

I enjoyed it also, enjoyed the whole season actually. Congrats Will & James.

[redfish]

Ugh. This was the weakest final challenges. Gathering beaded necklaces? Needle in a haystack challenge? And assembling a globe? Did the show ran out of ideas to test them? Of course the challenges were so weak since they weren't pushed that hard during the season thanks to their alliance.

Also what a waste of cake. Why couldn't they just assemble and design a dozen King cake in the same design. And how is eating three donuts a torture? Is it that fried/rich?

And the globe challenge was so pointless. If the globe was assembled to all the places they went to then maybe that would be a real challenge.

I had no vested interests in any of the teams especially at how stupid Hung/Chee were willing to go along with this alliance. By avoiding yielding/u-turning Will/James or the Beard Bros in the past they were guaranteed to lose. Either of those teams would decimate them.

And for so-called confessed "superfans" then why did Will/James use Big Brother/Survivor tactics? If they supposedly love the show so much why did they disrespected everything the show is about with Survivor tactics?

[gibasi]

1 hour ago, surreysmum said:

Well, I enjoyed that and was pleased with the outcome.

Sue me.

I was happy with Will and James winning as well. They practiced geography! 

[Cotypubby]

Worst. Season. Ever!

(OK, maybe it’s neck and neck with the Family edition.)

[Bluesky]

Glad I  checked, now I don’t have to watch.   I hope they fix it so teams aren’t allowed to give answers to other teams because that’s not the spirit of the game.  

[Netfoot]

Ugh! Blech! Yeech!

[zoey1996]

I still don’t know which is Will and which is James.  Not a fan. But when the one was doing the King cake challenge, I knew that, however tempting, he should not have eaten any of the cake.  It’s rich and filling, and loading up before having to eat beignets was a mistake.  Too bad it wasn’t a fatal mistake.  I wanted Hung & Chee to get ahead!

[Twopper]

14 minutes ago, redfish said:

Also what a waste of cake. Why couldn't they just assemble and design a dozen King cake in the same design. And how is eating three donuts a torture? Is it that fried/rich?

Okay, they are fried and then generously powdered with confectioner's sugar.  They are puffy with air inside so they aren't heavy like regular donuts.  They are best hot.  Once they cool off, I find them much harder to eat plus they don't taste as good.  Also they are served with cafe au lait or chocolate milk.  I think part of Will's problems was that he had eaten bits of the king cakes so he was probably not hungry for anything else that was so sweet.  I can see how he would feel ill trying to eat 3 of them. 

I agree that they should have had to make either beignets or a king cake.  I would like to have seen them trying to get beignets right on the first attempt.

[Dewey Decimate]

Happy 2020, everyone!

I admit that by the time every season ends, even if I'm not a huge fan of the eventual winners, something about the finale makes me a little teary. This year, paging Johnson & Johnson, cuz there were No More Tears.

Those tasks were just mind-numbingly lame. No challenges, no real physicality or mental hurdles. I sure hope they revamp the whole show post-COVID, as we - and Phil - deserve better than this pablum.

[Stardancer Supreme]

30 minutes ago, redfish said:

Also what a waste of cake. Why couldn't they just assemble and design a dozen King cake in the same design. And how is eating three donuts a torture? Is it that fried/rich?

Will loves cake! Plus he was eating the King cake as he was searching for the baby.  Beignets on top of that and they probably hadn't eaten since the plane ride.  I was happy that we didn't see him hurl in the shop! 

[Hera]

I didn't have a problem with any of the racers this season, and don't mind Will and James winning, but I have to agree that the set up of the race—and of the final leg in particular—has been pretty poor this season. It seems like the only place where Hung/Chee and Riley/Maddison could have made up time on Will/James was in that king cake challenge, and neither one did. I think the teams all took about the same amount of time at the bridge and with the globe. And once again, the teams never needed to figure out their own route between locations, except for Riley/Maddison, because their cab driver got lost.

But seriously, why couldn't the teams have been given their own cars to drive and told to figure out for themselves how to get places on this leg? In addition to giving teams the chance to get lost (or not) on their own, it would also have given them a chance to gain or lose time after the beignets and the globe challenge, since they would have needed to run back to their cars.

For those who hated the alliance, Riley and Maddison looked upset when they came in third, so I suspect they were already regretting their participation in it on the mat. Hung and Chee also seemed a bit muted. I don't think either team would advise future racers to do as they did.

[redfish]

Quote

For those who hated the alliance, Riley and Maddison looked upset when they came in third, so I suspect they were already regretting their participation in it on the mat. Hung and Chee also seemed a bit muted. I don't think either team would advise future racers to do as they did.

They shouldn't have agreed to an alliance with Will/James at all. They should have realized that Will/James are the strongest competitors and they used the alliance to throw attention away from them. They got played and that's their own fault. While everyone including Hung/Chee & Beard Bros may have been playing The Amazing Race, Will/James were playing Survivor and boo to that.

[zscore]

12 minutes ago, Hera said:

But seriously, why couldn't the teams have been given their own cars to drive and told to figure out for themselves how to get places on this leg?

Imagine people driving themselves in a race for a million dollars. It will never be allowed to happen.

[Cutty]

Will and James couldn't even produce a real tear after the proposal. My 7 year old niece is a better fake crier than these two phonies. 

Beard Bros absolutely bombing the finale after sending home the weakest team was too perfect.
 

 

[absolutelyido]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

Needle in a haystack challenges do not belong in the finale.  There was nothing in this leg that required skill or talent or knowledge or stamina or anything other than pure luck.  Beads - nothing the racers could do to control how fast they got 50 beads.  Bridge - if even Hung with her "short T Rex arms" got it on the first try, it obviously was set up pretty easy.  Puzzle balls - no one seemed to have to go more than 10 feet to find the trunk, and as I mentioned in the live thread - it's a freaking globe!  A 10 year old could put together a globe puzzle. 

Yawn. 

TAR, you can do better.  Sack whoever was in charge of this leg. 

I couldn't believe they gave them all the pieces need in one trunk. How about having pieces randomly scattered through multiple trunks, so it would be a challenge to find all the pieces needed? Putting together the puzzle didn't seem all that hard, particularly for the final challenge which should be a killer.

Edited December 17, 2020 by absolutelyido

[preeya]

WORST SEASON EVER!

[Shadow Wave]

I had a bit of an epiphany during the Bourbon Street Bead Beat challenge. Will and James are much more tolerable when they're almost inaudible.

If they had been on mute since the first episode I would have enjoyed the season more. 

[30 Helens]

Season finale, and the comments haven’t even made it to a 2nd page. I think that pretty much says it all.

[buttersister]

Love New Orleans! I’ll try forgetting these guys won there. I’m afraid Phil is as disappointed as we are, what with the alliance. Again, they knew this wasn’t their best effort.

Edited December 18, 2020 by buttersister
Words that sound alike aren’t spelled alike

[Vermicious Knid]

They way they got there might suck, but Will and James won because they completed the challenges the fastest. Happy the Beard Bros wound up in third. And Hung and Chee get what, $50,000 for second place? Everybody can probably use the money more now than 2 years ago.

[Lantern7]

Well, TAR32 is over. I don't think I'd feel so sour if the three teams left at the end didn't have to compare notes through most of the race. This is still The Amazing Race, and that makes it better than a lot of reality TV. Sadly, we don't know when we'll get TAR33. I still insist TAR32 would still be on the proverbial shelf if Survivor was able to be filmed safely, even if all of the contestants were members of the Hantz family.

2 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Well, a horrific season deserves horrific winners I guess.

 

1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

Worst. Season. Ever!

(OK, maybe it’s neck and neck with the Family edition.)

 

33 minutes ago, preeya said:

WORST SEASON EVER!

Was it that bad? I've seen worse. I've seen a woman win $500K after quitting about 500,000 times in the last few legs. I've seen a pair of tools luck into a win because one of the other pair of tools fucked up the final Roadblock. I've seen a team luck into a win as a couple, even though they were anything but. I've seen the only thing separating an insufferable couple from a win was deep dish pizza.

DEEP. DISH. PIZZA. And we got to see Kris & Jon have one final tender moment to drive the nail all the way into the ear.

Yeah, Will & James were camera hogs. Yeah, they probably didn't have to work as hard as past winning teams. And yes, the Mine Five undermined the premise of the series. But this is TAR. We had exciting locations. We had two great new formats in Mega Leg and City Sprint. We didn't have the damn Face-to-Face. And we had Phil. The guy who can dance n Bourbon Street. The man who could run in high heels. The hardest-working mofo in reality TV. Yeah, the latest Survivor was great, but it was preceded by some schmuck who got voted out winning $1 million, followed by an asshole bad-touching others and making every week A Very Special Episode.

At least we'll have Tough as Nails. And maybe we'll get a new season sooner rather than later.

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Lantern7

[Fukui San]

The Very poor challenge design jumps out as you. Once you saw how straightforward the final task was you knew it was over.  It’s a shame since New Orleans is such a spectacular location. It’d be more suspenseful if the King Cake was the last task, but then we would have to realize that groping dozens of cakes was the decider for $1M.  Then the spectacle of almost retching. 

The globe puzzle was far easier than the Jitney decoration task from earlier in the season. No horns to overlook or any sneaky details. In general it’s not hard to revise the task to make them more befitting of a finale.

Revised tasks:

The bead necklaces each have a letter or tag printed on them which spell out their next location. 

Teams must learn how to march or play an instrument correctly.

One team member must perfectly decorate a King Cake. The other must eat the resulting cake only until they find the baby. 

Strike the beignet eating and the bridge jumping.

The globe puzzle pieces are printed on the back side as well with decoy map sections making it much harder to figure out. 

Before crossing the finish line Gary and D’Angelo get to put on their old Panthers uniforms and tackle you over and over. 

[Corgi-ears]

My memory's not what it used to be, so perhaps other things happened in 2020 that I don't remember. But right now, it feels like TAR's decline and its outcome was the worst thing ever in 2020?

Will and James deserve each other. #Blessed

[nilyank]

20 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I've seen the only thing separating an insufferable couple from a win was deep dish pizza.

DEEP. DISH. PIZZA.

As Will and James were whining about eating just 6 beignet, I remember the pizza. While Will was stuffing his face during the first part of the roadblock with King Cake, James could have literally suck it up. 6 isn't much especially when you can drink it down with water if it was too dry.

[blackwing]

The tasks were interesting, but not for a finale. The final challenge should have been way more difficult. There was zero opportunity to catch up.

Did Karim screw over the brothers by taking them the wrong way to the park?  They were never in the race at all tonight.

I knew right away that Will and James won because they seemed to be getting most of the voiceover commentary which was taped post-race.  Plus most of the scenes right before commercials seemed to end dramatically on them.

I really hope this isn’t the final TAR ever.

2 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Worst. Season. Ever!

(OK, maybe it’s neck and neck with the Family edition.)

At least the family edition gave us good winners with the Linzes.  They were brothers and a sister that really worked well with and appreciated each other.  And seemed like all around nice people.

[ByaNose]

It’s been a long to see a Final 3 team such as Riley & Madison look that upset. They couldn’t hide it or fake it. They were pissed. I don’t know if it was that they came in 3rd, the bad cab driver or everything together. I had them coming in behind Will & James. They were never in the race after the cake baby. After that, they were never seen (the same for Hung & Chee) in a two or three shot with the o Will and James. I didn’t want the boyfriends to win but they basically breezed heir way in this final leg. It was all rather boring and uneventful. 

[GaT]

The one team I didn't want to win 😥 But you know, Riley & Madison and Hung & Chee have no one to blame but themselves. They decided to form an alliance with Will & James instead of Riley & Madison Gary & DeAngelo, or not make an alliance at all at the music challenge, they gave them the chance to win.

Edited December 17, 2020 by GaT

[aghst]

The worst people in this season won.

That cake thing won it for them.  The other two guys went through the whole rack.

I guess their familiarity with NO helped including the size of the baby.

We had to wait two years and through most of 2020 to see two of the most horrible people in series history win?

Ugh, indeed.

Edited December 17, 2020 by aghst

[Lantern7]

46 minutes ago, aghst said:

The worst people in this season won.

. . .

We had to wait two years and through most of 2020 to see two of the most horrible people in series history win?

The former might be true. The latter? I can't agree with that at all. Yes, Will & James probably wouldn't have won if the Beards didn't get a bum cabbie, and they did come off as annoying and needy for attention. But I've seen far worse on this show.

I think of it this way: TAR30 gave CBS the finale they wanted. TAR31 gave us fans the finale we wanted. TAR32 . . . eh.

I'm not sounding like I got Stockholder's Stockholm Syndrome, do I? The Mine Five killed off a lot of suspense and fun, but it's still TAR.

[Fukui San]

59 minutes ago, aghst said:

The worst people in this season won.

That cake thing won it for them.  The other two guys went through the whole rack.

I guess their familiarity with NO helped including the size of the baby.

We had to wait two years and through most of 2020 to see two of the most horrible people in series history win?

Ugh, indeed.

As reality show contestants, Will and James brought in gameplay elements I didn't enjoy and which detracted from the season.

As human beings, I don't find them particularly objectionable compared to some of the more troublesome racers in the show's history.