S33.E10: No Room for Error/S33.E11: In the Hands of the Amazing Race Gods

[Whimsy]

Season finale 

Quote

After traveling to seven countries, 17 cities and enduring the longest Pit Stop ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one team will be crowned the winners.

original airdate 3/2/22

[aemom]

Congrats to Kim and Penn. I thought that I would hate them, but they won me over early in the race and they were always so nice to each other and everyone else.

Ditto for the flight attendants.

Wow, Dusty and Ryan must have burnt so much time trying to find the combination for the lock.

The previous season was such a shitshow with the alliance down to the final three teams that I was worried about the future of this show. It was definitely a different kind of race post-Covid interruption, but overall a very likeable group and show to watch.

[Guest]

Certainly an unusual season, but overall one of the most enjoyable for me in terms of the racers themselves. Good winners, even if it wasn't my preferred outcome. And everyone could relax when Arun/Natalia went out first lol

Dusty was driving me nuts in the first half with all his safari predator/prey talk, but legit props to him and Ryan for having a great attitude in the second half as they saw themselves settle into a distant third.

[Boadicea]

I was rooting for the FAs but I can live with Kim/Penn winning. The memory task did end up changing the order of the finish.

At least we know there’s going to be a season 34; they’re already looking for contestants based on that blip during one of the breaks. 

[hendersonrocks]

That was an incredibly satisfying finale! I'm thrilled at the outcome, right down to the order of 1-2-3, and the complexity of the final task.

Kim and Penn were absolute rock stars in the post-pandemic legs. It's hard to think of a team that was stronger mentally and more emotionally connected than those two - their relationship was honestly a joy (and kind of an inspiration?!) to watch. 

Raquel and Cayla were a really strong team. I loved their friendship and zest for racing. Ryan and Dusty were an incredible match of temperament and gifted physically, but I also love that brains won out in the end. 

[Starchild]

That was really stressful at the end. But it was the outcome I wanted, so it was worth the grey hairs.

Poor guys never recovered from the elevator thing, I wonder how long they were there after everyone else left.

[dizzyd]

I always get sentimental at the end! Good job all. How many teams chose not to come back after covid? 

I didn’t like the door knob. All the door knobs were in the picture just the others were part of the background while one was on the sardine. 

Honestly after 2-3 grueling hours in the hot sun, I don’t think I’d have paid attention to what my coin looked like.

Long live TAR! ♥️

Edited March 3, 2022 by dizzyd

[toodywoody]

I'm happy with who won. Especially since they were the first older team to win. I'm glad my show is back and I loved them panning out to the photographers. I loved this season, it might not have been what it was in the past and it might never be again, but I am glad it's still on.

[xcrayon2215x]

In the very beginning I didn't care for Penn but he grew on me a lot. Him and Kim deserved to win. I was not surprised to see Arun and Natalia go home in the first hour. Penn and Kim are a lot better on the memory tasks so them winning wasn't too surprising.

 

Dusty was a bit over the top with his predator/prey stuff but him and Ryan took the defeat pretty well. The elevator performance from them sunk them in. I think Raquel and Cayla might be asked to return if they have another of those returning team seasons. 

[Zonk]

All things considered this was a fun race. We've had way worse seasons under non-pandemic conditions.

Kim and Penn acting out the clapping at the final mat, saying they didn't want to be one of the teams doing it, gave me life. I'm glad those two won. But would have been just as fine with Raquel and Cayla. Dusty and Ryan, not quite as much. I don't like Dusty all that much and while Ryan is awesome, he really doesn't need the money. I still would have been fine with them, but glad they were never in serious competition for the win. Maybe if they ever come back Dusty will have his emotions a bit better under control and be more pallatable...

Still, this was one of the best final three I can remember. Absolutely no duds in the mix.

Also good leg design with actual opportunities to pass each other. Often final legs have a problem that it's a foregone conclusion who will win after the first task. Not here.

I'm happy with this whole thing. Hope the next season will come soon. Is there anything known when that will be filming or nothing yet?

Edited March 3, 2022 by Zonk

[ProfCrash]

Kim and Penn did awesome. They were a complete team with strengths and weaknesses that complimented each other. They had a great attitude and just kept chugging away at tasks. They did amazing. 

Raquel and Cayla were great. They worked their butts off and kept pumping each other up. They ran a strong race and didn’t rely on the help of others. 

Ryan and Dusty did well. Not surprising that they fell behind and couldn’t make up time once they hit the more academic tasks they were screwed. They didn’t have the thought process or over all ability to step back and take a breath and look for the clues. It was all muscle. Ryan is a nice enough guy with an awful backstory. Dusty is fine, he just an alpha who is super vocal. 

Overall, a solid season. I liked the vast majority of the teams. They treated people with respect and were kind and good folks. There were obviously real issues with the season but I think those are COVID specific. 

[ByaNose]

The FA were sooooooo close. Although, I figured Kim and Penn would win. I wanted the FA to pull it out. It’s too bad they didn’t break that guys phone. LOL!!!! Ryan & Dusty lost their mojo somewhere along the race and never recovered. The elevator task totally messed them up and maybe they thought too hard about it. In the end it was a color of a coin that was messing them up. Gold or Silver? Who knew??? See everyone next season.

[bearcatfan]

Kim took notes and I bet she and Penn went over them on the plane ride back. You could tell at the end she was spent.

I really enjoyed this season. I hadn’t watched in a while and recall that when I did there was usually at least one team I couldn’t stand. That didn’t happen this season, even though I could sometimes find some racers annoying. Even though my favorite team won, I would have been fine with any of the last 3, even Dusty and Ryan. Dusty may annoy me at times but he seems like a decent guy. 
 

eta - it’s Ryan that doesn’t need the money. He’s rightfully being compensated for spending 10 years in prison for something he didn’t do. I watched the documentary they did and his attorney who helped him clear his name said that usually when she shows prosecutors evidence that someone has been wrongfully convicted, they do the right thing and help get the person released. That didn’t happen in Ryan’s case. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by bearcatfan

[Taeolas]

Very enjoyable legs, with good challenges, fine detail but also lots of chances to shake up the order. 

 

A nice little glimpse behind the scene showing the camera crews (on the plane, at the end and even that final sprint to the tunnel). Much less intrusive than Survivor's method, but still a good acknowledgement. 

 

I do like the winners, any of them would have been fine, but I love the race that K&P ran; they ran a perfect race basically, between Kim's note taking, Penn's attention to details and most importantly, their mutual support to help one when the other was close to breaking. 

 

The FA's ran almost a perfect leg as well, and actually seemed to gain a bit of time on the way to the stadium, but ultimately they were short a few details compared to Kim and that's what did them in. 

[ProfCrash]

Kim took a ton of notes but I am not sure that the notes helped a ton. She clearly didn’t have sketch pictures of the coin and candy and cars. It seemed like both teams had the right events but the wrong image. Napoleon had how many hats? I want to hear how far ahead they finished. We’ll get that in the podcasts.

[iMonrey]

Sort of an anticlimactic ending, although it looked for a minute there Raquel and Cayla might have a chance. But Kim and Penn have been getting a winner's edit for awhile now, so no big surprise there. They were good racers, and seem like lovely people. I'm just not all that jazzed about their win. 

Pleasant and competent as Kim and Penn were, I still take issue with the show casting so many internet personalities and social media celebs. It's really gotten out of hand and I long for the days when they just cast regular folks who applied. At least half the teams are recruited with the hopes that their online followers will boost ratings. 

The challenges have gotten way too easy as well. I'd like to blame Covid restrictions but it's been that way for several years now.

Bottom line, kind of a lackluster season overall with winners I'm mostly ambivalent about.

[ByaNose]

12 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Kim took a ton of notes but I am not sure that the notes helped a ton. She clearly didn’t have sketch pictures of the coin and candy and cars. It seemed like both teams had the right events but the wrong image. Napoleon had how many hats? I want to hear how far ahead they finished. We’ll get that in the podcasts.

I thought the color of coin would at least would be consistent but both teams were messing it up. Gold or Silver?!?!?!!

[Starchild]

14 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Kim took a ton of notes but I am not sure that the notes helped a ton. She clearly didn’t have sketch pictures of the coin

Everyone was in such a rush to get out of that rock pit that I don't think anyone took a really good look at the coin.

 

1 minute ago, ByaNose said:

I thought the color of coin would at least would be consistent but both teams were messing it up. Gold or Silver?!?!?!!

Was is silver, or just a darker gold (or bronze or brass)?

[North of Eden]

Unrecoverable.

We've seen that before in the final 3. The Bros up on that rooftop failing to spot the elevator....there was no coming back from that....unfortunate for them and for the viewers as a tight race between 3 is a lot more fun.

So dissapointed the Flight Attendents were THIS CLOSE to pulling out the win but panic seemed to set in and let to mistakes like taking down the correct Napolean.

The only good thing I can say about the winners is it pretty much guarantees they won't be invited back for another race. I have no problem with Kim (she could seriously trade up) but  Penn's antics makes him one of the most obnoxious racers since the "Green" guy who was blubbering all the time and the camera mugging Hippies.

Side note...the editing wasn't clear if Arun shouting out cost him missing out the Vasca De Gama boat (which I couldn't believe didn't go first as that's a very recognizable explorer) but either way it wasn't smart.

I didn't realize tonight how much I didn't like Dusty.

Disagree that the pie scene was in the top 5  memorable....it should have been replaced  with the caterwaling Flo spinning around in a circular straw boat in I think it was Viet Nam. Now that was classic!

Oh well...somewhere there is an alternate universe where it was the teams that didn't come back were the ones that did and this pack didn't. That I would have liked to seen as most of the teams I liked were in the NON-returnees.

Ending on a positive note that it was great there was no gimmicks this time out like Selfies etc

 

[ByaNose]

3 minutes ago, Starchild said:

Everyone was in such a rush to get out of that rock pit that I don't think anyone took a really good look at the coin.

 

Was is silver, or just a darker gold (or bronze or brass)?

Truthfully I was going by the final task picture. LOL!!! The picture seemed goldish.

[katalizt]

Very happy with Kim & Penn's win! They and the FAs were my favorites.

When they started the final task at first i thought the clues were too easy, until we saw that there were different types of coins, candy, cars, etc. Then I was on board with the challenge. The coin was particularly tricky.

These two legs were great, I like that there were a lot of tasks. I get pretty bored of legs that are just detour - roadblock. The final leg didn't have either! We need more route marker tasks. 

[argrow]

I wanted Raquel and Cayla to win, and I realized that on the first hour when they were neck and neck going to the pit stop. They nearly had it in the final leg!

But no shade to Penn and Kim who is a lovely couple and ran a great race from start to finish. It's more that I think if I ever spend any amount of time with Penn, he will annoy the ever living fuck out of me. I really wanted him to leave after the 3 pre-covid legs, but he sort of grew on my towards the end, although that part of Penn that I disliked came out every once in a while during the back half of the race.

The previouslys in the beginning with the montage in which Phil only eliminated three teams during race shows what a strange race this has been. I am glad it's here and done safely for all, but was kind of bored in the middle. Europe has always been my least favourite continent for the Amazing Race, so having it completely there, while understandable, gave it a very low key and low energy feel.

Edited March 3, 2022 by argrow

[Zonk]

8 minutes ago, dizzyd said:

I didn’t like the door knob. All the door knobs were in the picture just the others were part of the background while one was on the sardine. 

Dito. I thought that was increadibly unfair. Either all doorknobs need to get painted or none do. At least it didn't make a difference in the outcome, otherwise I would have thrown some chairs.

8 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Dusty is fine, he just an alpha who is super vocal. 

"alpha" has come to mean "guy with bad personality" in recent years. Dusty isn't the worst of the alphas out there, but his personality sure still needs some work...

18 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Pleasant and competent as Kim and Penn were, I still take issue with the show casting so many internet personalities and social media celebs. It's really gotten out of hand and I long for the days when they just cast regular folks who applied. At least half the teams are recruited with the hopes that their online followers will boost ratings. 

I mean, Youtuber is just a job like any other these days. As long as they don't cast multiple teams in a season, I'm fine with it. They are still normal people with normal lifes. You wouldn't groan about contruction workers.

8 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I thought the color of coin would at least would be consistent but both teams were messing it up. Gold or Silver?!?!?!!

Goes to show you how just done all teams were after that needle in a haystack task. Nobody had the capacity for anything at the end there.

3 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

We've seen that before in the final 3. The Bros up on that rooftop failing to spot the elevator....there was no coming back from that....unfortunate for them and for the viewers as a tight race between 3 is a lot more fun.

We've seen that in most final three. It's usually a two team race. It only gets really bad when it's a one team "race" and sadly even that has happened more than once.

5 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

The only good thing I can say about the winners is it pretty much guarantees they won't be invited back for another race. I have no problem with Kim (she could seriously trade up) but  Penn's antics makes him one of the most obnoxious racers since the "Green" guy who was blubbering all the time and the camera mugging Hippies.

Guess YMMV but even if you don't like Penn, I don't see how he's worse than Dusty with his antics.

[Lovecat]

I was tickled to see the clue-on-the-elevator dealio, which was lifted from Midnight Madness, a movie I watched on HBO a million times when I was a kid.  It’s about a bunch of college students taking part in an all-night TAR-like event in the city of Los Angeles, and the race ends at the Bonaventure.  The room number that serves as the finish line is on the glass elevator.  It features a wee little Michael J. Fox in his film debut :)

[mertensia]

I found myself rooting for Kim and Penn. Glad they won.

I loved that there were multiple pictures so they had to do more than just be "ooohhhh....here's Napoleon". The coin was especially diabolical.

Is the first finale with self-driving?

 

 

[Diana Berry]

The talking heads gave it away for me.  These reality show producers need to stress the poker face during the interviews.  Kim and penn were way too happy compared to the other teams.  But I was still glad they won.  Good job.

[Lantern7]

Decent ending to a most unusual season. Yes, it felt "TAR Lite" after the suspension, but there was enough action and fun . . . at least more than with TAR32. If seeing one of the guys getting too revved up is the worst thing we could have gotten tonight, I will gladly take it.

I'm glad Arun & Natalia went out, though they did cut it closer than I would have wanted. I don't thin they're bad, but you can see how they were eliminated after three legs. On the live thread, I joked that Arun's baby pictures were probably placed on milk cartons. The lack of navigation skills will always be a good running joke for this season.

I'm good with Kim & Penn winning. Yeah, they were probably recruited to draw their fans to watch the show . . . but I don't think that was a bad thing this time.

Did you know Raquel and Cayla were trying to become the fourth all-female team to win? You did? Because it kept coming up? Okay, then.

Foley task was great, and it was a good excuse to pick out classic TAR clips. I didn't recognize the pie-throwing and the "bulls," but I damn sure remembered Claire taking a watermelon to the face (does she get paid anytime someone watches that? She'd probably be richer than if she wand won the money), Lena's endless quest to find a clue in hay bales (probably the bes indicator TAR6 was going to REALLY suck), and Colin losing his shit with the ox. Good times. Good times.

Looking at the live thread . . . I mentioned the "camera crew," then I figured it was plural . . .but I typed it in as "camera creeps." I'm weirdly sorry about that. Seriously, they did a bang-up job given the circumstances. Phil was Phil . . . yes, he's great running and hosting Tough as Nails, but TAR is where he fits in the best.

I'm thankful there will be at least one more season, though who knows when CBS would run it. I'm curious if any of the teams that couldn't return would be allowed to come back in future seasons. I think the takeaway is that this was a good season after TAR32.

[Door County Cherry]

I am happy Kim and Penn won.  I liked the FA too and they probably needed the money more but Kim and Penn won me over with how they went through the race.  There was no toxicity between them even when tensions were rising.  They both had different strengths and relied on them.  In fact, they even "strengthened" their weaknesses like with Penn's ADHD.  I feel like they've probably done a lot of therapy and frankly, make me a believer in it.

But Kim became one of my favorite reality stars ever the minute she soundlessly jumped off that bridge even though she hated heights.  Props. 

I liked these last two legs and how they were focused on details.  Even something as simple as seeing the flag but having to figure out how to get down proved to be challenging to some of them.  Surprisingly, that part wasn't tough for the father/daughter team. 

 

[LennieBriscoe]

My cold heart warmed up at Kim and Penn's victory! 🤫😄 They were awesome competitors, and they are an exemplary married couple. 👏👍

Lordy, does this mean I'm going to watch their videos now?! 😂😅

[Lady Calypso]

I was very happy with the outcome. I thought all four teams were likeable enough where I would have been fine to see any of them win. I think Arun/Natalia had to go at F4, though, to pave way to the stronger teams, but Arun/Natalia really got better and showed that, even though a lot of it was dumb luck for them, they had their moments to shine.

Very happy with Kim/Penn winning. They put in the work, they showed how much they knew the race and even through some rough moments here and there, they never wavered and kept each other as positive as possible. They knew their strengths and weaknesses and used that to their advantage throughout the race, even when Race Fatigue set in.

Raquel/Cayla did amazing these last few legs. I would have been equally as happy to see them win, and they really put up a fight. They were neck and neck with Kim/Penn that entire time.

Ryan/Dusty did well at the start but man, they really faltered these last few legs. Even with them all starting the final leg together, they made a crucial mistake right at the start that cost them the win.

The final leg was a lot of fun to watch. It had a lot of "pay attention" moments and a lot of detail that really showcased FA/Kim and Penn's strengths and highlighted Ryan/Dusty's weakness. 

Such a solid winning team and, even through all the changes the show had to make this season, it really was an enjoyable season. I'm satisfied.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Boadicea said:

I was rooting for the FAs but I can live with Kim/Penn winning.

Ditto. But I did say a rude word when K&P leapfrogged past the FAs at the "tennis" challenge.

Must say, here there were few teams I actively disliked, and in the final five, I was OK with them all. 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Netfoot

[choclatechip45]

I am very happy with Kim/Penn winning! I thought the finale was kind of boring until the last task. 

[Zonk]

49 minutes ago, mertensia said:

Is the first finale with self-driving?

If not the first, at least the first one since the single numbered seasons. The conventional wisdom was that teams would be too on the edge and thus them driving wouldn't be safe, but I guess the risk of them getting covid was deemed to be even greater than the risk of them crashing the car.

[30 Helens]

As soon as Arun and Natalia went out, I could breathe easy knowing that the winner would be justified. Nothing against those two, they seem like perfectly nice people, but good racers they were not.

I would have been perfectly happy with any of the final teams winning, and I can’t remember the last time that was the case. So, kudos to the casting department. My favorites were the flight attendants, but the other teams also gained my respect with their close relationships and supportive attitudes, not to mention their racing skills. I was predisposed to dislike Penn and Kim because of their YouTube careers, which just looked like a way to exploit their kids for money, but they quickly won me over. Penn is a hoot, and Kim has the patience of a saint. It works for them. As for Ryan and Dusty, most people would be lucky to have a friendship half as good as theirs. 

Also, any finale that features the never-not-funny rebounding watermelon, and another round of “My ox is broken!” is automatically a classic. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I don’t even care that the travel was limited, I thought this was a great season and I’m looking forward to the next.

[eskimo]

Rumor has it they had to reenact the race to the finish line because Arun and Natalia got lost on the way to the stadium.  Lol/JK. I did like them on a personal level, but it wouldn't have felt right if the three final teams hadn't made it there.   They really were the three best teams.  

I was worried that the FA would get penalized for leaving their Route Info behind with the map.  IIRC, it used to be a rule?  I swear I remember a team getting dinged for not having all their leg documents.   

This was a good season given all the obstacles.   It's nice when there are no outright horrible teams.  They all seemed like people I would like to know. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by eskimo

[Cotypubby]

Woohoo! Very happy with Kim and Penn winning. They were the strongest overall team and had the best attitude. Probably one of the best teams ever. It’s so bizarre to me what some people find objectionable, Penn does a little dance two times and suddenly he’s full of “antics.” How that team could possibly be compared to the Hippies I do not understand.

Glad the FA were 2nd, I would have been fine with them winning too. I just didn’t want Dusty to win. Ryan is fine, but Dusty is the one whose antics are incredibly offputting. All his WOOOOoooo chest-puffing bro-ing out and talk of them being lions hunting the other teams. They haven’t been the strongest team in quite a while so all that alpha bullshit made me glad they were out of it so early.

[Jules1]

What a great finale! I actually liked all of the teams, and would have been happy with any of them winning. I do wish they would have included the challenge when they had to carry the cheese down the hill in the Foley task. I didn’t remember the bulls or the pie throwing, but never forgot the cheese task!

Edited March 3, 2022 by Jules1

[aghst]

3 hours ago, Starchild said:

That was really stressful at the end. But it was the outcome I wanted, so it was worth the grey hairs.

Poor guys never recovered from the elevator thing, I wonder how long they were there after everyone else left.

I wonder if it was only the elevator.

Even if they did the other tasks better, they didn’t gain that much time on the piñata or the sound effects tasks.

In retrospect, the first couple of legs after the restart were more physical, not as detail-oriented, though they were unlucky with the cheese and they seemed to be the only ones who had to paint the door knob.

For all we know they took longer to do the tennis puzzle than the other two teams.

I don’t know that the notes helped as much.  Would Kim have written down the colors of the piñata candy while they were still racing?

But the candy tripped up the flight attendants.  You don’t know which details you need to remember, like the type of hat Napoleon was wearing, though I guess you better write down details of anyone in costume.

Kim and Penn did well because they talked out the details when they could.  They kept repeating up and down to each other while the boys were saying up or down.

 

Enjoyed having the show back but it seemed there were fewer episodes than normal?  We know they didn’t go around the world.  OK checked Wikipedia, this season was 11 episodes.  Most seasons have been 11 or 12 and a couple had 13 episodes.  One season only had 8 episodes?

Maybe restarting with fewer teams made it seem like we were several episodes short.

 

 

[Infiltr8]

I was pulling for the flight attendants as I figured they needed the moola more but they had a chance so I’m ok with Kim and Penn as I do like them as well, actually I liked all final teams for once , usually the team I like least wins—I wonder how long the boys took to find the code on the elevator… they never got close it seemed… but the memory challenge was good and 2 teams had a chance 

[kris4n6]

4 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

The talking heads gave it away for me.  These reality show producers need to stress the poker face during the interviews.  Kim and penn were way too happy compared to the other teams.  But I was still glad they won.  Good job.

I actually thought the total opposite, I thought Kim and Penn were tired and subdued in most of their talking heads tonight, while Raquel and Cayla seemed happy and upbeat in theirs. I was convinced Raquel and Cayla had won, I was pleasantly surprised when Kim and Penn pulled ahead at the memory task!

[DrBriCa]

3 hours ago, eskimo said:

I was worried that the FA would get penalized for leaving their Route Info behind with the map.  IIRC, it used to be a rule?  I swear I remember a team getting dinged for not having all their leg documents.   

I worried about that for them as well. Keeping all of the clues during the leg was definitely a rule back in the day that did bite some teams in the butt.

[Taeolas]

I wonder if K&P will be able to show all her notes now that the race is done. She mentioned how she sketched out a lot of details so that could be interesting to see. 

The candy was a task they JUST finished so her notes may not have had it but it should be fresh in their minds (even with Killer Fatigue).

Nice shot of the Amazing Plane. I'm sure everyone was told to keep looking forward as Phil was giving his preflight briefing. :) (Loved the "In case of emergency, your clue is in the seat in front of you" and everyone reached to check it. Shades of Guy's 3-2-1 GO fun with the contestants. I wonder if the eliminated teams were flying with the crew on The Amazing Plane from leg to leg? 

[ML89]

13 minutes ago, Taeolas said:

Nice shot of the Amazing Plane. I'm sure everyone was told to keep looking forward as Phil was giving his preflight briefing. :) (Loved the "In case of emergency, your clue is in the seat in front of you" and everyone reached to check it. Shades of Guy's 3-2-1 GO fun with the contestants. I wonder if the eliminated teams were flying with the crew on The Amazing Plane from leg to leg? 

Phil’s done emergency briefings before…start looking about a minute in…

 

 

[Browncoat]

I feel like this finale was some real old-school TAR.  And it was great!  Everyone had an equal start, so it was all about the racers and their abilities.  Airport hijinks, missed connections, and late-arriving planes can’t be blamed.  Bad taxi luck can’t be blamed.  The clues were more puzzle-ish than so many have been.  The tasks were well-designed with lost of potential for shuffling the order.  One of the best finales we’ve seen in a while, IMO.

[Haleth]

Congrats to the producers for running a race that was safe but still entertaining.  I know some are disappointed they never left Europe (something that was spoiled before the race was aired) but the places they went were spectacularly beautiful.  One positive is that we got to see some lesser known places since they stayed away from larger cities.  The fact is everyone, cast and crew, came home safely.  No one got sick.  And the abbreviated version of the race was still fun to watch.

Congrats to Penn and Kim.  They ran a great race, staying focused on the details.  Good for Kim for taking notes and anticipating the last challenge would be like a final exam.  Loved that Penn took the time to applaud the crew that travelled with them all.

It was great seeing the classic scenes in the foley task.  I'm disappointed they didn't get to use the TAR sound when someone screws up though.

The finale must have been early Sunday morning?  There wasn't nearly enough traffic.

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Pleasant and competent as Kim and Penn were, I still take issue with the show casting so many internet personalities and social media celebs. It's really gotten out of hand and I long for the days when they just cast regular folks who applied. At least half the teams are recruited with the hopes that their online followers will boost ratings. 

Penn and Kim are obviously big fans of the show, so what their day job is is not relevant, except I believe it brought in more viewers.

5 hours ago, Jules1 said:

I do wish they would have included the challenge when they had to carry the cheese down the hill in the Foley task. I didn’t remember the bulls or the pie throwing, but never forgot the cheese task!

YES!  Still the funniest thing ever on TAR, IMO.

1 hour ago, Taeolas said:

I wonder if the eliminated teams were flying with the crew on The Amazing Plane from leg to leg? 

I tried to see if I recognized any backs of heads.  Couldn't tell.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, kris4n6 said:

7 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

The talking heads gave it away for me.  These reality show producers need to stress the poker face during the interviews.  Kim and penn were way too happy compared to the other teams.  But I was still glad they won.  Good job.

I actually thought the total opposite, I thought Kim and Penn were tired and subdued in most of their talking heads tonight, while Raquel and Cayla seemed happy and upbeat in theirs. I was convinced Raquel and Cayla had won, I was pleasantly surprised when Kim and Penn pulled ahead at the memory task!

I didn't really notice Kim and Penn's demeanor in their talking heads, but I did think that Raquel and Cayla were much more subdued in theirs than usual - especially compared to their talking heads in the first half when they were laughing about the lost map.

[ProfCrash]

8 hours ago, Zonk said:

"alpha" has come to mean "guy with bad personality" in recent years. Dusty isn't the worst of the alphas out there, but his personality sure still needs some work...

I guess I am thinking Alpha in the sense that Dusty just assumed that they would dominate and views in the world of Apex Predator and prey. I mean, he was literally discussing being a lion on the prowl. it was kind of hilarious. I don't think he is that much of an asshole just one of those overly competitive dude bros at the gym who is all hooting and hollering over everything and assumes that they will win everything. That said, he was never an asshole to the other teams and was respectful to the people around him. But he just seems to be programmed with the "I am strong so I will win" thing. 

7 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

My cold heart warmed up at Kim and Penn's victory! 🤫😄 They were awesome competitors, and they are an exemplary married couple. 👏👍

Lordy, does this mean I'm going to watch their videos now?! 😂😅

I love their videos, they made me laugh during COVID but they are corny and Penn is sooooooooooo much more Penn then he was on this show. Seriously, the people who thought Penn was over the top on the show should never watch their videos. You will hate them. HAAAATTTTEEE them. Penn was positively tame on the Race. 

My son would recommend the Nailed it Unicorn Cake as a fun video to watch. Even my Husband laughed and he is not a Holderness video fan. Some of the COVID ones were great but that could also be because they were timely and saying what I needed said in the moment but couldn't quite voice. 

As much as I know that they were recruited, they knew the Race. They came on prepared. They knew what was coming and had a plan for how to handle different tasks. They might have been recruits, but they have watched the Race and were excited to be there and participating. They would have crushed the internet cast season because they actually knew the race backwards and forwards and the other teams did not. 

1 hour ago, Taeolas said:

I wonder if K&P will be able to show all her notes now that the race is done. She mentioned how she sketched out a lot of details so that could be interesting to see. 

The candy was a task they JUST finished so her notes may not have had it but it should be fresh in their minds (even with Killer Fatigue).

Nice shot of the Amazing Plane. I'm sure everyone was told to keep looking forward as Phil was giving his preflight briefing. :) (Loved the "In case of emergency, your clue is in the seat in front of you" and everyone reached to check it. Shades of Guy's 3-2-1 GO fun with the contestants. I wonder if the eliminated teams were flying with the crew on The Amazing Plane from leg to leg? 

I bet we will see the notes eventually. I think she couldn't show much until the season ended for spoiler reasons. And I am sure they are stupid detailed because it was part of how she kept her anxiety in check. The notes gave her something useful to do that allowed her to focus on that and not freaking out. At least, that is my take on it, it is not what she has said. 

That said, I still am not certain that they were the deal breaker. At one point in time Cayla and Raquel were only missing the coin and Kim and Penn had swapped out the candy, car, and coin. The candy should have been fresh but Penn saw it for like 10 seconds because he had been wearing the mask and would have only seen the candy on the ground after they had the clue. Then the candy was scattered in with the massive number of broken pinatas. Kim was far enough away that I don't know that the candy wrappers would have been something she noticed. And then you have the stress of the final leg and killer fatigue. 

I did love the plane thing. Phil mentions the clue and all the teams go diving for it. That was great. I wonder if Phil has been in a bunch of the Air New Zealand safety videos, they do some fun ones. I know someone posted the Disco one. 

I was impressed that the season had fewer tasks that were 100% homeruns for Kim and Penn. There was the one song and dance task and that was really it. So many times in a season there are more of those types of tasks but they seemed to be smart and limit those. 

[alexa]

I feel like I shouldn't be disappointed about the winners, but I am.  I never took to them much throughout the race, and I never liked Kim's confessionals--she kind of annoyed me.  Anyway, they won, they are okay people, and that is that.  I would have preferred the FA's to win--before that it was the guys, but they started to get on my nerves over time and never really picked up their momentum.

[Netfoot]

Phil: "All teams are now taking a charter flight, seventeen hundred miles from Thessaloniki, Greece to Portugal, the westernmost country in Europe!"

Netfoot: "<mumble><mumble> Ireland <grumble>..."

[ProfCrash]

Watching the bonus clips

Kim says that they knew the images of the race would be the final task and that she drew out a ton of them. She said her pictures were awful but that they had studied the images that morning. They were highly complimentary of Cayla and Raquel. Kim almost stepped off the stage, Phil had to grab her. 

In another one Penn says that a lot of his job is lip syncing and timing that type of thing. They made up a ton of time at the foley station. 

In another they discuss navigation. They grew up reading paper maps and had to use them to get to places because they were reporters who had to navigate to all sorts of different locations. They had a real navigation advantage that helped them gain time. And there was an Arun and Natalia joke about navigation. Penn was hoping one team would get lost. Kim wanted to win on performance, Penn agreed but was fine with someone getting lost and making their life easier. 

Cayla and Raquel on the finish line were great. There was no mention of how far behind they were. They are bummed that they lost. They referenced that the thing that they lost on was a task that they just did, so the candy really mucked people up. The teams all seemed to like everybody on the Race. 

Dang, Dusty and Ryan ended up on the bottom floor and needed to get a hotel dude with a key to bring them back up to the top floor. It took them forever to find the clue for the lock box. Dusty was really down after the elevator task. He was ready for the race to be done. It sounded like Dusty was pretty much done the last few legs. Ryan ended up driving a good amount because Dusty was frustrated in Portugal and in LA. It pretty much points to what many of us were saying before the cheese task, Ryan and Dusty were great when it was all physical based but once it became more mental, they fell apart. Ryan was ok but Dusty was in no way ready for the mental stuff. 

Cayla and Raquel were discussing the map. One of them commented that they didn't have money to buy a new map, so apparently they used the money that they did have but I am not sure when that would have happened. The map was a big thing for them. Raquel was totally unnerved by the map thing.