S35.E12: A Sunset, Seattle Scramble

[Whimsy]

Quote

The final three teams travel to Seattle, where they must complete three challenges in the first ever scramble leg. The challenges are inspired by Seattle’s art scene and include swinging from a high trapeze, glassblowing, and being a roadie for a grunge band. The team that successfully completes these challenges and arrives first will win the $1 million prize.

Original airdate 12/13/23

[gail56]

I would have preferred Rob and Corey, but Greg and John were also my favorites so happy with the outcome!

[RockShrimp]

Ugh what a mean edit and ending for people who always root for the underdogs. I would have been fine with the brothers winning just because they were so dominant all season but now I’m sad. 
 

 

I did laugh out loud for real when the beardos were talking about how they never yelled at each other and they cut to that mom and daughter who only communicated in whines and yells.  

[Fake Jan Brady]

Remind me never to listen to a band in Seattle. My ears will never recover.

I'm also sad Joel and Garret were pipped at the post, but it was an enjoyable, yet nerve-wracking, finale.

[Lantern7]

Great finale to a great season. I feel bad for Greg & John for not being "underdog" enough, but they earned the $1 million and the title with their overacheving.

I really feel bad for Garrett & Joel. They managed to be at the front for most of the Scramble, but they couldn't pass the final task thanks to two swapped kayaks. As nice as they both were, as laid-back as they could be, I think that's going to haunt them for a long time.

Rob & Corey . . . they played with heart. Sucks that they wound up third, matching Margie & Luke's highest finish, but I think they came away as the fan favorites. Hell, this was a great cast. Yeah, there were bits of whining, yelling and "COME ON, DAD!!!!"-ing, but this season goes down as one of the best ever, and casting was a big part of it. There are enough teams to warrant a new "unfinished business" season. Or hell get Greg & John to race other winning teams for $2 million.

Good set of tasks. I have to wonder what would've happened if Steve & Anna Leigh had made it to the final leg. I imagine Steve being so out of breath, his glass bubble would be inverted. The trapeze may have vaulted Greg & John forward, but I thought it was a fair challenge. Same with the setting up of musical equipment. The kayaks were a letdown only if you compare it to last season's piano challenge.

No way would I have walked out on the Space Needle. No way. I would've been making my own rough Express Pass to get out of that.

Cannot wait to see if TAR36/35 can keep up the excellence.

[Jodithgrace]

I’m pretty sure that both of my daughters have sung that “Mama, there’s a spider in my room” song at various times over the years. 
 

I would have been happy with any of the three teams winning, but I was so impressed that Greg and John kept their cool, even though at one point, at the glass blowing challenge, I think, they were in third. Yes, they were young and athletic but it did take one of them 2 tries at the trapeze, and they couldn’t figure out the hidden amp thingie for the longest time. So it was really the memory task that won it for them. Well done, I say. 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Jodithgrace

[choclatechip45]

Good for Greg & John, but boring finale. I recently went to Seattle so it was fun seeing and recognizing places. 

[Corgi-ears]

I hope the second place prize is big enough that the Beardos can still get the service dog for (one of) their daughter. 🥺

[dancingdreamer]

Well done brothers, they were followed very closely by the beards.If the beards had seen that one mistake  earlier, they would have won! Rob and Corey did well, very very well. I wanted  them to win, it just wasn't  to be.
All three teams showed  respect  for one another,  no cross words, no anger, it was a pleasure  to watch the F3.  

[30 Helens]

I can’t remember another season when my three favorite teams actually made the final three. I honestly would have been happy with any outcome and found myself shouting encouragement to all teams at various points. But good for the brothers; they earned it. Now I’m ready for an All Star season, and hope that teams CODA and Beard, at least, get an invite. 

[Kleav]

1 hour ago, dancingdreamer said:

All three teams showed  respect  for one another,  no cross words, no anger

Let this be a lesson for other competitive reality shows.  

[Fukui San]

2 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Good set of tasks. I have to wonder what would've happened if Steve & Anna Leigh had made it to the final leg.

They would have gotten lost five times and lost their shit, I think. Lots of tricky self-navigation.

Also, as a fellow, ahem, portly gentleman, even more so than Rob, I would not be able to complete that Grab task even for a billion dollars with a month to try to do it.  Steve would have had a tough time.

I really like these set of final tasks. Every one was tricky in its way. I thought that the final puzzle was too easy as they were running up to it, and yet it turned out to be decisive. I thought they would have added in a few extra decoy tasks that they'd have to figure out are fake. They've done that before.

I commend all three teams with keeping their composure among each other even while each had struggle points at time. The final leg has destroyed relationships before.

[PurpleTentacle]

I do like a scramble for the final leg, but this one was just dumb. If the locations are set up in a line, 9 out of 10 teams will take that line. Because yeah, you could speculate, that maybe you have to come back to the city center regardless, but would you? If you follow the line and have to go back to the city center, you lost nothing. If you don't follow the line and don't have to come back to the center, you just made a big detour. The tasks should be setup in a triangle around the location where you got the clue for the scramble from. I know that might not always be easy, but if you can't make it happen, don't do a scramble. The producers were just lucky that Rob and Corey had a complete brainfart, otherwise all teams would have been together the whole time.

The trapeze challange seemed unfairly physical, especially for a final leg. It's just frustrating to see a team that made it through the whole race run at a wall during one of the challanges, not because they can't see the solution, but because they physically can't do it. Luckily Rob has a good amount of stamina and learned a little bit each time, so it wasn't a total bust, but would Steve have been able to do this, if last leg had shaken out a bit differently? I doubt it. I think Phil would have needed to come out there. Would have been a first for a final leg, wouldn't it? (If we don't count clue box eliminations in another country)

Seems like Rob and Corey also lost a bit of time with navigation, although maybe not. Rob had 8 attempts at the trapeze as opposed to the next team who had 3 each and I don't think their gamble to do the furthest destination first payed off (not that it could have, best case they would have come out even).

After the memory challange it was painfully obvious who would win. I'm not sure why the editors even bother at that point.

Good race. Sadly my least favourite team won and I don't think rich people need even more money. But they did run the best race. Gotta give that to them. At least they aren't an attrocious team, god knows we have seen win those before. They are just on the bottom of a very sympathetic bunch.

[Ancaster]

2 hours ago, Kleav said:

Let this be a lesson for other competitive reality shows.  

In your dreams, baby, in your dreams.

[Tdoc72]

2 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

The trapeze challange seemed unfairly physical, especially for a final leg. It's just frustrating to see a team that made it through the whole race run at a wall during one of the challanges, not because they can't see the solution, but because they physically can't do it. Luckily Rob has a good amount of stamina and learned a little bit each time, so it wasn't a total bust, but would Steve have been able to do this, if last leg had shaken out a bit differently? I doubt it.

It did seem hard. But it seemed like on the first try, you had to put your feet on the bar between your arms, which were far apart. When they went back to the start for the second (or more) try, they let them put their hand very close together and bring their legs around the ropes to the bar. (I’m probably not decribing it right but if you go back to anyone’s second attempt, you’ll see by looking at their hands.) I think that helped a lot, although God knows, I’d still be trapezing. 
 

Overall, it was a good finale and a great season. I realized I was rooting a tad more for Rob & Corey, but the final three were so likeable and positive, that I didn’t mind any of them winning. 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Tdoc72

[Haleth]

I'm happy for Greg and John.  They were consistently frontrunners but always good natured and pleasant.  I was a bit worried for them when they stumbled a bit at the glass blowing and even more with the roadie challenge, but knew they would sail through the trapeze and memory tasks.  Good for them.  Congrats, guys!

The beards did well with the scramble and only lost because of mixing up a pair of challenge names.  Congrats on coming in second though.  They are nice guys and I'm sure their families are so proud.

Rob and Corey.  Sigh.  I'm not sure when they slipped up.  Did they take much longer with the glass blowing than shown or did they get lost getting to the memory task?  I'm sorry they fell behind because, like everyone else, they were a joy to watch.  So supportive and loving.  I hope they enjoyed their adventure.

This was a great season, one of my favorites.  Thanks to production and the crew for providing viewers with such an entertaining show.  I've been talking it up to people who have never watched, assuring them that it is lots of fun and filled with likable racers.

[Lady Calypso]

I think I would have been ok with anyone in this F3 winning. Sure, I was rooting for Rob/Corey the most and felt disappointed when they fell so far behind, but Greg/John are great winners, as would have been Joel/Garrett. 

Actually, all the teams this season were likeable and strong teams. It's so refreshing to feel like I can root for almost every single team. Sure, there were teams that annoyed me and teams I liked the least, but no teams I outright hated.

The scramble was fun, but it did become a bit more clear who was where with the editing; they did pretty much show who left first, second and third from their scramble tasks, which made it easier to tell, especially once they got to the kayaks. 

Joel/Garrett ran a fantastic race here. They just fumbled at the kayaks, which had to be disappointing on their part. They just mixed up the Thailand and Slovenia heights task.

Fantastic season, overall. Probably top three most likeable casts for The Amazing Race that I've seen.

[PurpleTentacle]

50 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Rob and Corey.  Sigh.  I'm not sure when they slipped up.  Did they take much longer with the glass blowing than shown or did they get lost getting to the memory task?  I'm sorry they fell behind because, like everyone else, they were a joy to watch.  So supportive and loving.  I hope they enjoyed their adventure.

What we know:

- They chose a not so clever route, by driving to the furthest location first.

- Rob took 8 times to get the trapeze task, while the beards only took 3 each. Seemed like each time took quite a bit of prep work.

There might have been other things, but those two alone probably would have done them in.

[Corgi-ears]

1 minute ago, PurpleTentacle said:

What we know:

- They chose a not so clever route, by driving to the furthest location first.

- Rob took 8 times to get the trapeze task, while the beards only took 3 each. Seemed like each time took quite a bit of prep work.

But the teams all did the same task (the roadie) second, thereby converging -- and Rob and Corey got there second. And the map we saw had glassblowing and roadie-ing close to each other. So Rob and Corey drove the longest distance back and forth, did the trapeze nine times in total between the two of them, and were still quicker at that point of the race than the Brothers.

At their third task (the glassblowing), I thought there was a chyron saying they succeeded on their first attempt. But it's hard to say what that means in terms of time, because the show seems to count the moment when they tap the pole as an attempt, and there was obviously lots that had to be done before then. Like we saw them fail to get the glass bulb inflated, and asked for a second demo -- but that was not an "attempt."

It seems more like Rob and Corey bled time going from the scramble to the hangar.

[sugarbaker design]

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I really feel bad for Garrett & Joel.

I sure don't!  They surpassed their own expectations.  They saw the world.  They played a clean game, never fought, and most importantly, they had fun.  They're winners in my book.

[chaifan]

Overall, I really loved this finale.  As everyone has said, it's great to have 3 teams to root for, or at least no one to root against.  I did find myself pulling for Joel and Garrett at the end, but I certainly wasn't throwing things at the tv when Greg & John won.

I thought the final memory challenge was a bit easy, a bit too straight forward.  Yes, there was the physical aspect of having to move all the kayaks.  But the "memory challenge" part was about as easy as it could get - remember your challenges.  (OK, not as easy as "let's count poker chips", my all time disappointing moment for a finale.)  At first, I didn't realize each country/leg had it's own stand, so I was wondering if they made a mistake they'd have to shift a dozen or more kayaks down the line.  But with each stand they would only have to shift a few.

Does anyone know if 2nd and 3rd place still get some $ prize?  I thought they used to, but really have no idea.  I am also hoping Garrett gets enough to get his daughter a service dog.  I know they cost at least $20,000.  I have a feeling that even if they don't have prize money, somehow the money is going to show up for that.

A few people keep mentioning that Greg and John "have money".  Where is this coming from?  Are they uber wealthy?  Just solid upper middle class?  Obviously they've had a lot of different opportunities in life, so are people just assuming, or is there something in their bio?  I don't think it matters.  They ran an excellent race, and deserved every bit of that win.

I hope the "real" Season 35 (now Season 36) isn't a let down after this.  I hope they're going back through, giving everyone really nice edits, just so we can enjoy another season as much as we did this one.  😉

 

[Seelouis]

What a remarkably joyful season and a really pleasant finale. It was so nice not to have any bickering or yelling at teammates this leg. Everyone was so happy and encouraging. Of course I’m bummed for Rob and Corey but Greg and John earned that win. Congratulations to all. 

[LizBug]

Loved this final episode and feel that any of the three teams deserved the win.  

Just one suggestion for future races:  can the tasks be scheduled so that they don't finish in the dark?  

[bunnyface]

On the "fame is fleeting" front, there were a few people at that finish line I would swear I've never seen before in my life.  I almost thought they brought in teams from other seasons to pad out the line.

 

[Jaundiced Eye]

23 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Does anyone know if 2nd and 3rd place still get some $ prize?  I thought they used to, but really have no idea.  I am also hoping Garrett gets enough to get his daughter a service dog.  I know they cost at least $20,000.  I have a feeling that even if they don't have prize money, somehow the money is going to show up for that.

I believe the second place team wins $25,000 ($10,000 for third place), so nowhere near enough for a service dog even if Joel gave Garrett the entire amount (especially after taxes). I've read that service dogs can cost as much as $50,000 because of the intense training involved.

I for one will be forever grateful that Anna Leigh failed in her multiple attempts to finish off Steve. 😆 Kidding, not kidding. Live long and prosper, Steve!

[anniebird]

This season has now claimed the #2 spot for best ever (nothing will ever surpass season 1 for sheer delight) mainly for its cast. I really appreciate that it was pure Amazing Race with no non-elimination legs and the only "gimmicks" were the express passes and the mandatory U-Turn. And I think this is the first season where I really liked all 3 final teams and would have been happy with any of them winning. I hope this isn't the last we see of Rob & Corey and Joel & Garrett.

[Netfoot]

To be honest, when Marty & Stu came from behind to win, I was actually disappointed. ("I lived in Seattle for a month! I majored in Trapeze. I was a glass blower for one whole summer. I help my girlfriend with her grunge band!") I am the first to say that the brothers were excellent racers and good people. By any metric they deserved the win. But I would have been most happy with them coming third.

Team Hirsute did well and for a moment I thought they had the race! But the confusion between "Bird's-eye view" and "Above it all" did them in. You'd think that would be the first thing to try after the first fail, but it's easy to say that when you're not actually standing there.

Rob & Corey would have been a very satisfying win, and with Corey aceing the trapeze and Rob getting it without having to try too many times, I thought they had it in the bag. But somehow navigation issues crept in on the way to the last challenge and they fell at the final hurdle. So sorry, genuinely.

17 hours ago, Fake Jan Brady said:

Remind me never to listen to a band in Seattle. My ears will never recover.

It must have taken TPTB quite some time to round up three such awful bands. Awful, not awesome. 

17 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

No way would I have walked out on the Space Needle. No way.

Not even as an homage to Jessica Alba's Dark Angel?

7 hours ago, chaifan said:

I hope the "real" Season 35 (now Season 36) isn't a let down after this.

What?

A comment on the race itself: Phil opened the episode saying "This season, The Amazing Race returned to it's roots." And I think that anyone who is a fan of the race will have to agree that this season was objectively better than what we have become accustomed to in recent years. I hope TPTB take the evidence of their own eyes into account. Classic TAR didn't become classic because it was what they did first. But because what they did was great! A return to those roots produced another latter-day "classic" episode.

Take the hint, people!

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Netfoot

[Skyfall]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

Overall, I really loved this finale.  As everyone has said, it's great to have 3 teams to root for, or at least no one to root against.  I did find myself pulling for Joel and Garrett at the end, but I certainly wasn't throwing things at the tv when Greg & John won.

I thought the final memory challenge was a bit easy, a bit too straight forward.  Yes, there was the physical aspect of having to move all the kayaks.  But the "memory challenge" part was about as easy as it could get - remember your challenges.  (OK, not as easy as "let's count poker chips", my all time disappointing moment for a finale.)  At first, I didn't realize each country/leg had it's own stand, so I was wondering if they made a mistake they'd have to shift a dozen or more kayaks down the line.  But with each stand they would only have to shift a few.

Does anyone know if 2nd and 3rd place still get some $ prize?  I thought they used to, but really have no idea.  I am also hoping Garrett gets enough to get his daughter a service dog.  I know they cost at least $20,000.  I have a feeling that even if they don't have prize money, somehow the money is going to show up for that.

A few people keep mentioning that Greg and John "have money".  Where is this coming from?  Are they uber wealthy?  Just solid upper middle class?  Obviously they've had a lot of different opportunities in life, so are people just assuming, or is there something in their bio?  I don't think it matters.  They ran an excellent race, and deserved every bit of that win.

I hope the "real" Season 35 (now Season 36) isn't a let down after this.  I hope they're going back through, giving everyone really nice edits, just so we can enjoy another season as much as we did this one.  😉

 

It will be a slight letdown because there won't be any airport drama.

13 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

To be honest, when Marty & Stu came from behind to win, I was actually disappointed. ("I lived in Seattle for a month! I majored in Trapeze . I was a glass blower for one whole summer. I help my girlfriend with her grunge band!") I am the first to say that the brothers were excellent racers and good people. By any metric they deserved the win. But I would have been most happy with them coming third.

Team Hirsute did well and for a moment I thought they had the race! But the confusion between "Bird's-eye view" and "Above it all" did them in. You'd think that would be the first thing to try after the first fail, but it's easy to say that when you're not actually standing there.

Rob & Corey would have been a very satisfying win, and with Corey aceing the trapeze and Rob getting it without having to try too many times, I thought they had it in the bag. But somehow navigation issues crept in on the way to the last challenge and they fell at the final hurdle. So sorry, genuinely.

It must have taken TPTB quite some time to round up three such awful bands. Awful, not awesome. 

Not even as an homage to Jessica Alba's Dark Angel?

What?

A comment on the race itself: Phil opened the episode saying "This season, The Amazing Race returned to it's roots." And I think that anyone who is a fan of the race will have to agree that this season was objectively better than what we have become accustomed to in recent years. I hope TPTB take the evidence of their own eyes into account. Classic TAR didn't become classic because it was what they did first. But because what they did was great! A return to those roots produced another latter-day "classic" episode.

Take the hint, people!

 

This season was filmed after the season that's airing this spring. So this was 35th aired, but 36th filmed. Next season will feature the airbus, but after that that will finally be retired.

[proserpina65]

I didn't realize how much I wanted Greg & John to not win until they did.  Not that they're horrible or anything.  I just wanted a team who wasn't young & fit to win.  I am glad that G&J did at least struggle with two of the tasks in the last leg though and that it was a close finish.

10 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Now I’m ready for an All Star season, and hope that teams CODA and Beard, at least, get an invite. 

That would be fantastic.

Edited December 14, 2023 by proserpina65

[chaifan]

10 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Now I’m ready for an All Star season, and hope that teams CODA and Beard, at least, get an invite. 

I'd love to see Rob/Corey and Joel/Garrett race again.  But I've always questioned TAR's definition of All Stars, as they've had some stinkers of racers come back. 

A few ideas I think would be fun for "special" seasons:

Most legs won, but still lost:  Bring back the teams who won the most legs their season, but didn't win the final leg.

Winner vs Winner:  bring back winning teams, but the $1 million goes to charity.  They are racing for bragging rights only (and maybe a lesser $ prize).

Almost winners:  bring back #2 and #3 teams.

First ones out:  A race of all teams who were eliminated on the first leg.  (Boy, would it suck to be the first one eliminated, again.)

All Stars, Senior edition:  All Stars/Fan Favorites, but from the first 10 seasons only. (OK, fine, it's only been 20 years, so "seniors" may be pushing it.  But it would significantly increase the average age of racers.)

I'd be happy if every 5th or 6th race is a "special" one like these.  I'd also be happy with no special seasons and just keep up the excellent casting they did this time around, so feel free to ignore everything I just said!  😁

 

[proserpina65]

3 hours ago, Haleth said:

Rob and Corey.  Sigh.  I'm not sure when they slipped up.  Did they take much longer with the glass blowing than shown or did they get lost getting to the memory task? 

I know editing could be involved, but it seemed pretty clear that navigating to the final task was their downfall.  They seemed to fly through the glass blowing and the chyron on the screen said that their first try at it worked.

2 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

There might have been other things, but those two alone probably would have done them in.

That didn't help but they seemed to finish the glass blowing close to the same time as G&J did with the trapeze.  It really looks like navigating from the glass blowing (which could've been farther away from the kayak task) was their biggest issue.

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

A few people keep mentioning that Greg and John "have money".  Where is this coming from?  Are they uber wealthy?  Just solid upper middle class?  Obviously they've had a lot of different opportunities in life, so are people just assuming, or is there something in their bio?  I don't think it matters. 

Idk, and I also don't think it matters.  This isn't a show about who deserves the money most in real life; it's about doing interesting (and often very hard) tasks while traveling the world.

And yes, I agree with all those who've lauded TAR's return to its roots and hope they keep that up.  (The next one notwithstanding since it was filmed before this season.)

 

[Netfoot]

2 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

This isn't a show about who deserves the money most in real life; it's about doing interesting (and often very hard) tasks while traveling the world.

Toats. I don't think that someone who has a comfortable position should be disadvantaged in the standings. Any more than I believe the more needy teams should be given any advantage. If TPTB want to go there (and I strenuously advise against it) this should be sorted in team selection. Otherwise, I assume that each team is equally as deserving of the win, which should be determined entirely by their performance. And not by their need. Or their niceness, for that matter.

[vousviou]

9 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I really like these set of final tasks. Every one was tricky in its way. I thought that the final puzzle was too easy as they were running up to it, and yet it turned out to be decisive. I thought they would have added in a few extra decoy tasks that they'd have to figure out are fake. They've done that before.

I had a bad feeling going into the Space Needle challenge that it was going to be a set of dumb rubber stamp challenges after that made it impossible for teams to switch places, but I'm really glad everything that folIowed showed I was wrong.

Edited December 14, 2023 by vousviou

[vousviou]

12 hours ago, dancingdreamer said:

All three teams showed  respect  for one another,  no cross words, no anger, it was a pleasure  to watch the F3.  

There was a little bit of gamesmanship when Joel was razzing the brothers about how they were going to hate the trapeze challenge, but even that was good natured enough that it didn't seem mean spirited.

Edited December 14, 2023 by vousviou

[iMonrey]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked Greg and John and they deserved to win. It's just that there's something anticlimactic about a team of young, fit alpha males winning. Rob and Corey had really won my heart, but when it became apparent it was down to Joel and Garrett and Greg and John I found myself rooting for Joel and Garrett. 

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

That didn't help but they seemed to finish the glass blowing close to the same time as G&J did with the trapeze.  It really looks like navigating from the glass blowing (which could've been farther away from the kayak task) was their biggest issue.

I'm not clear on where the kayak challenge took place. Rob and Corey were betting on the glass blowing challenge being closest to it which is why they started with the trapeze. Maybe the glass blowing was actually furthest away. And they apparently got lost for a little while. 

Final notes - did they all have a direct flight from Dublin to Seattle? That would be one hell of a long flight. 

I don't have any particular fear of heights but watching them walk around the top of the Space Needle made my palms sweat.

They could have shown all of the teams in the opening credits, it was the last episode after all and some of them I'd forgotten about.

Not a fan of Grunge so it's hard to say but all three of those bands sounded horrible to me.

[dancingdreamer]

22 minutes ago, vousviou said:

There was a little bit of gamesmanship when Joel was razzing the brothers about how they were going to hate the trapeze challenge, but even that was good natured enough that it didn't seem mean spirited.

Yes, I think  Joel knew, the brothers wouldn't  have much difficulty  with that challenge. Sadly ,that challenge  did take up time for Rob and corey.

[Jaundiced Eye]

12 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I don't have any particular fear of heights but watching them walk around the top of the Space Needle made my palms sweat.

Not a fan of Grunge so it's hard to say but all three of those bands sounded horrible to me.

Even in my much younger, fitter days, I could never have participated in this show based on the heights issue alone. Skydiving, bungee jumping, face forward rappelling down tall buildings? GTFO. I can't even get within a couple of feet of the windows in tall office buildings. It's just not possible. And, yes, I get the sweaty palms just watching this stuff on video all the time. I can't control it.

And I'm sorry, but those bands were TERRIBLE. If that's representative of today's music scene in Seattle, color me disappointed. What happened???

[aghst]

13 hours ago, choclatechip45 said:

Good for Greg & John, but boring finale. I recently went to Seattle so it was fun seeing and recognizing places. 

John told one of the beard guys that they arrived maybe 120 seconds before them.

Seemed a bit longer than that but you can't tell with the editing.

Who knows how long after the brothers that the beard guys finished their kayaks.

So did two of the teams say they were very familiar with the Seattle area or may have actually lived there?  Only Greg and John weren't familiar?

But it seems like Rob and Corey had difficulty navigating to the kayak task, which pushed them way back.

I think the beards got kind of lucky to finish the glass blowing so easily and early.  Greg said maybe 30-40 minutes elapsed since the beards left them behind at the glass blowing place.

They made up ground in the trapeze task and of course passed them in the kayaks.

I would have thought all the teams would have taken notes during the race but it seemed like they were all doing it from memory, including Greg who supposedly had great memory.

But who would have remembered the names of all these Road Blocks and Detour tasks unless they wrote them down?  Because the names were like full sentences, not just a couple of words.

Yeah the two teams who finished after Greg and John were underdogs.  I don't know how long it took Rob and Corey to do the kayaks compared to the other teams but they might have been competitive if they didn't get lost en route to the kayaks.

Both teams outperformed Greg and John in the glass blowing and grunge tasks though.

So the kayaks decided it.

38 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked Greg and John and they deserved to win. It's just that there's something anticlimactic about a team of young, fit alpha males winning.

Not sure if they're alpha.  Just collectively younger and fitter than the other teams.

They didn't win just because of being more fit.

They won on the kayaks task and they navigated well.

Also they fell behind in glass blowing and grunge and they stayed even-tempered, didn't argue with each other, stayed positive and when they saw their opening on kayaks, they performed.

My guess is if they're good engineers working for a large tech company, they would eventually become millionaires with their stock, if they're not already.

I don't think they mentioned how life-changing the money would be.  I guess they saw it as a challenge and wanted to do TAR with each other.

[chaifan]

20 minutes ago, aghst said:

John told one of the beard guys that they arrived maybe 120 seconds before them.

Seemed a bit longer than that but you can't tell with the editing.

***

I think the beards got kind of lucky to finish the glass blowing so easily and early.  Greg said maybe 30-40 minutes elapsed since the beards left them behind at the glass blowing place.

***

I would have thought all the teams would have taken notes during the race but it seemed like they were all doing it from memory, including Greg who supposedly had great memory.

I just did a rewatch of the mat, and yeah, John said "120 seconds".  Which is really weird, because who says that and not "2 minutes"???  But, John & Greg got there at 58:41, and the Beards arrived at 59:59, so about as close to 120 seconds as you can get.  (That's assuming there wasn't editing, which I'm pretty sure the Phil & John/Greg segment was edited in, as there was no cheering noise or anything.)

I'm amazed that it took Greg & John another 1/2 hour plus to finish the glass blowing.  I wonder how much ahead Joel & Garrett were getting to the kayak challenge, and if they bled all that time due to the two kayaks being mixed up.

Everyone can take notes, but you can't use them at the challenges.  So you take notes, then take time committing all that to memory after each leg.  Everyone went from memory, but everyone likely took notes.  Whether they memorized task names, or just the tasks?  No clue. 

[illdoc]

5 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

They chose a not so clever route, by driving to the furthest location first.

It's not the "start with furthest" that is a problem. After all, if the next task/finish line is near downtown, you are closer to that and it might be an advantage. However, the memory task was not in Seattle but some suburb. If that suburb was east of Grab (which looked way east of the other two), then the "last task Grab" people would be closer to it, whereas Rob & Corey would have to essentially backtrack to Grab to get there, costing them time. Better (as said in an earlier post) that the 3 Scramble tasks were in a triangle (say at "North", "West", "East"), with the memory task being "South", so that all 3 Scramble tasks were about the same distance away. Sure, the teams probably would still do "nearest", "middle", "furthest", but teams wouldn't be penalized for not doing them in that order (by being further away).

[aghst]

1 minute ago, illdoc said:

It's not the "start with furthest" that is a problem. After all, if the next task/finish line is near downtown, you are closer to that and it might be an advantage. However, the memory task was not in Seattle but some suburb. If that suburb was east of Grab (which looked way east of the other two), then the "last task Grab" people would be closer to it, whereas Rob & Corey would have to essentially backtrack to Grab to get there, costing them time. Better (as said in an earlier post) that the 3 Scramble tasks were in a triangle (say at "North", "West", "East"), with the memory task being "South", so that all 3 Scramble tasks were about the same distance away. Sure, the teams probably would still do "nearest", "middle", "furthest", but teams wouldn't be penalized for not doing them in that order (by being further away).

I had to wonder if one of those locations would have more traffic, especially later in the day.

Also looked like the Kayak task was out in a smaller town or a suburb so it depends on whether the Kayak place was closer to downtown where the glass blowing place was, which is where Greg and Corey finished before heading to the kayaks vs. the trapeze place, which is where the other two teams finished.

Of course they didn't know the location of their last task until they finished the 3 tasks.

I wonder if after getting two pieces of the puzzle they could have Googled Kenmore and airplanes and found the place.

[ichbin]

Great casting and a good season overall. Did not miss having any teams with prior notoriety related to sports, social media, reality tv, etc.  This season was like the good old days.

Happy for the winners and sad for the runners up. They all deserved it but only one can grab it.  

[Fukui San]

It’s possible that Rob and Corey benefitted from doing the trapeze task first since they had the facility to themselves. I don’t know what would happen if two teams were making their attempts at the same time. They may have to alternate attempts and wait. With Rob needing nine attempts it might have been a large delay. 
 

The brothers didn’t quite overlap with the beards, so we don’t know for sure if there was only one setup. The other two tasks allowed multiple teams to work at the same time. 

[KenyaJ]

14 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

No way would I have walked out on the Space Needle. No way. I would've been making my own rough Express Pass to get out of that.

I've developed a fear of heights in the past decade or so, so even just watching them up there made me sweat. The slope on the roof made it 100 times more terrifying to me.

The Chihuly Center is one of my absolute favorite places in Seattle, so I loved seeing it, but was sad it was used just for a brief clue box appearance.

Greg and John have been my favorite team from the start. I just loved their relationship, how much fun they were having, and how supportive and kind they were towards each other throughout the duration of the race. Not surprisingly, those are the exact same reasons I loved the Beards and Rob & Corey. There are other finales that are more memorable to me, but this will probably always be my favorite, because it's the only one where I would've been happy to see any of the teams show up first. Not to mention how good-natured and kind all three teams were to each other during the leg. I'll miss this season (and airports!) so much.

[eel2178]

17 minutes ago, aghst said:

Also looked like the Kayak task was out in a smaller town or a suburb so it depends on whether the Kayak place was closer to downtown where the glass blowing place was, which is where Greg and Corey finished before heading to the kayaks vs. the trapeze place, which is where the other two teams finished.

Both the glass blowing and trapeze places are about a half hour drive south of Kenmore, WA, so I don't think it would have made a difference what order the tasks had been done in.

I think Rob and Corey may have been given some bad directions. If I remember right, they were the ones who mentioned taking the 405 which is on the east side of Lake Washington. It probably would have been better to stay on the west side and go straight up I-5.

[eel2178]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

 ("I lived in Seattle for a month! I majored in Trapeze . I was a glass blower for one whole summer. I help my girlfriend with her grunge band!") 

I was expecting to hear, "I used to make my own bongs, so I have a lot of experience in glass blowing," but, alas, TAR was finally able to find a task that wasn't from something in their history which gave them the extra practice they needed to excel and breeze their way through it.

 

[PaperTree]

Great season with a great F3.  Was rooting for Rob & Corey or the Beards, but fine with John & Greg.  Lots of cool places to see, especially Slovenia.  Have no desire to go to India.

As usual, all you folks here make it even more enjoyable.

Thanks to the mods and everybody else.😎

[OlderThanDirt]

Rob and Corey did take I-5 to Kenmore but they got lost on the surface streets getting to the kayak site. They all took 405 to get to Marymoor Park down the south side of Lake Waxhington. The scramble sites were all pretty central and not far from the freeway so no real problem.

Rob and Cory made a good choice going to Emerald City Trapeze Arts first because there's only one venue and they would have had to wait if there were another team there. Our family had several people gift each other trips to fly there several years ago. My 7 yo granddaughter was awesome but climbing the rope ladder was exhausting for her after several trips.

The polar flights from Europe to Seattle are not bad.

I loved seeing some of my favorite parts of my city and I thought the scramble challenges were "challenging " as they should be.  Great season!!

[jah1986]

Great season! Congratulations to Greg and John, I was smiling when they entered the park. Although I would have been happy for any of the teams. I got a kick out of the people helping teams in Seattle. They knew it was the Amazing Race and they were cheering them on, that made me smile.

[HurricaneVal]

I haven't seen the episode yet, but I am absolutely stoked that it takes place in Seattle--this is my territory, y'all!

Forgive the geographic showing off that follows.

Marymoor park is at the north end of Lake Samammish, so the direct highway from Seattle to get there would have been straight across Lake Washington on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge on SR-520 that goes directly past the park.  But....depending on where the other tasks left the racers, the other route from Seattle to Marymoor would have been eastbound on I-90 across Lake Washington (over one floating bridge, then across Mercer Island, then over another bridge) to I-405, then north on I-405 through Bellevue to hook up with SR-520, then go eastbound on that until you get to the park.

If they were coming from Kenmore, which is at the northern tip of Lake Washington, then they'd go east until they hit I-405, then head south until they hit SR-520, then east to Marymoor.  

The truly long way around would be if they went all the way around the southern end of Lake Washington to hook back northwards on I-405 to SR-520.

And yes.  As you might have surmised by having Puget Sound to the west, the very large Lake Washington to the east, then another large lake, Lake Samammish, east of that, traffic around Seattle and environs truly does suck.  We are handicapped by geographic features, and thereby funneled into mandatory choke points.