S36.E10: The Longest Minute of Your Life

[PaperTree]

Wow!  Cesar!

[Lantern7]

Leticia looks like she’s suffering classroom flashbacks.

Wait, we’re ending on a plus-sized Survivor puzzle?!?

Edited May 16 by Lantern7

[MerBearHou]

Seriously impressive, Cesar!  

[Browncoat]

Too bad Danny's not still in it -- he's good at puzzles, right?

[DEL901]

And this last puzzle…. Plays to Rickey and Caesar’s strengths more than the other teams I think.  

[PaperTree]

Looks like October, chilly with some leaves still on the trees

[Lantern7]

13 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Too bad Danny's not still in it -- he's good at puzzles, right?

They would've had to blindfold him to make things fair for the other teams.

Edited May 16 by Lantern7

[Good Queen Jane]

No memory challenge based on the Race? 

[MerBearHou]

Just now, Good Queen Jane said:

No memory challenge based on the Race? 

I always like those.  Maybe they have come to be “expected” in the finale so they went a different direction to throw something new at the teams.

I’m loving this Philadelphia history mini-tour.

[chaifan]

Boo.  I hate it when the final challenge isn't race related.  

 

[nilyank]

2 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Boo.  I hate it when the final challenge isn't race related.  

 

The worse one was eating deep dish pizza in Chicago.

[Drummermom]

They should have just handed Ricky and Cesar the million at the beginning and cancelled the race. It was designed just for them. I have never seen anything more unfair. Oh well. 

[Lantern7]

Bell judge is milking it.

[Browncoat]

That didn't seem to be a terribly challenging puzzle.

[DEL901]

It isn’t even close!

[Lantern7]

Just now, Drummermom said:

They should have just handed Ricky and Cesar the million at the beginning and cancelled the race. It was designed just for them. I have never seen anything more unfair. Oh well. 

I disagree.

[nilyank]

 

Go Ricky and Cesar!!!!!

[chaifan]

3 minutes ago, nilyank said:

The worse one was eating deep dish pizza in Chicago.

For me, the worst was counting poker chips.

[Browncoat]

Heh -- checking his hair.

[dizzyd]

I’ve enjoyed the finale and very satisfied with this ending considering this season had some big boots to fill after last season.

[MerBearHou]

Do 2nd and 3rd win any money?  Besides what they might have won during some legs?

[argrow]

Checking your hair? 😆

[DEL901]

The. amazing editors are trying to make it seem close, but the boys were gone before anyone arrived at the puzzle which looked like it took a while.   

[Lamb18]

I've been to the Washington Crossing but don't remember if it was at the Glen Foerd estate.

[Lantern7]

Congratulations to Ricky and Cesar. I’m sad that they’re going to get a shitload of grief for their win.

[PaperTree]

Woo Hoo!  Beautiful spot with NJ in the background

[nilyank]

Congrats to Ricky and Cesar. 

I am very happy for them.

[chaifan]

Yeah!  I love that such a loving, kind and supportive couple won.  Ricky & Cesar really ran a clean race.  For the most part, they ran on their own, they made few errors.  

Juan & Shane - good job on #2.  But "a blessing from god"???  As they say on TAR, god's in the bathtub...

 

edited to add:  Rod & Leticia and Juan and Shane were also loving, kind and supportive teams.  I didn't mean to imply that they weren't.  It was great that all 3 final teams were functional, non-bickering teams.

Edited May 16 by chaifan

[Lantern7]

3 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Do 2nd and 3rd win any money?  Besides what they might have won during some legs?

Yeah. I don’t know how much, though.

[Browncoat]

I appreciate that the top two teams mostly ran their own race and didn't rely on other teams to help them (or outright do their challenges for them).  

 

[DEL901]

1 minute ago, chaifan said:

Yeah!  I love that such a loving, kind and supportive couple won.  Ricky & Cesar really ran a clean race.  For the most part, they ran on their own, they made few errors.  

Juan & Shane - good job on #2.  But "a blessing from god"???  As they say on TAR, god's in the bathtub...

And they were darned good racers…surprisingly athletic, too.  And soon to be parents!

[dizzyd]

3 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I’m sad that they’re going to get a shitload of grief for their win.

Why?

[Cotypubby]

15 minutes ago, Good Queen Jane said:

No memory challenge based on the Race? 

The memory challenge would have been really extra hard this race, since there really wasn’t any differentiation between countries. “Was it the Spanish language one on the beach, or the Spanish speaking one on the beach, or maybe the leg where they did stuff on a beach in Spanish.” The whole thing was like one giant blob.

Edited May 16 by Cotypubby

[CSunshine76]

41 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

How did the stadium guy not know Pat's and Geno's?  I'm not even from Philly, and I've heard of those places and their rivalry!

As a diehard Cowboys fan, I loathe all things Philly. But damn, I know about the cheesesteak rivalry. Unbelievable (for the local and the racers).

[iMonrey]

10 minutes ago, Drummermom said:

They should have just handed Ricky and Cesar the million at the beginning and cancelled the race. It was designed just for them. I have never seen anything more unfair. 

Not Ricky and Cesar's fault though. Lucky for them, sure. 

God bless the Amazing Editors trying to make it look like it was tight between Ricky and Cesar and Juan and Shane but R&C finished and left that puzzle before J&S even got there. Nice try.

You could kind of tell from the post-leg interview Ricky and Cesar had won. I'm OK with it though. 

Not a great season when compared to the last one (aired). Better than nothing though. And nice people in the final three. 

[TheRabbi]

That episode moved at rocket speed condensing 2 legs into 90 minutes. Finale was fine, if a bit anticlimactic. Can't have a close finish every season I suppose.

This season certainly had its faults, but I thought it was easily the best of the 3 covid seasons, mainly as the cast was very entertaining. Maybe it was the 90 minute episodes giving much more time for character moments, or just a fun group of teams to watch, but I'll look back on this season overall fondly.

[chaifan]

5 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

The memory challenge would have been really extra hard this race, since there really wasn’t any differentiation between countries. “Was it the Spanish language one on the beach, or the Spanish speaking one on the beach, or maybe the leg where they did stuff on a beach in Spanish.” The whole thing was like one giant blob.

I agree.  But that's why I was looking forward to it.  There are unique elements about each country (other than flags, which has been overdone) that could have been used.  Greeters, dialects, elements from challenges, etc.  I just feel that the few times we've had non-memory challenge type final challenges the race designers are just taking the easy way out.  

For example, they could have combined a Philly icon with a memory challenge.  Like have racers place pictures of challenges in order on the "Rocky" steps - making them go up and down the steps each time to get the next picture.  

Eh, I guess I'll chalk it up to covid issues, and give them a pass on this season.

[Wildcard]

7 minutes ago, dizzyd said:

Why?

"They spoke Spanish fluently. All the challenges were made for their skills. Blah. Blah. Blah." In the end, they were very good racers with a wide set of skills. The most important thing is that they did really well focusing on details - see the waterfall at Dominican Republic.

Would they win in a non COVID Race? Who knows? But, I think they would have done well.

[dizzyd]

3 minutes ago, Wildcard said:

They spoke Spanish fluently. All the challenges were made for their skills. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Ah thanks for the explanation but it didn’t seem much of an advantage to me seeing as I had to ask why, lol. Juan and Yvonne were also fluent in Spanish and R&C probably applied because of their eclectic life experiences that suited the Race. And they ran it so well that they won most of the legs despite there being several more athletic teams. I thought they deserved every bit of it, so yeah sad if a lot of viewers disagree. My issue is CBS is trying to replace TAR with another show and I don’t get why TAR has repeatedly not received the respect of the network and/or sponsors. 

[rr2911]

Well that sucked!

Didn't want them to win.

The pirate mix drink challenge seemed to easy.  They had the recipe in front of them.  The recipe should've been away from the racers and they should've been able to memorize the recipe.

Language might've favored the winners.  It would've been interesting if this wasn't a COVID race.

I hope Survivor doesn't have a sucky finale!

[anniebird]

This season improved dramatically these last few episodes. Once Amber and Vinny got eliminated I didn't care which team won because I liked all of them. They were all functional teams who were consistently nice to each other. That goes a long way with me.

[dancingdreamer]

Omg, when Ricky was on that sail thing for 25 minutes,  I thought  they were out, and Vinny and Amber would catch up.
Their attention  to detail  is what got them through  most tasks.
Enjoy your win Ricky and Cesar. 
I liked the pilots and Rod and Leticia, any of the F3 were  good..
Vinny proposed to Amber, that's a huge memory,  right there. Vinny should smile more often, it suits him.

[ByaNose]

I’m from the Philadelphia area and that guard at Lincoln Financial Field should be fired. LOL!!!! I’m sure he’s going to get razzed tomorrow at work. Unfortunately, he sent  pilots on a wild pizza chase to NJ. Granted it’s right over the bridge but most certainly out of their way. I was happy Ricky & Cesar won. They deserved it and could do practically everything (less windsurfing) and, they were such a strong team. I was totally shocked that the whole Philadelphia end of the race was a postcard from TAR to Philadelphia. I saw Ricky’s instagram page and they studied everything on ever leg. Philadelphia never came up. LOL!!! Luckily, Ricky was from this area. 
 

Finally, Vinny proposing to Amber almost made me hurl. I’m guessing 2 years ago they had no idea what their edit would be. Buh-Bye!!!!!

[mertensia]

Yay! I was rooting for Ricky and Cesar. 

I liked that they made the flag challenge a bit harder by making them listen to the recreators.

So they had a book of recipes and Vinny still screwed it up. 

 

[Skooma]

3 hours ago, nilyank said:

Go Ricky and Cesar never got impatient with him.

I kept imaging what it would have been like if Flo had to do that challenge.  🤣

Kudos to Ricky trying forever and never giving up and to Cesar being so supportive of him!

Also kudos to that sneaky parrot that stole the straw.

2 hours ago, Drummermom said:

They should have just handed Ricky and Cesar the million at the beginning and cancelled the race. It was designed just for them. I have never seen anything more unfair. Oh well. 

It wasn't designed for them.  It was totally fair.  At least half the teams that are on TAR usually are conversant in Spanish.  This season even more with Juan and Vinnie as native Spanish speakers as well and Danny having spent a year in Chile and other teams shown getting by well enough. 

As for all of Cesar and Ricky's many talents?  Props to them to have done stuff in their life.  So big whoop.

2 hours ago, TheRabbi said:

That episode moved at rocket speed condensing 2 legs into 90 minutes. Finale was fine, if a bit anticlimactic. Can't have a close finish every season I suppose.

The only truly close finish in TAR history was Season 2.

PS:  I guess Ricky & Cesar will finally get their million after the longest wait for a winning team to get their pay out since contracts for these shows stipulate they don't get the money until the season is broadcast fully.

Enjoy your dubloons, me lads.  Argh!

Edited May 16 by Skooma

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, Drummermom said:

They should have just handed Ricky and Cesar the million at the beginning and cancelled the race. It was designed just for them. I have never seen anything more unfair. Oh well. 

I don't know that I agree after last season.  That season's winners weren't as dominant compared to Ricky & Cesar but they still were still a very strong team who happened to have done a lot of things required by the race.  It felt like every leg one of them was talking about having done this or that. 

They did well even on challenges that should have benefited other teams.  Didn't Leticia say she was a bartender?  And yet, even doing an extra drink, Ricky & Cesar finished first even though they started after them.

40 minutes ago, mertensia said:

I liked that they made the flag challenge a bit harder by making them listen to the recreators.

I think the way the recreator presented those states had my mind swirling.  I'd have a tough time paying attention and remembering. It's such an impressive performance.  I think it feels easy to dismiss them because they don't look like a stereotypical dominant team and their impressive discipline made other teams look worse than they probably were. 

I'm happy Ricky & Cesar won as well.  It would have felt odd to me had it been anyone else.

Edited May 16 by Irlandesa

[endure]

4 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

My fellow Canadians! CTV is not showing this until Friday. So we have to watch the American feed

I watched it tonight in Vancouver

[Lantern7]

Good episode. I think the season suffers airing after the season that succeeded it. Ricky & Cesar were dominant, but it's hard to gauge how dominant given the stripped-down version of the Race. If TAR ever does a season with "the best of the best," I'd want to see those two in action on a far larger stage.

Vinny proposed to Amber, and she said yes. Of course they did. I want them to be different people than what we've seen, because the alternative is a bit nauseating to contemplate.

Juan & Shane and Rod & Leticia weren't bad themselves. The worst you can say was that Rod was hard-headed. Most teams would have melted down making the mistake that the Pilots made. They kept their humor and soldiered forth. Pretty admirable.

It kinda sucks we didn't get TAR trivia, but we got some lessons in American history, guided by people too eager to don 18th-Century attire and chew scenery. Also: pirates. And a parrot. Because why not?

What really sucks is that we'll have to wait a long time for TAR37, while CBS airs reality TV that doesn't reach TAR in the category of quality. Even a stripped-down version of the show can beat the likes of Survivor, and that's true if those players weren't the biggest collection of numbnuts ever assembled by Jeff Probst.

Edited May 16 by Lantern7

[kitkat343]

That security guard is going to need to move!  I don't think they let you stay in Philly if you think Pat and Gino's are pizzerias.  

 

And Amber can join the security guard in the witness protection program.

 

I did enjoy Vinnie and Amber going out on something Vinnie claimed played to his strengths.  Also, I hadn't loved Leticia through most of this, but she did a great job windsurfing (and in all fairness Rod would have struggled equally with the flag task so I don't think the roadblock imbalance came back to bite them)

Edited May 16 by kitkat343

[Haleth]

During a first half hour talking head interview Ricky and Cesar looked so sad I thought they were going to be eliminated.  So glad Ricky prevailed on the surfboard then the two of them surfed to the finish line.  Then when they were back in the US and (was it?) Cesar said he'd lived in Philly, I thought 'of course you did!'  Congrats to them for running a superb race with very few mistakes.  I only wish there had been a placard at the end saying they'd adopted a child, just like they did for Melissa & Yvonne.

The pilots came back from a huge mistake.  Loved how they didn't get angry with each other and they even managed to joke that the next clue would read "drive to NJ."  Congrats to them for not relying on other teams for help and running their own race.

I was surprised Leticia nailed the bartending and wind surfing challenges after being pretty useless for most of the race.  Congrats for being such a loving, supportive couple.  They win that race hands down.

Amber and Vinnie can go home and never be heard from again.