S02.E12: Who's Da Bomb?

[radishcake]

The final three teams are pushed to their limits in Ottawa and the winning team takes the gold.

Remember the finale is on SUNDAY not next Tuesday.

[mtlchick]

I learned a lot aboot (oops) our home and native land just in this episode alone.

 

This was a tough leg overall, even with the lack of general jet lag.  Certainly one of the better final tasks in recent memory.

 

The Mickey/Pete foreshadowing was a bit much, but they dismantled the final leg...along with their pants. I'm pretty happy with this win. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Congrats Mikey and Pete! You ran a good leg! Enjoy your win!

The memory task was hard!

Another great leg I think. I never knew about the Deifenbunker. Looks like a cool place

[Donny Ketchum]

Well, I was rooting for Natalie & Meaghan, but a Mickey & Pete win works for me, too.  Really, as long as Ryan & Rob didn't undeservedly win, I was cool with it.  Actually, the way they ran the latter half of the race, them being the team to completely fall out of it and finish third on the final leg seems and sounds about right.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Donny Ketchum

[juniorasparagus]

I don't handle stress very well so I have joked that the only way I would be on the Amazing Race was if two strangers followed by a camera crew ran up to me and asked for directions to the Diefenbunker.  So I am happy that I totally called it that the Amazing Race would go there but sad that I totally missed when they were in town.  Does anyone know when it was?

My son went to a day camp at the Diefenbunker and was totally thrilled to see them there.  He said the camp spent a lot of time the room where the airplanes were decoding messages.  Other than the Fleet Street pumping station we have been at all the Ottawa locations on the race tonight.

[Blackie]

well I am happy the mickey and Pete won.  Even though I thought (and still mostly do think) that their hippy-dippy thing is mostly fake, I think they are generally chilled out and relaxed guys.  they seemed to always have fun and weren't snarking at each other or the other teams and we good for a laugh.  AND since I was just on a river raft trip last week, and love all river raft guides, how can I not cheer for them.  Meaghan had such a bitch face, even more then her usual resting bitch face, for the talking bits, I knew for sure they didn't win.  They should be happy though, they won tons!!  Anyone have the total trips and cash that they won?

[Shermie]

So happy about the outcome - yay for Mickey and Pete! I said to my husband that Natalie and Meaghan would cry and look pissy when they arrived at the final mat and sure enough. I guess there's no honour or joy in silver.

Love Mickey and Pete winning the only leg that really matters. Well deserved, they were good natured and pleasant all around to everyone along the race.

[Blackie]

"I guess there's no honour or joy in silver.'

 

(I did try 10 times to get the quote feature to work and gave up).

 

No kidding, they should be happy with all they won, all the trips and also free gas for a year and I'm not sure how much cash.  God, chill out and be happy!

[Kel Varnsen]

  Meaghan had such a bitch face, even more then her usual resting bitch face, for the talking bits, I knew for sure they didn't win.  They should be happy though, they won tons!!  Anyone have the total trips and cash that they won?

Normally I don't really like them, but I think after this I will give her a pass, because her hand must have hurt like hell after the climbing and the rafting.

 

Cool finale with lots of great locations. I have lived in Ottawa for 11 years and I have still never been to the museum of nature. Plus for those who don't know it is about a half hour drive from Parliament hill to the Diefenbunker. So lots of chances for position to change. All in all it was way better then the US TAR finale last season in Las Vegas.

[shok]

This was the first TAR in a long time where I was holding my breath and getting nervous for the racers. Another great episode and a fitting finale to a wonderful season.

 

I would have loved to see the Golden Girls win it - yay girl power!!!! - but that was a very tough leg for them what with a crappy taxi plus a task that they had never tried before while their main competitor is a professional rafter and then Meaghan's hand problems. Too bad they didn't stop and think a minute about which task might be more physical but they have to make the decisions based on some pretty obscure clues. They seemed pretty accepting of their fate and the decisions they made.

 

I'm not sure how some people expected them to react to losing a very close race. Of course they were going to be disappointed - anyone would be. I thought they handled it gracefully. Wasn't too impressed with Mickey and Pete dropping their drawers. That was pretty stupid and immature but congrats to them for winning the leg that counted.

[Canada]

Ugh, I can't believe the smelly hippies won.  Second season now that I've been disappointed with the winners.  I don't think I can be bothered with a third season.

[Casual Viewing]

I'm very happy with the result. The girls won plenty of loot, it would have been boring if they'd also won the last leg. Mickey and Pete won the leg that really mattered and showed some pretty diverse skills throughout the race.

Mickey and Pete seemed to be well liked by the other teams, they didn't bicker and genuinely seemed to enjoy the entire adventure. I've always liked guys with longish hair, and I remember that 60's/70's look with a great deal of fondness, so I had no issues with the "hippie" look.

I liked this season so much that I want to watch it all over again.

[xcrayon2215x]

Glad Mickey and Pete won the Race, they seem like fun guys.

[UsernameFatigue]

To say I was thrilled with the final race would be an understatement. I am so happy that Team Dude won, and was touched  to see that pretty much all of their fellow racers we happy with their win as well. Says a lot to me both as to their character and their worthiness of the win.

Edited September 22, 2014 by UsernameFatigue

[HistoryGirl]

Another great leg I think. I never knew about the Deifenbunker. Looks like a cool place

 

The Diefenbunker is AWESOME.  So worth the price of admission ($12 I think?).  It's actually in Carp, west of Ottawa.  The place was an underground military base until like 1989 and it's exactly like it would've been in 1989, complete with typewriters and ticker tape, etc.  There are tons and tons of rooms and I think at least 3 or 4 floors.  That was a great needle-in-a-haystack challenge because of the sheer number of places those toys could've been hidden.  It's not a "maze" per say, because I think it's pretty square in its shape, but all of the rooms that have secondary doors to other rooms would complicate things.

 

It's truly a gem of a museum.  If you're in the Ottawa area, definitely check it out.  The tour is fantastic too.  

[Taeolas]

Fantastic Finale, and they went all over the city. From the airport to the south, to the pumping station (not sure where that is exactly) to Parliament Hill to the Diefenbunker way out west of the city, effectively back to the middle of the city (both museums are more or less the same big area), and then out to the east end of the city.  And a great variety of tasks with lots of room/potential to mix things up. Plus we had Lost Taxi Luck AND Broken Taxi Luck in the same final leg. (Along with a possible first, an Actual Roadblock Block)

 

The memory task, complete with red herrings was challenging even if you made notes through the race. I'm impressed they got so much right right off the bat. 

 

I have to wonder if Production held the girls back in the house so they could finish the Come in First celebrations. They had to be close, closer than it took to do the interviews and such. 

 

As for the winners, I would have been impressed with any of them winning, but I'm a little glad the hockey girls came  in second given how much they won. Great race all around; and I can't wait for Season 3 next year.

[Caelicola]

I liked this season so much that I want to watch it all over again.

Man, me too! Actually, I think I am going to do a rewatch, since I still have all the episodes.

 

As for the finale, I was rooting slightly more for the girls, but I would have been more than fine with any team winning, since in all honesty in my book "lovely people" beats out "great racers" as far as my satisfaction with the winners goes; all three teams seemed like lovely people, so I'm very happy for (and with) Mickey and Pete.

I rewatched a TAR US season recently, and found myself thinking that really, any of the final 5 teams (possibly 6, but I didn't care much for Pierre and Michel, and that coloured a bit my opinion of them as racers) would do veeeery well in a US season, given the comparative difficulty of the tasks involved. TAR US hasn't been anywhere near as challenging and grueling as this canadian season in quite a long time. (Seriously, though. I very rarely thought "Well, I could do this" during this season, while I think it quite frequently during US seasons).

[Rusun]

Having set numerous milestones for Amazing Race history in just this season alone, the one that most popped out tonight was the reaction of the school field trip to the F3 at Parliament Hill.

 

It may well have been the very first recorded instance of finalists also getting collective cheers from random bystanders in addition to requisite ones from the eliminated teams at the Finish Line.

 

P.S. Congratulations to M/P for doing a Jen/Kisha and to N/M for besting Dustin/Kandice!

[Camera One]

The tasks in this episode weren't very tough, so most were done in the order of arrival, which reduced the suspense a bit.  The memory task was good though.  I miss those from the US version.  

 

I was fine with the Dudes winning, since the Hockey Players already have a boatload of prizes.  I felt badly for Meghan with her hand doing that task... it was weird when they said they usually had Spooner do the physical ones, and then showed her trying to find the miniature models in the museum.  

 

Overall, I liked this race because of the people.  There were unfortunately some very competitive teams which got eliminated, like the Twins and Cormac/Nicole, who could both have given the Dudes a run for their money.  But I'm fine with the result.  It's a little pathetic in terms of the prize compared to the US version... not even half a million dollars.  Oh well, I'm glad they do a Canadian version since I enjoyed it more than the recent US one.

 

The problem with waiting to see the episode the next day (on the CTV website) is that I saw the winner in a headline on Google news!  The art gallery task was a nail-biter since any of the teams could have won it if they made no mistakes (though I guess Ryan and Rob were more behind, but I wonder if they could have won if they got it right the first time around).

Edited September 23, 2014 by Camera One

[Fake Jan Brady]

I didn't realise just how much I wanted Mickey and Pete to win until I yelled "NOT THAT ONE" at the TV when they removed the wrong painting in the final task.

 

Even though the placings didn't change at all from the beginning of the rafting to the final placemat it was still an incredibly tense episode; well done editors (and racers).

 

It always amuses me to see the eliminated teams cheering at the end; half of whom I've forgotten, others I'm suddenly reminded why they annoyed me and then there's the rare team that coulda/shoulda/woulda (Alain/Audrey, I'm looking at you).

 

Thanks Canada; your race was pretty darn amazing.

[anonymiss]

I ended up being happy for Mickey & Pete because I watched them earn everything fair and square, drama-free. They never resorted to doing anything underhanded or needing help--except for when Pete was never going to figure out the chemistry task and, ironically, was saved by Ryan (or was it Rob)? Talk about a defining moment in the race!

 

I felt for Natalie when it seemed she was blaming herself a bit when she couldn't find the miniatures quickly enough and I think this ran through her head on the mat. 

 

I love how the memory task wasn't a joke and there was real suspense. Awesome season! I hope they continue to only get better.

Edited September 23, 2014 by anonymiss

[Kel Varnsen]

 It's a little pathetic in terms of the prize compared to the US version... not even half a million dollars.  

Actually they said it is over half a million in prizes. I mean it was $250,000 in cash,  two trucks with an MSRP of $55,000 each, plus the year of air travel in business class and gas for life. When you consider that the prizes are tax free, and the million dollars that the winners of the US amazing race gets taxed, the Canadian winners probably come out even, if not ahead.

[UsernameFatigue]

I didn't realise just how much I wanted Mickey and Pete to win until I yelled "NOT THAT ONE" at the TV when they removed the wrong painting in the final task.

 

Even though the placings didn't change at all from the beginning of the rafting to the final placemat it was still an incredibly tense episode; well done editors (and racers).

 

It always amuses me to see the eliminated teams cheering at the end; half of whom I've forgotten, others I'm suddenly reminded why they annoyed me and then there's the rare team that coulda/shoulda/woulda (Alain/Audrey, I'm looking at you).

 

Thanks Canada; your race was pretty darn amazing.

My hubby was out of town so I watched the final with a friend. I agree that the epi was very well edited. My friend and I were yelling at the TV when Pete kept missing the toys at the Deifenbunker. And at the end, even though they showed Pete and Mickey on the steps of the Rideau Hall, when they showed an aireal view of them running to the mat my friend thought it was Nutmeg. This is the only time in the whole season that I was not annoyed that Nutmeg dressed like twins, as I knew it was Team Dude for sure -lol.

 

I think my favourite shot of the other teams cheering for Team Dude as they ran to Jon was of Cormac, who was doing some strange cheering motion - rather than a fist pump he was pumping his whole body.

[aemom]

I felt badly for Meghan with her hand doing that task... it was weird when they said they usually had Spooner do the physical ones, and then showed her trying to find the miniature models in the museum.

 

That's the things with Roadblocks.  All you get on the clue is the title and one of you has to commit to doing it.  Then you get to open it up and read what the actual Roadblock entails.  Sometimes you can guess based on where you are what it will be about, but you are often just guessing who's the right choice.  "Who's Da Bomb?" was the only info they had.  They probably thought that meant a physical task.

[etagloh]

 

the one that most popped out tonight was the reaction of the school field trip to the F3 at Parliament Hill.

 

Fascinating that it was possible to have a final leg that was a) in the middle of a large city; b) in the daytime; c) in highly public locations; d) with high fives and cheers from bystanders; e) that wasn't spoiled to heck. Clearly, TPTB could get the museums and public buildings to limit access during tasks, and being able to book Rideau Hall for the final mat is a very... Canadian privilege. (Can't imagine TAR-US gaining similar access to the Capitol and White House.) I'm not a massive fan of final legs that rely on taxis, and there were a few moments there, but the trip to and from the Diefenbunker was sufficiently nestled within the leg so that traffic or mechanical issues wouldn't be terminal. I'd be curious to know just how long the leg took to complete from landing in Ottawa to the final mat.

 

I'm happy with the result, and with the tasks that delivered it. For Mickey & Pete, it's a life-changing event; while Natalie & Meaghan talked about the financial gap between men's and women's hockey, they still have plenty of leg loot, and more importantly, their gold medals, and nothing's going to knock that experience off its pedestal.

[Stine]

This was a great season. I would've been fine with either the girls or the hippies winning (nothing against Ryan and Rob as people, but I just didn't like the idea of a team being saved from elimination twice and then winning--plus we already had that happen last year), so it was nice to watch the final leg without stressing out about whether or not my favourite team was going to win. 

 

I was surprised to find that I'd been to most of the locations on the leg--I'm not even from the Ottawa area, but I went to the Diefenbunker on a class trip, along with the Parliament Buildings, Rideau Hall, etc. So that was cool. 

 

I did feel really bad for Meaghan, having to strain her broken hand like that. I hope it's all healed up now. 

 

Lastly, I've thought since the first episode that Pete looks like a dirtied-up version of Hugh Dancy. Just me? :)

[funkymunky]

to the pumping station (not sure where that is exactly)

 

It's near the Lebreton Transitway station. I pass by that area every day and had no idea there was a pumping station.

 

juniorasparagus asked when this was filmed - I'm guessing May since the tulips were out.

Edited September 24, 2014 by funkymunky

[shok]

I'm happy with the result, and with the tasks that delivered it. For Mickey & Pete, it's a life-changing event; while Natalie & Meaghan talked about the financial gap between men's and women's hockey, they still have plenty of leg loot, and more importantly, their gold medals, and nothing's going to knock that experience off its pedestal.

 

I'd lay odds that the prizes would have been just as much or more life-changing for Meaghan and Natalie as for Mickey and Pete. They didn't win that much leg loot - just plane tickets and $20,000 each which, while it's not exactly peanuts, isn't a quarter of a million dollars. They make very little money from hockey and they sacrifice a lot to chase their dreams and represent our country.

 

And by the way, am I recalling correctly that it was Mickey who has a degree in accounting and yet on this last leg he said he worked the Alberta oil fields in the winter and owned a rafting tour company in the summer?

[anonymiss]

And by the way, am I recalling correctly that it was Mickey who has a degree in accounting and yet on this last leg he said he worked the Alberta oil fields in the winter and owned a rafting tour company in the summer?

I think I recall that, too. Nice to have for starting his business. It's cool how throughout the race he showed unexpected skills that challenged people's snap judgements.

[Camera One]

owned a rafting tour company in the summer?

 

I think he was a guide for a rafting company.  

[shok]

I think he was a guide for a rafting company.  

 

Nope, definitely said he owned an outdoors company that did rafting tours.

[Rachel RSL]

I could be wrong, maybe someone with a DVR can check, but I think Mickey said he worked in the oil fields/owned a wake boarding company (camp?) and I think Pete said he was a rafting guide.

[Fake Jan Brady]

Pete worked as the rafting guide, Mickey owns a wakeboarding park.

[In Pog Form]

What a great ending.

I don't know about you, but I wasn't aware that team Knifey-Spooney had competed in the Olympics until this episode. Wasn't it nice of the show to point that out?

[kingshearte]

I'm not a massive fan of final legs that rely on taxis, 

Especially in Ottawa. I don't take that many taxis, but this is the only city in which I've had to direct the driver to pretty much every single destination I've ever asked for, except the airport. Lucky for me, I live here. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to try and take an Ottawa taxi if you yourself didn't have at least a general idea where you were going.

 

Of the final 3, Mickey and Pete were actually my least favourites, but not by a lot. It was kinda nice, actually, to watch the final leg and not be actively rooting against anybody. Looking forward to the new season of TAR, but I think I'm looking even more forward to the next season of TARC.

[Sarahendipity]

I just can't imagine it would be very safe to let teams self-drive on the final leg. Imagine the adrenaline pumping.

[Kel Varnsen]

Especially in Ottawa. I don't take that many taxis, but this is the only city in which I've had to direct the driver to pretty much every single destination I've ever asked for, except the airport. Lucky for me, I live here. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to try and take an Ottawa taxi if you yourself didn't have at least a general idea where you were going.

On the other hand public transit in Ottawa isn't that great either especially when you get out of down town. Unless you want to ton of footage of of them on a totally ridiculously long bus ride that takes a totally round about route to get somewhere. Or a bus that takes forever because there are two bus stops on every block.

[Miss Scarlet]

well I am happy the mickey and Pete won.  Even though I thought (and still mostly do think) that their hippy-dippy thing is mostly fake, I think they are generally chilled out and relaxed guys.  they seemed to always have fun and weren't snarking at each other or the other teams and we good for a laugh. 

I feel pretty much the same way. I wasn't rooting for them and think they're inauthentic, but I'm okay with them winning. They need to stop with their act of hitting on every girl/woman they see, referring to them as "babes" and talking about they're going to "chase some babes". I'm sure that they've grown up with everyone telling them this is so "cute" and "charming", but it's not. Jet and Dave were great because that's what a lot of people expected out of them, but they weren't like that at all. Also, Mickey has this habit of smiling no matter what he's saying. Normally I would probably find it endearing, but it reminds me of a really awful girl I was friends with in high school who couldn't regulate her emotions properly and would smile through everything (even when she was sad), but then lash out at you when you were alone with her. *Shudder*

 

I liked what Meaghan and Natalie said about wanting to show girls that you can smart and strong. Again, I think most people would have been like "they're an exception! Most girls aren't like that! They were Olympic champions!", but it's a nice sentiment. I thought Natalie had a good point during the After Show when she talked about how they actually were better at a lot of the mental challenges than the physical ones. Props to Meaghan for doing that rope climbing though. I was cringing when I watched that. I can only imagine how painful it was for her.

 

Kind of disappointing the hockey women couldn't finish off with the win, although that would have been really predictable. It's a weird coincidence that last year's finale was all family teams and this year's was all friend teams and the both teams that won had never won a leg before. I like it when the winners have won at least won leg before. 

 

I think the problem with Natalie in the Diefenbunker was she was just rushing too much. If she had been slower and a bit more methodical she would have inspected the room better and maybe she wouldn't have missed the figurines. I totally understand why she would be jittery though and I'm sure Killer Fatigue was setting in.

 

So Ryan wanted to use the prize money to work on his career as a sketch comedian. Um...I know this is an edited show and all, but for a sketch comedian he's really not very funny. I should probably check out his youtube channel before saying that.

 

I thought it was nice how cheerful everyone was on the mat. They all seemed super congratulatory and like there was no bitterness. Unlike some of the U.S. versions.

[Camera One]

I think the problem with Natalie in the Diefenbunker was she was just rushing too much. If she had been slower and a bit more methodical she would have inspected the room better and maybe she wouldn't have missed the figurines. I totally understand why she would be jittery though and I'm sure Killer Fatigue was setting in.

 

I think that is one of her weaknesses sometimes on the race.  She does get jittery and tends to rush through things, causing Meghan to reply with exasperation.

 

 

So Ryan wanted to use the prize money to work on his career as a sketch comedian. Um...I know this is an edited show and all, but for a sketch comedian he's really not very funny. I should probably check out his youtube channel before saying that.

 

I would be more annoyed if he tried to use the interviews to be funny all the time.  I'm not a huge fan of racers mugging for the camera.  He just acted like a normal guy... I actually would have had no idea he was a sketch comedian, so in a sense, it's kind of weird that he's not naturally funny or it doesn't come out spontaneously.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Camera One

[Miss Scarlet]

Oh and about Mickey and Pete pulling their pants off at the finish line? No. Just no. 

[Delwyn]

Oh and about Mickey and Pete pulling their pants off at the finish line? No. Just no. 

I took that as an inside nod to Brian and Greg TAR 7 and the finale of TAR 14. Maybe that was too meta of me.

[Miss Scarlet]

Mickey and Pete's win was pretty heavily foreshadowed in the previous few episodes and beginning of the finale. It didn't really surprise me that much.

[derriere]

I liked that period in American TAR where they stopped casting teams of 2 athletic males. It's just too big of an advantage, especially when the leg includes a series of long runs and physical tasks.

Meghan and Natalie are amazing female specimens and awesome role models for young girls, but we saw on the horse racing track how they stack up physically to Mickey.

I've got nothing against the winners, but I was very dissapointed with the result.

[ozlsn]

 

I didn't realise just how much I wanted Mickey and Pete to win until I yelled "NOT THAT ONE" at the TV when they removed the wrong painting in the final task.

 

I'm the oppposite, that's the point I realised how much I was cheering for Natalie and Meaghan.  Enjoyed the episode, would have preferred a Team Hockey win, but was OK with the final outcome.  Really liked the locations and tasks, well done production.  

 

 

 

Oh and about Mickey and Pete pulling their pants off at the finish line? No. Just no.

I took that as an inside nod to Brian and Greg TAR 7 and the finale of TAR 14. Maybe that was too meta of me.

 

 

Heh, I just took that as them being idiots.  Can remember Brian and Greg, no idea what happened on TAR14 though!

[Brynnjk]

Does anyone have a link to watch the finale for someone who doesn't live in Canada?  I've been able to watch the entire race online on youtube. What a fabulous race.! Great detours and roadblocks.  I really wish the US race was as difficult.  But I haven't been able to find the finale anywhere.

[shok]

http://www.ctv.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada.aspx This is the link to CTV, the network that carried the show in Canada. I don't think it's geo-blocked and you should be able to watch the final episode and the after show reunion. Hope it works for you. :)