S25.E12: All Or Nothing

[In Pog Form]

Six years is definitely long, but 3 months? That's newly dating to me. I myself would never go on TAR with someone I'd only dated 3 months. I guess maybe my perspective is skewered after being married 30 years, but 3 months is nothing.

Right. But isn't that the whole idea of "dating" that you're still getting to know each other? After that, it's a relationship, not dating. I'll be generous and extend that to 6 months or so. But if you still call it "dating" after much longer than that, then I'd say there are some problems.

Maybe that's just me, but I have always thought of dating as the preliminary meeting stages of a relationship, nervously going out to movies or dinner together, before you are fully comfortable with each other. You go out on a date with somebody you don't call your partner or boyfriend/girlfriend yet.

Edited December 20, 2014 by In Pog Form

[Merneith]

Congrats, Amy & Maya! I was rooting for the surfers but in the end I'm happy for the scientists. I have mad respect for Amy gutting it out and for Maya's enthusiasm and energy.

I don't have a problem with Bethany's response to the fireman. Fans don't own celebrities. Meeting fans suddenly can be awkward for celebrities because they don't know what they might be asked to do. And every single time, the fan's "two minutes" ends up being ten or fifteen or more.

[Netfoot]

So yes, there was a little chance for separation, but not much- mostly the time difference of swimming a short distance and then the memory challenge.

 

The episode starts with the Wrestlers in 1st place, but after airport bunching, they fall to 4th and stay there.  Amy & Maya started the episode in 4nd place, but after airport bunching they are away from the airport and into 1st place.  First to complete the broken glass stunt Amy & Maya screw up by not changing, so Adam & Bethany are into 1st with Amy & Maya now 2nd and Jim & Misti 3rd.  The Surfers finish the rescue and depart for the containers in 1st, with Jim & Misti 2nd and Amy & Maya down to 3rd.  (The Dentists and the Candy Scientists reach the containers together because we saw their taxis arriving together, but the Dentists marginally in front.)  3rd place Amy & Maya complete the challenge and depart for the finish in 1st, with Jim & Misti following 2nd and Adam & Bethany 3rd.

 

Amy & Maya:  4th to 1st to 2nd to 3rd to 1st.

Jim & Misti:  3rd to 2nd.

Adam & Bethany:  2nd to 1st to 3rd.

 

So it isn't like there was no opportunity to change placement!

[needschocolate]

Am I right that no one got a penalty this whole season?  Is that the first time it has happened? 

[Lantern7]

In regard to the "previously" segment for the finale . . .  was this the first time since TAR6 that teams have not had their flaws mentioned, a la Kris & Jon? I was expecting the Dentists' mistakes to be mentioned, especially their non-elimination. I wasn't surprised by Adam & Bethany's lack of ineptitude shown, especially since we had Kym and Brooke go on about what a gamer Bethany was. Oh, and I would've shown more of Amy & Maya's massage. A lot more.

 

ETA for needschocolate: Remember, the Survivors and Firefighters had to take a penalty for giving up on the Roadblock along with the Realtors.

[Camera One]

Brooke and even Robbie looked so sour at the finish line with the Scientists ran in.  

 

It is difficult to tell how much longer the Dentists and the Surfers took at the shipyard.  They might have had to go back and check among the containers.  They wanted the usual suspense of who would come running in.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

And the dentists have more schooling than the scientists ( dental school is 4 years after college) so any memory challenge should benefit them just as much, if not more!

Programs vary slightly but most PhD programs in science are 5-7 years long so depending on where Maya and Amy are in their grad program they could have more schooling than the dentists.

Maya just has diarrhea of the mouth. At the end of the race she said something like, she hopes that this shows the world that scientists aren't just people in labs with goggles. Who knew that scientists had such prejudices to fight?

She never said that people are prejudiced against scientists, just that she hopes people see that scientists are not just people who wear googles, which I can understand. I work in a science lab and people automatically assume that I wear a white coat and have beakers in my lab. It's just mild stereotyping but it undeniably exists. When I was interviewed for a book, the publishers were disappointed that I don't wear a lab coat because they had already planned to use that description in the interview. Then they were disappointed that the photo I provided did not have me wearing a lab coat, so much so that they asked if I could get a lab coat and have a new picture taken. The same thing happened when the BBC came to my previous lab to film a segment. We only had one lab coat that no one ever wore which we kept hung on the back of a door. The BBC producers asked if we could have a person demonstrate something while wearing a lab coat. They were disappointed that the one we had was dark blue instead of the stereotypical white. Apparently you don't look science-y enough unless you are in a white lab coat!

[Molly by golly]

Right. But isn't that the whole idea of "dating" that you're still getting to know each other? After that, it's a relationship, not dating. I'll be generous and extend that to 6 months or so. But if you still call it "dating" after much longer than that, then I'd say there are some problems.Maybe that's just me, but I have always thought of dating as the preliminary meeting stages of a relationship, nervously going out to movies or dinner together, before you are fully comfortable with each other. You go out on a date with somebody you don't call your partner or boyfriend/girlfriend yet.

I see it differently but it's just a general term. I've had people ask me throughout my life how long I dated my husband before marriage and I always say two years even though we lived together. I've asked the same of others when we're chatting about our lives. He was my boyfriend, but we were dating.

I guess I'm not looking at the word "dating" in a literal sense.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Molly by golly

[TheOriginalDonald]

Season 26 Episode 1-The Amazing Race Is Like A Box Of Chocolates (you know you want to, Jess ;)

[Lingo]

How the hell does a couple that has been together for six years qualify as "dating"? If you've been seeing each other for more than three months or so, then I think you are no longer in the "dating" category.

 

Then what would you call it? A definition of "3 months or less" would eliminate almost every dating couple that has ever appeared on the show, which calls any couple that isn't yet married or engaged "dating".

 

The most extreme example: S4, Millie and Chuck, dating 11 years!

[jjj]

Aside form the laptop, we have also seen Racers using actual computers in hotel lobbies, airports, and travel agencies, when they could get permission to use the machines.  I don't see a laptop being any different than those. 

[Fukui San]

The most extreme example: S4, Millie and Chuck, dating 11 years!

You HAVE to complete that properly. "Millie and Chuck, Dating 11 Years, Virgins"

I wanted them on All Stars if only to see them update their tag line.

[Lingo]

Count me in as among those those do consider it somewhat unfair that Amy and Maya received no penalty for coming in last on the previous leg--which I DO consider a separate leg, despite the show's semantics.  And you know why I consider it a separate leg? Not just due to the mat and to Phil's appearance, but more importantly to the big bunching point that was the airport immediately after that.  This is why I don't like the TBC legs in Race: fine in theory, but if you're just gonna put a bunching point at the beginning of the next episode -- and they seem to do so more often than not -- then call a spade a spade.  It's two legs, not one.

 

Look, there's different definitions of fairness -- or to put it a different way, which I think is more accurate, different levels of fairness.  There is first the level which says that the rules (of the game, of law, whatever) should be applied the same to everyone, no matter who they are or what intrinsic traits they have.  By that definition, then sure, what happened was fair: the same thing would have happened if it were some other team who came in last in episode 11.  But then there's the idea of fairness that says that people should be rewarded in proportion to their ability/efforts--or at least to have a chance at being rewarded like that.  In that sense, it did not feel fair to the other teams that all their work over the last 2 legs amounted to exactly nothing.  Every previous team to come in last had to do a Speed Bump, so that's different. I wouldn't be complaining if they'd done a Speed Bump, or if there was even a ghost of a chance that the scientists would not catch the same flight -- but there's no way the producers were gonna allow that to happen.

 

And I agree with the previous poster who said that the race is rarely fair; there's a lot of luck involved, for one thing.  But in this particular case, it seems that it's unfair by design.  And at such a critical point in the race, emotions are running high.  In such a situation I understand the frustrations of the other teams.

 

This doesn't really damage my feelings about this season, or the winners -- I'm thrilled that Amy and Maya won.  I just hope that the producers can be more careful to avoid such situations in the future.

P.S. Was anyone else disappointed that the mysterious Manila envelopes turned out to be nothing but a prop?

[green]

I can understand it with the cellphones in taxis, but Brooke(?) using a laptop at the airport as if it was her own was the real WTF moment for me. The owner of the laptop didn't even seem to be anywhere in the vicinity. I wonder what she was using it for?

 

 

They don't always show the mechanics of teams "asking" for laptops, cell phones or computer use at a hotel.  They only did that back in the first two or three seasons when people viewing didn't know the TAR rules.  Why spend screen time on the obvious and take it away from more interesting stuff? 

 

But now everyone knows they can't bring stuff like that with them.  Everyone knows they ask to use these things.  They rarely show them asking anymore unless there is some storyline to it or something funny happens when they ask or to demonstrate just how stupid people are with not knowing easy world capitals in the Danish leg.  Otherwise why show it a hundred times again and again. 

 

Brooke obviously borrowed someone's laptop at the airport.  Then I assume she promptly researched LA and memorize all the maps of the city, snort.

Edited December 21, 2014 by green

[HappyDancex2]

Just watched it and all I can say is Dear Editors of TAR, please don't show the racers talking heads after the race spliced into the actual race.  If you want the "what were they thinking" narrative then please use them as voiceovers.  It was pretty easy to tell from the editing who had won just by the facial expressions.  And then the obvious editing of the wrestlers being asses in the airport and the teeth kind of being snarky pile ons....I was actually hoping that was a misdirect but it turned out to be more than true.

[bafleyanne]

And I agree with the previous poster who said that the race is rarely fair; there's a lot of luck involved, for one thing. But in this particular case, it seems that it's unfair by design. And at such a critical point in the race, emotions are running high. In such a situation I understand the frustrations of the other teams.

Well, I don't know if I agree. I certainly understand Robbie and Brooke being frustrated to see the Scientists when they thought they were out, but by the same token, Amy and Maya had absolutely nothing to do with the Wrestlers getting eliminated. Whether it was "fair" for the Scientists to still be in it or not, all 4 teams got a fresh start on that flight to LAX and it was Brooke and Robbie's poor navigational skills that caused them to get to the stunt task last. The result would have been exactly the same if Amy and Maya had gotten eliminated on the previous leg except the Wrestlers would have placed third instead of fourth. :p

Edited December 21, 2014 by bafleyanne

[Camera One]

It was pretty easy to tell from the editing who had won just by the facial expressions.

 

I actually thought the surfers won from their voiceover, since they were so animated when they recounted how they pulled ahead into first place at the Coast Guard.

 

Amy and Maya had absolutely nothing to do with the Wrestlers getting eliminated. Whether it was "fair" for the Scientists to still be in it or not, all 4 teams got a fresh start on that flight to LAX and it was Brooke and Robbie's poor navigational skills that caused them to get to the stunt task last. The result would have been exactly the same if Amy and Maya had gotten eliminated on the previous leg except the Wrestlers would have placed third instead of fourth.

 

The Wrestlers seriously thought they had a chance of catching up since they "rock" at tasks.  They would probably have been third, but they still had a *chance* of more, but Amy and Maya's presence prevented them from finding out.  

 

I'd like to think it's a bit of karmic payback for trying to screw the Scientists over during the Statue search.

[Irlandesa]

It'll never happen, but I'd love to see an Amazing Race that was, well, a true race, and not "A series of episodes that effectively negate everything that happened to this point in the season, excepting for one team that is left behind, sometimes".  I get that on other competitive reality shows, you have the typical weekly evictee/bootee/eliminated person/team, but a race is a freaking RACE.  They don't stop all the cars every 10 laps at the Indy 500 and say "Okay fellas, back the starting line- except you, Bob, you're out because you got to the checkpoint last". 

 

In my ideal world- and yes, I know it won't happen for any number of reasons- the Amazing Race would be "Here's your first clue, see you in a month", involve more puzzling/da Vinci code style riddles, yet still have periodic "Last team to arrive" checkpoint eliminations scattered throughout. 

 

That's why I miss Mark Burnett's Eco-Challenge (or at least I think that's the race).  They didn't visit multiple countries.  Instead, It was a multiple day/24 hours a day outdoor race that involved hiking, walking, running, kayaking, climbing, horseback riding...etc.  The teams were co-ed.   The show mined drama not only out of the race but out of whether or not a team would even finish.  The race was so grueling that it was a victory for many just to finish. 

 

He did try something called Expedition Impossible which was a blend of TAR and Eco-Challenge but it wasn't a hit.  And I don't remember it being that good either.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Irlandesa

[aradia22]

I thought it was a good finale. Maybe not the most exciting one but it was tense and I was into it. First of all, it was sweet, sweet justice to see the Wrestlers eliminated halfway through. Though Brooke blamed the scientists, it was her own fault and that just made it so much better. Amy and Maya killed me not reading the clue and taking their gear off after the challenge. But they rebounded and through all the tasks they showed they were a force to be reckoned with when you're not piling a bunch of physical challenges on them. I loved the way Amy got through that memory task flawlessly. I FREAKED OUT when Amy and Maya won. Phil catching Maya when she basically launched herself at him was adorable. I'm so happy, guys! I'm so happy! I never dreamed we'd get here but it's amazing that we did. I haven't felt this good about a finale in ages.

[In Pog Form]

Then what would you call it?

A couple? In a relationship? Committing wild acts of sodomy?

 

The most extreme example: S4, Millie and Chuck, dating 11 years!

Eeeewwww!!

Edited December 21, 2014 by In Pog Form

[bafleyanne]

I FREAKED OUT when Amy and Maya won. Phil catching Maya when she basically launched herself at him was adorable. I'm so happy, guys! I'm so happy! I never dreamed we'd get here but it's amazing that we did. I haven't felt this good about a finale in ages.

Yes, oh my gosh! I squealed so loud when she jumped on Phil I'm surprised my daughter didn't wake up.

[In Pog Form]

Aside form the laptop, we have also seen Racers using actual computers in hotel lobbies, airports, and travel agencies, when they could get permission to use the machines.  I don't see a laptop being any different than those.

Perhaps not technically - but in those situations, it's always being used for a very specific purpose, for a limited time. It was weird seeing Brooke just sitting there, using a laptop. What was she doing, just browsing the web? Checking Facebook?

It just seemed really strange and out of context to me.

You HAVE to complete that properly. "Millie and Chuck, Dating 11 Years, Virgins"

EEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

[Netfoot]

But then there's the idea of fairness that says that people should be rewarded in proportion to their ability/efforts--or at least to have a chance at being rewarded like that.  In that sense, it did not feel fair to the other teams that all their work over the last 2 legs amounted to exactly nothing.  Every previous team to come in last had to do a Speed Bump, so that's different. I wouldn't be complaining if they'd done a Speed Bump, or if there was even a ghost of a chance that the scientists would not catch the same flight -- but there's no way the producers were gonna allow that to happen.

 

From my perspective, I usually think of a leg as an episode, but for the racers, that isn't so.  For them, a leg begins when they leave the pit-start and ends when their 12-hour break from the race begins at the next pit-stop.  Some legs are short, some are long, with 24-hour train rides or bus journeys.  HOO bunching and travel bunching is common.  So, when a team leaves the pit-start and races non-stop for 18 hours or four days, with bunching or without, but without stopping at a pit-stop, that is a leg as far as they are concerned. 

 

Now, what would be unfair, is if the rules that apply varied depending upon whether TPTB intended to edit that leg one way, or another.  What would be unfair is if you were assessed for a penalty Speed Bump because TPTB have decided that this leg will be aired as two episodes instead of one.  It's clear (to me, if nobody else) that no penalty is called for at the end of a TBC "leg" because the leg isn't actually over.  What TPTB decide to do with editing and scheduling should not affect the rules that apply to the racers.

 

Having said this, I am one of those who also think that no penalty should be assessed at the end of a genuine NEL!  The last team has done nothing wrong.  There is nothing wrong with coming last on a leg for which elimination is not scheduled!  So all the mugging, marking and speed-bumping is completely uncalled for.  It's like getting a fine for driving fast on a road where there is no speed limit, just because other roads have speed limits.  The fact that the fine is smaller doesn't alter the fact -- either there's a speed limit and a fine is due, or there isn't and no fine is due.

[KnitsWithRaceCars]

.

I saw a clip on YouTube in the car where the Surfers talked about how they were used to driving in LA and Adam commented he had been to city hall a while ago. They had taken a better route than the others ( according to them.). I don't have any conspiracy theory here . This just makes me appreciate what Amy and Maya did to win more, overcoming 2 distinct advantages the surfers had in this leg ( swimming and familiarity with driving in LA!!!)

And the dentists have more schooling than the scientists ( dental school is 4 years after college) so any memory challenge should benefit them just as much, if not more!

 

The Scientists are graduate students pursuing their PhDs.  A PhD degree is a minimum of 4 years, and often requires longer than that. Therefore, if the dentists have more schooling, the only reason is because they started theirs before the scientists and have completed their degrees.  Although now that I think about it, Jim most likely has more education than Misti and potentially more than the scientists will because he's an orthodontist.  Orthodontics is a specialty that requires education past the DDS degree.

 

 

Robbie for being too late to even do the stunt roadblock -- When Phil said filming was finished for the day, my thoughts were that it takes a long time to clean up the film site. I think stunt workers and film crews are union, as well. 

 

I didn't think Bethany was rude to the fireman. To me, it felt badly edited, and I wouldn't be surprised if she went back later. Also, I think she's famous for more than being a surfer. I remember when the shark attack was on the news, and I think the Soul Surfer film did well with teens.

 

Stunt People and film crews are union.  I think that Phil was just playing into the "Hollywood" theme and being cliche.  He also told Brooke and Robbie that they had missed their call time.

 

I really thought it was Phil who did the stunt jump that the wrestlers watched.  When they re-aired it after the commercials, I looked really hard to see if there was some way he could've done it.  The person who did the jump rolled off the mat on the side where Phil walked out from, so it's possible that it was him and changed clothes, but they edited it to look like he walked out right after the jump.

 

I also didn't think Bethany was rude to the fireman.  I thought she said "sorry" when she explained that she was in a race, but maybe not.  Even if she didn't apologize, at least she explained that she was in a race and had to hurry.  She didn't just ignore being recognized or say anything rude, unlike how a lot of celebs behave.

 

qualify as "dating"? If you've been seeing each other for more than three months or so, then I think you are no longer in the "dating" category.

 

To me, that's like saying that if you're married for more than 3 months or so then you're no longer in the "married" category.  It's the name of a whole stage to me.  Dating, engaged, married.  The term "dating" comes from going out on dates, although engaged and married couples still go out on dates.

 

I am so happy that Amy and Maya won!!  I cheered when they got out of the taxi at the finish line and laughed at Maya jumping on Phil.  Now Madtown is 2 for 2 on TAR, and I believe that WI is 2 for 3.  The 3rd team (the Grandfather/Grandson team--I can't remember which season) went pretty far as well.

[Lingo]

Well, I don't know if I agree. I certainly understand Robbie and Brooke being frustrated to see the Scientists when they thought they were out, but by the same token, Amy and Maya had absolutely nothing to do with the Wrestlers getting eliminated. Whether it was "fair" for the Scientists to still be in it or not, all 4 teams got a fresh start on that flight to LAX and it was Brooke and Robbie's poor navigational skills that caused them to get to the stunt task last. The result would have been exactly the same if Amy and Maya had gotten eliminated on the previous leg except the Wrestlers would have placed third instead of fourth. :p

 

I...agree with everything you say, and I don't think anything I said contradicts that...?  When I was talking about their frustrations, I meant at the airport.  Certainly the wrestlers have no one to blame but themselves for their poor navigation.

 

From my perspective, I usually think of a leg as an episode, but for the racers, that isn't so.  For them, a leg begins when they leave the pit-start and ends when their 12-hour break from the race begins at the next pit-stop.  Some legs are short, some are long, with 24-hour train rides or bus journeys.  HOO bunching and travel bunching is common.  So, when a team leaves the pit-start and races non-stop for 18 hours or four days, with bunching or without, but without stopping at a pit-stop, that is a leg as far as they are concerned. 

 

I think the Wrestlers at least would disagree with you.

 

Having said this, I am one of those who also think that no penalty should be assessed at the end of a genuine NEL!  The last team has done nothing wrong.  There is nothing wrong with coming last on a leg for which elimination is not scheduled!  So all the mugging, marking and speed-bumping is completely uncalled for.  It's like getting a fine for driving fast on a road where there is no speed limit, just because other roads have speed limits.  The fact that the fine is smaller doesn't alter the fact -- either there's a speed limit and a fine is due, or there isn't and no fine is due.

 

Well I don't agree with all of that, but having no penalties for any last-place finish would be fairer than having penalties for only some last-place finishes.  But then again the reason they started adding penalties was because it didn't seem fair that some legs were eliminations and others not to begin with.  I was fine with it as long as the last-place team began the next leg in last place and had to deal with the consequences of that (e.g. having the chance of missing the next flight).

[etagloh]

Sooooo, leg mechanics. It was a TBC with a very obviously spoonfed flight, which makes it, frankly, a NEL without a speed bump.

 

But, self-drive in a final leg, in LA? That's a new one, a decent call by TPTB, and the fact that they switched to taxis after the stunt RB shows that this was essentially a two-part leg, where the elimination challenge was getting from the 110 to the 10 to the 20 to the whatever before everyone else in their Ford Promotion. (Yeah, SNL's Californians in full effect.) 

 

It was unsatisfying, honestly. But final legs are almost always unsatisfying. This one, I think, was more unsatisfying because the memory challenge was gruelling on the participants but not especially televisual. (TAR2Can was better in that regard.) I can well believe that it took four or five hours, but that was compressed to minutes. I'm not unhappy that the scientists won, but that final challenge was pretty meh, because like most TAR final challenges, it was shoved in a corner of the city out of the way because spoilers.

 

Also, the RB threshold seemed meaningless this time round.

 

Amazing Blind Date, oh dear god no.

Edited December 21, 2014 by etagloh

[Packerbrewerbadger]

The Scientists are graduate students pursuing their PhDs.  A PhD degree is a minimum of 4 years, and often requires longer than that. Therefore, if the dentists have more schooling, the only reason is because they started theirs before the scientists and have completed their degrees.  Although now that I think about it, Jim most likely has more education than Misti and potentially more than the scientists will because he's an orthodontist.  Orthodontics is a specialty that requires education past the DDS degree.

 

 

 

Amy has 3 years left, Maya has one. Orthodontics is 2 to 3 years after the 4 years of Dental School. The point I was making was that the memory test was up the dentists' alley as much as the scientists. ( my husband and son are dentists and my daughter in law is a pediatric dentist, lots of memory work involved .)

[KnitsWithRaceCars]

The Scientists are graduate students pursuing their PhDs.  A PhD degree is a minimum of 4 years, and often requires longer than that. Therefore, if the dentists have more schooling, the only reason is because they started theirs before the scientists and have completed their degrees.  Although now that I think about it, Jim most likely has more education than Misti and potentially more than the scientists will because he's an orthodontist.  Orthodontics is a specialty that requires education past the DDS degree.

 

 

 

Amy has 3 years left, Maya has one. Orthodontics is 2 to 3 years after the 4 years of Dental School. The point I was making was that the memory test was up the dentists' alley as much as the scientists. ( my husband and son are dentists and my daughter in law is a pediatric dentist, lots of memory work involved .)

 

OK.  I agree that the memory task should've been right up the dentists' alley.  I got hung up on your 4 years comment.  Misti very much struggled with the sandwich memorization roadblock early in the race, so apparently rote memorization isn't her thing, at least not when she's under pressure to do it in as little time as possible.  It seems as though, just like the Surfers, they made a mistake in not anticipating the final task being a memory one.  Misti should've done the stunt jump so that Jim could do the memory task.

[Camera One]

This one, I think, was more unsatisfying because the memory challenge was gruelling on the participants but not especially televisual.

 

I find it more satisfying when the challenge is difficult even if it's not particularly exciting to watch.  The shipping containers one really shows the ability of the racers to stay alert mentally under pressure.

 

They probably expected the memory task to be done together as a team, as per previous seasons.  I wanted to see how Amy would have stacked against Jim and Adam.

[merylinkid]

I'll take the shipping challenge over last season.   Drive to helicopter place.   Jump out of chopper.    First one to the choppers wins because they can't pass each other flying.

[green]

Just watched it and all I can say is Dear Editors of TAR, please don't show the racers talking heads after the race spliced into the actual race.  If you want the "what were they thinking" narrative then please use them as voiceovers.  It was pretty easy to tell from the editing who had won just by the facial expressions.  And then the obvious editing of the wrestlers being asses in the airport and the teeth kind of being snarky pile ons....I was actually hoping that was a misdirect but it turned out to be more than true.

 

I always watch editing closely but had no idea who won viewing them.  Maya is always ecstatically over the moon, Bethany is always rainbows and unicorns, the Dentists are always flashing glaring white teeth at the camera.  Even the Wrestlers didn't seem at all down to me because Brooke is always "I'll kill you all" even when happy.  So I have to disagree.  I thought they were good interview segments that hid the winners well.

Edited December 21, 2014 by green

[Turtle]

I think Brooke and Robbie, or any of the racers, should not have been that surprised to see Amy and Maya.  They know there wasn't a pit stop, they know first place didn't win a prize.  And I may be wrong, but I thought Phil told them all that 4 teams would continue racing.  Even if he didn't, knowledge of the race should have clued them in that this was mid-leg, not end-of-leg.  

 

And I maintain that there is no fair or unfair, because production of AR seems to make rules and then to stick to them (unlike, say, oh I don't know...Survivor).  And I'm sure the racers' contracts include language indicating that their race may not be exactly like previous racers'.  So to me, the race is fair, in that the first person to the mat on the final leg wins.  That's the goal throughout the entire race: get to the final leg, and then win it.  In the end, that is all that matters.  Winning more legs than anyone else doesn't matter; winning legs by a large distance doesn't matter; who did and did not get "saved" by either an NEL or an actual Save doesn't matter.  I don't think Adam and Bethany were ever saved, but all three other teams were, so them bitching about it is pretty hypocritical in my book.  If the dentists or wrestlers had been eliminated when they came in last, they would not be in the final 3, so it's crazy to me that they would get pissed off that Amy and Maya were still around due to yet another rule/ construct of the race.  I get that they might have been surprised, and under a lot of pressure, and exhausted, and so I'm willing to write some of the pettiness off, but Brooke was just bitter and hateful.  

[bafleyanne]

 

Well I don't agree with all of that, but having no penalties for any last-place finish would be fairer than having penalties for only some last-place finishes.  But then again the reason they started adding penalties was because it didn't seem fair that some legs were eliminations and others not to begin with.  I was fine with it as long as the last-place team began the next leg in last place and had to deal with the consequences of that (e.g. having the chance of missing the next flight).

I actually like the speed bump penalty better than the "lose all your money and stuff" penalty they were doing before, because that seemed needlessly harsh to me. I wish all the speed bump tasks were equally difficult/time consuming. We've seen some that seemed super easy and some actually quite difficult (that task the wrestlers had didn't seem easy to me!).

I agree that back to back NEL and TBC legs would be frustrating as a racer. But then, that last NEL saved Brooke and Robbie's butts. So I'm pretty sure they felt that one was plenty "fair", heh.

[Mumbles]

The dentists may have had four years of post-college education, but they had to ask a stranger the capitals of the Scandinavian countries, which I thought was a no-brainer. They may be the kinds of people who grind their way through whatever task they need to accomplish, and learn what they have to learn - but not much else.

 

They must have shat themselves when they realized Misti had to do it. It took her forever to memorize the sandwiches in Copenhagen.

[Chyna]

I agree that back to back NEL and TBC legs would be frustrating as a racer. But then, that last NEL saved Brooke and Robbie's butts. So I'm pretty sure they felt that one was plenty "fair", heh.

 

 

Brooke/Robbie and Jim/Misti both were in the last leg only because they were saved by earlier NELs. So for either of those teams to get their panties in a bunch about Amy/Maya's NEL/TBC is rather disingenuous. Not that I would expect Brooke or Jim to have even the tiniest bit of self-awareness...

[aradia22]

 

They must have shat themselves when they realized Misti had to do it. It took her forever to memorize the sandwiches in Copenhagen.

I thought Misti was fine at the memory task. Wasn't her problem not reading the clue and remembering to say the numbers or something?

[lianau]

 

The most extreme example: S4, Millie and Chuck, dating 11 years!

Did they ever get to the devirgining part ?

[ShadowSixx]

I'm a little stunned that the Scientists won but it was well deserved. They were underdogs in every sense of the word and came out on top and won. I'm not mad at that at all. They deserved it.

 

I cackled like a demented witch when Brooke got eliminated. That will forever be a highlight and I wonder how the Wrestlers feel now losing to teams they talked negatively about before the final episode and karma came back to bite them and couldn't happen to a more deserving team.

 

This was a really good season and so refreshing from the tragedy that was last season. 

Edited December 21, 2014 by ShadowSixx

[AndreaK1041]

As a woman and a scientist and a native Wisconsite, I kind of lost it when Amy & Maya won. Completely unexpectedly burst into tears. That was so lovely.

I wonder if the horrible wrestlers took some solice in knowing they could never, ever have finished that last challenge. Brooke is a whining baby and she would have had a frustration meltdown. So glad they were eliminated.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I wonder if the horrible wrestlers took some solice in knowing they could never, ever have finished that last challenge.

Despite the fact that she admitted earlier in the episode that she and Robbie weren't good at challenges that require them to use their brains, she is also totally delusional so my guess is that she is still seething over the fact that Maya and Amy weren't eliminated because in her mind, that is what caused her and Robbie to lose (not the fact that if they had been in the final three, they never would have finished that last challenge).

[etagloh]

I don't understand why the producers after 25 seasons decided to send four teams on to the finals.  It didn't seem like any of the teams really were racing with a sense of urgency in terms of knowing they could be eliminated at any time.  Not that we saw at least.

 

It's not easy to convey urgency in self-driving bits -- well, I suppose if any of them had gone 100mph along the shoulder or been dodging vehicles like a chase sequence in an action movie, that might do it, but "obey all local driving laws" applies, and perhaps a few more additional instructions to make sure they didn't drive like crazy people.

 

I think Netfoot smartly compares the entire Manila-LAX sequence to older two-hour finales, though you could also think of it as three legs split differently: a standard NEL; a very long leg with a travel bunch towards the end that "ended" in an unusual way at the stunt task; and a short leg from there to the final mat. 

 

Why four teams to the finish? Perhaps that was indeed how they intended to mop up the Save, though having leg 10 as an optional NEL makes more sense for that job, even in hindsight. Perhaps they needed to fill one more Ford spot and liked the idea of having a small segment of self-drive right at the start of the final leg.

[Noreaster]

Ehh, it doesn't feel right for Amy & Maya to win. I don't care about semantics. Weak team finishes last in the penultimate leg?  Plus there's no penalty? I don't like it. Tack on a mid-leg elimination this leg?  Pfff.  Yeah, I understand Brooke's & Robbie's frustration. I thought Jim was nice to comfort them. Low-hanging fruit and kick to the shin are not meant to be taken seriously.

 

What a bummer to end the season this way.  

[bafleyanne]

Ehh, it doesn't feel right for Amy & Maya to win. I don't care about semantics. Weak team finishes last in the penultimate leg?  Plus there's no penalty? I don't like it. Tack on a mid-leg elimination this leg?  Pfff.  Yeah, I understand Brooke's & Robbie's frustration. I thought Jim was nice to comfort them. Low-hanging fruit and kick to the shin are not meant to be taken seriously.

 

What a bummer to end the season this way.

I don't think Jim was kidding about them being "low hanging fruit" at all. That's exactly how he saw them, as a team that would be easy to beat. Now do I think he was literally going to kick them in the shins, of course not. But yeah, he and the Wrestlers both totally underestimated the Scientists.

I understand their frustration too, but I think the Scientists were way better racers than the Wrestlers overall.

[Noreaster]

It's meant to be a confidence builder. I don't think anyone was really underestimating any team, especially when there's only one leg left. A million things could happen. That's why it was such a bummer to see Amy & Maya still in the game. I don't see knocking Jim for trying to be positive and, in this situation, trying to improve Brooke's spirits. 

 

ETA: If I remember correctly, Jim also used the words "silver lining".  Suggesting he didn't really think it but was trying to spin the situation in a positive way.  

Edited December 21, 2014 by Noreaster

[cooksdelight]

Ehh, it doesn't feel right for Amy & Maya to win. I don't care about semantics. Weak team finishes last in the penultimate leg? Plus there's no penalty?

As has been noted several times, it was not the end of a leg. It was continued, they kept racing. No prize for finishing first, no speed bump for coming in last.

[Noreaster]

I know, semantics.  Maybe I should rephrase?  It doesn't feel right to me when the second-to-last episode...  

 

Concept is still the same.  I don't like it.  

[cooksdelight]

I don't like when they do it at any point in the race. But, it's their show. It's like when I watch Hell's Kitchen and it's a "to be continued"... I feel like I'm being strapped into my chair and forced to watch another show in order to get to the ending.

[etagloh]

As has been noted several times, it was not the end of a leg. It was continued, they kept racing. No prize for finishing first, no speed bump for coming in last.

 

And as has also been noted, there's never been a TBC leg with a spoonfed long-haul flight. It was a TBC to the extent that there was no leg prize and no speed bump, but it was a NEL to the extent that there was a big ol' sitting-in-the-airport bunch before that Delta-promotional-consideration flight, which functioned as Pit Stop downtime even though teams were technically "still racing". Many of the things associated with past uberlegs -- particularly, teams being able to carry an advantage forward -- didn't apply.

[cooksdelight]

Donny Ketchum might know if there were previous legs like this in the race.

[peachmangosteen]

I have a hard time caring about the 'fairness' of this whole thing to Jim/Misti and Brooke/Robbie since they were saved by a NEL themselves. Now, Adam/Bethany, I could understand their frustration maybe, but even though they did express some, they didn't seem to really care too much and I don't believe they were there while Jim was yapping about 'low hanging fruit' and Brooke was being a hateful asshole. 

 

This was no less fair than any other NEL/TBC.

Edited December 21, 2014 by peachmangosteen