S25.E12: All Or Nothing

[hincandenza]

I kinda feel a little for Brooke, she was a bitter pill at times... okay, a lot of times... but she wasn't totally wrong that the two NEL before the finale seems a little unfair. To steal a page from Clerks, "The scientists weren't even supposed to BE here today!"

On the other hand, any team that can turn "drive to downtown city hall in LA" into a needle-in-a-haystack challenge probably should count themselves lucky to have even been in the finale in the first place. Still, I found them entertaining and often funny, so I didn't mind them.

I thought Phil was unnecessarily harsh when he chided Robbie for being too late to even do the stunt roadblock, because teams usually get to finish a leg (especially the finale), and that did look like fun. I don't recall previous mid-finale eliminations, so is this the first time a finale team didn't get to finish the race (except that one team that was a day behind)?

It was obvious they were eliminated early on, especially when Maya and Amy got their next clue, and you could clearly see only 3 boats waiting. Damn, if the wrestlers hadn't gotten lost and they got there around the same time, how brutal would the stunts and race to the boats have been- I guess that's why the elimination point was there, because people would potentially have hurt themselves trying to race in the water with all 4 teams if they knew elimination faced the last team to return... plus, Maya's mistake about not changing would have eliminated them.

It was in the middle of that shipping yard challenge that I surprisingly realized I most wanted Bethany & Adam to win, and if not them then the dentists. So naturally we instead get the scientists as yet another edition of the undeserving winners that got lucky at the one right time. It was kind of a poorly designed leg; other than the wrestlers getting lost, there wasn't really much chance to build any lead or separation except that final search- and even that seemed to have them get their numbers at nearly the same time- so of course Amy is the only one that got her order right the first time (I think the other two had the right numbers but a couple of swaps). Eh, at least Amy & Maya weren't lousy people.

Can't say I'm thrilled at the blind date racers gimmick next season, since usually it's the "newly dating" mactors and their constant "c'mon babe" commentary that I hate watching.

[RococoChanel]

Bethany's breasts are huge.  When they were running away after the stunt task, you could see those melons bouncing up and down.  It looks painful.  She needs a better sports bra.  In twenty years those things are going to be down to her waist.

 

YES. I've been saying this since episode one. Someone needs to take her aside and be like, "psst, your boobs are flapping in the air when you run. It probably hurts. Try this _______ sportsbra." And did anyone else kinda cringe when she was a kind of cold to the firefighter? I don't think it was a "cute" moment at all. He recognized her, said his daughter was a big fan and she couldn't even say thanks? Just back away and, "hey, we're on, like, a race thing"? Umm, okay. That was rude. You can still run away and be on a race, but at least say "Thanks! Tell her I say hi! I'm on a race, gotta go!"

 

I am so happy the scientists won! Squee! Maya is my kindred spirit. I would be just as excited to be on the race, if not more. Yay!

 

Also, count me in as someone else who liked Robbie. He was hilarious and he was in on the heel thing, whereas I think Brooke is actually that sour in real life.

Edited December 20, 2014 by RococoChanel

[PaperTree]

I missed the show (holiday company) but very happy to read that the scientists won and Brooke was a total bitch.  I hope all her wrestling buddies never let her forget she got beat by nerds.  Ha ha ha !

 

Stupid seems to win too often these days.

[Tdoc72]

For the last few episodes I've been rooting for anyone but the wrestlers.  Congrats, Amy & Maya!

 

re:next season--I think the dating element could be an interesting dynamic.  I hope to see more fighting/personal conflicts.  The last few TAR cycles have been kind of boring on that front.  Also, Jonathon Knight from New Kids On The Block is one of the dating couples w/his BF on 6 yrs.  http://www.people.com/article/jonathan-knight-amazing-race-nkotb

 

Off topic, but is CBS obsessed New Kids On The Block?  Donny is on Blue Bloods, Joey is on The Mccarthys & now Jon on TAR. 

[NurseGiGi]

I liked all three teams in the finale and would have been fine with any of them winning.  They all had great attitudes and genuinely seemed to appreciate and enjoy being there and visiting all of those countries.  And no "ugly American" in the bunch.  Congratulations to Amy and Maya!  

 

The only complaint I have is that the finale seemed kind of dull.  As much as I didn't like the ER doctors in their season I did enjoy the challenges in their finale.

 

All in all I really enjoyed this season.  I like seeing capable people race without feeling the need to belittle and gang up on others.  Which is why I'm not looking forward to next season since it looks to be very gimmicky and planned for maximum drama.  Just give me good racing any day.  If I wanted to watch trashy trainwrecks then I would.  Hopefully, though, this won't be the case and I'll be proven wrong.

[bafleyanne]

I am so happy the scientists won. I have hated the wrestlers for weeks and after the nasty way Brooke acted at the airport I was pleased as punch to see karma kick them in the face and them get eliminated. If you want to talk about fair, their NEL save was just as "fair" as this was.

I thought the scientists really did play a good game. They kept a positive attitude and didn't snipe at each other much, and Maya was so darn bubbly and enthusiastic. She's like I imagine I would be if I ever got to play this game, just so happy to be on the show and so happy to do every task. I loved them. Then again I have a soft spot for the Beakman Boys too. ;)

[Netfoot]

I do think it's kind of lame to have two NELs in a row and then the final leg.  Made them seem sort of pointless, you know?  And Amy and Maya received no penalty whatsoever for finishing last on the previous leg, no speed bump and not even a later start than the other teams.

 

They didn't have two NELs in a row.  And the Candy Scientists didn't finish last on the previous leg.

 

The previous leg saw the Candy Scientists finish second out of four, losing a footrace to the mat against the Dentists.  The Wrestlers finish last to be saved by a NEL. 

 

The final leg began in Manila, with the Candy Scientists leaving the pitstart second and the Wrestlers (the NEL team) leaving last.  Brooke & Robbie faced a speedbump wherein they had to transfer all the goods from a vendor's broken bike to a new one.  The leg continued with basket ball, bike racing and delivering of coconut brooms, etc.  Amy suffered from the heat about midway in the leg, but Phil gave the Candy Scientists a clue and they raced on to Los Angeles, where the teams jumped through broken glass, rescued Oscar from the ocean waves, and overcame a memory challenge in a container yard, before racing to the finish.  The Wrestlers were eliminated mid-leg, and the Candy Scientists took the prize.

 

Now, that last leg might have looked like two legs to you and me, because it was broadcast as two episodes but from the racers perspective it was one leg.

 

The losers of the previous leg (the Wrestlers) had their speedbump, but were equalized at the airport.  They went on to be eliminated mid-leg due to no fault but their own.  The second placed team (out of four) dug deep to find some uncharacteristic navigational skills right when they needed to, and didn't slide back.  At the final task  all remaining reams were pretty even, but Amy got her sequence correct first try and that put them in first place for the win!

 

So the dentists who finished first in the previous leg (in the rice paddy) got edged out by the Candy Scientists who were second (by seconds only) after ox-ploughing.  The Surfers, third at the previous pitstop with the oxen, remained in third place.  And the Wrestlers, fourth at the end of the previous leg, didn't make the finish thanks to the mid-leg elimination.

 

The moral of the story is that an UberLeg is not a NEL. 

 

With regards the mid-leg elimination:  In practice, couldn't have happened to a more deserving team, but in principle I'm not in favour, and hope they don't do this again.

[peachmangosteen]

I kinda feel a little for Brooke, she was a bitter pill at times... okay, a lot of times... but she wasn't totally wrong that the two NEL before the finale seems a little unfair. To steal a page from Clerks, "The scientists weren't even supposed to BE here today!"

 

Brooke can shut her pie hole because she wouldn't even have been in the penultimate leg if it weren't for an NEL. And anyway, as has already been said, the last leg wasn't a NEL it was a TBC.

 

And did anyone else kinda cringe when she was a kind of cold to the firefighter? I don't think it was a "cute" moment at all. He recognized her, said his daughter was a big fan and she couldn't even say thanks? Just back away and, "hey, we're on, like, a race thing"? Umm, okay. That was rude. You can still run away and be on a race, but at least say "Thanks! Tell her I say hi! I'm on a race, gotta go!"

 

Yea, that wasn't a good moment for Bethany. I actually didn't care for her at all early in the race, but began liking her about midway through. But she was kinda annoying and had some not fine moments in the past few episodes. I never really cared for Adam. So, I was glad they got third and the Dentists got second.

 

Amy/Maya are definitely in my top 5 winners. I stood up and cheered when they got to the finish line first. I would love to be friends with Amy. Her humor is perfect. I loved their friendship as well, which was kind of an opposites attract type thing, I think.

Edited December 20, 2014 by peachmangosteen

[gutbuster]

YES. I've been saying this since episode one. Someone needs to take her aside and be like, "psst, your boobs are flapping in the air when you run. It probably hurts. Try this _______ sportsbra." And did anyone else kinda cringe when she was a kind of cold to the firefighter? I don't think it was a "cute" moment at all. He recognized her, said his daughter was a big fan and she couldn't even say thanks? Just back away and, "hey, we're on, like, a race thing"? Umm, okay. That was rude. You can still run away and be on a race, but at least say "Thanks! Tell her I say hi! I'm on a race, gotta go!"

 

I agree with both points. Bethany looked completely unsupported to me like she didn't even have an actual sports bra on. Or even a decent regular bra. That was a LOT of movement.

 

I cringed a bit at the firehouse moment, too. I understand where she was coming from, and I don't really fault her short response considering the circumstances. It looked to me like the fireman would want to get a picture or an autograph or somehow engage her and she knew she didn't have time for that at that moment, hence the backing away and her kind of brushing him off. I wish in that moment she could have just said "Thanks!" and maybe told him to find her on facebook later so she could get the daughter an autograph or photo since the fireman DID successfully help them. Maybe she did and it wasn't shown. Either way, I think she would have been more polite at any other time and the fireman didn't seem upset about it.

 

When they got to the shipping yard, I initially thought the final task was going to be a bit more diabolical than it was. I didn't realize until after they started looking for the correct containers, that all of the containers didn't have numbers and city names on them. I thought they would have to find the correct city names among many that didn't relate to their race and then remember just those numbers, but it seemed that they didn't really have to remember where they went from memory so much as just the order once reminded. Still very difficult, as remembering that many names and then somehow corresponding a random number to each of them would be so hard not to jumble up. I do wish they had thrown in maybe one or two random city names to see if anybody got thrown off.

 

I was a little surprised that the animals didn't come into play. They seemed to have a trend going with animals at the pit stops and during tasks, but maybe that was meant to be a red herring.

 

I would like for the final memory task to be a team effort, though. I don't mind not being able to consult notebooks during the task (they should study up on the plane or during downtime),  but I've never really enjoyed watching one team member being left to the side helpless/useless while the other one struggles on their own. Conversely, I do enjoy it when one person steps up and totally rocks a task like Amy did, though, so maybe I don't know what I want.

Edited December 20, 2014 by gutbuster

[fishcakes]

I actually got a little teary-eyed when the scientists won even though I wasn't rooting for them, not because they weren't a great team but because it never occurred to me to root for them. I never thought they'd get this far. I wanted the dentists to win or, if not them, the surfers, but the scientists winning was an excellent outcome. They seem like lovely people and they hauled ass every second. And Amy is the most tenacious person I can remember seeing on this race; she ran most of it injured and never gave up.

 

Finish line was marred only by Brooke and Robbie making sour faces at the scientists and Kym and Allie rolling their eyes at the dentists. Klassy till the end.

 

Next season looks awful. I'll still watch, but come on, Bertram. You're better than this.

[Primetimer]

It's the final leg of Season 25, and the only things standing between one team and a million dollars are a plate glass window, a rescue dummy, and a bunch of numbers.

Read the story

[merylinkid]

Tasks in the  US tailor made for one 1 team:

Stunt Task -- the Wrestlers would have rocked it.   They are used to faking falls.   Nobody commented on this because they got eliminated before they got to do it. 

Rescue Swimming -- Hello Adam and Bethany.

Memory Taks -- The scientists.   Used to working with numbers and memorizing things. 

The only ones who didn't have a task like that were the Dentists.   Oh shucky darn.    I did like when Jim was getting annoyed about the directions, Misti shut him down right fast.   And I was worried about her being abused.    Clearly they love each other, support each other and are free to express themselves to each other.

[tominboston]

I've been rooting for Adam & Bethany all season because of her amazing adaptation to her physical situation and the great attitude they've consistently showed to the locals and each other. But I was fine with Amy & Maya pulling out a win because of Maya's genuine enthusiam, plus the fact that the team kept plugging along in spite of never being dominent, at least until that brutal final task in the container yard. Either the needle-in-haystack challenge of finding the right containers among hundreds in a huge lot or a where-were-we-when memory task would have been tough in itself, but combining them... wow. I can see why it took hours. Congratulations to the scientists, and I'm glad the surfers made second place at least.

 

TAR: The Dating Game Season sounds like a potential train wreck to me too. Why can't we just go back to non-stunt-casted normal, nice people who preferably a big fans of the show?

[backformore]

When Jim talked about kicking Amy in the shin to slow her down, that sealed it for me. I wanted the scientists to win.

I realize it was story-telling, and the other teams putting down the scientists was foreshadowing the result, but it worked on me.

[TudorQueen]

I was rooting for the Surfers, but my second favorite by a hair was the Scientists. TudorPrince was rooting hardest for the Scientists but loved the Surfers, too. We both respected the Dentists, who were great racers (I came to like them, too, more that TP did). We both hated Brooke and found Robbie funny and even appealing.

So this worked out pretty well. I didn't realize how much I did like the Scientists until Amy finished the container task and I said, "They just won". Then, with the cab driver not knowing where the lighthouse was, I worried that they'd be victims of bad cab luck like Mallory and her dad during Unfinished Business. So when they ran towards the finish line I let out a scream and a yelp and said "They did it!" Still love the Surfers but can't find anything wrong with the scientists winning, and love that Maya was possibly one of the most enthusiastic fans of the Race and the Race experience, and then added the cherry to the sundae by winning it with her best friend.

I actually enjoyed the tasks, and wish I could do the stunt performer task.

[basiltherat]

I think that Bethany had to play down the "famous" aspect with the fireman was because racers aren't supposed to bring attention to TAR by name or themselves.  I think I remember this from many long seasons ago.

[TiredMe]

I always like it when an all girl team wins. Girl power!

I had grown to like Jim somewhat during the race but then he always ends up saying something annoying. So I was fine with them losing. I really wish that the screen time for Brook would have been less because she got on my last nerve. I actually like Robbie. He seems ok if a bit "showy".

I don't like it when there is no opportunity to change position in the final leg except the memory task. So I thought it was a poorly designed leg with a super boring final task.

I was another one just cringing at Bethany running. I may have actually yelled -sports bras are your friend once or twice at my tv. Lol

I texted my 72 year old mother who was watching at the end and said-cool, all girl team won.

Her response- anyone but the teeth.

Hee!

[Packerbrewerbadger]

.

I!)

Tasks in the US tailor made for one 1 team:

Stunt Task -- the Wrestlers would have rocked it. They are used to faking falls. Nobody commented on this because they got eliminated before they got to do it.

Rescue Swimming -- Hello Adam and Bethany.

Memory Taks -- The scientists. Used to working with numbers and memorizing things.

The only ones who didn't have a task like that were the Dentists. Oh shucky darn. I did like when Jim was getting annoyed about the directions, Misti shut him down right fast. And I was worried about her being abused. Clearly they love each other, support each other and are free to express themselves to each other.

.

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!

Edited December 20, 2014 by Packerbrewerbadger

[Pickles]

I am in the minority here. Am glad the surfers did not win. Bethany drives me crazy the way she speaks. In my opinion, she talks like a little child. She does not come across as the brightest bulb. I agree about the bouncing boobs. If nothing else, strap those down with two sports bras.

[greyhorse]

I agree with both points. Bethany looked completely unsupported to me like she didn't even have an actual sports bra on. Or even a decent regular bra. That was a LOT of movement.

 

I cringed a bit at the firehouse moment, too. I understand where she was coming from, and I don't really fault her short response considering the circumstances. It looked to me like the fireman would want to get a picture or an autograph or somehow engage her and she knew she didn't have time for that at that moment, hence the backing away and her kind of brushing him off. I wish in that moment she could have just said "Thanks!" and maybe told him to find her on facebook later so she could get the daughter an autograph or photo since the fireman DID successfully help them. Maybe she did and it wasn't shown. Either way, I think she would have been more polite at any other time and the fireman didn't seem upset about it.

 

When they got to the shipping yard, I initially thought the final task was going to be a bit more diabolical than it was. I didn't realize until after they started looking for the correct containers, that all of the containers didn't have numbers and city names on them. I thought they would have to find the correct city names among many that didn't relate to their race and then remember just those numbers, but it seemed that they didn't really have to remember where they went from memory so much as just the order once reminded. Still very difficult, as remembering that many names and then somehow corresponding a random number to each of them would be so hard not to jumble up. I do wish they had thrown in maybe one or two random city names to see if anybody got thrown off.

 

I was a little surprised that the animals didn't come into play. They seemed to have a trend going with animals at the pit stops and during tasks, but maybe that was meant to be a red herring.

 

I would like for the final memory task to be a team effort, though. I don't mind not being able to consult notebooks during the task (they should study up on the plane or during downtime),  but I've never really enjoyed watching one team member being left to the side helpless/useless while the other one struggles on their own. Conversely, I do enjoy it when one person steps up and totally rocks a task like Amy did, though, so maybe I don't know what I want.

I don't know much about sports bras and whether they work with very big breasted women, but yeah, you would think with her athlete background that she would have found something better at this point.  Perhaps while surfing, everything is kind of held in by your wetsuit and you're not really running anyway so you don't notice.  She's going to be in line for a breast reduction or at the very least a breast lift at some point in her future.

 

She could have been a little friendlier to the fireman.  Instead, she came off as cold.  The dad is going to go home to tell his daughter he met Bethany Hamilton, she'll say "Wow, what was she like?", and just what can he really say?  She may be well-known in the surfing world, but it's not like she is one of the most recognized athletes on the planet.  She could have been more gracious and just wished his daughter well and thanks for her support.

 

Agree about the memory task.  You would think after 25 seasons of TAR, that the teams would know that there is some kind of challenge coming up that involves remembering details about the race, usually simply the cities and the order that they were visited.  It seemed like Bethany got delayed because she messed up the order, and not by messing up remembering the numbers associated with each city.  That is inexcusable.  If I were on this show, I'd be constantly quizzing my partner about things like this until it was second nature.  It would be nice to involve the other teammate, but then that's I guess part of the strategy.  I bet teams now will realize that the person that does the penultimate task may not be eligible to do the final memory task, so you must strategize accordingly.

[lianau]

The wrestlers' elimination mid leg was also a good thing. They had nobody to blame  but their own poor navigation. 

 

 

The wrestlers only got this far because they leeched off the other teams  and  when they were on their own in the finale they failed because they are  great only  in their own minds 

[Sarahendipity]

How would Bethany get a sports bra on? She can't do up back or even front hooks, and anything tight enough to really support would be very difficult to put on.

I also wonder if perhaps she was wearing a bathing suit top, in case they had water tasks and she felt it would take too long to change.

[Mumbles]

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? Then her parting words that she hopes this experience makes them better women. Again, I just think she's throwing words together thinking that they sound inspiring and thoughtful, but they're just gobbeldygook.

 

That said, I am glad they won. Any of these final three would have been fine. Even the dentists seemed to have calmed down. I actually think Mrs. Dentist was a kind person. She never bitched about anything, was nice to the other racers, and actually seemed affected by the poverty she saw in Manila (as opposed to complaining about it, like Brooke.) And for all his roided-out weirdness, Mr. Dentist seemed to treat her with respect, even if you could tell he was frustrated or impatient.

 

It was nice to see Biker Girls at the finish line. They were my favorite team but seemed genuinely happy for the Scientists.

[Molly by golly]

http://www.people.com/article/jonathan-knight-amazing-race-nkotb[/url]

 

Off topic, but is CBS obsessed New Kids On The Block?  Donny is on Blue Bloods, Joey is on The Mccarthys & now Jon on TAR.

I wish I felt positive about next season. I hate the gimmicks and feel they're fixing what ain't broke. Fighting is tedious to me and a waste of valuable race coverage. I don't mind a little bit, some is necessary. The rest I want edited out or hopefully not have such contentious people on in the first place.

Agree what's up with NKOTB? Lol

[ennui]

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.

[lianau]

Awesome win for one of the most underdog teams ever!  Congrats Maya & Amy!!!  Amy really dug deep the last two legs.  I haven't cheered this much since Uchenna & Joyce beat out you know who.

 

 

Could you imagine a season with Romber , the wrestlers and Pinky and No Brain 

[ottoDbusdriver]

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 think Phil saying that the filming was finished for the day was just an excuse for the show, because it wouldn't have mattered when they showed up at that roadblock, if they were the 4th team they were going to be Phil-iminated regardless (especially since there were only 3 Coast Guard boats at the next task).

[Mumbles]

[sorry. Wrong forum!]

Edited December 20, 2014 by Mumbles

[greyhorse]

I think Phil saying that the filming was finished for the day was just an excuse for the show, because it wouldn't have mattered when they showed up at that roadblock, if they were the 4th team they were going to be Phil-iminated regardless (especially since there were only 3 Coast Guard boats at the next task).

Agreed.  It's simply a phrase that he was using to convey that they were last and eliminated.  There's certainly no "filming" of the contestants in terms of them being actually used for a movie.  They were probably perhaps one hour behind the other teams?  And it was still certainly daytime.  

 

While I'm ok with the scientists winning, they obviously wouldn't have won if they were eliminated the prior "keep racing" leg.  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.  The only time any of the racers thought they might get cut is when Phil first showed up and Robbie said "that's not good".

[Rinaldo]

Yes, that whole "You're too late, filming is done" was just an elaborate way for Phil to say this was the checkpoint in the leg, and they were eliminated. That's how it seemed to me, anyway.

[Dobian]

This was a continuation leg (aka, double-length or to be continued) which means that the pit stop is only to pick up the next clue and any other instructions.  The first to arrive do not win a prize and the last to arrive do not have to complete a speed bump.  So, there was really nothing that happened that was 'unfair' to the other teams.  

 

 

They didn't have two NELs in a row.  And the Candy Scientists didn't finish last on the previous leg.

 

The previous leg saw the Candy Scientists finish second out of four, losing a footrace to the mat against the Dentists.  The Wrestlers finish last to be saved by a NEL. 

 

The final leg began in Manila, with the Candy Scientists leaving the pitstart second and the Wrestlers (the NEL team) leaving last.  Brooke & Robbie faced a speedbump wherein they had to transfer all the goods from a vendor's broken bike to a new one.  The leg continued with basket ball, bike racing and delivering of coconut brooms, etc.  Amy suffered from the heat about midway in the leg, but Phil gave the Candy Scientists a clue and they raced on to Los Angeles, where the teams jumped through broken glass, rescued Oscar from the ocean waves, and overcame a memory challenge in a container yard, before racing to the finish.  The Wrestlers were eliminated mid-leg, and the Candy Scientists took the prize.

 

Now, that last leg might have looked like two legs to you and me, because it was broadcast as two episodes but from the racers perspective it was one leg.

 

You're both sort of arguing semantics.  Yes by the rules Phil and the producers decided on, it was a continuation leg, but really anytime you hit the mat that's a leg, and they just finagled it not calling that a leg so they could get four teams in the final.  That's still the first time they ever did that before the final destination.  It was just weak, even arguing that it's a continuation leg doesn't change the fact that nothing they did in Manilla mattered at all - all four teams still were on the same flight no matter what.  You could have completely eliminated that whole previous episode and had the teams go from the ox/mud pits straight to the airport, same thing.  It's okay I guess mid-season to fill out the episodes, but at the end being last on the mat should always have consequences.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Dobian

[Quilt Fairy]

I wonder if the elimination of a team in the midst of the last leg was the real ramification of the unused Save. And speaking of the Save.....

 

Last September:

Phil: And in Season 25, we introduce the Save!

Us: Ughh! The Save is the worst thing ever!

 

Last night:

Phil: And in Season 26, TAR will be all dating couples including 5 teams meeting for the first time!

Us: ???!!?? WTF? Can we just have the Save instead? It wasn't SO bad.

[Netfoot]

The final leg in Manila and LA being an UberLeg was new and unexpected, but I did not find it a problem.  I always did think an UberLeg ramped up KF and that's OK by me, even for the final leg. 

 

Likewise, four teams in the final leg was another departure from the norm, but once again, I was fine with it.

 

What I didn't really like was i) the mid-leg elimination, which despite me not really liking the Wrestlers, I am not in favour of.  I say NO to future mid-leg eliminations.  And ii) The NEL prior to the UberLeg finale.  This meant that the final Four teams were determined when the cyclists went out in episode #9.  The NEL in episode #10 was mandated by the GDMF Save which, along with the episode #10 NEL meant Dim & Misti were immune from elimination for the entire race other than the first episode and -- thanks to the mid-leg elimination in the Uberleg finale -- the last.  I Say NO to future Saves. 

 

Now, I think the Save has been met with pretty universal condemnation, but S26 was underway before the public got to observe the Save in action.  If TPTB are inclined to listen to the fans and discontinue the Save, it may not be until S27!  So we may see it in action in Season 27:  Blind Date. 

 

Speaking of S27, we have seen dating couples before, some quite decent and some horrible.  So, on that score, I expect next season to be the usual mixed bag of nice and nasty teams.  Essentially, nothing really different.   What I don't particularly like is the fact that they have stunt-cast a few teams again.  When will TPTB realize that unknowns like Amy & Maya or Kym & Alli make for far better entertainment than stunt-cast teams like Romber, Brenchel, etc?  But they've been doing it for ages, and aren't going to give it up because I say so.

 

The real wildcard is the five teams whose teammates have never met.  Now, I feel if you're going to do that, it should be all teams, not just five.  Are those teams going to be at a huuuge disadvantage?  If so, isn't it unfair to them?  But the question is, should it be done at all?  TAR has always been about teams with a pre-existing relationship (just ask Eric & Danielle).  I just can't predict how this change will alter the dynamic of the race.

 

Would Amy have soldiered on through heatstroke and dehydration if she didn't know Maya and didn't care if she was disappointed?  I like to think so, but racers bearing up under the stress so as not to disappoint their friend/father/wife/etc is a big part of what has made some teams great.  It remains to be seen whether/how the behaviour of the five blind-dating teams are affected by the fact that they don't really care what the other team member thinks or feels.

 

It was just weak, even arguing that it's a continuation leg doesn't change the fact that nothing they did in Manilla mattered at all - all four teams still were on the same flight no matter what.  You could have completely eliminated that whole previous episode and had the teams go from the ox/mud pits straight to the airport, same thing.

 

I look at it this way -- if they'd had a single leg from the oxen/rice paddy to the finish in LA and broadcast it as a two-hour finale episode, the racers would have run the exact same race.  They did run a single leg from the oxen/rice paddy to the finish in LA.  The only difference is that TPTB split the two-hour finale into two separate episodes for broadcast, and the only accommodation made for this is that they had Phil handing out the clue to head to LA instead of placing a clue-box at that point.  When we've enjoyed a two-hour finale in the past, I've never felt that the first half of the episode was a waste of time, and I've never felt that the last team to some arbitrary halfway point should have to do a Speed Bump in the second half of the episode, and I've never felt that the customary airport bunching prior to leaving for the destination city was unusual, unexpected or unfair.

[Irlandesa]

I kinda feel a little for Brooke, she was a bitter pill at times... okay, a lot of times... but she wasn't totally wrong that the two NEL before the finale seems a little unfair. To steal a page from Clerks, "The scientists weren't even supposed to BE here today!"

The NEL vs. TBC has already been covered but I thought Brooke was ridiculous with her implication that it was unfair.  If there is one thing that is true about TAR, it's about luck as much as it's about "fairness."  Are NELs really "fair" when their extra task is rarely a difficult extra task? (I find them less so than the TBC legs.)  Is it "fair" that there are so many bunching moments throughout the race?  Are U-turns "fair?"  Is it "fair" when a team loses due to an incompetent taxi driver?  Is it "fair" that the soul surfers had a few challenges that seemed to be specifically in their sweet spot?

 

The only thing that is "fair" about TAR is that the race is created without considering the teams and that bad luck/good luck can hit any of them.   Amy & Maya did enough to stay in the race and saved their strongest leg for the last leg. That's fair and I'm glad they won.

 

It seemed like Bethany got delayed because she messed up the order, and not by messing up remembering the numbers associated with each city.  That is inexcusable.  If I were on this show, I'd be constantly quizzing my partner about things like this until it was second nature.

You don't think that's exactly what they did?  These teams had a sixteen hour flight.  They knew that was likely coming.  But knowing it was coming is different than actually doing it after racing thousands of miles, having very little sleep and then have to hunt in the heat, focusing on memorizing numbers as well as the order of the places they visited.  Actually, compared to similar challenges I've seen in the past, all three teams did admirably well.  Amy just did exceptionally well.

[LotusFlower]

I wish in that moment she could have just said "Thanks!" and maybe told him to find her on facebook later so she could get the daughter an autograph or photo since the fireman DID successfully help them.

What?! This is crazy to me. They're racing for a million dollars!! They're in the last leg! I would fault her if she did anything but focus on the task ahead, and that includes talking about Facebook or autographs, even if it takes only a minute. Every second counts.

Yes, that whole "You're too late, filming is done" was just an elaborate way for Phil to say this was the checkpoint in the leg, and they were eliminated. That's how it seemed to me, anyway.

I thought it was simply a nod to the on-set filming aspect of the challenge. Using the lingo and all.

[In Pog Form]

Why did they suddenly have laptops and smartphones in this episode? I thought they weren't allowed to have devices like that, which one could use to navigate or look up information.

[LotusFlower]

You don't think that's exactly what they did?  These teams had a sixteen hour flight.  They knew that was likely coming.  But knowing it was coming is different than actually doing it after racing thousands of miles, having very little sleep and then have to hunt in the heat, focusing on memorizing numbers as well as the order of the places they visited.  Actually, compared to similar challenges I've seen in the past, all three teams did admirably well.  Amy just did exceptionally well.

I agree. They all did really well. The only thing I would fault Bethany and Adam for, though, is leaving the last task for Bethany. If they knew the last leg (and task) would involve memorization, and Adam's better at it, why not plan accordingly? It seemed like the stunt work challenge sounded fun, something that Adam simply wanted to do, so that was the extent of their thinking. Maybe if they had thought it through, they would have remembered this, and Adam would have been free to do the final task.

[hincandenza]

The NEL vs. TBC has already been covered but I thought Brooke was ridiculous with her implication that it was unfair.  If there is one thing that is true about TAR, it's about luck as much as it's about "fairness."  Are NELs really "fair" when their extra task is rarely a difficult extra task? (I find them less so than the TBC legs.)  Is it "fair" that there are so many bunching moments throughout the race?  Are U-turns "fair?"  Is it "fair" when a team loses due to an incompetent taxi driver?  Is it "fair" that the soul surfers had a few challenges that seemed to be specifically in their sweet spot?

 

The only thing that is "fair" about TAR is that the race is created without considering the teams and that bad luck/good luck can hit any of them.   Amy & Maya did enough to stay in the race and saved their strongest leg for the last leg. That's fair and I'm glad they won.

 

You don't think that's exactly what they did?  These teams had a sixteen hour flight.  They knew that was likely coming.  But knowing it was coming is different than actually doing it after racing thousands of miles, having very little sleep and then have to hunt in the heat, focusing on memorizing numbers as well as the order of the places they visited.  Actually, compared to similar challenges I've seen in the past, all three teams did admirably well.  Amy just did exceptionally well.

 

We actually don't know if Amy did well; she might have done shittily compared to the average person/racer who have done those memory challenges in past finales, but just less shittily than the other two teams at that time (and as I mentioned before, it looked like they all three got the right numbers the first time).  Someone above mentioned that it seems weird to have only the very last task in that final leg have any real chance of separation:

 

Step 1: Fly to LA.  Everyone's on the same flight.  You might get 30-60 seconds if you race out of the airport faster

Step 2: Drive to City Hall.  Oddly, not one but two teams fucked this up, somehow.  But the dentists turned around and got to the next challenge only a few minutes behind the leaders at this point (A&M)

Step 3: Hand a piece of paper to a dude.  No chance for separation

Step 4: Get a one minute instruction from a dude on how to jump, then do a practice jump.  Only Maya managed to screw this up, because she's a hyperactive child.  Even that probably only cost her a minute of time, though.

Step 5: Jump through the sugar glass window, grab your clue, get out of the stunt clothes and go to the boats a short sprint away.  Again, only Maya managed to screw this up.  Real championship material, that Maya.

Step 6: Get a boat ride to a point in the water, swim, drag a dummy back, ride back.  This was an actual challenge at least, and here Bethany and Adam's skillset gave them a lead- but looks like it was maybe 5-10 minutes?

Step 7: Go to the next challenge at the shipping yard.  Unclear how much separation was here, but it looked like a decent drive.

Step 8: Find 9 numbers (no idea of the time, doubtful it was 3-4 hours like Jim mentioned), order them by the legs of this season.  This provided the crucial separation, and mostly because Amy got her order right the first time, and the other two appeared to each transpose a pair of numbers.

Step 9: Taxi to the pit stop.  Bad taxi luck could arise- another of my pet peeves- but the Racers themselves have no real effort to expend.

 

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.  Considering for much of this season I was impressed by the leg design that had interesting and involved challenges, plenty of times that teams juggled positions mid-leg due to better performance/navigation...  this finale was a big disappointment (especially since the last month of episodes became nullified due to the NEL/TBC/Semantics).  I am just not a fan of these tightly bunched challenges where you can't really be particularly awesome/terrible to make a difference.  36,000 miles, however many countries... and it came down to "memorize a phone number for a million dollars". 

 

In any case, you're preaching to the choir about "fairness".  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.  See, I hate artifical bunching, whether HOO or flight times.  To me, if you gain even just 5 minutes by acing a challenge ahead of another team... you should be able to have that 5 minute lead persist throughout the race until you lose it by being a collective 5 minutes slower in ensuing navigation or challenges.

 

In this ideal actual race, every minute counts, although at each pit stop, you are required to take exactly 12 hours (or so) downtime.  I think it would be fascinating to watch; after a couple of legs, teams would become separated, and it'd by like concurrent documentaries of teams who literally had no idea if they were a day in front of every other team, or two days behind and about to be eliminated.

 

 

Why did they suddenly have laptops and smartphones in this episode? I thought they weren't allowed to have devices like that, which one could use to navigate or look up information.

 

I was thinking that same thing, but I fanwanked it that I only recall seeing them while they were in the cars, and were either included or belonged to the taxi drivers.

[zoey1996]

Why did they suddenly have laptops and smartphones in this episode? I thought they weren't allowed to have devices like that, which one could use to navigate or look up information.

They are allowed to borrow/use such a device, or ask someone else to look something up on such a device. They can't have their own device with them.

[ennui]

Yes, that whole "You're too late, filming is done" was just an elaborate way for Phil to say this was the checkpoint in the leg, and they were eliminated. That's how it seemed to me, anyway.

I wonder what the filming permit said. It seems to me that the wrestlers were just watching the stunt, as if they already knew they'd been eliminated and were just waiting for Phil to show up and make it official.

[Turtle]

I agree that it would be preferable if there weren't HOO or flight bunching, but the reality is that it would just be too expensive to do, because you could very easily end up with production teams spread all of the world, not to mention renting the spaces/ hiring the people for all challenges for several days instead of one.  Not to mention how much tension would be taken out of the show.  

[In Pog Form]

\Also, Jonathon Knight from New Kids On The Block is one of the dating couples w/his BF on 6 yrs.  http://www.people.com/article/jonathan-knight-amazing-race-nkotb

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.

[Ducky]

That was a nice way to end the season. :) I was happy and pleasantly so.

 

Robbie and Brooke-- good grief kids-- were you that intimidated by the scientists still being there that you had to get nasty towards them?  I'd have taken it as an "oh! cool...guess I better put my A+ game in gear to keep ahead of them" rather than "well I'm so upset and pissed off and you shouldn't be here waaah".  Then... what do you do.. blindly follow someone else rather than thinking for yourself... but in the process attempt to flex your muscles without paying attention to just where exactly Bethany was driving (in such a way that you couldn't even get over there to turn!).  Yup I would have loved to see how Brooke would have handle that last task- I'll give her half a point for realizing that she would have probably blown any mental/'brain' tasks.  Oh.. and to blame the guy for giving faulty directions?  OK  but you should have double checked and made damn sure which direction since you kept saying i don't know which way east, west, north south etc....good grief.

 

Jim & Misti- I still don't  care for you much.  Whether or not the lot of you were 'joking around' in how to thwart the scientists-- still poor taste to do so.  Did see a little fatigue/frustration/anger with Jim when they found they were going the wrong way.  Respect for how they ran the race for the most part but their egos (or his really) kind of filled the room.

 

Adam and Bethany-- ran a good race-- was pretty sure they'd have won.  As for the firefighter incident...seemed quite awkward-- I suspect she did go back later or asked to so that she could make it up to the guy but I don't know what she is like fame/fan wise outside of the race so can't say whether she was being 'cold' or flustered  because they were trying to finish the race in a timely manner.

 

Amy and Maya-- what an awesome finish- I really liked them... yes they were not as "superb" as other racers were but they were competent racers with their own faults (Near as I can tell there has never been a PERFECT team...) but they were hardly ever negative, not overly intense/intimidating, defeatist (maybe a little) but between Maya's unfettered enthusiasm and Amy's humor they made a darn good team and just kept plugging along. Kudos on Amy for nailing that last task on the first try.  I have a good memory and I'm not so sure I could have after a 14 hour flight AND the heat....ouch.

 

 

Laughed my head off when Maya talked about the stunt glass lol..."Should have tasted it...." LOL.

 

Here's to the third all-female winning team!  (I remember Nat & Kat...ohh now I remember Kisha and Jenn from the All Stars). 

[In Pog Form]

They are allowed to borrow/use such a device, or ask someone else to look something up on such a device. They can't have their own device with them.

But they never showed them asking to borrow, or being lent such devices. They just suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. And if they are allowed to borrow them, then why didn't they do that in other countries?

[jjj]

So, did Maya call the stunt man like she promised?  "You'll call me when you win the million dollars, right?"  "YES!!!"  (All CAPS, because, you know, it's Maya.) 

[hincandenza]

They did ask people for cell phones, multiple times; we often saw this season that teams would frantically look around after reading a clue and ask a stranger if they could help them with an Internet search (sadly, as we saw in Copenhagen, even when the question was "What is the capital of the country we're in right now?")

Edited December 20, 2014 by hincandenza

[greyhorse]

You don't think that's exactly what they did?  These teams had a sixteen hour flight.  They knew that was likely coming.  But knowing it was coming is different than actually doing it after racing thousands of miles, having very little sleep and then have to hunt in the heat, focusing on memorizing numbers as well as the order of the places they visited.  Actually, compared to similar challenges I've seen in the past, all three teams did admirably well.  Amy just did exceptionally well.

If that's exactly what they did, then they didn't do a good job.  She clearly messed up the order of the cities, as her numbers were right and just was ordered incorrectly because she appeared to switch two cities.  If the order was second nature to her, then all she needed to do was memorize the numbers of the 8 or so cities.  And she seemed to do a great job with that as she was shown singing it to herself.

 

Misti's initial guess seemed to show that she actually had some of the memorized numbers wrong, and not just out of order.  

 

We actually don't know how well Bethany and Misti did.  There was a shot of Bethany going back to the containers as if she went to double check the numbers, so it may have taken her quite a while.  And we don't know how Misti all of a sudden seemed to get her numbers correct.  There may be a lot of editing and we won't know until they talk about it in interviews.

 

They are allowed to borrow/use such a device, or ask someone else to look something up on such a device. They can't have their own device with them.

I saw Brooke in the airport using a laptop, presumably owned by the guy sitting next to her.  Have never seen that before on the race.  Using a taxi driver's cellphone while he is taking you somewhere is one thing, but a complete stranger's laptop in an airport? I'm not sure if I'd be so generous.

[Molly by golly]

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.

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.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Molly by golly

[Guiaoshi]

We actually don't know if Amy did well; she might have done shittily compared to the average person/racer who have done those memory challenges in past finales, but just less shittily than the other two teams at that time (and as I mentioned before, it looked like they all three got the right numbers the first time). Someone above mentioned that it seems weird to have only the very last task in that final leg have any real chance of separation:

 

 

No they didn´t, Amy was the first one to get there and the only one to get it right at the first time. Bethany came a little bit behind her followed by Misti, from what we saw it took Bethany at least three tries and Misti two to get the numbers in correct order (thats why Misti passed Bethany). And I disagree about the last task being the only chance for the teams to separate themselves since they had to deal with self navigation during half of the leg (with clearly showed to be challenge for two teams, wrestlers in particular).

 

EDIT: Oh ok, you actually pointed out all this after your first statement.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Guiaoshi

[In Pog Form]

They did ask people for cell phones, multiple times; we often saw this season that teams would frantically look around after reading a clue and ask a stranger if they could help them with an Internet search...

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?

It would be fun if they treated the return to the USA the way they treat other countries on this show - i.e: in broad stereotypes. The moment they arrived at LAX, they get covered in promotional logos, NASCAR™-style. They would be given a Starbucks™ Triple-Mocha-Latte-Venti-Grande-Frappe-Soy-Espresso™, which they then must hold in their hand at all times throughout the leg. The final task would take place in a Wal-Mart™, where they would have to update their Facebook™ status to "I'm lovin' it™" from a Microsoft™ Surface™ tablet.

I'm just kidding, though. Not even Americans use Microsoft™ Surface™ tablets.

Edited December 20, 2014 by In Pog Form