S27.E12: We Got A Chance, Baby!

[Netfoot]

This may be the first and only known instance of God getting out of the tub!  And just in time!

 

I'm glad the chair judges were strict enough not to allow gross errors to pass unremarked.  K&J got delayed as a result, but so did J&D with far more devastating effect.  And besides, it's for a megabuck!  It should be hard!

 

Special thanks to Kelsey, for those shorts.

 

The domain justinisaloser.com is available.  Should we set up a web site?  It could feature nothing but photos of people wearing stupid green hats, and holding L-shaped forefinger and thumb to their foreheads.

 

Now I have to wait until February, and the start of S28, featuring 11 teams of assholes.

[mertensia]

I am 10000% for final memory challenges where using notes is forbidden. I loved that they had three of them.

Kelsey looked just as competent as Diana at the chair challenge.

Justin lost!!! Everybody party!! Man I'd hate to be any of his co-workers for the next few weeks. You know he's going to rehash everything endlessly.

[RCharter]

There was a point tonight when Justin and Diana picked up their clue and he mugged for the camera and it bugged me so much. He was really aware of the cameras all the time and played to them. Incredibly annoying. While I was not a fan of Kelsey and Joey, I was so happy they won. Bland, but consistent. They did deserve it. 

 

Logan and Chris are horrid people. They have an incredibly dysfunctional relationship. Her berating him about the cab for the rest of the leg was ridiculous. I would have hopped out of that cab too if Kelsey and Joey were yelling at me. I know it's a race and all, but I would have. I think a lot of people would have. 

 

Justin and Diana will be on an all-stars/unfinished business season for sure. It would be kind of fun if all the most hated teams raced for a million so we could figure out who really is the most reprehensible. 

I know I would have gotten out of that cab.  It is sort of an asshole move, and if you can get away with it....and its a million bucks cool beans.  But I think the minute someone confronted me on it I would have just gotten out.  Because its just not the right thing to do and I would feel especially bad knowing that.

 

BUT, it does strike me that if the cabbie didn't want them in his cab, he didn't have to let them in.  He was driving them away, so the cabbie was cool with it.  But I don't think I would have put up much of a fight over it.

 

Logan was being an unbelievable bitch.  If I were Chris I might just hopped out of a cab with her in it too.  Goodness woman....let it go.  What were you all going to do, sit there and fight with the cab driver who wasn't going to drive with Kelsey and Joey physically attaching themselves to the cab?

 

Justin annoyed the ever loving snot out of my when he was trying to get in Kelsey and Joey's head.  I get that its a strategy, but again, just not cool.  People like to say Justin is so laser focused on running his own race, but he really isn't when he does those things.

 

I think a season with all villains would be awesome, because I really wouldn't care who won, or who didn't win.  I could be one of those fans who just enjoys the purity of the race.

[RCharter]

Oh man!  Justin's tears were so sweet!  Oh, and to hear that they are never going to get over this.  Awesome.  What a great end to the race.

 

I don't particularly like Kelsey and Joey, but I like that they aren't Justin!  

 

Joey's mom is going to have a lot of underwear to wash when he gets home.  I would tell Kelsey to watch out!  Your man doesn't wash his underwear and he is a sissy..HOWEVER, he does like to build stuff and he has a sense of humor, so alright girl....go for it!

 

I really liked seeing everyone again, that was very sweet.  And I thought Phil's shirt was well fitted and appropriate....good for him!

 

Oh and Justin, an ass to the bitter end....even on the mat.

[mertensia]

I wanted to thunk Justin when he was all "Logan and Chris are so stupid! They didn't study up!" No they didn't but they also didn't tell their cab driver to go, so you know, you're not exactly batting a thousand yourself.

I do have to agree that the eliminated teams somehow all looked "wow! Kelsey and Joey are going to win! Not obnoxious Justin! Life is good!" at the finish line.

[Kelda Feegle]

I haz a happy :-)

 

Justin is never going to either get over it or get over talking about it 

 

If he returns for another go I am done

[sinycalone]

From the EW interview with Kelsey and Joey, they had already been to the cab after completing the fire challenge...Joey just had to return his boots, etc. And they definitely had not paid the driver...telling him to keep the meter running.  Amazing the driver went along with that!

[RCharter]

From the EW interview with Kelsey and Joey, they had already been to the cab after completing the fire challenge...Joey just had to return his boots, etc. And they definitely had not paid the driver...telling him to keep the meter running.  Amazing the driver went along with that!

You know, thats where Logan and Chris went wrong.  If I were a cab driver, I would not have agreed to Kelsey and Joey's plan.  Logan and Chris's cab driver probably took off because he already got paid.  That must be the most easy going cab driver ever, he let Logan and Chris into his cab knowing that Kelsey and Joey still owed him money?  Say what?

[Rosieroo]

I may be in the minority of one but I was rooting for Justin and Diana to win. Justin was an annoying douchebag that's no lie but I liked Diana and the other racers were so obnoxious focusing on getting them out I wanted them to win just to stick it to them.  I spent this entire season yelling at my teeevee for them to just run their own race and stop yammering on about Justin.  But Kelsey and Joey were getting such a good edit I figured they would win and I'm okay with that.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

In some of the past seasons, I have been so happy when certain teams won (I was rooting for Nat and Kat their entire season) but this time around, it was a combination of liking Kelsey and Joey for being supportive of each other without being rude or fighting and loathing Justin, Logan, and Chris.

 

I just wish Cartman had been there at the mat to taste Justin's tears of unfathomable sadness.

[PaperTree]

The Twitterverse has been mercilessly pounding on Justin. 

 

We are not alone!!

 

I can just imagine the ball of blubber he was last night with his homies.

 

Next season looks shaky, but I'll be there!

[Maysie]

 

There have been quite a few Amazing Race situations where teams had to pay a driver extra to remain waiting for them.  And many of those were not in the USA.  Why would any cabbie hang around (for an indefinite period), and expect just the price of the trip to that point, and then the point beyond?  He/she is earning no money for that dead time...unless he asks for money over and above the fares.

 

That's pretty much how I feel about the opinion that J&D's cab was extorting them. $50 for a cab ride all the way out there? Ummm, no. The cab wanted $200 bucks - the $100 agreed on for the ride out there and a second hundred to wait and then take them to the next destination. Frankly, I don't think that's unreasonable. Hell, they agreed to pay him $100 for the ride out, so what's wrong with $100 for waiting and a ride to the next stop? I agree that Justin was playing his "savvy New Yorker, no one can get one over on me" role more than he was racing. Playing for the cameras didn't help him out too much there.

 

How many times have we bemoaned (and cheered) the cab wild card? If you are a fan of Justin and Diana, I'm sure it does suck, however, it was only a wild card in this instance because Justin chose not to pay up. It's not like he got the cabbie who got lost, had to stop for gas, or some such thing. The cab left because Justin refused the terms of the deal. Justin controlled his own race destiny and he blew it, which is what makes this awesome in many ways. And not paying the cab to ensure he waited was good racing on Kelsey and Joey's part.

 

And I do understand that editing makes a huge difference in the way teams are perceived, however I don't think Justin and Diana got a villain's edit because they didn't win. I think they gave everyone plenty of ammunition. I think the editors work with what they're given and build from there. I may be in the minority, but I don't need a villain to make a season worth watching. I'd happily watch a race with competitive, solid racers who don't come across as assholes most of the time they're on screen. Everyone has a bad day/moment and makes an ass out of themselves, but some people just live like that. Watching them compete for a million bucks isn't particularly satisfying television - except when they lose, but that's never a given.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Maysie

[babs1226]

I'm happy that Kelsey and Joey won.  They were my pick out of the 3 left.  I spent the whole episode yelling at Justin and Logan to STFU.  That being said, I saw the taxi issue with Justin a little differently.  Justin apparently told the cab driver he would pay him $100 for the ride.  When he reiterated that agreement as they got to their destination, the cab driver said he wanted $100 on top of the cab fare.  That was what got Justin pissed.  So in my mind, the cab driver got greedy, and that's what cost him his tip.  I'm not saying Justin was right, and his choice will have him kicking himself from here to eternity, but it wasn't just a case of him not tipping the driver.  

[Kel Varnsen]

I am 10000% for final memory challenges where using notes is forbidden. I loved that they had three of them.

y.

They had like 14 hours in their final flight. After you eat, sleep a bit and watch a movie still have tons of time to prep for memory challenges.

The best part of Justin's loss is that it would have happened in the summer (saw an ad for Minions on a cab) so he would have had to keep quiet about his defeat since then.

[DEL901]

I was impressed how chill they reporters were when they had to redo their chairs... first 2 and then one more......"oh look, it looks much better now!"  They didn't get angry, not even with Justin running off at the mouth.  He was better with the chairs... just made one mistake... wonder if he would have got it perfect if he had focussed more on what he was doing rather than trying to rattle the reporters?

 

And the paps not even thinking about studying the flags?  Snerk!  And maybe they might have discovered that Africa doesn't have a flag because it's not a country!

 

Can't say I loved the reporters... until I saw how genial and supportive they were with the chairs and even the flags.  Wonder how much of that was left on the cutting room floor to make time for Justin's idiocy?

[Primetimer]

Back in the good old US of A, racers put Season 27 to bed after enjoying helicopters, lobster, firemen's pants, a whole lot of yelling about taxis, and a series of memory tests.

Read the story

[Ellaria]

Expanding on Cabbie Gate for a minute...

 

When J/D finished the fireman challenge, they ran over to two waiting cab drivers: one, as we know, was K/J's driver and there other seemed to be L/C's driver. (The latter was in the light blue shirt.) By the time that L/C are done with that challenge, "their cab driver" is no longer around. They jump into the one waiting cab which was K/J's.

 

Any thoughts as to why their cab driver left after waiting around for a period of time?

[RCharter]

Expanding on Cabbie Gate for a minute...

 

When J/D finished the fireman challenge, they ran over to two waiting cab drivers: one, as we know, was K/J's driver and there other seemed to be L/C's driver. (The latter was in the light blue shirt.) By the time that L/C are done with that challenge, "their cab driver" is no longer around. They jump into the one waiting cab which was K/J's.

 

Any thoughts as to why their cab driver left after waiting around for a period of time?

He didn't seem to know where Belmont was, and he already had his money from driving L&C to the firefighting training center.  If L/C got in his cab and got upset because he didn't know where he was going, he wasn't going to make any additional money.  It might have seemed a better idea for him to leave since he already got some money.  K/J hadn't paid their driver yet, he was just running the meter, and he also seemed to know where Belmont was.

[Netfoot]

We've bemoaned taxi-luck and it's effect on the finale, but that is only a valid complaint when the behaviour of the taxi is beyond our control.  Last night, that taxi driver was willing to wait and be ready for J&D when needed.  (With a little extortion, admittedly.)  So this wasn't taxi-luck that cost J&D the win, it was Justin shooting himself in the foot with his big, stupid mouth!

 

I don't know how much money they'd have had last night, with money saved throughout the race, but the thing to do would be to get a cabbie and offer ALL of it to him, if he sticks with you to the end.  "If I have to ride a bike, you follow me.  If I have to swim across the lake, you meet me on the other side."  You don't want to be without a cab during the finale.  (But if you strike this bargain with a cabbie, make sure he's a good cabbie and not the infamous Sterling!)

Edited December 12, 2015 by Netfoot

[NutMeg]

Hey, I'm glad that the outcome was not Green winning, and I'm glad for the reporters, but I'd have loved it more if I had another reason to root for the reporters that that they're not Green (the fact that they were always second didn't pass mustard for me).

 

I'm probably the lone viewer not happy that there were three memory tasks - if you're not good at them, you're not good at them. I would have prefer a different mix and match of skills - with the memory task in the middle.

 

I realized mid-episode that I was actually rooting for Logan and Chris! Which surpriseed me a lot, but on reflection, it shouldn't have: I didn't want Green to win and I had no idea who the reporters were as people, so why not root for the weird couple that at least I know a bit off?

 

Plus (and I say this as a straight woman), I thought Logan looked hot with the black eye make-up - from my point of view, she's the only one that pulled it off. And still shallow, but she's gorgeous when she smiles, she has the best body of all the remaining female contestants, and she seems to have so a self-awareness/weird sense of humour that I find strangely appealing. Yeah, maybe some of my friends are like her, in a more muted way, but she did make me smile often. And while on the shallow, Kelsey runs in a very bizarre way that I had never seen before, in real life or on TV.

 

Lastly, if Justin and Diana come back on an all star season, their editing will be diluted, so there's no reason to miss the season. I liked the way Luke and his mom got a much more muted edit their second time around - and I loved that the athletic sisters won the all star season - so yeah, if and when they return, they're going to be much more in the backgroud - Justin might be crushed, but I won't be!

 

If I had a wish for next season(s), it would be to not build the edit around one team. It's also fun when we like everyone! (see Survivor getting into the finale), and while he deserved it, it's not that great of TPTB to build the entire race so that we'd root against someone for whom that was such an important milestone in his life. I mean yes, I didn't like him, but maybe I would dislike him less if I hadn't gotten an indigestion of him. Now, if I had seen 90% less of him, he probably wouldn't have bothered me as much. And if he's so fragile that he starts sobbing on the first leg, I hope editing consulted some savvy psychologists, because we might call him an asshat all we want (and I'm the first guilty of that here), if you know someone puts that much of their being in this, is it wise to build the edit around them? 

 

(edited because of mucho typos...)

Edited December 12, 2015 by NutMeg

[truthaboutluv]

Joey acting all macho after definitely left a bad taste. And with no one able to step in and explain the rules, I feel Logan and Chris got unfairly screwed.

 

As Logan was screeching loudly to Chris, they got out of the cab. Joey and Kelsey never touched them or assaulted them. Yes they ran the cab down and said it was theirs but they never physically attacked them so I disagree that Logan and Chris got unfairly screwed. I wouldn't pay much attention to Joey's posturings after they already got the cab. Also, I have a feeling what really convinced Chris to get out was Kelsey's saying they hadn't paid the driver yet.

 

I can see why he wouldn't be sure of what the rule was there and whether they could take the cab if Kelsey and Joey hadn't paid the guy yet. If anyone screwed Logan and Chris it was Justin's being so annoying that he offended their cab driver who was waiting for them to the point of the guy leaving and saying he was going home (which by the way was hilarious).

 

And yeah the memory challenges made a bit of a difference, but the leg was decided by cab shite, and even if you're a Justin-hater, you can't respect TAR and like that outcome.

 

Why not - taxi luck has always been a big part of TAR. How many teams have been eliminated because they got into the wrong cab in a country and got very lost and couldn't recover? Hell some could say Uchenna and Joyce beat Rob and Amber because they lucked out with a great taxi driver who knew exactly where he was going and stuck with them the whole leg and most felt that win was as rewarding and "good guys won" as they did with Joey and Kelsey beating Justin and Diana.

 

Justin had a choice to pay his cab driver, whether the guy was being a dick trying to cheat him or not and he didn't. And then he tried to take the cab drivers who agreed to wait for the other teams and got frustrated when they wouldn't leave with him. That's the race and this time that bad luck bit him in the ass. If it was another team and he had won, he'd probably crow about how taxi luck is part of the race and run down all the stats and history of when it screwed other teams, while smugly enjoying his win. 

Edited December 12, 2015 by truthaboutluv

[Bryce Lynch]

The whole cab thing was just ugly.

Joey acting all macho after definitely left a bad taste. And with no one able to step in and explain the rules, I feel Logan and Chris got unfairly screwed.

Hope they figure out a way to fix it in the future. Everyone acted badly and made the whole last episode sucky.

I didn't like Logan and Chris but I do understand that their behavior with each other is just their dynamic. And they're each aware of that with the other. Feels like a lot of people don't get them.

Disagree about the cab fight. It seemed like Logan was trying to bully the driver into taking them instead of waiting for K&J. I don't think he was going to take them anyway. Plus K&J hadn't paid him yet.

On the final leg, it would seem like a no brainer to leave your bags in the cab to make sure nobody else could steal it. If they get stolen or forgotten at that point, who cares? The race is over anyway.

Logan and Chris got screwed by Justin who scared their cab off trying to steal it.

[seacliffsal]

For all of his boasting about being a superfan, Justin seemed to have other priorities throughout the race-including thinking he was charming and that his constant camera mugging would build a fanbase that would propel his media career. He was so busy showing off for the camera that he lost his taxi; after finishing the firefighter task he continued to play to the cameras when berating the two remaining cabs in order to go to Belmont. Finally, at the chair task, where he and Diane very well could have passed Joey and Kelsey, he totally played to the cameras with his mugging and comments.

Justin and Diane most likely would have won except Justin just couldn't let go of his 'persona' and give an additional $100 to his driver. It always annoys me when contestants tell their drivers to hurry as they are in a race for a million dollars (Kelsey and Joey did so this episode). Because the reality is that the drivers don't care-they aren't the ones who are going to win a million. I would bet almost anything that Justin was bragging to his taxi driver on the way to the task. Why shouldn't the driver get an extra hundred dollars if he is helping Justin win a million dollars? However, I really think the extra hundred dollars was warranted for having to wait. Oh well-so much for being a superfan if Justin didn't realize that he needed to keep his taxi.

[RCharter]

Disagree about the cab fight. It seemed like Logan was trying to bully the driver into taking them instead of waiting for K&J. I don't think he was going to take them anyway. Plus K&J hadn't paid him yet.

On the final leg, it would seem like a no brainer to leave your bags in the cab to make sure nobody else could steal it. If they get stolen or forgotten at that point, who cares? The race is over anyway.

Logan and Chris got screwed by Justin who scared their cab off trying to steal it.

I would agree except that he let them in the cab and I thought he was driving off when K&J came up and started giving everyone the business.

 

L&C did get screwed over by Justin, but if they had been able to sweet talk the cabbie into running the meter and not paying him up front the way K&J did I think the cabbie would have hung out just to make sure to get his money.

[sinycalone]

Way up thread, someone commented that a lot of TAR's audience love teams that show that they were fans, too. Justin just mugged and shouted too much...bragging about his knowledge. The audience (mostly) turned against his "style." Turns out that Kelsey and Joey were also big fans of TAR for years...in fact, Kelsey and her family watched it together from Race 1, Episode 1.  Yet, we never had K/J claiming to be uberfans through the race.

[Jobiska]

I laughed when Joey opened the door and barked at Chris to get the hell out.

 

Ha, yeah--I said "Well, that's not the on-air-personality Joey!"

I'll raise my hand as another that wouldn't have been bothered by a Green Team win, though I wasn't thrilled with the cab-related stuff this episode and last.  The mugging just rolls off my back somehow, and without that being a factor, he's not as obnoxious to me.

I do have to give credit to Justin and Diana for doing so well at the lobster pots and flags and chairs that they came within credible distance of passing Kelsey and Joey.  I think that Diana was the only woman not shown complaining about the lobster pot task (thought to be fair most of Logan's was about Chris dropping the rope a million times.  What a bumbler!)

If there were going to be three memory tasks, one of them as a roadblock, I wish another one had also been a roadblock (finish the pots together, get the next clue, it's a roadblock and the women have to do the flags alone).  Although I love the memory stuff as an essential element of the final leg, and was not sorry there were three, that would have made even it more interesting to me.

Not fond of constant bickering but I loved Logan's expression when Chris made his labored pun about cameras and focusing and...I can't believe it but I don't remember his punchline, such as it was, only her expression!  And she also quipped "what, like Donald Trump?" when he talked about feeling like a Southamptonite or such.

Also loved the shot of he weary Adirondack cluegiver slumping in his chair as they continued to bicker....

Still shaking my head over Logan and Chris' finish line talk:  "Well, we're not going to break up and find another place to live...I mean, apartment hunting is such a pain and then I'd have to move...ugh...might as well stick with him out of inertia."

Hope Joey gave Jin back his chain.  

 

[PaperTree]

I have a question for the most knowledgeable fans.

 

Since all the people on camera have to sign a release (right?), would it be possible for the winners (or any racers) to later send a gift to any of the cab drivers, etc. who especially helped them or would just like to "tip" after the race is over???  Production should have all of the contact information.  Thanks.

[liqidclark]

So ... no likable teams by the end, and the final leg is decided by moody taxi drivers. I like the question someone else posed upthread: What if that driver wanted $1000 bucks? What if that driver literally said to them, "Hey, I know this is TAR, and you need me desperately. I want your girlfriend to take her shirt off right now." At what point are we allowed to be bothered by that kind of thing?

 

And how unsatisfying that I'll always wonder if the best racers came in second because the winners had less offensive personalities... Is it a race about skill and endurance and team work? Or is it just a popularity contest? I wish Justin & Diana had been bad racers, and lost for that reason, rather than because they were annoying and a sensitive cab driver decided to fuck them over.

 

Meh, but this isn't the first time a team lost because of a taxi, I guess. I never like it, though. Fuck all these locals who tamper with the game. That shit should be prevented from factoring into the game, just like when those locals fucked with the cheerleader's balloons and she was still allowed to move to the next task.

 

I turned off the episode when the talking head team was approaching the finish line. That last segment with the final words from each team is always a waste of time, anyway. That is, unless the entire season is edited to make most viewers dislike the team who is very unhappy when they don't win, so we get to drink their tears like the sadists I never really knew we were as fans of this show.

 

And just from what others are saying about the preview for next season, this show is no longer on a higher level than other reality shows. Or maybe it's just been on the air too long. They have to rile us up and then feed us our pound of flesh now, just like every other dumb show.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Liqidclark

[etagloh]

That's pretty much how I feel about the opinion that J&D's cab was extorting them. $50 for a cab ride all the way out there? Ummm, no. The cab wanted $200 bucks - the $100 agreed on for the ride out there and a second hundred to wait and then take them to the next destination. Frankly, I don't think that's unreasonable.

Randalls Island is not really "all the way out there". Yeah, it's an island jammed between Harlem, the Bronx and Queens, but it's not the middle of nowhere: in fact, it's a straight shot up the Van Wyck Expressway to Grand Central Parkway. Assuming that they were in NYC yellow cabs, and it looked that way, I not even sure it's even permitted to negotiate like that: drivers can either leave their meters running, or you settle up for what's on the meter plus tip.

So, I think there's something else happening here behind the scenes: not shenanigans, just something slightly weird. Think about the opening clue, and its instruction to "fly to Long Island". Yes, JFK is on Long Island, but who really describes it that way? It's in Queens, it's in New York. Then their first task was back towards Manhattan, still within NYC city limits. So why be so specific about "Long Island" with a heavy hint of where the remainder of the tasks would be?

Here's the thing: if you look at the NYC cab fare rules drivers don't have to take fares outside the city limits, and Belmont Park is just outside the city limits. Those helicopters out to the Hamptons were there to prevent taxi drama, traffic drama, and spoilers. Was there some additional information in that clue to say that teams might need a cab driver willing to travel to Long Island outside the city limits?

[NutMeg]

Not fond of constant bickering but I loved Logan's expression when Chris made his labored pun about cameras and focusing and...I can't believe it but I don't remember his punchline, such as it was, only her expression!  And she also quipped "what, like Donald Trump?" when he talked about feeling like a Southamptonite or such.

Also loved the shot of he weary Adirondack cluegiver slumping in his chair as they continued to bicker....

Still shaking my head over Logan and Chris' finish line talk:  "Well, we're not going to break up and find another place to live...I mean, apartment hunting is such a pain and then I'd have to move...ugh...might as well stick with him out of inertia."

Hope Joey gave Jin back his chain.  

 

See, whether you enjoyed them or not, Chris and Logan at least had a personnality (maybe it was toxic, weird, bizarre, it was there nevertheless, and I for one enjoyed its randomness), and that's more than we got for the winners - I don't blame them, I blame editing.  

[kdm07]

In some of the past seasons, I have been so happy when certain teams won (I was rooting for Nat and Kat their entire season)...

 

Yes, another Nat & Kat fan!

 

Okay so after my elation last night, I can finally comment on a few points.

 

Really happy for Joey & Kelsey. A few weeks ago (I think there about 5-6 teams around then) I said they were my pick to win and I'd root for them all the way. I was shouting at my TV when they were doing the chair challenge, I didn't want them to disappoint me so close to the big win! (I also think Jin told Joey that he could keep his chain that's why everyone was clapping again after he gave it to him).

 

Now to the cab: Logan & Chris did get into the cab but it wasn't moving. I re-watched it and the driver hadn't moved at all which was how Kelsey caught up to his window. Since she was also shouting that they hadn't paid the cabbie I get why Chris got out of it. Who knows what could've happened if they pushed the issue only for the cabbie or the race to punish them for it later on.

 

So happy that Justin & Diana DIDN'T win. Justin's smugness didn't really start to annoy me until maybe the last few legs because it was finally obvious that he was playing up to the cameras as well, a whole lot more than racers usually do.

 

Logan & Chris are not dating. I refuse to believe it. Friends probably but significant others? No way.

[RCharter]

So ... no likable teams by the end, and the final leg is decided by moody taxi drivers. I like the question someone else posed upthread: What if that driver wanted $1000 bucks? What if that driver literally said to them, "Hey, I know this is TAR, and you need me desperately. I want your girlfriend to take her shirt off right now." At what point are we allowed to be bothered by that kind of thing?

 

And how unsatisfying that I'll always wonder if the best racers came in second because the winners had less offensive personalities... Is it a race about skill and endurance and team work? Or is it just a popularity contest? I wish Justin & Diana had lost because they were bad racers. Meh.

 

I turned off the episode when the talking head team was approaching the finish line. That last segment with the final words from each team is always a waste of time, anyway. That is, unless the entire season is edited to make most viewers dislike the team who is very unhappy when they don't win, so we get to drink their tears like the sadists I never really knew we were as fans of this show.

 

And just from what others are saying about the preview for next season, this show is no longer on a higher level than other reality shows. Or maybe it's just been on the air too long. They have to rile us up and then feed us our pound of flesh now, just like every other dumb show.

From where I sit, Justin and Diana got lucky with transportation a lot of the times and weren't particularly good at the tasks.  They got ahead by luck and this time they fell by luck.  

 

I think its a bit much to suggest that they lost because of a personality contest, because if that were the case, the two of them would have been out after the third week.  They got extremely lucky last week, so luck is a big part of the race too.  I also think its a bit much to call people sadists for enjoying the fact that people they didn't like, didn't win the race.

 

For one, I'm pretty sure cabs are heavily regulated in NYC, and so I can't imagine any of the drivers who agreed to appear on camera wanted to do anything that was illegal.  Second, asking for an additional $100 without having to know how long you're going to have to sit around and wait doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me.  If he was going to be a man of his word and wait however long the task took, he could have been the one that lost out if Justin and Diana took 4 hours to complete the task if he had just taken $100.  I'm not sure what cab fare is these days, but NY is expensive, and even if the guy had to wait an hour or two that may have been more than $100.  So, I don't think the additional $100 was unfair.

[snarktini]

Disagree about the cab fight. It seemed like Logan was trying to bully the driver into taking them instead of waiting for K&J. I don't think he was going to take them anyway. Plus K&J hadn't paid him yet.

On the final leg, it would seem like a no brainer to leave your bags in the cab to make sure nobody else could steal it. If they get stolen or forgotten at that point, who cares? The race is over anyway.

Logan and Chris got screwed by Justin who scared their cab off trying to steal it.

 

 

I would agree except that he let them in the cab and I thought he was driving off when K&J came up and started giving everyone the business.

 

L&C did get screwed over by Justin, but if they had been able to sweet talk the cabbie into running the meter and not paying him up front the way K&J did I think the cabbie would have hung out just to make sure to get his money.

 

I disagree that Justin chased off L&C's cabbie. That's not how I read the scene. Justin wasn't doing anything particularly annoying and they only exchanged a few sentences. It felt to me like the guy just wanted out of the whole situation. He didn't know where it was, or knew it was far and lied to play dumb, and said he had a phone but couldn't / wouldn't look up the location. YMMV.

 

And while Justin was dumb about his situation, his driver was the asshole, not him.

 

From the interview with Kelsey, I come away with the understanding that if the cab was rolling away with Chris and Logan, the cabbie may not have registered who was in the backseat. Kelsey said had returned to the cab, stepped away for a minute, and in that gap Chris and Logan swooped in. She indicated the driver was confused: Who are these people? IMO, the driver was not about to leave with a $100 fare unpaid. Period. Chris backed this up later, saying "he wasn't going to take  us anyway".

 

Last thing: Kelsey also said it was a risk and they only had $20 at the end of the day. She indicated that they owed the cab $100, which would break down into $50 for the fare (assuming the same as Justin and Diana) and 50 to keeping the meter running during the task. If Justin had paid the driver's $100 wait fee, would he have had enough money to get to Belmont? Assuming they would all pay similar amounts to get to the first task and to Belmont, and K&J only had $20 dollars left, Justin and Diana would have been short $30.

[goofygirl]

ITA with everyone! SO GLAD Justin lost!  He was just obnoxious throughout the entire race! Kinda feel sorry for Diana but she chose the guy, so...Plus, they've won trips out the kazoo and some $$.

 

I think it's always so funny when the cabdrivers here in the US are the ones that end up messing up the racers.  But then, that one cabdriver said something like, "I don't know where Belmont Park is and I'm going home".  Tooo funny!

[backformore]

How I interpreted Justin's $100 thing with the cab driver -   First, we don't know how much money they got for the leg (or any leg), so we don't know how much money Justin and Diana had left.  He couldn't have promised more than they had.

I think Justin said he would give the cab driver $100  for waiting and taking them to the next task.   I think Justin meant $100 TOTAL. Like "we have $100 to pay you for getting us here, waiting, and taking us to the next stop".  The driver thought the promise was "in addition to the far we owe you so far, I will give you an extra $100 for waiting and taking us to the next stop".   Cab drivers can't negotiate FARES, (and Justin should know that)  but to the driver, it was a negotiated TIP.  To Justin it was "here's what I have to pay you".

 

I also think a cab driver saying "I don't know where Belmont is" is just telling the racers "I'm not taking you there".   They're not messing with the racers, they're looking out for their own interests.   Cab Drivers do not HAVE to take a fare outside of certain limits. Nor do they HAVE to use their phones to look something up for you.   The cab driver is trying to make a living, the racers are trying to win a million bucks.  The drivers don't care who wins.   The racers have to treat the drivers well to get them to cooperate.  It's part of the RACE to figure out how to get to where you need to be on a limited budget.  

 

When people say that a cab driver was being an asshole , I disagree.   The driver has no obligation beyond getting you to the first place you say you're going. 

Edited December 12, 2015 by backformore

[Bryce Lynch]

Regarding the cabs:

1) Justin's cab driver wanted an additional $100 to wait. Justin wanted to only pay him a total of $100 including the $50 he already owed for the ride to Randall's Island. He also haggled to take off $5 for an $8 toll Justin had apparently laid out.

So Justin blew $1 million to save $50, not $100.

I wonder how much race cash they had on them?

2) When Justin tried to steal L&C's cab he casually acted as if it was their cab. He said, "Are so you ready to go?" to the driver. It seemed like the driver didn't want to abandon his fares but didn't want to get into a conflict so he initially played dumb, pretending not to know how to get to Belmont and eventually became uncomfortable when both Justin and Diana were a bit rude to him and just left.

K&J's driver made it clear he was waiting for his fares and wouldn't take them.

3) Kelsey and Joey's driver did not "let" L&C into the cab. When they approached he said, "No, no, no.". They ignored him and said, "Belmont Park" and got in anyway.

Kelsey came running up saying, "We still owe him."

Logan yelled, "We can take it, there's nothing in it!" Chris repeated, "There's nothing in it."

Kelsey went to the driver who had rolled down the window and said, "You're with us." Joey arrived and said, "Get the hell out!" Chris immediately complied and Logan followed right behind him yelling at him.

It seemed clear that the driver was not going to take Logan and Chris anywhere.

I also found it funny that Logan berated Chris for getting out of the cab, when she got out a half second after him. Why didn't she stay and fight for it, if she thought he was so dumb to surrender it?

Edited December 12, 2015 by Bryce Lynch

[needschocolate]

I love that it was completely Justin's fault last leg when J/D almost went home and this week when they didn't win a million dollars.  And Diana's biggest mistake was the one where they still finished first and and her mistake earned them extra money because they got paid based on their number of steps (or heart rate?).
 

Justin lost!!! Everybody party!! Man I'd hate to be any of his co-workers for the next few weeks. You know he's going to rehash everything endlessly.

 
Weeks?  Probably months? I don't know what sort of job Justin has, but I picture him standing next to the water cooler, eyes still red from the crying, repeating his tale of woe, while all of his coworkers keep cases of water bottles under their desks so they don't have to go to the water cooler for a drink.

Edited December 12, 2015 by needschocolate

[J-Man]

 

On the final leg, it would seem like a no brainer to leave your bags in the cab to make sure nobody else could steal it.

Did any of the teams still have any bags left? I think most racers in recent years have ditched their backpacks (or left them at the final airport) in order to be able to move faster on the final leg.

 

Joey was being awfully unrealistic about his plans for the winnings. First, he has to split it with Kelsey, then there are both Federal and California income taxes. And he works (and presumably lives) in one of the most expensive cities in the US (Santa Barbara). So that money is not going to go very far toward paying off a mortgage and buying another house. 

[blackwing]

He didn't seem to know where Belmont was, and he already had his money from driving L&C to the firefighting training center. If L/C got in his cab and got upset because he didn't know where he was going, he wasn't going to make any additional money. It might have seemed a better idea for him to leave since he already got some money. K/J hadn't paid their driver yet, he was just running the meter, and he also seemed to know where Belmont was.

I have no doubt that both of them knew exactly where Belmont park was. All three of those cabs were at the Fire Department at around the same time. It seems to me that Justin's driver told the others he was leaving, and told them to watch out for the huge dickweed in the green shirt. That's why the guy pretended to not know where the place was. When Justin kept pressing him, he didn't want to be forced into taking him so he just drove off.

I wonder what Chris and Logan have said about Justin chasing off their cab, now that it has aired and they have seen what really happened. They should be blaming Justin instead of Joey and Kelsey.

[scrb]

Glad that Justin didn't win but the taxi thing was messed up.

 

His taxi left because he wouldn't give them $100 and then he chased Chris and Logan's taxi away when he pestered the two remaining cab drivers about taking them?

 

If the other two teams didn't get a taxi until their bus got them into Manhattan, how were they able to do the lobster boat thing with the reporters?

 

That lobster task probably would have stopped the cheerleaders or any two women teams.

 

Wow, would have never guessed that flags would come up.  Guess they must have Googled for flags during their down time.

[J-Man]

From the Wikipedia article on Randall's Island:

Hospitals: The island is home to the Manhattan Psychiatric Center and the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, both operated by the state Office of Mental Health. The Kirby Center houses the criminally insane,[29] and is patrolled by the New York State Office of Mental Health Police.

So why were Logan and Chris ever allowed to leave the island? 

Edited December 12, 2015 by J-Man

[hendersonrocks]

I just watched the episode and feel like I need a shower and a cigarette. 

 

Being an asshole to two drivers two episodes in a row isn't a good look, and you can connect the dots pretty easily that Justin's behavior led to their downfall. Truthfully, I'm glad that it's squarely on his shoulders and not Diana's. She seems like a lovely person who was also a really good racer. You can be both, JUSTIN.

 

Kudos to Kelsey and Joey for running a really solid final leg that seemed tough as hell, mentally and physically.

Edited December 12, 2015 by hendersonrocks

[Guiaoshi]

After the bad taste left in our mouths on last week outcome, this week the outcome was a sweet karma pie. Lmao, Justin was so obnoxious that he even got rid of Logan and Chris taxis driver (the guy probably thought that they would be as cheap and annoying like him, so Logan and Chris didnt even had the chance to negociate with the guy). Anyway, they wouldnt win either way, they never would pass Kelsey and Joey on those memory tasks... And also, seems like Justin and Diana did the last task almost with the same time that Kelsey and Joey, we only saw their first mistake being pointed cause it was at the same time that Kelsey and Joey finished their, but they probably had more issues (if you pay attention you can see some lazy job they did while focusing on catching up/on what Kelsey and Joey was doing), so it probably wasnt a perfect job in the task like Justin always think it will be. Very glad this last leg didnt involved any task that Diana had to perform by herself otherwise he would forget the huge mistake with the taxi and complain on how much faster/he would nail the task (the issues they had in the last task were probably from him, since even him admitted that Diana was good at build stuff and we didnt heard him complainning on her).

On next season, yes, I would want the self driving back, but with those stupid youtubers in the cast, I think they would run the risk of all teams getting lost/not finishing the leg.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Guiaoshi

[Netfoot]

What if that driver wanted $1000 bucks? What if that driver literally said to them, "Hey, I know this is TAR, and you need me desperately. I want your girlfriend to take her shirt off right now." At what point are we allowed to be bothered by that kind of thing?

 

I think we can be offended the moment the cabbie becomes unreasonable.  Demanding $1000 or that Diana strip would obviously fall into that category.  If a taxi takes you somewhere and you want them to wait an indefinite period and can't even guarantee they will be needed at all, it isn't unreasonable for them to refuse.  If you promise to pay a bonus if they stay, but you don't offer enough, again, it isn't unreasonable for them to go.  Justin owed the cabbie $50 for driving them to that point, and wanted to pay only $50 more to take them to the next point, plus wait an unknown period in between.  I think the cabbie was entitled to decline that offer, because the next stage might have been $50 on it's own, not counting the wait.  Add to that the chinksing asshole wanted an additional $5 back from the cabbie?  I can't say the cabbie did wrong refusing, and it was Justin who terminated the negotiation by demanding his change and jumping out of the cab.  So, I don't see that Justin lost because of a bad cab driver.  

 

And how unsatisfying that I'll always wonder if the best racers came in second because the winners had less offensive personalities... Is it a race about skill and endurance and team work? Or is it just a popularity contest?

 

Persuasiveness with taxis is a race skill.  They didn't come in second because the race is a personality contest.  They LOST THE RACE (as I prefer to put it) because he didn't have the skill to maintain good rapport with their driver, and because inflating his image was more important to him than winning the race.  To be honest, I thought that they had a pretty good taxi, right up until Justin decided to screw the man over, to save a few dollars!

 

This finale was not about taxi-luck.  Yes, taxis were involved, but the game was not lost or won on the basis of who got a good taxi.  It was won and lost on the basis of who didn't know how best to utilize their taxi resource properly.

[Quilt Fairy]

You know, thats where Logan and Chris went wrong.  If I were a cab driver, I would not have agreed to Kelsey and Joey's plan.  Logan and Chris's cab driver probably took off because he already got paid.  That must be the most easy going cab driver ever, he let Logan and Chris into his cab knowing that Kelsey and Joey still owed him money?  Say what?

If you're K&J's cab-driver, sitting there waiting for them to return, and someone else opens the doors and gets in, how are you supposed to prevent that?

 

The best part of Justin's loss is that it would have happened in the summer (saw an ad for Minions on a cab) so he would have had to keep quiet about his defeat since then.

I wonder if he has stopped sobbing.

 

I disagree that Justin chased off L&C's cabbie. That's not how I read the scene. Justin wasn't doing anything particularly annoying and they only exchanged a few sentences. It felt to me like the guy just wanted out of the whole situation. He didn't know where it was, or knew it was far and lied to play dumb, and said he had a phone but couldn't / wouldn't look up the location. YMMV.

 

*snip*

 

Last thing: Kelsey also said it was a risk and they only had $20 at the end of the day. She indicated that they owed the cab $100, which would break down into $50 for the fare (assuming the same as Justin and Diana) and 50 to keeping the meter running during the task. If Justin had paid the driver's $100 wait fee, would he have had enough money to get to Belmont? Assuming they would all pay similar amounts to get to the first task and to Belmont, and K&J only had $20 dollars left, Justin and Diana would have been short $30.

I think Justin definitely chased off Chris & Logan's taxi. He wasn't, for lack of a better term, 'reading the room' correctly. If both of the remaining drivers tell you they don't know where Belmont Park is and they don't have GPS, read the fucking (invisible) clue and understand that what they're saying is they don't want to take you to Belmont Park, for whatever reason.

 

Regarding money, they haven't been telling us lately how much money each team receives for each leg, but you have to add to that amount whatever money each team has saved from previous legs. Remember the leg that ended at the African orphanage? Most teams donated all their money and each team had a different amount. Likewise, every team would have a different amount of money with which to negotiate with their cab driver and IIRC, some teams have had hundreds left for the final leg of the race.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Quilt Fairy

[Sandiscot]

 

some teams have had hundreds left for the final leg of the race.

 

Not when they have a forced "donation" of all the cash they have halfway through the Race. I think it's very likely that not having any idea how many more rides they'd have to pay for, and how far each would be, was a big factor in Justin's negotiation. 

[derriere]

I've been with this show from episode 1 of season 1 and this is the first time I've deliberately spoiled myself. There's just no way I could have watched Justin win. Ugh.

Anyway, congrats to blondie and whatshisface, and let's pretend this season never happened.

[scowl]

The best part of Justin's loss is that it would have happened in the summer (saw an ad for Minions on a cab) so he would have had to keep quiet about his defeat since then.

 

In other words, he had to refrain from sobbing every time someone brought it up.

[millennium]

Now I have to wait until February, and the start of S28, featuring 11 teams of assholes.

 

It sure looks that way, doesn't it?

[meep.meep]

 

Persuasiveness with taxis is a race skill.  They didn't come in second because the race is a personality contest.  They LOST THE RACE (as I prefer to put it) because he didn't have the skill to maintain good rapport with their driver, and because inflating his image was more important to him than winning the race.  To be honest, I thought that they had a pretty good taxi, right up until Justin decided to screw the man over, to save a few dollars!

 

This finale was not about taxi-luck.  Yes, taxis were involved, but the game was not lost or won on the basis of who got a good taxi.  It was won and lost on the basis of who didn't know how best to utilize their taxi resource properly.

 

Or, we can take a different perspective and say that Kelsey and Joey won because they had the skills to win over their cab driver.  Might have been money, might have been what they said.