S28.E12: The Only First That Matters

[Netfoot]

Team #1:  Dana aced that final task!  In fact, they aced this entire leg.  Their only error was in taxi-management, and they were able to overcome their mistakes.  I've been wondering all season who Matt reminds me of, and I just figured it out:  He looks like Tom Cavanagh a bit.  Dana may be a bit of a witch at times, but while I've wanted to see Matt (or some member of the general public, even) put her across the knee and administer a solid spanking,  I think this couple genuinely like each other, and I'm not disappointed that they won.

Team #2:  Cole still looks and acts like a foool.  That fishgape look he adopts when he wants to look good for camera?  Should win him a one-way trip to Bedlam. Sheri really only came on the race because the Social Media Influencer couldn't get any one else to race with him but his mommy!  But what a mommy she has turned out to be.  Sheri has kicked ass and taken names, and despite being saved a couple of times, the team made it to the finish in no small part because of her.  Despite being afraid of heights, she has gone out on a limb several times, and saved the day.  I did think that when Cole elected to do the memory task that they were done!  But he surprised me, and pulled it out of the bag.  Well done, Sheri!  And Cole...

Team #3:  So, there is a God!  Korey has been a fairly inoffensive -- if uninspiring -- racer throughout, but his preening jackass of a race-partner has never failed to annoy.  Well, I'm pleased to say, in terms he may understand #Hashtag #Tyler #Hashtag #LostTheRace.  What can I say?  Vamping feebly over some challenge supervisor, instead of grabbing the clue and proceeding?  Even terrified Sheri did a better job!  So I'm thrilled he came last, and if that meant that Korey had to come last too... well, I didn't dislike Korey, but I didn't like him much either.  So, let me leave you with a beautiful photo of the #RaceLoser to remember him by:

[blackwing]

I didn't think they jumped off one at a time.  I thought from the overhead shot that there were three separate stations.  One team was set up on the roof of each apartment building.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

The Amazing Race's Social Media Star Season, tl;dr: #AmazingRace #LosAngeles #Meh

Racers throw themselves off of buildings and heave themselves over chasms in their final pursuit of the million dollars, but the most amazing feat of all is that they actually manage to make that stuff look pretty boring.

[ForeverAlone]

I am all right with Dana and Matt winning. I just didn't want Sheri and Cole to win. Yeah yeah, they are the most improved team, but I have a bias against weak performing teams winning nothing but the final leg, and they definitely would have been weak winners. I had an idea that Tyler and Korey weren't winning beforehand, so I was not that surprised to see it all unfold. But it is still weird to see the strongest team going into the finales arguably tank it on the last leg. Sure, there were no egregious mistakes, but a series of smaller ones that added up to a loss. I can only imagine that we missed the winners' edit for Dana and Matt, because production chose to highlight the teams that were arguably more famous. And it is not surprising that we would all assume the final three would be Frisbee Bros, Roosterteeth and Tyler/Korey, because those were the three strongest, most consistent teams for the most part, so it stands to reason they would continue to perform well enough to get to the finals. I would have loved to have seen a finale with those three teams, because I could easily see any of those teams winning. But, even though Dana and Matt's fighting became annoying at times, they performed consistently well enough throughout the race to have their win not feel completely unearned. I just wonder if there weren't more moments of them NOT fighting, but still racing well, that production chose not to include in favor of other scenes or scenes of other teams.

[Netfoot]

2 minutes ago, ForeverAlone said:

And it is not surprising that we would all assume the final three would be Frisbee Bros, Roosterteeth and Tyler/Korey, because those were the three strongest, most consistent teams for the most part, so it stands to reason they would continue to perform well enough to get to the finals. I would have loved to have seen a finale with those three teams, because I could easily see any of those teams winning.

I take your point well enough, but I feel that which ever teams manage to get themselves into the final leg, are probably the ones that deserve to be there.  Sometimes you're left wondering how in hell they did it, when faced with such strong opposition, but...

I actually don't like a race where the top three obvious winning teams simply run away with the season.  I like it when there is a wildcard at work, and even up to the eleventh hour, no team should take it for granted that they are definitely going to the final leg, far less winning.  That is why when MonkeyBoy & Kurt got booted, and then Burnie & Ashley, I was pleased.  Sometimes it is your favourite team that goes unexpectedly, but it's good that racers -- and watchers -- not be complacent about the outcome of the race, or any specific leg.

[scrb]

Matt being the most athletic made a big difference in that jump.  Also helped on that gorge too, to have upper body strength.  If Dana did that jump off the building they might not have had such a lead.

But Tyler and Corey also didn't help themselves missing the clue box.

Maybe Burnie and Ashley doesn't get the clue on the first jump either.  So Tyler and Corey shouldn't have helped the dancers.

[J-Man]

Quote

They all breezed through it quickly (seemingly) and they all even seemed like they were expecting it.  

Obviously they didn't waste a lot of time showing the second and third place teams working on the memory task, but from the few glimpses they gave us, I don't think Cole and Korey were doing too well. It appeared that Cole had misspelled "Cartagena," and I don't think Korey had figured out the whole hashtag thing-- he was just spelling out the cities. Maybe they didn't have to actually finish once the winners checked in, but I'd be curious to know.

[GaT]

Meh, I would have preferred either of the other two teams to have won, but whatever. Is the hashtag thing in the final challenge to remind us how all the contestants are "internet celebrities" since it didn't matter at all throughout the entire race? 

[millennium]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Team #1:  Dana aced that final task!  In fact, they aced this entire leg.  Their only error was in taxi-management, and they were able to overcome their mistakes.  I've been wondering all season who Matt reminds me of, and I just figured it out:  He looks like Tom Cavanagh a bit.  Dana may be a bit of a witch at times, but while I've wanted to see Matt (or some member of the general public, even) put her across the knee and administer a solid spanking,  I think this couple genuinely like each other, and I'm not disappointed that they won.

Team #2:  Cole still looks and acts like a foool.  That fishgape look he adopts when he wants to look good for camera?  Should win him a one-way trip to Bedlam. Sheri really only came on the race because the Social Media Influencer couldn't get any one else to race with him but his mommy!  But what a mommy she has turned out to be.  Sheri has kicked ass and taken names, and despite being saved a couple of times, the team made it to the finish in no small part because of her.  Despite being afraid of heights, she has gone out on a limb several times, and saved the day.  I did think that when Cole elected to do the memory task that they were done!  But he surprised me, and pulled it out of the bag.  Well done, Sheri!  And Cole...

Team #3:  So, there is a God!  Korey has been a fairly inoffensive -- if uninspiring -- racer throughout, but his preening jackass of a race-partner has never failed to annoy.  Well, I'm pleased to say, in terms he may understand #Hashtag #Tyler #Hashtag #LostTheRace.  What can I say?  Vamping feebly over some challenge supervisor, instead of grabbing the clue and proceeding?  Even terrified Sheri did a better job!  So I'm thrilled he came last, and if that meant that Korey had to come last too... well, I didn't dislike Korey, but I didn't like him much either.  So, let me leave you with a beautiful photo of the #RaceLoser to remember him by:

 

I have to agree.   I didn't like any of the three teams but you have to give credit where it's due.  Matt and Dana hustled and Sheri dug deep into that inner strength mothers seem to have.    Also, Korey was innocuous and mostly overshadowed by Tyler, but I guess that's okay with Korey because being the primary focus didn't seem to matter to him.   Maybe he's used to it.

[Guiaoshi]

Anyway. back to the race, this was a good season, better than last couple ones. We had some great legs, in the second half in particular. I think we just got used to have one or two teams that we look at them and think ´´this people should be eliminated from the earth!``, with one going all the way for us to cheer for their lost till the very end, with we didnt have this season. Yep, the finale wasnt very exciting, but I don´t blame so much on the leg design (we had some awfull finale legs on past, with teams literally taking clues across the city and jump from buildings, with pretty much zero physical/memory tasks). It could have being a little harder tho, the last three legs were waay harder.

Edited May 14, 2016 by GenL
Quoted post deleted

[Muffyn]

58 minutes ago, scrb said:

Matt being the most athletic made a big difference in that jump.  Also helped on that gorge too, to have upper body strength.  If Dana did that jump off the building they might not have had such a lead.

But Tyler and Corey also didn't help themselves missing the clue box.

Maybe Burnie and Ashley doesn't get the clue on the first jump either.  So Tyler and Corey shouldn't have helped the dancers.

This is a really good point.  I think the other teams didn't really take into consideration how athletic the dancers are.  Being strong and being able to leap helped them greatly this leg.  Coming into this leg, I didn't expect to care who won.  Once Matt and Dana took the lead, I found myself rooting for them.  The episode was a little dull but that was mainly because Matt and Dana smoked it.  Matt was the only one to get the clue at the building on the first try.  They were the only team that talked about looking for the boat near the museum.  They did an excellent job on the mountain.  And Dana did an exceptional job on the final memory task.  They earned their first place.

Sheri and Cole did a great job, especially given their fear of heights.  Tyler and Korey fell behind at the beginning, took longer than M/D at the boat and had bad taxi luck.  From the little bit we saw of them at the final task, they seemed to have some problems, so it wasn't their leg.

[Dobian]

Yay Matt and Dana...meh...when does next season start again?

[Merneith]

Pretty ok season, all in all. I feared the worst when I heard "YouTube Stars" but they were ok, overall. Way less annoying than some of the superfan teams or other Reality Stars we've had.

I can't argue with the placements, either. Everyone hustled hard for the finale and also for the last couple episodes. Matt & Dana pulled it together. If Cole is a beast, he gets it all from Sherri. Tyler & Korey were did their best even when they knew they were running last.

Looking forward to a normal season, next time, I hope.

[Christina]

Next time is strangers who have been paired together, and on Twitter Phil said it will air in September. 

I don't understand why they keep trying to change the race. Family season was a failure, dating season was a failure (which I blame on the editing of an extra helping of one extremely annoying and obnoxious racer), and according to the article in the media thread, this season did not result in additional viewers, and in fact, lost some. 

I call out the women for their flirty and touchy behavior of the men, especially the cheerleader last year who wrapped her legs around the man who was trying to teach her to rap, and Shari trying to hug a man who had his hand out and was backing up. Therefore, I have no problem calling out Korey for making that man uncomfortable tonight by joking about his looks. He was talking to the camera, but as the camera showed the instructor, he didn't seem to by enjoying it. Unless it went on longer than we saw, Korey stopped when he said something, but still, leave the locals alone, people. Fortunately, Shari stopped trying to hug everyone. 

[GaT]

47 minutes ago, Christina said:

Next time is strangers who have been paired together, and on Twitter Phil said it will air in September. 

 

Seriously? Why? That's like the dating season only instead of half the teams it will be all the teams. Do they not remember how badly teaming Mallory Ervin & Mark Jackson went? Strangers being teamed up make for a sucky race.

[mertensia]

I would have liked for Sheri and Cole to have won-Sheri rocked this season, perhaps surprising herself more than anyone- but I can live with Matt and Dana. At least they admit they're dysfunctional.

[aemom]

I didn't like that this leg hinged on the very first thing they did. If you could grab the clue first shot, then good for you. If you didn't,  then you had to go all the way back up and burn time. That's exactly what happened.

Because Matt took 1 try, Sheri took 2, and Tyler 3, the race was over after one task and very anticlimactic no matter what the editors tried.

I call that poor leg design especially on a final leg.

Edited May 14, 2016 by AEMom
Typo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

9 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Dana has 8 kids?  I didn't know that but I haven't seen every episode. How old is she? She doesn't look old enough to have so many kids. 

 

Quote

No Sheri is the one with 8 kids.  2 in college and one about to go to college then the younger bunch.

 

According to her TAR profile, Shari is 45. According to this article (which is from November), her oldest kid is 21, which means she was 24 when she had her the first one. The same article says that her youngest is 6 years old which means Shari was 39 when that one was born. Weirdly, that article says that Shari has six kids, not eight. It lists all of them by name and age so I don't know if she was joking/exaggerating when she said she was eight kids or if she or her husband has two kids from a previous marriage that weren't mentioned in the article. But either way, if you have your first kid in your 20s and then keep getting pregnant every few years, it's possible to have 6-8 kids by the time you're 45. My mom had three of us by the time she was 30 but then she closed up shop.

Dana, on the other hand, is only 29. I suppose it's possible that a person that age could have 8 kids but man, that would be exhausting to basically have back to back pregnancies for a decade.

I couldn't believe that at the end of the race, Dana and Matt said that they really respect each other. Cause respectful behavior definitely includes yelling, "SHUT UP!"

Edited May 14, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[tominboston]

Well, that was... OK, I guess. I was rooting for Sheri & Cole since they were one of the more likeable multi-generational teams that have been on the race and I was impressed at Sheri's persistence and toughness in tasks that were hard for her. Glad to see them make second place at least. Dana & Matt had an, uh, interesting personal dynamic -- hey, if they say they love each other that;s good enough for me -- but they were competent racers and I don't begrudge their win. I found Tyler & Korey mildly annoying so I'm fine with them coming in third.

The big problem for me as a viewer who discovered TAR way back in Season 3 is that the show just doesn't grab me the way it once did. The locations are still fascinating but in recent seasons I've had trouble getting emotionally invested in teams the way I once did. Too much stunt casting maybe. I want to see teams who are longtime race fans, not folks who are prospective famewhores or people who are trying to grab YouTube clicks or Twitter followers or whatever. I certainly won't stop watching but I wish that TAR still grabbed me the way it used to.

[biakbiak]

There actually was some room for movement, Tyler and Korey left the marina before Sheri and Cole got a taxi. It just happens that the team who made the good race decision of keeping their driver had a driver who didn't know the location and wasn't good with the directions.

[NaughtyKitty]

 I thought Sherry said she had a family of eight, not that she had eight kids. 

[aemom]

17 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

According to her TAR profile, Shari is 45. According to this article (which is from November), her oldest kid is 21, which means she was 24 when she had her the first one. The same article says that her youngest is 6 years old which means Shari was 39 when that one was born. Weirdly, that article says that Shari has six kids, not eight.

What Shari said was "we're a family of 8." So I understood that to mean 6 kids plus the parents, so the profile makes sense to me.

Edited May 14, 2016 by AEMom
Formatting

[wintrygal]

Ugh I fast forwarded to the end then erased it all when I saw who won.  I couldn't stand nasty Dana and have no sympathy for (door)Matt. 

I was rooting for Tyler and Korey, but would've been ok with a Sherri/Cole win.   Whatever it's always the ones I hate that win.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

Yup, because Tyler and Korey have made a point of repeatedly reminding the audience that they are gay, from talking about how attractive the men at the challenges are (the last one was at the cliff jump, where Tyler rhapsodized about how the instructor stretched him out), to crowing "Pink is our color" or Tyler joking that he is "the fruit of the loom" (his words, not mine).

I'm not going to throw shade their way for this. If there are gay kiddos or teens watching TAR who feel like they see themselves a little bit more on TV because Tyler and Korey are comfortable being open about who they are, well...that's always going to be a plus in my book. 

[Whimsy]

Had to hide a couple posts due to rude comments. As a reminder, this is the episode thread for the finale. Keep it on topic and keep it civil. 

[fishcakes]

I wouldn't say Tyler and Korey remind people they're gay so much as they're just being themselves. It's no different to me than the teams of young women who use flirtation as a strategy or brodude teams who comment on the hotness of the greeters or whatever. As for this episode, Brandon the instructor didn't seem to mind that Tyler found him attractive. No idea if Brandon was into it or not, but he was pretty smiley about all the future husband jokes and what-not. He certainly didn't seem bothered by it.

I don't dislike Dana, so I'm happy with their win. Matt and Dana know what their relationship is better than we do, so if he says they're both fiery and they both yell, then I'm going to believe him rather than decide he needs to be freed based on watching them for a few minutes once a week for twelve weeks. They ran a really good final leg; Dana was smart about finding the boat and doing the memory task, and Matt's athleticism let them burn through both the height tasks. I won't remember them next week, but this was a decent ending to an okay season.

I love Sheri though. I was laughing at how hard she was crying before the jump off the building task, but only because I know if that were me, I would have been crying twice as hard and might also have peed a little.

Edited May 14, 2016 by fishcakes

[TheFinalRose]

I usually get a little happy for the winning team as they approach the mat through the throng of clapping eliminated teammates but this year, crickets. Nothing. Could barely look up from my laptop. I wanted Sheri and Cole to win, because I like come-from-behind, unexpected victories. And no one ever looked at Sheri during the race and viewed her as competition.  I was only glad to see Tyler and Corey flop.

I failed to feel any of that final episode tension. Maybe subpar editing? IDK. And I'm disappointed to hear that there is more stunt casting ahead next season. Just because the people that run TAR might be getting bored with traditional casting doesn't mean that we viewers want to see something different. In addition to all the tasks and locations, I like to see the human interaction between people who have established relationships. Pairing strangers strips the show of that dynamic and also leaves us with all those forced questions from Phil: So how are you two doing with each other? Do you think there is anything more to your relationship? Do you think this is the start of a lasting friendship? WHO CARES. 

Edited May 14, 2016 by TheFinalRose

[iMonrey]

Ugh. I was hoping Tyler and Korey would win, but I would have been OK with Sheri and Cole winning. Would have been fine with Ashley and Burnie winning too. But Dana? You just don't want to see someone who's done nothing but bitch and moan and scream at her partner get handed a million bucks at the end. I don't, anyway. I think this was the worst winning team in memory. (Never saw the Zach and Flo season.)

I do think there were opportunities in this leg for teams to pass each other but it just didn't work out that way. That said, I wish the first task weren't a first-come, first-serve type of thing that only one team can do at a time, even if that seems to be the case in every final leg. And I also wish the final puzzle thing would have been tougher. I suppose spelling could have tripped some teams up but nobody seemed to have any problems with it and that's generally where teams have the best chance of catching up and passing up other teams.

[J.D.]

This was the dullest finale ever.  The challenges were too similar....heights.  I like when they mix it up and throw in something that allows the other teams to catch up if they're behind.  For example, when they throw in a time delay where the teams all meet up somewhere to take a flight but the plane doesn't leave for another 5 hours.  Once Dana and Matt were in the lead, the other teams didn't have a chance.  There was no lag time, which made the whole episode so predictable and boring.  Meh.

[Nedsdag]

Dear Mrss. Bruckheimer, Van Munster, Vertullo, Littman, and Ms. Doganieri:

A few suggestions for future shows:

• Stop casting racers who have a fear of heights. It's getting out of hand.
• No more stunt casting. Tyler Oakley is a known commodity. I rooted against him for this reason alone.
• It's time for a revamping of your casting. Perhaps you should hire a psychologist to analyze potential contestants. You have far too many uberfans and near sociopaths coming on your show.
• Cast racers who have a slight idea regarding pronunciation of locations. 

Otherwise, I fine with the bickering breakdancers winning. As long as Tyler and whatshisname didn't win.

See you in September.

Sincerely,

Nedsdag

[Wandering Snark]

Oh F me... another super stuntcast season? Maybe this will be my anti-climactic farewell to the Race, and I've seen every episode.

I'm even less looking forward to this one than I was coming into 'social media' season. If you hate your show's core value of "People with an existing relationship" then just quit.

I hate to see it come to this but the start of a new season will be marked with a questionmark for me instead of the usual gold star.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Wandering Snark

[xcrayon2215x]

Glad for the win, but for Matt more than Dana.

[jumper sage]

14 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Team #2:  Cole still looks and acts like a foool.  That fishgape look he adopts when he wants to look good for camera?  Should win him a one-way trip to Bedlam. Sheri really only came on the race because the Social Media Influencer couldn't get any one else to race with him but his mommy!  But what a mommy she has turned out to be.  Sheri has kicked ass and taken names, and despite being saved a couple of times, the team made it to the finish in no small part because of her.  Despite being afraid of heights, she has gone out on a limb several times, and saved the day.  I did think that when Cole elected to do the memory task that they were done!  But he surprised me, and pulled it out of the bag.  Well done, Sheri!  And Cole..

Having worked with people with autism - he has many mannerisms of someone on the spectrum as does Brody and the girl who raced with her dad.  When 50 cent made fun of that airport worker - he too had many classic facial expressions, mannerisms.  

2 hours ago, Nedsdag said:

Stop casting racers who have a fear of heights. It's getting out of hand.

I love Phil, I do.  Having said that and having followed his work forever he really gets a kick out of torturing people with phobias.  I remember when he wanted to just take Oprah out of the studio and jump out of a plane or something and she told him basically that growing up in black and poor and overcoming that was her mastering something in life.  He took it pretty good, I have to say.  He himself is afraid of caves.  What?  No caves on TAR?  I LOVE PHIL THOUGH.

[TheRabbi]

This season may not have had a truly memorable cast, but the travelogue and editing were top notch. The finale wasn't designed particularly well, but there's been worse. The problem is that everyone knows the memory challenge is coming so they need to do a better job surprising the teams (the hello/goodbye task from season 21 being a great example).  The finale ended up very reminiscent of number 23, where it was decided at the first task and then just had to play out.

 

Would have preferred either of the other 2 teams to win, but I can't say I have any hostility towards the winners. Just joining a long line of young 20-something co-ed winners (third season in a row as well). And just because it bears repeating: Sheri is awesome. My favorite contestant in many seasons. In a season with many 'personalities', she was always genuine.

 

Really enjoyed this season, but in the last several years, I've been more drawn to the travel and editing and behind the scenes than the contestants themselves, so I can understand those that didn't appreciate it. This is probably my favorite season in the 'second half' of the show (from 15-28).

[TaraS1]

So happy that Tyler lost if for no other reason than not having to hear him yukking all the way to the finish line. That laugh, my god. 

I couldn't bring myself to root for Dana, but I was happy for Matt. And for Sheri. I definitely sold her short when the season began and she deserves credit for running such a strong race and dragging Cole to a second place finish. 

[vousviou]

18 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

I'm sure this has been a subject that gets a lot of coverage, but I almost think TAR needs to rethink how they set up the final memory task (if that even has to be a thing)....Dana said she had figured it out on Leg 1. That's a mite bit too obvious given the Social Media theme of the season w/ the hashtags inside the freaking clues.

I agree -- I seem to remember that Amy and Maya pretty much won because the final challenge was trickier than a simple memory dump and that added some drama to the finale.  I'd add that I think a lot of challenges would benefit from adding a mental angle to a physical challenge -- instead of things like climbing a single ladder to the cliff jump they did this season, require teams to solve a puzzle along the way to find out which ladder they need to climb before the jump, and if they do it wrong, they need to resolve the puzzle and jump again.

16 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Team #2:  Cole still looks and acts like a foool.  That fishgape look he adopts when he wants to look good for camera?  Should win him a one-way trip to Bedlam. Sheri really only came on the race because the Social Media Influencer couldn't get any one else to race with him but his mommy!  But what a mommy she has turned out to be.  Sheri has kicked ass and taken names, and despite being saved a couple of times, the team made it to the finish in no small part because of her.  Despite being afraid of heights, she has gone out on a limb several times, and saved the day.  I did think that when Cole elected to do the memory task that they were done!  But he surprised me, and pulled it out of the bag.  Well done, Sheri!  And Cole...

I agree they did really well, and I have to say they forced me to completely rejudge them.  I think they come across in their first (and even third) impression as far less smart and competent than they really are, and if Dana and Matt had been zapped with worse luck finding a cab, they would have won.  They definitely got by with a good share of luck, but that was only part of the story, and things like the way Sheri solved the Chinese park puzzle and the two of them completed the unicycle challenge without too much drama impressed me. 

13 hours ago, Christina said:

Next time is strangers who have been paired together, and on Twitter Phil said it will air in September. 

I don't understand why they keep trying to change the race. Family season was a failure, dating season was a failure (which I blame on the editing of an extra helping of one extremely annoying and obnoxious racer), and according to the article in the media thread, this season did not result in additional viewers, and in fact, lost some. 

I think both the dating season and this season were better than I feared, and I think the reason is that they've managed to minimize the gimmicks fairly well and pick enough solid contestants to tamp down the faces who just want to be on camera.  I wouldn't be surprised if some producer is managing to do a decent job adapting to the effect of edicts from the network brass to change the formula more.

I'm open to the possibility that pairing strangers might work.  I think it will lead to some unfairness, as a strong competitor will be paired with someone way over their head and will get eliminated, but it may lead to some interesting legs.  It avoids the worst angle of the dating season, which was the cringeworthy scenes of Phil pushing teammates to talk about non-existent sparks.  I just hope that the luck of the draw doesn't create a superteam that essentially crushes all season long.

[Dobian]

7 hours ago, AEMom said:

I didn't like that this leg hinged on the very first thing they did. If you could grab the clue first shot, then good for you. If you didn't,  then you had to go all the way back up and burn time. That's exactly what happened.

Because Matt took 1 try, Sheri took 2, and Tyler 3, the race was over after one task and very anticlimactic no matter what the editors tried.

I call that poor leg design especially on a final leg.

I think the producers figured the find-the-boat leg might be an equalizer if some teams were having trouble finding the boat.  The problem was, after the first task in L.A., the teams were helicoptered directly to the location of the next task in Santa Barbara, so there was no way for a team to make up time in transit to the next task.  Teams were guaranteed to arrive at the task in the same order they finished the first task and with no real change in the time gap.  Then that second task turned out to be not very difficult, and the third task wasn't either really so no way to make up time there, so Matt and Dana were pretty much locked in as the leaders to the final puzzle.

[tom87]

The memory game should be what food they were served on each flight and totally throw them for a loop.

Or have the memory game the 3rd to last lag before they study up on it.

[chaifan]

Back at the end of S26 (blind dates), I suggested the following method for pairing up teams of total strangers:

Start with 24 (or is it 22?) people, each has a card with the most basic info - name, age, profession, maybe one fun fact - and then treat it like picking teams for kickball.  Draw numbers for the right to pick first, and let people select their own teammate.  For the people being picked, you have one veto to use to decline being on a team, but after that's up, if you're chosen you're on that team.  It would take a little time in real life, but could be edited down to just a few minutes on screen.  Just don't have any obvious "last picks", aka significantly older, out of shape, etc.  I think it would be interesting to see who people would select, and whether they made the right choice in the end. 

[millennium]

7 hours ago, hendersonrocks said:

I'm not going to throw shade their way for this. If there are gay kiddos or teens watching TAR who feel like they see themselves a little bit more on TV because Tyler and Korey are comfortable being open about who they are, well...that's always going to be a plus in my book. 

You make a good point.  Certainly I have no problem with anyone being open, but it grates on me when racers seem to go out of their way to make sure the viewers get the point.   I felt the same about the Weaver family and their public displays of religion some years back. 

I suppose it could be a matter of editing, as someone mentioned above.   Or perhaps I'm just hyper-sensitive to it  because I disliked Tyler and the Weavers.

50 minutes ago, tom87 said:

The memory game should be what food they were served on each flight and totally throw them for a loop.

 

Hahaha!

[greyhorse]

23 hours ago, alexa said:

I am okay with the ending but I really wanted Tyler and Korey to win.  As said above I didn't like that there was no room for movement in the order of the teams.  It feels like an easy win for the team who starts out in first after the first task.

 

22 hours ago, blackwing said:

I don't agree, there was room for movement from the very start.  If Matt had taken three tries and Tyler only one then there could be movement.  It's not fair to say there was no room for movement after task 1 when the whole reason why Tyler and Korey were so far behind is because of his poor performance on task 1.

There was room for movement at the Teresa Ann task. That was a needle in a haystack and it could have taken a long time. Dana was smart to think it would be near the actual museum building.  Sheri and Cole missed it several times.

Dana and Matt bled about 10-15 minutes with their cab error and still maintained their lead. Tyler also got unlucky with a cab driver that had more issues than the others with the directions.  Dana and Matt were smart, they looked it up on the guy's phone and told him to go there.  Tyler asked her to look it up and she was confused.

Lastly, that last task could have had movement depending on how quickly teams got through it and how well they remembered things.  Dana rocked.

So in sum, I don't think it's fair to cry there was no room for movement just because your favourite team made multiple errors and the winner made only one.

Totally agree.  There is no room for movement if the team in first nails every single task and stays out in front.  But it's not a given that they will.  You can say that for every single leg.  I suppose maybe what you're complaining about is that there was no detour that gave the racers a choice of tasks.  Tyler totally set them behind by taking three tries to get the clue.  Think about the time it would take for each try.  He misses, he has to come all the way down, take the elevator back up, reharness, safety check again, etc.  That likely bled 15 minutes each try.  Lucky for Matt that he is tall and athletic.  The clue certainly looked a far away out.  Sheri did some weird grabbing her rope thing and didn't even come close on her first try.  Yet she was able to get it on her second.  Presumably Tyler's clue was moved closer just as much as Sheri's was.  Sheri looks considerably heavier than Tyler, so the fact that she got it on her second try while Tyler failed makes it even sweeter.

Couldn't believe Sheri and Cole didn't get in the cab because the driver didn't know where Gibraltar Rock was.  Guess they forgot they were in the US and that everybody has a smart phone.  Tyler and Korey did have bad luck with that cab though so maybe it really didn't matter.

I think it's time for TAR to change up the final memory task.  It's become so obvious that the last task will be a put-cities-in-order task.  I didn't really pay attention to clue reading throughout the season so I don't think I ever noticed the hashtags.  But as a racer, when your money maker is YouTube and hashtags are part of your world, the fact that something is hashtagged in a clue when you don't even have access to the internet would have set off alarm bells.  I'd love to hear from racers about the little notebooks they keep and what kind of details they write down, how often they study it and quiz each other, etc.  Certainly seemed like Dana, Tyler and Korey, and even Cole all were ready for the final task.  I would love for it to be more difficult.  My memory is fuzzy, but the two hardest ones I recall were the one with the flags of the country and they had to string up names and another one where the racer had to find specific balls in a gigantic ball pit.

[scowl]

The "jump for the clue" made me dizzy. I don't know how anyone can do that. It was scary when they first had it in season 13 and that was just forty feet in the air. I would have been hanging onto the line like Sheri every single time. 

[millennium]

5 minutes ago, scowl said:

The "jump for the clue" made me dizzy. I don't know how anyone can do that. It was scary when they first had it in season 13 and that was just forty feet in the air. I would have been hanging onto the line like Sheri every single time. 

Like Matt said, "it's a mind game."   I can almost imagine stepping off a building and plunging, but I'm not sure I could manage a deliberate, flying leap into the air.    My legs get numb and heavy just thinking about it.

[PreBabylonia]

12 hours ago, tominboston said:

Well, that was... OK, I guess. I was rooting for Sheri & Cole since they were one of the more likeable multi-generational teams that have been on the race and I was impressed at Sheri's persistence and toughness in tasks that were hard for her. Glad to see them make second place at least. Dana & Matt had an, uh, interesting personal dynamic -- hey, if they say they love each other that;s good enough for me -- but they were competent racers and I don't begrudge their win. I found Tyler & Korey mildly annoying so I'm fine with them coming in third.

The big problem for me as a viewer who discovered TAR way back in Season 3 is that the show just doesn't grab me the way it once did. The locations are still fascinating but in recent seasons I've had trouble getting emotionally invested in teams the way I once did. Too much stunt casting maybe. I want to see teams who are longtime race fans, not folks who are prospective famewhores or people who are trying to grab YouTube clicks or Twitter followers or whatever. I certainly won't stop watching but I wish that TAR still grabbed me the way it used to.

I totally agree. I have only been watching TAR for perhaps the last seven seasons. I've been having a lot of fun watching the series right from the beginning and I have to admit, the racers were far more interesting back then. Danny & Oswald were hilarious for instance. Not for one minute did I think I'd be rooting for rich entitled guys....but I was completely charmed and entertained. And Wil and Tara? She was amazing. I'd have wanted to dump him into a cave and leave him there. I would so much like to see a look back at the early racers and see how they're doing today, if they're still together if initially they were a couple etc. The fact that this year's race only took place over one hour and we didn't get a final pitstop, makes me think the producers knew they didn't have the most interesting race this year either. Although I liked most of the racers (especially Zack & Rachel, Burnie & Ashley), only Sherri struck me as a standout person. I would love to see her have her own show, doing....anything.

So I am looking forward to starting up my third season, to tide me over until the new one comes up. Although I am a little disappointed that a poster found it necessary to divulge the winner of season 3 on this thread. May I respectfully ask posters not to mention the winners of any previous season in this thread? I completely understand mentioning previous racers performances, behaviour etc. just not state the actual winner. I'm avoiding looking at previous season's chat for that very reason.

[etagloh]

Final legs are what they are: there are going to be spectacular tasks but not necessarily the most competitive ones, it's going to rely to some extent on taxis, and TPTB are going to try to move the teams to somewhere where the result can't be spoiled.

I think this was a very reasonable way to structure a final leg: the leap challenge was not a gimme, and so could cause a switch in places, and we're skewed a little in how it looked because Matt managed it first time and the following teams didn't. Finding the boat wasn't straightforward, especially since teams had to navigate in a dinghy as opposed to run round on foot; the canyon challenge wasn't a breeze either, and while the final challenge wasn't the toughest, props to Dana for breezing through it.

I miss final legs that take place in cities where there are people out and about, as opposed to final legs that land at dawn and happen out of sight, but so it goes.

Were Matt and Dana the best team in this season? Not really, by a long way. But does the season-long best team win TAR? Not necessarily. Overall, I think it was actually a good season -- better than a lot of recent ones, and better than the 'social media stars!' label might have suggested -- because there were some true TAR fans running, and everybody wanted to be pleasant, and so the way teams were basically on good terms with each other meant there was an old-school vibe about proceedings.

[Grandma Saracen]

Gearing up to watch, I realized I didn't care who won. I like Matt well enough, but I think TAR 23 Marie played the villain role better than Dana did this time around. I liked watching Shari's 'can-do' spirit, and Korey seems like a nice enough guy. The fisherman was my favorite, though. I would've loved to her his inner monologue. 

[PreBabylonia]

On 5/14/2016 at 10:56 PM, Rick Kitchen said:

 

What douche behavior?

 

Dammit, I really didn't like Dana.  #FreeMatt

Gee, going home to Los Angeles?  I don't know where Dana and Matt are from, but Korey and Tyler live in LA.

Sheri said she needs to put eight kids through school.  I wonder how much Cole makes on Vine.

Sheri really doesn't need that money for her kid's education. I read the local media's article and noticed that her husband is a PROFESSOR at Troy University - the same university that Cole and his older brother Luke also attend. I'm pretty sure that universities still give greatly reduced or free tuition for their teaching staff's family. The same article also said that her husband is managing Cole's social media career, and that he bought out the rights to the friends band (Dem White Boys) that initially made him famous. Kind of puts a different spin on the down-to-earth just regular folks vibe of the mother and son. Although I still adore Sherri for her kick ass attitude and approach to tasks. Plus, she is a stunning example of a MILF. Wish I looked half as good.

I'm not a Tyler fan, and it's not just because of his annoying  laugh. He came across as super bitchy and mean during last week's episode. All's fair when it comes to banding against another team (B&A) but it came out negatively and personal, not strategic. I remember thinking that he isn't as sweet and innocent as I saw portrayed previously, but bitchy like Dana. No longer surprised that they are friends. 

I'm not sure what I think about TAR creating their own teams but if I think of Sherri, Matt and Korey and how much more I liked them than their teammates, it occurs to me that it might be a good thing. We shall see.

 

http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/cole-labrant-the-vine-star-who-asked-selena-gomez-to/article_dcfc6518-8a64-11e5-bd86-3bda9b9c035b.html

[scrb]

Tyler and Corey probably figured Dana would be screaming at Matt and sabotage their chances.  They hadn't won a leg or even come in second all race.

So they decided to help them  so that Burnie and Ashley would be eliminated.

But the thing is, Burnie or Ashley were far more likely to miss the first jump than Matt.  Dana might have missed the jump but she was the most athletic among the women so she might have done better than Tyler.

Then in the canyon challenge, Matt and Dana probably did as well as any of the 3 teams and probably Burnie and Ashley.

The Frisbee boys probably would have killed on all the physical tasks but the one guy might have gotten flustered on the memory challenge.

[aradia22]

The worst of all possible worlds. Obviously, I'm exaggerating. I never disliked Matt and Dana that much. But this is continuing a streak of lackluster TAR winners. I easily liked them the least of the three remaining teams. They were neither appealing personalities nor great racers. And if you're going to have annoying winners at least have them be fun annoying like Hayley and Blair.

I wish it had been Tyler and Korey.

[mertensia]

I don't know about Troy University but I went to the same university where my father taught and received no break in tuition. Also, professors? Not necessarily raking in the dough.