S24.E12: Do You Believe In Magic?

[Bryce Lynch]

I am so happy for Dave and Connor that they won the race and the million dollars.

Now they can finally have a BABY!

[Runningwild]

Worst finale since Family Edition. The country singers shouldn't have been there after coming in last twice, Dave shouldn't have been there but they changed the rules to make it easy for him, and Brenchel lost the million the second they got the oldest cab driver in Vegas. The 2 cab drivers were probably paid off - one to driver slow as molasses and the other not to switch.

[Lamb18]

I also can't help wondering if the Roadblock rule was changed this season to help Dave and Connor win.  It was so lopsided.  I did like the magic trick and through Rachel was smart to get that box open.  Too bad they had such a lousy cab driver.  I'm not sure if they were really deliberately throwing dirt in D & C's hole.  I could see the wind blowing dirt around - more likely R & B were tossing dirt out on the side closer to D & C, and the wind picked the dirt up and blew it over while it was still airborne.  The country girls race pretty well these last two legs - why didn't they show this kind of effort all season instead of leaning on others? 

Edited May 19, 2014 by Lamb18

[SirDigbyPollo]

Well, now I can say that I have hate-watched a TV show.  Ugh.

 

It definitely seemed like he was planning to make Connor do it and then changed his mind.

Yes, he did think that Connor should do the final challenge.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the part where Dave was informed that, because Connor had done the Welsh poem RB and the escape-from-a-burning-box RB, Dave _had_ to do the final challenge in order to be consistent with Phil's New Road Block Rules. After Dave's temper tantrum, he was informed that he wouldn't actually have to do anything difficult for this challenge, so he dutifully suited up and headed for the helicopter.

 

I hope that Phil presented Brenchell's cabbie with a special cash bonus.  She correctly identified a threat to our world and did what needed to be done to prevent that threat from becoming a reality.  Yes, Brendon, you should search ALL of the hotel rooms in the Mirage for the next clue.  It's too bad they didn't have to write the number of lightbulbs in Roman numerals.  Those two d-bags would still be on that scaffolding.

 

Dear Phil,

As much as I love Browsie, if you ever have the sparkly, green meadow muffins on The Amazing Race again, I will hunt you down and shave your eyebrows.

Sincerely,

A Long-time TAR Fan

[Bryce Lynch]

 

I'm a terrible person and headed straight for Hell. Because my favorite part of this finale was seeing Rachel cry at seeing her hopes dashed, and thereby being deprived of the ability to have a baby.

 

I am far worse than you.  On every task, I was thinking of how Brenchel (or at least Rachel) might perish. 

 

*When they were digging in the desert, I was hoping it was Brenchel's graves.

 

*During the magic trick, I was hoping that, mabye somehow Rachel would not get out of the box in time.

 

*When they were changing the lightbulbs, I was hoping that the scaffold would collapse or Brendan would toss Rachel over the side.

 

*I originally hoped Brendan's parachute wouldn't open, but then I realized the innocent skydiving guide would perish along with him.  Later I realized that I should have been hoping for Brendan to become detached from the guide and the chute. 

 

Does anyone else think the cab driver intentionally slowed down, because B&R were so annoying telling her they needed to hurry because they wanted to have a baby?  I know I would have slowed down, or mabye dropped them off at the nearest hospital maternity ward.

 

I was glad to see Dave and Connor win. It seemed like most of the other racers were also excited to see them win.  I only wish that when they hit the mat they yelled out, "Now we can have a baby!"

Edited May 19, 2014 by Bryce Lynch

[MortysCleaningLady]

Did I miss the medical update on Bopper?  Did the Race help him and his family out at all? 

[StatMom]

Does the final leg usually not include a Detour? Or is it generally replaced by the big final memory/wrapup task (I also missed having this one)? It just felt like there wasn't quite enough stuff going on. I guess it filled an hour, though. There you go, CBS.

[A Boston Gal]

Agreed, agreed, agreed. Worst AND most boring leg in the worst AND most boring season since TAR Family Edition.   Even our lovely Phil looked haggard and unhealthy at the end.

 

This show, once so creative and fun, desperately needs a complete overhaul of showrunners and an infusion of new ideas. Of course, interesting and smart contestants that we haven't already seen three times before would also be a plus.

[scrb]

This season had some good moments.

 

A lot of close finishes than I can recall on other seasons, including this final leg where the race was won by D&C outrunning the girls to the clue box in front of the helicopter place.

 

Even though it was only a few seconds, they had to let the first helicopter get through and let them jump before the second helicopter could enter.  So Dave landed several minutes, instead of just a few seconds, before the girl.

[Arjay]

I always cry at the final mat. Even if I don't care for the team, it's just an emotional moment for me when Phil rattles off how far they've come to get to the finish line. Not last night. Without the final memory task, or any sort of challenging task at all, combined with the letdown of the skydive and the winners, my whole reaction was just "meh." That makes me sad.

[Osmonth]

Just one roadblock shy of making it a great finale. If they would have picked a challening roadblock before the skydive it would have been more fun. Or perhaps switched the lightbulb one for a harder. So typical though, a Vegas finale with more focus on making it a spectacle and visual entertaining.

 

Glad Dave and Connor won. Dave can whine and played the age card to much. But the man is the oldest winner and tore his achilles last season. He must have been terrified of letting his son "down" every step of the way. Overall 2 nice people who raced a clean good race. It's been a while since a winning team was so much liked by the other teams, a joy to watch the other teams being happy for them.

Brenchel. So very happy they didn't win. You dont' pray for others misfortune, especially over a game show. They sure came of as a selfcentered team that was good when things where going their way and buckled when it didn't. I loved it when Connor snapped at them for continuing to throw their dirt in D&C's hole. So unnecessary to bring the race to that level. Rachel has a strong tunnel vision that doesn't help them in the long run. She's allways the victim and never the culprit.
Brendon showed bursts of bad temper and judgement. Don't remember him doing that last season, but maybe that's just my memory.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Osmonth

[Chyna]

And Brenchels? You don't need a million dollars to have a baby. You want a baby? Then freaking make a baby!

 

 

She explained further at the end of the show. The issue is that he's still in grad school, so he thinks (quite reasonably) it's not a good time to start a family, but she wants to have a baby right away. So, as Rachel said, they'll just wait until he's done with school and employed. Which is the better plan whether they'd won the million or not.

 

Did I miss the medical update on Bopper?  Did the Race help him and his family out at all?

 

 

According to a TV Guide interview a while back, it was just an infection that cleared up with a course of antibiotics, and he actually felt complete back to normal after two days. But unfortunately, the Race docs couldn't have known that, and the biggest concern was that if his health got worse when they were in a country with substandard medical facilities, he could be at much more serious risk. 

 

Like many of you, I didn't love this finale either, but I LOVED David Copperfield. "I wrote that!" Hee hee hee. And whatever he's doing to have apparently stopped the aging process is working very nicely for him indeed. I might even argue that he's hotter now than when he was younger.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Chyna

[Netfoot]

I am a devoted fan of The Amazing Race and have watched every episode.  I will continue to watch.  But this has been one of the worst, least entertaining seasons in the history of the show, and the least entertaining finale in living memory.  I hope TPTB use it as an object lesson on what NOT to do.  In particular, don't ever bring any of these people back into my living room again.  Ever.

 

I don't believe the game is rigged.  No, they don't create NELs on the spot to save favourite teams.  No, they didn't arrange to return Rob&Amber's plane to the gate so Uchenna&Joyce could get on. If they got caught, the damage to the franchise would be too great.  But what they can legally do is decide before the start that a parent/child team win would be good for the show, and alter the roadblock rules to suit their preferred scumbag.  Yes, Dave did finally do a RB, but it was of the laundrybag variety; he didn't have to do anything more than get himself slung out of a heli like a sack of dirty washing.  I'll admit, the shooting-star jump at night was spectacular to watch, but it wasn't a challenge of any sort, was it?

 

Country Girls, you didn't do too badly for yourselves in the last few legs of the race.  Pity you didn't run the whole race the way you (demonstrably) were capable of.  Your winning might have been more palatable as a result.  I actually wanted you to win, but not so much for who you were, but more for who you were up against.  And you could have done it, too.  You were the first to the light bulbs, but you let D&C (Dickhead and Company) overtake you.  How did that happen?  (But see speculation later.)

 

Rachael, it seems you really, really wanted to win.  Well, I'm not sure if you realized that there was a million dollar prize riding on the race, so everybody really, really wanted to win, you stupid, fat-faced cow!

 

I've often heard about David Copperfield the great magician.  All I've ever seen is David Copperfield the pompous ass.  The illusion was boring, predictable, and yawn-inducing.  And his complete lack of reaction when the box 'accidentally' crashed to the ground only goes to show that his acting is on the same level as his prestidigitation: pathetic.  That challenge turned out to be finding the right key out of a bunch of 50 keys.  So needle in haystack with a particularly small haystack.  (What is a large haystack?  Ask Hayden, TAR6.)

 

Neon Boneyard Museum.  Well, it looked like you could have visited every corner and seen every 'exhibit' without getting out of your car.  I doubt anyone spent more than 60 seconds on-site, so really it only served to string two cab-rides together, emphasizing the importance of taxi-luck.  B&R's taxi driver seemed like a particularly moronic bitch, but maybe she was a BB fan, and decided to give B&R what (she thought) they deserved.  TPTB:  Bringing these fame-whoring glory hounds on the race -- as opposed to 'regular' people -- can have an adverse effect on gameplay, when they are recognized by the public.

 

Quickly in passing, let me just say I preferred when they were NOT allowed to repeatedly scream "We're in a race for a million dollars!!!" at their cab driver.

 

The lightbulbs were the only real opportunity for some shuffling action, and we actually got some.  But how did that happen?  Speculating:  C&J did comment that the scaffold was a long stretch from the sign, which made the task harder.  Perhaps D&C had longer arms/more reach?  One of those blondes is pretty tall, so I don't know, though.  Did anybody see some difference in technique that would have caused the Country Singers to fall behind?

 

Anyway, TAR24 is over, which is a blessing, seeing as how un-entertaining it's been, and how lack-lustre was the finale.  Bring on TAR25, and for the sake of the long-term preservation of the show, I hope it's a very different animal.  Get ordinary, capable racers, give them difficult clues and challenging tasks, forget trying to introduce drama and contention, don't forget to show us (the viewers) something of the countries they race through, and trust in the original premise of the show. 

[etagloh]

 

The others were close to half way done when they arrived.

 

This is true, but the editing there seemed odd, because there were shots of Brenchal somewhat further along with their I (over halfway through) when the other teams finished. The Mirage is Y-shaped, and the first two teams could see each other, but Brenchal was over on one of the other sides. The ride up and down took a decent amount of time, but it just felt like the Brenchal footage was slightly out of sync with the teams ahead of them.

[Artsda]

It was awful all around, worst leg and tasks I've seen and the fact this is supposed to be All-Stars made the fact they made the final leg

so awful, even worse.

[Kara]

I don't think the memory task is an absolute necessity.  I started watching TAR just a few years ago, and there were no memory challenges in the last leg the first couple of seasons I saw, but I did see people on message boards complaining about its omission in those seasons.  Then when I saw later seasons that included the memory challenge, it seemed like teams were expecting it, and made note of almost everything they did, so they were able to refer back to notes, and it the memory part wasn't really challenging, but the task involved in sorting it out (finding beach balls in a huge ball pit with certain countries, or erecting the pillars w/ the greeting and the name of the country, etc) were challenging and took time, not the actual memory part of it.  So, I am indifferent to the memory aspect of the final leg.  It is the tasks that need to be difficult, and these really weren't.  The second or third  season I saw was the all star season w/ the globetrotters and the sisters, who won.  They had to recreate a beach scene from a model on a very windy day, and then take a long bike ride at the very end that tested their endurance, I can't remember what else they did, but there was no memory challenge, but it was a lot more difficult than this season.   I would prefer those kinds of challenges with no memory task, to what we saw last night.

 

Also, I do not have a problem w/ B&R wanting to have some money in the bank before having a baby.  I also think it is fine if they decided to just go for it, without saving a ton of money, but people have to decide for themselves what their own comfort level is before having a kid.  That is all fine, personal choice and everything.  What I didn't like was the constant whining about it this leg.  It is fine to have a personal goal that motivates you, but don't expect other people to be interested at all in your personal goals, and think if you insist on its importance, they will be motivated to break the law and risk fines, and possibly losing their job and income. 

 

I don't think R&B were intentionally throwing dirt in the D&C's hole, it looked like the wind was blowing it, and D&C's whining was annoying.  They are such entitled pricks, they probably thought B&R should stop shoveling to make it easier for them since D is so damn old.  The biggest problem I had with that whole scene is the singers getting involved in it.  They have been inserting themselves into the drama between the other teams since the road block for no reason.  B&R never did a damn thing to them (well until possible last night, when R may are may not have bumped into one of the singers on purpose) but since the u-turn the singers have been talking smack about B&R.  My 8 year old knows that she has no business in other peoples disputes, and should mind her own business, and not to gang up on other people.  The singers apparently never learned this lesson. 

 

Again, all of these teams were awful.  And I found B&R the least awful for the majority of the race.  I was rooting for them after all of the slightly likeable teams were eliminated, they only started annoying me the last few episodes.  But I still would have preferred them to win just to annoy the self-righteous "right kind of people" assholes on the other two teams. 

[Sarahendipity]

Did anybody see some difference in technique that would have caused the Country Singers to fall behind?

Pretty sure they were only using one hand to put bulbs in, could have gone twice as fast if the screwed them in 2 at a time.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Sarahendipity

[greyhorse]

So just how exactly was the Copperfield illusion done?  I guess the racers know.  I suspect that they were out of the box even before they had to pick the lock.  We didn't actually really see any of them picking the lock, just getting the lock pick out of that jar and taking them out of the package.  There was absolutely no explanation at how to use the lock picks?  I've used a lock picking kit before, so I think I'd know how to do it.  But I don't believe that Rachel or the blonde girl would know how to do it so effortlessly.  Pretty disappointing challenge, to have the incredible David Copperfield there and all you can muster is a boring, "Oh, look, I'm the fireman!" reveal and not something better.

 

Pretty hilarious that Brenchel was telling the cabbie how to get to the Mirage.  Seriously?  You don't think the cab driver in Vegas knows how to get to the Mirage?  Same thing with Dave and Connor, who looked absolutely puzzled and wondering if they were in the right place.  I wonder if it was their first time in Vegas.

[In Pog Form]

I also can't help wondering if the Roadblock rule was changed this season to help Dave and Connor win.  It was so lopsided.

 

In the end, it hardly seems as if Dave having to do both roadblocks would have changed anything, and there was nothing challenging at all about the roadblocks, either physically or mentally. They barely even counted as "tasks." They were "sit in a box and use the provided keys" and "get transported directly to the finish line."

 

Bah!

[Etta Place]

What a weak finale.

 

I can kind of see them lifting the 6-roadblock requirement for an All-Stars season, because the teams have run before and aren't in theory just one person dragging around dead weight ... however, I'm disappointed that a team would choose to start being that way on an All-Stars season.

 

Edit: Now I see that according to Phil's tweet it counted for the first 10 legs only, which still means one member could do 8 of 13. Disappointing no matter the cause, especially because there were a number of RBs that Dave could have easily done and just didn't want to.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Etta Place

[SirDigbyPollo]

Did anybody see some difference in technique that would have caused the Country Singers to fall behind?

The bulbs were hard to screw in, and they had to lean out to do so, which meant that someone with greater upper body strength would find it easier to do.  I think that's why D&C passed the Country Clutter.

 

there were a number of RBs that Dave could have easily done and just didn't want to.

He didn't even want to do the last task, but he had to.  It was the least he could do, considering that Connor carried both of their backpacks through most of the race. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

It was the least he could do, considering that Connor carried both of their backpacks through most of the race.

 

It looked like all teams ditched their backpacks at the airport, because they were all bagless when the jumped into the Ford Explorers.

[roughing it]

Well, in reading comments here, I guess I made the right choice in not watching this season.  I've watched Amazing Race since the very beginning - this is the first season I've missed.  I don't have a problem with "all-stars", but when this is their 2nd or 3rd outing, I just can't anymore.  (I also could not do another season of the "Twinnies" and the "Afghanimals" - TAR All Stars favorites are not usually MY all stars favorites.)  I'm so glad this was the season I decided to skip out on.

 

I would rather have one season per year and have the racers and the tasks/leg design be exciting, than to have 2 seasons per year that are thrown together.

[Wandering Snark]

 

Same thing with Dave and Connor, who looked absolutely puzzled and wondering if they were in the right place.  I wonder if it was their first time in Vegas.

 

Oh I'm sure that Vegas doesn't hold up to their high standards of purity, and Vegas is of course just chock filled with people "Not Like Us".

[Bryce Lynch]

I liked Dave and Connor from the beginning and was glad to see them win.  I think a lot of the criticism they received was unfair.  Did Dave whine a bit too much after the still childless, green sequined couple U-Turned them?  Sure.  But, nearly every team that gets U-Turned gets at least somewhat angry about it.  I think the fact that C&J and L&J took their side and formed the "accidental alliance" (hate that name) probaby resulted in a lot more of Dave's whining be aired. I also think they took it personally because they didn't realize the the Brenchels were gunning for the 1st place prize for the leg, rather than trying to eliminate them. 

 

As for his achilles injury and his age being mentioned so often, both of those things were a big part of D&C's story line.  I look at AR as sort of like a sporting event, and if a player is old, or hurt, or a cancer survivor, or whatever, it gets talked about a lot.  Also, not all viewers watch every episode like most of us do, so many probably tuned in last night and in every other episode knowing anything about the racers.  Does anyone get annoyed with the constant mentions that Caroline and Jennifer are country singers, that Jet and Cord are cowboys or that Herb and Nate are Globetrotters?

 

As for the "quality people" comment, I think it was as much a compliment to the other racers as it was an insult to the Brenchels.  And, quite honestly, IMHO, the Brenechels are a lower quality of people than just about every other team in the race with the possible exception of Margie and Luke (really only Luke) and the Twinnies".

[aradia22]

 

Glad Dave and Connor won. Dave can whine and played the age card to much. But the man is the oldest winner and tore his achilles last season.

Even though it's unlikely, a little part of me is now going to be rooting for any team with a player over the age of 58. They could make it happen with a crop of weak opponents and maybe a former army or Marine guy. Also, by bending the rules so he doesn't have to do as many athletic challenges unless he wants to.

[backformore]

Yes, it was truly the worst season ever.   Dave whined and puted too much for me to be happy about them winning.  It almost seemed like the final legs were set up with the winners decided ahead of time.  For both roadblocks, times would have to be staggered, so whoever is the first to start, is the first to finish, with the other teams having little chance to catch up. 

The lightbulb task was too easy, the teams didn't have to know the EXACT right number, only approximate it, as they could keep guessing.   235?  236?  um, 240? Never had a counting task like that before.  Usually there's some sort of requirement to start over or something.

 

What would have partially fixed it, for me, at least, was if there was a memory task at the end, AFTER landing from the skydive.  Any kind of puzzle would have been great. 

 

I hate to think the show was "fixed", but I see some manipulation behind the scenes that made it just too easy for D&C to win. 

 

Amazing Race is the latest show to "Jump the Shark".    I hope it can recover, because it used to be a damn good show.

[Charlesman]

So just how exactly was the Copperfield illusion done?  I guess the racers know.  I suspect that they were out of the box even before they had to pick the lock.  We didn't actually really see any of them picking the lock, just getting the lock pick out of that jar and taking them out of the package.  There was absolutely no explanation at how to use the lock picks?  I've used a lock picking kit before, so I think I'd know how to do it.  But I don't believe that Rachel or the blonde girl would know how to do it so effortlessly.  Pretty disappointing challenge, to have the incredible David Copperfield there and all you can muster is a boring, "Oh, look, I'm the fireman!" reveal and not something better.

 

My best guess:

 

The racer was never in the box that was lifted up in the air on the platform we saw. The racer was in an identical platform off camera. They were blindfolded and led to this alternate box and put inside. Meanwhile, their partner was led to the van to watch on TV, the van obviously obscuring their view of the alternate box and the main platform. The main platform had an identical box with a Copperfield stage-hand hidden inside. It was this feed that the partner (and us) saw for shots of the outside of the box. A Go-Pro-style camera inside the alternate box was the feed for the shots of the racer inside.

 

The racer found the key and open the shackles. When they reached up to undo the lock pick jar, the stage-hand hidden inside the main box mimicked the action for the "see their hands outside?" part. The stage-hand then dropped out the bottom of the box through a trapdoor and hid, possibly obscured by a mirror between the sawhorses, which was then lowered so it didn't appear in later shots.

 

Meanwhile, the racer in the alternate box picked the lock as the now-empty main box was hoisted into position. When the racer finished picking the final lock and freeing themselves, the partner hit the buttons on the control box. The feed from inside the alternate box was cut. The main box was dropped in the fire. The racer from the alternate box was quickly helped out of the box, a fireman's coat was thrown on their shoulders and a hat on their head, and they were walked over to the van.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Charlesman

[Alapaki]

For a long time I've thought that any team, no matter how weak, has a chance in the final leg due to the spoon fed navigation and taxi luck.  But I've always thought of those things that could compensate for a team's poor performance on a task.

 

With this finale, the tasks were so weak, they were nearly impossible to mess up.  And so this was as close to a random selection (as far as the teams' performance went) as you can get. 

 

They might as well have had the 3 teams just go to the Finish Line, had Phil think of number between 1 and 100, and the team that guessed the closest number won the $1 million.

 

I don't know if the tasks were rigged specifically for a Dave/Connor win, but I do know that there were at least 3 teams that I can recall with older and/or slower contestants (Margie/Luke; Mark/Bopper; Dave/Connor) that TPTB seemed to be drooling over.

[ottoDbusdriver]

We didn't actually really see any of them picking the lock, just getting the lock pick out of that jar and taking them out of the package.  There was absolutely no explanation at how to use the lock picks?  I've used a lock picking kit before, so I think I'd know how to do it.  But I don't believe that Rachel or the blonde girl would know how to do it so effortlessly.

 

What was the point of the blindfold in that challenge -- it added absolutely nothing ?  They showed Dave (and Brendan and one of the Country singers) get blindfolded and led over to the box, only for him to take the blindfold off and being asked where the keys are.  Then Connor is standing right next to the big box and yells to smash the small box open to get the keys.  When the country singers encountered the same issue with the keys, they both worked on it trying to smash the box open.

 

Plus the whole 'spot the finish line location' from the helicopter was rather dubious.  With all the ads on the strip, it looks more like they were told to go read the sign at the Aria, because there was nothing on that sign display to distinguish it as race information except for the phrase 'race ends here' followed by the LV Motor speedway ad.

[merylinkid]

I wish Margie didn't have that albatross that was Luke.   Then she could have been the oldest winner.   Does she have other kids, so they could have been the first parent-child team to win?    Margie mentioned her age a couple of times, but she didn't expect special treatment because she was "old."   Of course, she was too busy wrangling her whiny child to take time for herself.

[ribboninthesky1]

I guess I'm happy that Dave & Connor won. There were the evil of three lessers. 

 

Ha! I see what you did there.

 

I was kind of hoping for the Country Girls to pull off the win, if only as a lesson regarding the "Take the 'weakest' team into F3 so you can beat them" strategy.  It's one of the more stupid strategies in a competition where luck can be such a strong factor.  Ah, well.  I agree with the overall sentiment of this season.  It's unfortunate that spoiler leak avoidance has to be built into the design of the show.  The show has been getting stale anyway, but that doesn't help.

[Tony]

Well... it looks like the team I didn't want to win won. What a craptastic final leg. And Phil's explanation of the roadblock rule sounds like total revisionist justification. And here I was praying that D/C checked in first only to be eliminated because Dave didn't perform enough roadblocks. Worst winning team ever!

[dolphincorn]

 

Pretty hilarious that Brenchel was telling the cabbie how to get to the Mirage.  Seriously?  You don't think the cab driver in Vegas knows how to get to the Mirage?

 

To be fair, there are a lot of ways to get around in Vegas that avoid the gridlock of the Strip.  I know some of them and I'm not afraid to tell a cabbie which way I'd like to go so that I don't waste my time or money.  There's even an information sheet posted in cabs now so that people can see that they're not getting ripped off when taking cabs to the major hotels from the airport.

You know what would have been great?  A challenge that involved getting from big resort to big resort gathering clues without laying foot on the Strip.  There are monorails, trams, foot bridges, etc., that take a while to figure out if you want to avoid cabs altogether.  Last time I was there, I got lost in the Bellagio trying to find the tram station.  It takes a while to figure everything out and many of the locals can't wrap their heads around it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ugh, watching Brendon and Rachel try to steal another team's taxi "FOR OUR BABY!" confirmed that all of my dislike for them previous to this season was correct and that the moments this year when I begrudgingly stopped disliking them were just a fluke. If you want to have a baby, then by all means, have a baby, but quit shrieking about how you NEED to win $1 million so you can have a baby. Yes, Brendon is in grad school so yes, having money would make it easier but STFU. I know several people who had kids while they were in grad school (in science department PhD programs). Grad school is actually not a bad time to have a kid because your schedule can be a bit more flexible than when you have a full time 8am-5pm job. And apparently they will be shocked to hear this, but millions of people have babies without the benefit of an extra $1 million in their bank accounts. Amazing, right?

 

I laughed and laughed that Rachel was SO excited about being in Vegas because she lived there and she worked at the Mirage and she knew how to get there and she knew where the employee entrance was and then they ran right past the clue box and were going to search the entire hotel. I loved that Jen and Caroline's cab driver refused to take Brendon and Rachel. "WE'RE IN A RACE!" "So are the people in my cab." Hahahahaha! If they really wanted to switch cabs, all they had to do was go to was get another one anywhere on the strip. It's not like they were in BFE at 2am. You're in Vegas. There are cabs everywere 24/7!

[etagloh]

 

With all the ads on the strip, it looks more like they were told to go read the sign at the Aria, because there was nothing on that sign display to distinguish it as race information except for the phrase 'race ends here' followed by the LV Motor speedway ad.

 

And they couldn't really put a big "AMAZING RACE ENDS AT..." sign on at 11pm on a Friday night in Vegas. I suspect the additional information said they'd need to look for the Aria.

 

 

You know what would have been great?  A challenge that involved getting from big resort to big resort gathering clues without laying foot on the Strip.

 

That sounds perfect... for Amazing Race Norway or some other spin-off. But not for the mothership.

[Alapaki]

I was kind of hoping for the Country Girls to pull off the win, if only as a lesson regarding the "Take the 'weakest' team into F3 so you can beat them" strategy.  It's one of the more stupid strategies in a competition where luck can be such a strong factor.

 

 

You know, I felt this way most of the season too.  Then I had a realization, and I can't explain why it didn't dawn on me sooner.

 

There really is no lesson to be learned, because if the Country Singers hadn't been carried through so many legs, then there would've been a (almost by definition) stronger team there in the F3 in their place.  Any lucky happenstance that occurred for the Country Singers most likely could've been exploited even more by a better team.

 

The only risk of carrying the Country Singers to the final leg was that there would be a task that they were uniquely skilled at.  

And they couldn't really put a big "AMAZING RACE ENDS AT..." sign on at 11pm on a Friday night in Vegas. I suspect the additional information said they'd need to look for the Aria.

 

 

I agree that was probably their thinking.

 

But, they could've been a little more coy, like scrolling the clue-box colors followed by the location name.  At least introduce the possibility of a team getting it wrong.

 

Also, on a bigger point, I wish TPTB wouldn't stress out over potential spoilers.  I'd bet that the percentage of the audience who even knows about spoilers is pretty small.  And that, amongst the people who get spoiled, most still end up watching anyway.  I'd much rather have final leg tasks with "make you way on foot" navigation tasks (I understand why they don't want these teams driving themselves through busy cities spazzing out to win $1 million).

[Taeolas]

I think this would have been a fine mid-race leg, even a penultimate leg (4 racers) but as a final leg, it didn't work. Part of the problem is I think they wanted a US challenge/leg, but due to how the race is laid out, they can never really have a US leg (unless it's Hawaii or Alaska). It didn't work out in the end. Oh well. TAR.ca starts in a month or so. Can't wait. :)

[GaT]

I'm so happy that not only did Brenchel not win, they came in last! If I had to listen to Rachel tearfully explain one more time how she "really, really, really wants to win" somebody was getting stabbed. I can live with Dave & Connor winning, & I hope that everyone who helped the country singers with challenges has realized how stupid they were.

[Delwyn]

I am so happy for Dave and Connor that they won the race and the million dollars.

Now they can finally have a BABY!

This made me laugh inappropriately hard.

All Stars finale FEATURING: Gravity. Counting. Digging a hole. (Plus no self navigation required - pre doctorates need not apply). Most ill conceived finale yet.

[Rinaldo]

If I had to listen to Rachel tearfully explain one more time how she "really, really, really wants to win" somebody was getting stabbed. 

I feel the same. What makes her so freakin' special? Every team that ever enters this race really, really, really wants to win, or they wouldn't bother. "Wanting" to win doesn't mean that God will look down and see to it that you win because, golly, you just want to win so much. This was another reason why I laughed and laughed when she cried at the end.

[Haleth]

Sounds like I didn't miss anything good while traveling last week so I won't bother watching the finale.  I'd read that Dave & Conner won anyway so I was only moderately interested in seeing it.

 

To go off topic for just a moment, last week I went down the water slide that what's-her-name was so scared of at the Atlantis.  It was not all that scary.

[FlamingWench79]

The best part of this season?  Seeing David Copperfield.  I lived for his TV specials as a kid.  While I can't say that I was upset with Dave & Conner's win, I was rooting for the Afghanimals and was sad to see them get eliminated in the previous leg.  This final leg just seemed so lackluster and not as challenging as the others.  On a positive note, NO BRENCHEL BABY.  I regret nothing.

Edited May 20, 2014 by FlamingWench79

[greyhorse]

I laughed and laughed that Rachel was SO excited about being in Vegas because she lived there and she worked at the Mirage and she knew how to get there and she knew where the employee entrance was and then they ran right past the clue box and were going to search the entire hotel. I loved that Jen and Caroline's cab driver refused to take Brendon and Rachel. "WE'RE IN A RACE!" "So are the people in my cab." Hahahahaha! If they really wanted to switch cabs, all they had to do was go to was get another one anywhere on the strip. It's not like they were in BFE at 2am. You're in Vegas. There are cabs everywere 24/7!

 

 Ditto.  Did Brendan really think the cab driver was going to abandon two hot blondes to instead drive around the harpy Brenchels?  Come on now.  Cab driver is thinking with both of his heads.  Did Brendan say something ridiculous like "I'll give you $20?"  Just laughable.

 

I believe that Brenchels were the only team that kept telling the cab driver that they were in a race for a million dollars.  If Connor and Dave did so, I don't recall.  But do teams really think that cab drivers care if they are racing for a million dollars?  You've got cab drivers working long shifts and hustling just to make a buck, then you get two pompous hypermaniacs telling you to drive faster so they can win $1 million dollars in what must seem like a little treasure hunt to the cabbies.  Now if Brenchel said, we promise you $20000 if we win, then sure, maybe that changes things.  But $20?  Come on now!

[scrb]

When they choose cab drivers, do they have to get them to sign releases?

 

If a driver doesn't want to sign a release, they probably go to another driver?

 

They can't just jump in a cab and go.  Besides getting the driver to sign the release, they have to get the camera man set up in the front seat.

[Rinaldo]

But do teams really think that cab drivers care if they are racing for a million dollars?  You've got cab drivers working long shifts and hustling just to make a buck, then you get two pompous hypermaniacs telling you to drive faster so they can win $1 million dollars 

My favorite comeback to this was in TAR 2, when Wil & Tara tried to jump the taxi queue leaving San Francisco airport. They screamed at the dispatcher, "We're in a race for a million dollars!" and he said "I don't care. I'm not gettin' any of it." He's one of my top five favorite people in all of TAR history.

[ribboninthesky1]

There really is no lesson to be learned, because if the Country Singers hadn't been carried through so many legs, then there would've been a (almost by definition) stronger team there in the F3 in their place.  Any lucky happenstance that occurred for the Country Singers most likely could've been exploited even more by a better team.

 

The only risk of carrying the Country Singers to the final leg was that there would be a task that they were uniquely skilled at.

 

To me, a major part of the Country Singers' run had to do with coming in last on 2 NELs.  Regardless of what assistance provided to them by other teams, those NELs saved them from elimination when coming in last any other time wouldn't have.  That's not something any team can control for, in addition to anything else based on luck.  And given that the racers presumably don't know what tasks are ahead, it's still an unnecessary risk to assume the "weaker" team won't have a task that primarily they can do well and quickly because you can't control for it - it just so happens the final leg didn't have a task for them to be uniquely skilled at, but there's no way to know or plan for that.  To me, the best thing you can do is make sure your game is as strong as it can be, and whoever gets to the F3 with you, so be it.  Every team for themselves.  If it so happens that a weaker team is in it, great! But I wouldn't build a strategy around it. 

 

Besides, given how relatively linear the leg was, it probably wouldn't have mattered if the Cowboys or Leo and Jamal or even Joey and Meghan were in it instead of the Country Girls. 

 

The counterpoint to that might be the evolution of TAR as a social game, so alliances and gang-ups are more likely to force your hand.  I tend to prefer the Cowboys' strategy of running your own race, but it just emphasizes my point on making sure all aspects of your game are as strong as possible so you can avoid the Survivor/BB bullshit as applicable.

[millennium]

Maybe I'm not very demanding.   I enjoyed this finale and was actually pleased by the absence of the memory challenge.   Having to take a quiz after racing around the world always seemed incredibly tedious and anticlimactic to me. 

 

Second unpopular opinion: it could only have been better if the Country Singers won.  I don't care what anyone thinks, I love them. 

 

Brenchels got exactly what they deserved: nothing.   I didn't mind them very much until this episode.   The prolonged attempt at taxi stealing left a very bad taste.   The incorruptible cabbie deserves a merit badge. 

 

I will say this: it's a good thing Rachel wasn't in the chopper, because she would have jumped sans chute to beat the other two to the ground.

Edited May 21, 2014 by millennium

[Gentian root]

Yes, Dave did finally do a RB, but it was of the laundrybag variety; he didn't have to do anything more than get himself slung out of a heli like a sack of dirty washing.  I'll admit, the shooting-star jump at night was spectacular to watch, but it wasn't a challenge of any sort, was it?

 

Way back during TAR 6, when HWMNBN made Victoria do all but one of the difficult RB's, my son remarked "His racing skill is the ability to be affected by gravity."

[PinkSprinkles]

I don't understand the RB rules this time around AT ALL. 

 

If these rules stay for the next season you will run into the same problem that the RB rule was meant to prevent: one team member doing all the RBs. Every single MF team will take advantage of the rule and have the female do 4 RBs while the guy does the remaining 8. It's ridiculous. 

 

If they end up with an odd number of RBs in a season, then they need to state that every team member has to do their required six RBs regardless of the leg of the race (the arbitrary leg 10 was put in to calm (unsuccessfully) the people angry about Dave doing nothing all race) and once each team member has 6, then the remaining RBs can be done by either member.