S31.E11/12: This One is For One Million Dollars

[ML89]

5 hours ago, mookster said:

Well, now this is embarrassing. This whole season (and probably their original season) I confused Tyler and Korey. So while everyone was saying how annoying Tyler was, I thought "But he's so quiet and sweet and just seems to get the job done." Doh! 

Don’t feel alone - me too! I finally got it right by the last two eps.

[Lemons]

I hated this season of social media and reality people.  Bring back the ordinary people.  The mother and son team, the older couple, the country folk.   I couldn’t get myself to root for any of them.  It was like watching actors playing parts. Boring. 

[Whimsy]

It has been repeatedly stated that there is not to be rehashing of past seasons in the episode threads. There is a pinned mod note at the top of the page for TAR and there have been several mod notes. Posts have been removed and warnings have been issued

[thelegacies87]

I've been rewatching past Amazing Race seasons, and I finished season five only a few days ago. I"m so happy Colin and Christie won this season. I was very happy with season 5 winner, but it's more about how much they've grown. Colin is so calm and zen. He's become a really kind person. A very different Colin. Christie also become more assertive, outspoken and yes calm as well. They're like night and day from season five, so to see them grow and win the race is very sweet and rewarding. People can change for the better, and when they do, it pays off. So bravo Colin and Christie.

Maybe I should get into spirituality, haha. I need things to keep me calm!

Now onto a new season, which hopefully will be norms and not reality stars!

Edited July 4, 2019 by thelegacies87

[mikewho]

Then where do I put a polite post about my opinion of people wanting 'normal' people on shows as opposed to reality stars?

[sinycalone]

I've often wondered how we could have a season of "normal" people -- when there are so many criteria for normal.

[zoltana]

On 6/26/2019 at 10:13 PM, redfish said:

They should have done a memory challenge with the clues on the drums (real and fake ones) and they have to solve it with all that noise as a distraction. That would have been a real TAR mental challenge.

I was disappointed that they didn't do a memory/country/leg challenge.  That seems so standard for the race and one of the reasons they go all over the world.  The entire race could take place in the US if they're not going to do a challenge where you have to remember all the different places and cultures.  I didn't mind the winners though, so that was a plus.

[mikewho]

1 hour ago, zoltana said:

I was disappointed that they didn't do a memory/country/leg challenge.  That seems so standard for the race and one of the reasons they go all over the world.  The entire race could take place in the US if they're not going to do a challenge where you have to remember all the different places and cultures.

I wasn't. I thought that challenge was played out. It was interesting the first few times, but the show's gotta change so it doesn't become reduntant. 

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, mikewho said:

I wasn't. I thought that challenge was played out. It was interesting the first few times, but the show's gotta change so it doesn't become reduntant. 

Yeah, it's also become expected and all of the racers keep detailed diaries and memorize the countries, challenges, greeters and what-all.  I don't believe it has determined the winner and loser in many seasons.

[SVNBob]

9 hours ago, zoltana said:

The entire race could take place in the US if they're not going to do a challenge where you have to remember all the different places

The Family Edition did both.  That Race was only in North America, and there was a final memory challenge.

[chaifan]

I don't think having a memory challenge at the end is redundant.  It's tradition (or, it should be).  There are so many ways to switch it up, and make it truly challenging.  I think the best one was the season with Christine and her father (Ron?), and the end challenge involved props from each leg, plus a few red herring props, and they all had to be balanced on some massive scale, or something like that.  So it would be challenging even it were all random props, just to balance the scale, but the props harked back to the legs.  Like Redfish said above, they could have incorporated symbols from the legs into the drum challenge to make it both a drum challenge and a memory challenge. 

There was one season where all the greeters wore hats, and I was sure there was going to be some "match the hat to the greeter" type challenge at the end.  But, no, there wasn't, and I was actually disappointed. 

And I also feel that memory challenges reward the true TAR aficionado racer, who knows from the beginning to be on the lookout for things that could show up in a memory challenge.  A lot of the "stunt cast" teams have never seen TAR before being cast.  Would they know to keep notes on things like greeters, their hats, pets, flags, etc? 

[theschnauzers]

Colin and Christie said in one of the podcasts or interviews this past week that all of the teams took copious notes and were studying them in case there was a final memory task. So not having one is a variable for the Racers to make things unpredictable. I’m fine with not having one every season. As it is I don’t think the result would have changed.

[gryphon]

I am totally ok with the result and I didn't think I would be. The last challenges all took some thought and skill.  It looked so hot in Michigan!  Those musicians must have been exhausted by the end of the day. I can just imagine the humidity.  It looked like a really difficult season and I'm happy about that.  I'm not too thrilled about stunt casting (Big Brother, et al).  Hopefully next time we get some every day people competing.  

Edited July 6, 2019 by gryphon
Edited to remove previous repetitive thought

[Brookside]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:46 PM, green said:

https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/19/amazing-race-31-colin-christie/

I still find it hard to believe that these two aren't from southern California.

[Brookside]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:10 PM, Archery said:

I did not think anyone would be able to do that London cab task.  

I lived in London for a couple of years and am very familiar with the area they were driving in.  No way would I have been able to do that task!

For anyone interested, here's an article about taxi drivers and "The Knowledge", the test would-be drivers have to take in order to qualify for a licence (sic).  Apparently, memorizing 45,000 streets/landmarks causes their brains to grow. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-16086233

"Would-be taxi drivers have to learn 320 routes within a six mile radius of Charing Cross, which covers a mind-boggling 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks and places of interest."

[Brookside]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 7:01 PM, North of Eden said:

It was nailbiting at the drums...I was so worried that Colin and Christie were going to drop to second place if the camera whores spotted that washer on the ground.

Who are the "camera whores"?  

[North of Eden]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Who are the "camera whores"?  

Tyler (moreso than his partner) who constantly has to be mugging at the camera, carrying on...performing....fake, fake fake! I hope he never comes back to TAR.

[Brookside]

5 minutes ago, North of Eden said:

Tyler (moreso than his partner) who constantly has to be mugging at the camera, carrying on...performing....fake, fake fake! I hope he never comes back to TAR.

Right, of course.  (Had a brain fart there.)  They actually didn't bother me that much, but I certainly get that point of view.  As others have expressed though, this season did seem to have fewer universally disliked racers than normal.

[jhlipton]

On 6/27/2019 at 9:57 AM, meep.meep said:

How much further behind were they in reaching the mat?  They did all the tasks so they didn't get a pity direction to head to the pitstop.

On 6/27/2019 at 8:11 PM, Cotypubby said:

Judging by the shadows at the mat, Leo and Jamal looked to be around an hour behind.

The shadows were about the same length and only moved a few degrees, so probably about an hour or less.

On 6/29/2019 at 11:08 AM, ML89 said:

That rappel face forward

I don't call that "rappelling" -- rappelling is using your feet to "bounce" down a building or cliff.  That was just "controlled falling".

[theschnauzers]

4 hours ago, jhlipton said:

The shadows were about the same length and only moved a few degrees, so probably about an hour or less.

I don't call that "rappelling" -- rappelling is using your feet to "bounce" down a building or cliff.  That was just "controlled falling".

The difference was more like three hours behind the first two teams. You can tell by the length of the shadows and the hint of the oncoming dusk in the color of the sky. Best ay is to look as each team emerged from the tunnel into the yard where the final Mat was located. (And The Racers who were at the Travelocity finale party in Dallas confirmed that. That was consistent with filming day spoilers.

The roadblock was an upside down controlled descent. The Racers were wearing harnesses and could control their descent with their hands and feet.

And I’m not bothered by Tyler or Korey. Tyler is usually more high strung on his YouTube channel. 

[awaken]

On 7/4/2019 at 4:24 PM, zoltana said:

I was disappointed that they didn't do a memory/country/leg challenge.  That seems so standard for the race and one of the reasons they go all over the world.  The entire race could take place in the US if they're not going to do a challenge where you have to remember all the different places and cultures.  I didn't mind the winners though, so that was a plus.

I was disappointed too!  I always look forward to the players reliving the game, and us reliving it along with them!

On 7/9/2019 at 8:02 PM, Brookside said:

I still find it hard to believe that these two aren't from southern California.

I thought they were, too!  I read the article but didn’t see where they’re from. 

[Brookside]

59 minutes ago, awaken said:

  I read the article but didn’t see where they’re from. 

Unless things have changed recently, it seems Christie and Colin live in Austin, Texas.

[theschnauzers]

In most returning racer seasons, there apparently haven’t been a final memory task. TAR 30, with no returning racers, had such a task, TAR 31 with returning racers did not.

Colin and Christie are born, raised and live in Texas. Christie has said she grew up in east Texas. As Colin mentioned  during the Netherlands lag, he grew up on Padre Island across from Corpus Christi. Both attended the University of Texas in Austin and met there, a year before TAR 5. Both moved around a bit but settled in Austin before either of their boys were born. That should fill in what is available on social media.

Edited July 15, 2019 by theschnauzers

[SVNBob]

31 minutes ago, theschnauzers said:

Both moved around a bit but settled in Austin before either of their boys were born.

And as a Texan, I can confirm that Austin, aside from being the state capitol, is the SoCal of Texas (minus the beaches).  The unofficial city motto is "Keep Austin Weird."  So C&C living there now makes perfect sense to me.

[green]

On 7/15/2019 at 1:08 AM, SVNBob said:

And as a Texan, I can confirm that Austin, aside from being the state capitol, is the SoCal of Texas (minus the beaches).  The unofficial city motto is "Keep Austin Weird."  So C&C living there now makes perfect sense to me.

Yeah Colin & Christie "types" can be found in every state in the union in droves.  California isn't some unique new age haven.

[Roccos Brother]

I'm actually surprised how much I wanted to see more of Team Fun. I didn't particularly care for them during their season, but they've really grown on me and was one of the best reasons to watch this time around. Pretty much all the non-Amazing Race teams were completely forgettable. A lackluster season overall, but still entertaining enough for passive viewing.

[limecoke]

Ok, I'm really late to the party because I just finished watching this season (thankful for my DVR).  SO happy that Colin and Cristie pulled off the win.  I watched season five when it aired and while I found them entertaining in a perverse way, I could not stand them.  I loved the redemption arc and their joy when they reached the million dollar mat.  

The collapse of Leo and Jamal was my favorite moment of the double episode.  I don't think I'd mind them so much if they weren't so loud and obnoxious in every single episode.

Great finale and is it just me or does Phil get better looking every season?  

Edited September 8, 2019 by limecoke