TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: So maybe I'm overrating the value of a classical education, but was the puzzle clue on tonight's finale of The Amazing Race that hard?
Still, you've got to figure out a way to access the Internet if you don't know who Sancho Freakin' Panza is, and only one of the teams had a decent plan to do that.
I did not like this final leg, and not just because of the presence of noted anti-Semite Bob Eubanks. There just weren't enough opportunities for the teams to separate themselves. "Show up and bungee jump" doesn't require skill; the meticulous flower task didn't make for good tv; and this season's final memory task just wasn't much of a challenge given that you could do it (a) as a team and (b) with notes.
What I want from this show never changes: a show which allows opportunities for great racers to distinguish themselves -- through flight choices, task completion, strategic thinking and strong personalities. Yet again, we didn't get that this season. Onto "Unfinished Business."
I was thrilled with the outcome, although I was not as thrilled with the leg design.
ReplyDeleteI understand that they clearly were pulling for an all-female team win. The casting made that really clear. And if they don't want to end with an upper body strength challenge that's fine. But decorating with flowers? That irks me a little bit.
More standard objections include the fact that teams couldn't pass at the jump and the fact that the trivia was hardly obscure.
Also, how do they choose the All Star teams? I saw teams there that I a) personally have no interest in seeing again and b) can't imagine captured the general audience's imagination.
It was a deserving win for Nat and Kat, who were a pretty damn dominant team throughout the Race. (It was a dumb decision for team Bickering Couple to U-Turn Team Home Shopping rather than Nat and Kat.) I agree it's inexplicable that educated folk (much less two medical doctors) don't immediately know who Sancho Panza is, but, we have what we have. Also, MVP award as always to the editors, who managed to make what I assume wasn't that close a finish into a close one. (And had Brook and Claire won, I woulda been pissed, since it would have been the product of nothing other than taxi roulette.)
ReplyDeleteThe "Unfinished Business" season looked interesting from the promo, and suggested that we're getting at least the return of Team Home Shopping and Team Glee from this season in addition to the teams we already knew of.
While I can't argue much with Adam's critique, I got significant enjoyment from the location of the Finish Line, as I had visited it during the L.A. leg of my west coast trip last week.
ReplyDeleteOkay, all that aside, I really liked the two top teams and that is rare. Both of the xx/xx teams were fun to watch and pleasant throughout the whole race. I was okay with the inability to switch positions because I really wanted N/K to win.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I admit it, I got a bit choked up.
Comments at Hitfix suggest that there are likely some red herrings in that promo, which would make sense, since one of the members of Team Glee is in Spider-Man: Turn OFf The Dark.
ReplyDeleteDeserving champs, but a really, really boring final leg. I guess it was all downhill for the season afer you start with the watermelon incident.
ReplyDeleteI mean, he went to NOTRE DAME. Guess they don't teach Don Quixote there.
ReplyDeleteSome additional notes:
No way there were taxis just hanging out at the Rose Bowl waiting for fares.
You don't have to bow to the Rose Queen, she's a high school senior.
Little did they know, they were all about .5 miles away from a public library.
I am really excited about seeing Jet and Cord again on the next season of Amazing Race.
ReplyDeleteOh my gravy!
ReplyDeleteI missed something at the bungee jump, because I thought Brook and Claire got the clue second, yet they jumped third. The time difference could have been significant. On the other hand, if that means they get to the Rose Bowl second, and leave second, maybe their cabbie's only English is "I have GPS."
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFgoL-itUIo
(It's at 4:40)
I don't like these final legs where so much of the leg depends on taxis. However, it may have come into play, as Nat and Kat used the extra few minutes of advantage they had leaving the Rose Bowl to pick and choose their taxi driver to get one they could communicate with, while Jill/Thomas tried to explain the internet to their cabbie. I'd really like to see a final leg where the contestants have to travel only on foot or by public transportation, which would eliminate the taxi luck (and probably also make it difficult to have the finish line in a place that can be easily secured.
ReplyDeleteFor next season, hopefully there will be a task that involves watermelons to the face.
There are definitely red herrings in the montage of clips. Reality Blurred has some spoilers about teams who will be competing in the first HD season of the Race: http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_amazing_race_18/2010_Nov_22_all_star
(Though I'd probably have included a different team from this most recent season in that cast.)
I cracked up when she bowed to the Rose Queen. That was priceless.
ReplyDeleteLas Vegas could have been all foot/transportation once they made it to the Strip. That was disappointing that they didn't. (The problem, of course, is spoiler leaks from passers-by.)
ReplyDeleteAnd there was no opportunity for High Drama on the level of Margie/Luke at the surfboards, or the blessedly perfect Season 2 finale in Alaska/San Francisco in its entirety. FOLLOW THAT PLANE!
Comparing the physical challenges to prior final legs (spiderman-ing down a huge building, having to figure out the angles and timing of a Cirque du Soleil bungee trick), this seemed tremendously easier and had no skill or action required other than being willing to be strapped into a bungee. So while I'm excited for the docs to win, and think over the course of the race they definitely deserved it, what the heck?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the puzzle seemed significantly easier than, say, the puzzle that so frustrated Luke.
That said, when I saw them approaching the Rose Bowl, I said, "Oh, cool, maybe they'll have to make a float!" Because those floats are amazing. But it wasn't very telegenic and didn't require the kinds of skills that could separate teams very much.
Speaking as someone terrified of heights, the degree of difficulty here was greatly lessened by the fact that the teams got dropped by the operator. I'm pretty sure I could bring myself to do every part of a heights task - strap in, walk out, climb down, dangle - right up until the part where I had to let go. If I could have a task where I climbed out and someone else pulled the trigger that dropped me, I could do it. I'd hate every single second of it, but I could do it. No way I could actually do the action myself that caused the fall.
ReplyDeleteAlso, they stayed relatively upright throughout the fall unlike the traditional bungee jumping that I think of where you are head down at some point, which I think would be far more terrifying.
ReplyDeleteTo the extent that the finale to season 1 involved taxi luck, it also involved one team attempting to use their local knowledge of the area to direct the cab driver specifically to where they were going, and then the teams having to take the subway and run to the finish line. That was a pretty solid design (especially since it also ended with the Guido Edit.)
ReplyDeleteSeason 2 did involve taxis, but it also involved a LOT of running and a close footrace to the end, where taxi luck didn't play as much of a role as strategery and fitness.
Season 9 had the finish line within walking distance of the final memory Roadblock, which minimized the amount of taxi reliance.
Season 2 involved taxi luck in terms of "who can find a taxi by the wharf?", but not in terms of relative taxi skill
ReplyDelete