BRING THAT CHICKEN HOME: In the beginning, part of made The Amazing Race so swell was having so many fun teams to root for, different from the types of heroes you'd ordinarily see on tv, whether Danny & Oswald, Kevin & Drew, Chip & Kim, or the criminally underrated Gus & Hera. It wasn't just about seeing the world and watching teams sort through puzzles and tasks, but actually giving a shit about the results. (That, and seeing someone take a watermelon to the face.)
Which is another way of saying that once Bopper & Mark left last week, I didn't much care what would happen tonight. While this finale returned to some of my favorite tropes of finales past, esp. including some properly grueling physical tasks, it didn't get my heart pounding at any point. Oh, for a task even half as good as the poker chip counting or the Alaskan ice globes. I'd much rather talk in the comments about favorite TAR finale tasks than anything we've seen tonight, and to be clear ...
I'm including the first-ever final mat "um, you kinda missed a roadblock" that was unnecessarily spoiled in the promos. In the end, it didn't matter. Art just wasn't figuring out that sled anytime soon.
Bleh season. Bring back the more competitive Race, the one in which missing the last ferry of the night matters. I want a finale with the Guido Edit, or with The Goats falling a day behind. Consequences, please?
