December 6, 2009

Well, the fifteenth season of the Amazing Race is finally over, and for the third season in a row, the best team clearly won. My thoughts from the final episode:

- What ever happened to the "mandatory rest period that allows the teams to eat, sleep, and mingle" after each leg? This leg started with Meghan and Cheyne and Sam and Dan both not knowing who the third team was on the final leg. Do they segregate the teams now until the next leg? Why did we never see this before? Confusing.

- Don't you love how after a season of (fairly) portraying Ericka as this evil witch, in the season finale, they make you think she's all warm and fuzzy and positive for the first half of the episode, before yanking the carpet out from under us and revealing her true colours again? When she had her temper tantrum at the Cirque Du Soleil challenge, it was just infantile. Did you see her actually shove and poke Brian when she was frustrated with him. Damn him for trying to complete the task instead of crying and ranting like you, Ericka.

And then on the poker chip counting challenge, when they were incorrect for the second time, she had another meltdown, crying and screaming "Why does this always happen to us every single time?!" It's not a stroke of bad luck, Ericka...it's not like your car broke down or you got a bad taxi driver...you guys just messed up on basic arithmetic. I wouldn't say it 'happened to you'...it was your own fault.

I loved her post-race comment that she wanted people to be able to see the real person in Brian. Yes, we saw it, but we all saw the real person in you too, and it wasn't pretty.

- The poker chip counting challenge was WAY too easy to be the final challenge on the Race. Considering how difficult the final challenges have been in the past, this one took no memory, and just involved, as I said earlier, basic arithmetic. Also, with my experience playing poker, and dealing poker, I would have breezed through that challenge cutting chips into piles of 20 and adding them quickly, so maybe I'm a bit biased. Interesting to think what would have happened if Maria and Tiffany made the final leg. I'm sure everyone would have cried foul that the challenge was tailored to them.

- Wayne Newton looks like a wax mannequin. Scary. And that was funny how Gay Brother #1 and Gay Brother #2 (happy now, Norm?) couldn't remember his name.

- I gave Cheyne a hard time throughout the season for calling everything 'gnarly' and generally coming off as a dumb surfer dude sometimes, but when Phil tells you that you've just won The Amazing Race and one million dollars, do you really think 'For real, bro?" is the best response for a moment like that?

- Did you see how pissed Lance looked when taking part in the obligatory 'clap for the winners' lineup at the finish line? You know he still thinks he should have been in the race. Take a moment and think about what it would have been like watching him and Keri try to count those poker chips. You're welcome for the image.

- After the amount of times they made the teams undress during this season, I was worried that the final clue would be 'race to the finish line in your underwear." I'm glad it wasn't.

So that does it for another season of the Amazing Race. I've enjoyed doing the weekly recaps and I hope you enjoyed reading them. The 16th season has begun filming already and will air in the New Year. For you Big Brother fans out there, here's a bit of a scoop for you: Jeff and Jordan from this past season of Big Brother are a team in the next season. Should be fun.