Anyway, all three teams finished this task quickly, possibly because they were able to watch Trey’s strategy. He said he had remembered how Houdini did the trick. Well, there’s at least one brain cell left in there. Myself, I was kind of hoping someone wouldn’t be able to figure it out and would be still hanging there like a giant city ornament for the next three weeks or something, but no such luck.
The next clue sends the teams off to Lombardi’s- “The very first American pizzeria.” I wasn’t sure if you caught that because it was only mentioned about 45 times during the show, so I made sure to repeat it. I’m sure you’re all in your cars right now driving to NYC to Lombardi’s, right? It was hilarious because Trey and Lexi are the first ones to get there and the owner starts repeating the whole history of the place: “This is the first pizzeria in the United States. We have been here since 95 B.C. Our pizza sauce is made from only the finest tomatoes. The cheese is second to none…” Trey and Lexi are totally like: “Wow, that’s awesome, I’ll Google it later, guy. Like, we’re trying to win $1 million here, pal, so can we freaking pack these pizzas up or whatever?” Totally cut the guy off. But hey, I can’t blame them.
The teams have to deliver 10 pizzas to customers all around little Italy in NYC. This one was kind of tough, especially given the memorization factor. They needed to remember the order and the corresponding address. Anyway, I had high hopes that gay couples were better than heterosexual ones at not bickering and fighting but apparently not. If I saw correctly, at one point, Brent even gave Josh a mean shove like a six year old would. Nice touch, Brent. I may work that move into my own rotation.
The next clue was just a symbol for the United Nations, which was the location for the final challenge. I must say, I liked this one. It was a long task and tied in all the countries that the teams had visited. It was anyone’s game at this point. Which MADE ME HAPPY. I cannot say enough that I HATE IT when in the finale all the challenges are quick and easy and it all comes down to a simple footrace to the finish! The selected taxi driver basically determines who wins or not. Anyway, the teams had to figure out the words for “Hello” and “Goodbye” that corresponded to each country they visited and match it to that country’s flag.
Lexi was having a meltdown through most of this task. Lots of tears along with lots of whiny “Babes.” This also probably wasn’t the best task for James, who isn’t all that swift, though he did surprisingly better than expected. There were lots of missed guesses from all the teams, and it was neck and neck for a long while. Again, like the chow task, Josh had a strategy. He decided that for all the ones he did not know, he would just try every combination until it was right. Then he’d move on to the next. This proved to be genius for he and Brent. After 2 ½ hours (and numerous editing errors where the sky was dark, then light, then dark again, then light again) Josh finally finishes. They get the clue to the pit stop and never look back. Though Jaymes and James appear to be right on their heels, Brent and Josh are the first to the pit stop and win the million!
Wow, that was like seeing “Rudy” again.
Another complaint with this show is that they never seem to tell us how long it took for the second team to arrive. Is this NOT compelling enough to tell us? Maybe they’d tell us if it were only thirty seconds or something, you know? I guess if Jaymes and James arrived fifteen minutes later, they don’t bother to tell us because then we’ll realize that our emotions have been manipulated by the editors. Anyway, I really hope to see Jaymes and James on an All Stars edition. I’m also glad that James’ mom won’t have to walk to work on bleeding stumps anymore.
Finale finish:
1. Josh and Brent
2. Jaymes and James
3. Trey and Lexi
I think Brent said it best: “Nice guys do finish first sometimes.” This certainly was the first time I’ve seen it, and I’m glad to have seen it.
Thanks everyone for a great season! Feel free to comment on any thoughts you have on whether you are glad the Beekmans won. That way, I’ll know that someone actually reads this column.
Until next season!
Written by: Kim Wilson
Email: kwilson1101@gmail.com
Twitter: kwilson111
Hi Kim, loved your column. It was as much fun reading it as watching the show, probably more. I am really bummed that Jaymes and J didn’t win. They were def. the most fun to watch and seemed like pretty nice guys. I wasn’t too happy about the Beekmans but don’t have a legit reason. I confess I no longer liked the twins after the money incident. I agree that the show needs drama to stay interesting, but that wasn’t showing strategy, skill or even outsmarting your opponents. It was just mean and stealing. Also, my guess is they have wealthy parents and don’t really need the million. But they were fun to watch. Lexi and Trey were fine but seemed like two pretty privileged kids who haven’t ever really worked hard and don’t need the money either. I’m ready for an all stars! Or maybe put Jaymes and J on Big Brother!!
I haven’t liked the “twinnies” since they stole the money, so I was super happy to see them not even make the finals. I think if you went back and watched some of the more recent episodes, you’d see that a lot of what the twins did/said was really mean and catty. They actually made the show pretty unbearable at times with their screaming. Ah well, karma got them and I was able to go into the final hour pretty happy with whoever won, although I was rooting for Team Beekman or Team James/Jaymes. I enjoy a good underdog story, so I was pretty happy with the outcome. Thanks for the recaps all season! I do agree that James/Jaymes should definitely be on a future all star season!
Nice column! I hadn’t liked the “twinnies” for most of the season. They have been mean and shown a sense of “entitlement” throughout so I was so glad they were gone. I was a James and Jaymes fan too, and even though the Beekmans didn’t win any other leg but the $1 M, many of the other teams walked away with nice prizes. That’s what I like about this game – there is plenty of opportunity for other people to leave with decent prizes.
Agree with you about the twins, they just got meaner as the season went on.
To help out – in early 2010 there were high magnitude earthquakes in Chile. The Amazing Race had just visited there before it all happened and they mentioned it on the particular episode.
I was SO happy that Josh and Brent won the race.
Kim – it’s not “furas.” It’s furrows. You plow furrows – a long, narrow trench in the earth (for planting seeds).
I will also admit that I starting “not liking” the twinnies when they stole the money. I know this is a race, but I found that to be pretty dirty. And it would have eliminated the Rockers if they hadn’t been able to beg up enough cash to continue. But the twins definitely got worse as the shows went on and if I had to heard them say “The Gays” or “The Evil Gays” one more time, I would have slapped them both.
I found most teams treated their teammate better than previous seasons. Maybe it was because the tasks were so easy there wasn’t much to be stressed about – I don’t know.
I also was surprised by the final task. They have learned to take really good notes along the way, but who the heck writes down what was said to them at the end when most languages sound like, “aspodijawelfkj” to you. I get Lexi’s tears and probably would have been like that also. It wasn’t until that point that I really thought the goat farmers had a good chance. The tall guy knew a couple of languages and they are both pretty smart. Thinking of it as a puzzle instead of randomly trying flags was a much better plan. I think the twins could have really dominated this part if they had made the final because they seemed to speak several of the languages throughout the race – at least the most basic words which would probably include hello & goodbye.
Although they seemed to hang on by their fingernails almost every leg of the race, I wasn’t upset to see the goat farmers take the million. I was hoping for James & Jaymes, and I’d like to see them on an All-Star season . . . but I am o.k. with Josh & Brent. Good for them! I’m sure most people were surprised by the ending.
Oh – and I agree – when looking at some of the teams, I couldn’t even remember their faces!
Thanks for the great recaps – and I hope you are here next time 🙂
Kim, I totally enjoyed your work this season. I rejected the dark side of the local recapper to come toward the light of your wit. I’m already looking forward to next season. I bet you’re a blast at PTA!
Thanks so much for the comments! I really appreciate them. The idea of Jaymes and James on Big Brother….ah, it is genius. Another of my favorite shows and these two would be great in the house.
“Furrows”….that is good to know. Tells me the closed captioning screwed up yet again with “furas.” I should’ve know. Thanks for the info!
Chile! Thanks so much. That was the other disaster I was thinking of. I thought that we were at about 3 times that this has happened. Honestly, I only started watching the show probably in 2004 or 2005, so there may have even been times prior to that where this happened.
Thanks to everyone for reading! 🙂