(S10E13) Three teams, one last race. The teams are sent breathlessly hurtling around the globe, starting with Paris. For some reason this is the most boring finale I have seen in a long time. Truly. There are no big challenges, no real jaw-dropping moments and at the end, no real emotional payout. One of the reasons I watch the Race is for the cry-inducing finale. I'm going to have to watch the second half of that ABC home improvement show in order to get my supply of Sunday weeping.This Race makes the least imaginative use of the city of Paris ever. A trip to the Eiffel Tower? Because there is nothing else to see in Paris? I think the Race planners feel asleep at the wheel on this one.
The last Roadblock isn't much of a challenge, it's a skydiving trip in Normandy. The only challenge is for Kim who has to listen to Rob bitch about how unfair it is that he doesn't get to go. He mentions this several times and he also is not exactly helpful when Kim takes a fairly big fall going for the clue. These two talk a lot about love but they don't treat each other with any affection or kind regard.
The Detour involves either delivering a painting or creating a jacket. Everyone chooses the jacket and cuts and pins under the watchful eye of a French woman who looks like she is sucking on lemons. Tyler and James, our models, are first to complete the challenge because they are accustomed to being fitted.
Paris has two different airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Bama chooses Orly but the other teams choose de Gaulle. It's a bad move for Bama who eventually have to go to the other airport. Rob and Kim somehow get on the flight. Tyler and James also get on and leaving only Bama behind which ends the race for them. It's a sad way to go out.
In New York City, Tyler and James seem to have a strong advantage. The teams have to run through the East Village in the rain which seems more annoying than challenging. The teams then have to take a taxi to Garrison, New York for the pit stop. I was expecting a final challenge but instead Tyler and James race to an easy victory. I find it disappointing that young male teams usually win, it makes it hard to be involved with each team when it seems that the race is so slanted.
Blech. I am dry-eyed and bored. No one seems particularly happy for them either. At the end, Tyler and James use Phil's handy-dandy Sprint phone to call their families. Even the families seem nonplussed. There's no screaming. Is $1 million not that big a deal anymore? I almost would have rather have seen Peter and Sarah win. At least it would have really mattered to them.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-11-2006 @ 7:40AM
Murphy said...
Wow, what a 'blah' finale. How unfair is it that they usually always seem to let other teams 'catch up' with different time openings and stuff. Not really a race, IMHO. This whole season was like 'whatever'.
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12-11-2006 @ 7:56AM
Dave said...
Man, that had to be the most disappointing, anticlimatic ending to an Amazing Race ever. There was NOTHING Amazing about it at all. Go to the Eiffel Tower, make a jacket, skydive, fly to New York, go to one place, go to another, catch a cab. It was all just busy work.
One team is out of the running after everything else because they missed a flight. The whole million dollar prize came down to who gets the better taxi driver? BLEAH!
Horrible finish.
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12-11-2006 @ 3:03PM
Matt said...
Definitely the worst Amazing Race finale I have ever watched. Was it only 1h for everyone? I thought maybe CTV here screwed something up because I could've sworn I saw somewhere that it was going to he 2h, like most finales.
Paris was completely underused, and the fact that there was no big challenge in New York is ridiculous. Go to a building, get your clue and then drive to the end?
A terrible way to end a fairly mediocre season. I want that hour back! Haha.
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12-11-2006 @ 8:13AM
GrumpyOldMan said...
they needed a very difficult detour or roadblock just before the finish line, like the nation flags last time.
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12-11-2006 @ 8:51AM
Arc|Angel said...
Seems to me that they may have cut and rushed the finale. It was even only a one hour ep. No one seemed to really like these three teams so maybe they didn't want to drag it out and make us watch three jerk teams for a long time. They should of ended with some kind of clip/intro to the players for Amazing Race All Stars at least it would of been something to be excited about.
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12-11-2006 @ 10:04AM
ALLISON said...
I have to agree with everyone else about the anticlimatic finale. There were no twists, no tough mental challenges, no heart-stopping race to the final pit stop. For some reason, they sucked all the drama out of the finish. Bama wasn't even involved in the NY leg -- their misconnection at the airport eliminated them totally and the editors didn't even bother to show them arriving in NYC a few hours after the others. When they showed up in Garrison, it was like, "Oh, how did they get there?" Another thing, as dull as the Paris choices of locations (Eiffel Tower?), the New York locale was even simpler. The big question there was convincing a NY cabbie to drive you to Garrison? Excuse me, but it's not that far out of the city! It's not like asking for a ride to Buffalo! In fact, both cabbies agreed to drive the teams without a hassle.
Overall, AR is a great reality show -- but they whiffed on this edition by blowing the ending. Let's hope the All Star version is more challenging and interesting.
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12-11-2006 @ 10:09AM
Steve said...
i actually gave up on this season a couple episodes ago. it was the least interesting cast ever.
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12-11-2006 @ 11:04AM
zydeco100 said...
Agreed, completely anticlimactic. This plus the fact that over half of the episodes this season started late because of NFL football (and got clipped by my PVR) pretty much makes me give up watching this show until CBS moves it back to a watchable night.
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12-11-2006 @ 11:26AM
Frank Murphy said...
I think ArcAngel is on to something (comment #4). The Race finale was usually a two hour episode. This time the network only gave them an hour. Maybe the producers had to edit out some dramatic moments and only had time to show the basics of how the teams got from point A to point B.
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12-11-2006 @ 1:20PM
CJ said...
I think it was only an hour because it was BORING. Previous good finales were two-legged. Although I'm glad they didn't go through Alaska or Hawaii, seems like they could have done something more interesting in the states... or even Canada? Heck, plunk 'em in Montreal and end it in a drive to Boston where they would have to find a place to park downtown. (although I realize the end spot has to be a location that can be secured.)
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12-29-2006 @ 9:41PM
jessie said...
The ending of the season was so broing - I recorded it and zoomed through the most boring parts. I mean make a jacket for one of the final challenges? How dull...we already get that with Project Runway. If they would have also upolstered a couch, then we would have some Trading Spaces. LEt see who else can they copy. I can't believe they are running out of ideas. It is almost like they put all their creative energy in the beginning, then petered out for the last episode.
Hope next season is more interesting - like when teams are so far behind they get nots not to bother because the game is over. Definitely not looking forward to all-stars because I'll have to put up with Amber and Rob, then they will bring back all the couples who fight like bee-atches! So annoying.
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12-11-2006 @ 1:20PM
Sawyer said...
It just got more boring as the season went out. All the interesting couples were gone: the Arab brothers, the Indian couples, Sara and Peter (despite Peter being a jerk), Tim and Terry, the Kentuckys, and the Asian boys and finally the cheerleaders (they were great competitiors). At least Rob and Kim didn't win. What a jerk he was about the whole sky diving thing. How could Kim's father let her marry him after watching this whole thing? AR need to do something next time cause we watched that American Treasure and it was way more interesting and challenging. I mean the finale of that one was three teams stuck in one place trying to figure out a puzzle piece. That was a challenge. This finale came down to airline ticket counter clerks and cab drivers. How stupid!
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12-11-2006 @ 3:50PM
Brent McKee said...
Anticlimactic is probably the word for this one. The Race usually ends with a two hour finally by sticking a non-elimination round in, but with the new non-elimination rule giving a 30 minute penalty to be added on at the finish of the next stage if the team didn't finish first, that would be meaningless. The non-elimination of Uchenna & Joyce in the finale of the seventh Race made their eventual triumph that much more satisfying.
The challenges weren't really that challenging except for the glares from the "fashion Gestapo", and yes it might have been more exciting if they would have had one last problem to resolve before the finish, but in the past the race has come down to who gets the best cab driver and that's how it was this year. Not that unusual really.
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12-11-2006 @ 1:59PM
vivek said...
That was totally lame. They got rid of the best team last week by having two equalizers in one episode and now nothing do on this episode. After they got the clue in NY i was expecting a mental challenge infront of the finish line like they had in previous seasons. The only contestants that can be on allstars from this season are the blondes.
I read somewhere that Kentucky was going to be on the all star race. Can some one explain how they are allstars? They are very very good people, but they were mediocre at best in the race.
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12-11-2006 @ 4:15PM
Brent McKee said...
By the way, much as we may deplore the football overruns, it's a fact that The Amazing Race got its highest ratings of the season - possibly its highest ratings ever - on nights when football ran long. You can look it up.
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12-12-2006 @ 3:06AM
Scott Schrantz said...
The Race usually gets a 2-hour finale by squishing episodes 12 and 13 together into one 2-hour blowout. But this year they had to split it up into 2 shows. What, couldn't preempt Cold Case?
So did they do away with the final challenge at the finish line? Or was it edited out because Tyler and James were just so far ahead that they finished and made it to the mat before Rob and Kim ever showed up? I guess that E-Z Pass really was worth a million dollars.
I thought the end of Race 6 was lame, where they had to eat a pizza before going to the finish line. But that was high suspense compared to jogging a few blocks through NYC.
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12-12-2006 @ 10:49AM
TomB said...
I agree pretty much with what everyone has said above. Pretty lousy ending to a pretty mediocre season.
I have a comment about the NFL over-runs though. For awhile I could figure out why in the hell they would screw up their Sunday night line-up so much. I mean, half of Cold Case always ended up running against Desperate Housewives. Why would they want to do that? Plus, it screws up everybody's DVR.
Then I looked at the ratings... The football game always got excellent viewership. Found my answer.
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12-12-2006 @ 10:14PM
S Lamb said...
Tivo stopped 5 minutes before the end so I only found out here what happened. I loved the season where at the very end the hippies had to solve a puzzle relating to the race. Too bad it was just a run this time. I wonder if they had that dressmaking thingy because they stereotypically thought that would advantage "the ladies". God I hope not. I also wonder if there might have been other options for Paris to NYC but they all were too tired and overfocused on that 8:25 a.m. to figure it out thus making it a more boring finale. E.g. Paris, London, to NY but leaving at 7 a.m.? Overall, I missed the blondes, but I really missed the Chos and Kentucky. I truly believe the Chos would have stepped aside in the final episode and let Kentucy win!
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12-18-2006 @ 9:08AM
Lacey said...
I totally agree with everyone. I didn't even like anyone in the final three so I wasn't even rooting for anyone, just sitting back and watching it all play out. Do I think the guys deserved to win, no. I don't think any of them deserved to win. Hopefully the All-Star one will be better. I just hope that they get the Hippies back. I picked them from the beginning in their season and just look how good they did. CBS should think about asking Ozzy and Yul from Survivor to make a two-some and compete because they could beat everyone.
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12-22-2006 @ 1:53AM
Squeegis said...
I also would have preferred a better ending!
However, the race remains my favorite show and I can't wait for the all-stars!
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