SEASON 17 FINALE

It was a Hollywood ending in La La Land for Season 17 of The Amazing Race, as Nat Strand and Kat Chang overcame Kat's fear of heights in the bungee-jump challenge and took the $1 million first prize.

Thus, history was made, as an all-female team won the race for the first time. Brook of the second place finishing team of Brook and Claire summed the achievement up:

Nat and Kat

“The ideal of being a strong woman either means you’re a grumpy boots or you're a really masculine gnarly chick. No, you can be feminine and still be a very strong woman.”

Nat and Kat are not the only big bucks winners, as their victory sends the $50 first place prize from our pool to Team Showers, who, you may remember, drew first and used their pick on the gal-pal doctors. How's that for perspicacity?

Because Brook and Claire got the runner-up spot, Cindy gets $30. (For the record, she picked fourth.)

Brook and Claire

Even though they didn't win, the Home Shopping duo did get to meet their idol, TV host Bob Eubanks, who watched over the obligatory memory-lane challenge in which the three teams had to recall the people who welcomed them at each of leg of the race.

Jill and Thomas finished third and last in the finale. Why? Bad cab mojo. When they needed to phone a friend and/or link up to Goggle, they found themselves in a taxi with a driver who didn't understand English and hadn't heard of the Internet.

“We get back to the states and we have more of a language barrier than in other countries,” Thomas said.

Bob Wilcox, Jill and Thomas' local backer, wins $20 on the basis of their third place. (For the record, he picked second.)

Overheard:

Nat (post bungee): “I didn't even pee my pants.”

Brook (post bungee): “That’s when I just about lost my bananas.”

Brook: “I've been on a couple of floats in my life, I feel right at home in the float brigade. These are my people.”

.Claire: “We literally laughed our way around the world.”

A Look Back

Thus ended a season that, according to Phil, saw team compete on four continents, visit 30 cities, and travel 32,000 miles.

There were, as always, iconic moments that included:

Claire getting hit in the face with watermelon;

A cappella boys

The a cappella boys breaking into song again and again;

Chad proposing:

Nick throwing in the towel and going to sleep.

The congeniality award goes to Brook and Claire, the odd couple award to Nick and Vicki. I wish we could have seen more of the a cappella boys.

A Look Ahead

Wait a minute, there are second chances in life.

Phil let us know that the next season, which begins in late February, will feature non-winners from seasons past, all of them with UNFINISHED BUSINESS. It looks like their will be encores by a cappella boys, the Globetrotters, Nick and Vicki, Brook and Claire and even Chad and Stephanie.