Sunday, December 28, 2014

No sweat, science prevailed in a season to remember

By Jim Memmott

Amazing Race, Season 25, Episode 12

Manila/Los Angeles – Now that the dust has settled, here's a quick look back on a terrific season that got better and better as time went on. Some thoughts.

The ending: Ok, it was a surprise. Science trumped athleticism, smarts won out. Women in lab coats rule.
Let's drink to science

Amy DeJong and Maya Warren, two Ph.D candidates in food science at the University of Wisconsin, won this season’s final leg, a victory worth $1 million to them and $100 to their backers in the pool, Team Showers.

Close readers will remember my asking after Episode 9, “Why are the Sweet Scientists, Amy and Maya, still in the competition?”

I had reason to wonder. The Scientists were off camera a lot, and when they were on, they just squeezed by. And they seemed, for the most part, more lucky than good.

And they got lucky big time when host Phil Keoghan appeared to change the rules at the 11th hour, allowing a four-team finale for the first time, he said, in the history of the world.

The winners: Amy and Maya
Thus the brainiacs weren’t eliminated, and they hung in long enough in the last hour to get to the memory challenge, one that required contestants to wander in a maze of cargo containers in search of clues to the places visited on the race.

This played to Amy’s strengths, and she whipped through the challenge, leaving Misti of Team Dentistry and Bethany of the Surfers, in her wake.

 But let’s give the Scientists credit for more than smarts. Maya proved to be brave and athletic (she allowed that she had done triathalons) and Amy did as well as she needed to do, all the time limping on a bum ankle. Besides, they passed the character test, playing fair, never quarreling, never whining.

Misti and Jim
Open wide: The Dentists, Jim and Misti Ramon, finished second after a very strong season that included five first places.

Jim was the only racer who came close to being a villain, a role that is usually essential to the drama. But as time when on he just seemed like the goofy uncle who continually puts his foot in his mouth. Even in the last episode he boasted about going in the right direction, when, of course, he was going in the wrong direction. You had to love him.

Adam and Bethany 
Fan favorites: I’m willing to bet that 73 percent of the people watching the finale were rooting for the surfers, Adam Dirks and Bethany Hamilton.

In part, that has to be out of admiration for Bethany, who despite having only one arm, took on just about every challenge. But Adam, too, was likeable and athletic. Beyond all of that, they seemed to love each other. They were a couple who never, ever, quarreled.

The grapplers: To me, at least, the pro wrestlers, Brooke Adams and Robbie Strauss, were vital to the season. In the last episode, they got lost in LA-LA Land, and thus were too far behind when the grim reaper Phil appeared and gave them the heave ho midway through the finale.
Brooke and Robbie

I hated to see them go, as they had done so much to enliven the season. Yes, they were boastful, but boastful in that self-aware manner that’s part of the wrestler routine.

Beyond that, they were funny. The Amazing Race is not usually full of laughs. This year it had a lot.

Looking Ahead: The promo for Season 26 revealed that all the teams will be made up of dating couples. Five of the pairs will be on blind dates. It sounds a little cheesy, but a change might not hurt.

Speaking of changes. The switch to Friday night this last season hurt the Race’s ratings, though the finale won the time slot with 6.59 million viewers. I’m not sure what CBS wants from the show, but I certainly hope it continues beyond another season.

Whatever. We’re off for a little while, but we will return.

Overheard:

Kym: Bethany is a beast.

Maya: Why don’t you love us?

Brooke: I’d love a million dollars more than you.

Brooke: Depends. If it’s a smart challenge, Rob and I are going to be eliminated.

Robbie: We’re going to be rich. It’s pretty much a sure thing. We’ve won numerous wrestling titles. We’re going to win a million dollars.

Jim: I know (that) where we’re going we’re the only ones knowing where we’re going.

Jim: We’re in completely the frigging wrong direction.

Firefighter to Bethany: Are you Bethany Hamilton? My daughter’s a big fan.

Stunt trainer to Maya: You’re jumping out of this building to kick some alien ass, and you are here to save the world… Will you call me when you get the million?

Bethany: We’ve surfed in way gnarlier waters.

Jim: I can swim enough not to drown... I swim to survive

Robbie: The professional wrestlers are signing off from the Amazing Race… You might love us, you might hate, you’re never going to forget the pro wrestlers.

Bethany: Why does the weight of the race come down to me? Adam is the memory guy.

Misti: I had my knickers in a twist from the beginning.

Phil: Eight countries, 20 cities and more than 26,000 miles, you have won the Amazng Race.

Maya: Are you serious?

Adam: Bethany continually just surpasses all my expectations. Money is nice, but to know our love is intact and our relationship is stronger, I wouldn’t trade it for a million dollars.

Order of finish:

1) Amy and Maya
2) Jim and Misti
3) Adam and Bethany
4) Brooke and Robbie