Season 28, Episode 12 preview:

Indonesia/Shenzhen, China – At last, closure is upon us.

And, against all my expectations, I’m sorry to see this season end.

Sheri in search of the Eiffel Tower

I confess. To me, the premise of Season 28 smacked of desperation. Put together teams made up of millennials (mostly) who have lots of social media followers. In turn, they’ll bring their fans into the Race audience. All will be well.

Because I’m not a millennial, and because I hadn’t followed any of the YouTubers and gamers who made up the cast, I was, of course, a little huffy puffy about the whole arrangement.

But, along the way, something happened. The racers themselves emerged, for the most part, as interesting, even fun, couples.

Boll Weevil monument

Beyond, that an older (by Race standards), emotive, stay-at-home mom has stolen the show.

Yes, as we go into tonight’s finale, all eyes are on Sheri LaBrant, 45, of Enterprise, Ala., a town best known for its Boll Weevil monument.

Sheri and her son, Cole, a cheerful piece of work, have consistently placed next to last or even last (they were twice non-eliminated). Yet they have somehow survived and are among the three finalists, joining the heavily favored team of Tyler and Korey and the not-so-heavily favored team of Dana and Matt.

Team LaBrant would be back home in Alabama were it not for Sheri who, among other feats, has talked Cole across a snowy mountain pass and (last episode) shown him how to ride a motorized unicycle in the pouring rain .

Sheri and Cole unicycling

She did have trouble once changing the oil in a taxi cab, and there were times when she’s just started to cry, but, mostly, she been quick to laugh at herself even as she predicts that the end is near.

And so there Sheri and Cole were in China yucking it up in the cab on their way to the pit stop,  convinced they were doomed. Then magically, in a wonderful Amazing Race moment, they came up the

Burnie smiles; Ashley stares, at the pit stop

steps ahead of Ashley and Burnie and jumped on the check-in mat for third place, the other racers, laughing and cheering them on. It was a finish for the ages.

Why did Ashley and Burnie lose (taking poolster Allison Chanler with them)? They lost some time trying and failing to ride the unicycles. They seemed to get stuck in traffic on the way to the finish.

And maybe karma was at work, as Burnie was playing the jerk card earlier in the episode, over-thinking, over-gaming, over-talking. By the end, Ashley looked dazed, gazing at Phil with a blank, where-am-I stare. So it goes.

Korey and Tyler on the run

Who will win? Tyler and Korey keep saying they will, so probably they won’t. Dana and Matt could explode, given her short fuse. That leaves Sheri and Cole (#comebackkids) $1 million to the good. If so, I bet that Enterprise will take down the boll weevil statue and erect a monument to Sheri LaBrant, the woman who put the town on the map.

Afterthought:

Maybe CBS knew what it was doing by throwing together an all-star social media cast for Season 28. The ratings have been down some from last year, but the Race is finishing first in its time slot and doing the best with the coveted 18-49 demo. Last week, it topped Adele Live by almost a million viewers. No wonder the show has been renewed.

Overheard:

Cole: We just aren’t really up to par with these other teams.

Cole: I’ve eaten Chinese food. I’ve been to China Town in Alabama. That’s as Chinese as I’ve gotten.

Sheri: Golly, golly, this is going to be tough.

Dana (to Matt): I swear, just pee yourself.

Burnie: Tyler lied to me again.

Cole: I think my mom might be lost.

Dana: I don’t want to talk any more; I just want to hang these damn things on the wall.

Tyler: That is a smidgen.

Korey: I have my degree in smidgens.

Matt: I just want to see Phil and hear any number other than 4.

Phil: Tyler and Korey, you guys should be singing in the rain, you are team number 1.

Burnie: Where is this dam pit stop?

Cole: You never know; anything can happen with this show; it’s crazy.

Order of finish:

1 Tyler and Korey

2 Dana and Matt

3 Sheri and Cole

4 Burnie and Ashley