Season 29, Episode 11
Viet Nam /South Korea – After
all the bungee jumping, local-food eating and desperate map reading of a solid
Season 29, we’re near the end of the road.
Three
teams remain. Who will win the $1 million?
 |
| Tara |
Beats
me. Obviously, any viewer with a heart will be rooting for Team Mom and Dad,
aka Tara and Joey.
Like
all the duos this year, they were strangers when they met, but they’ve proven
to be compatible, encouraging each other, never criticizing even
when mistakes were made.
They’ve conquered most of the challenges, though Tara was almost fatally awful in Episode 11’s
"Street Fighter V" video game test.
 |
| Joey |
But, all in all, the team did well despite being ancient by recent Amazing
Race standards. (For the record, Joey is 46; Tara is 38. They’re older than
any of the other contestants.) With age comes wisdom and a rich vocabulary: Give Tara, an Army major and Syracuse University grad, some
credit for being bleeped more than the other contestants.
Of
course, most fans want Brooke and Scott
to lose because Brooke is such a whiner
(though, take her out of the mix and the season would have been awfully dull).
 |
| Broke |
But Scott gets the Patience of Job Award for putting up with his partner’s
pouts. To his credit also, his trash talking during the video game challenge was inspired, and, good grief, they won Episode 11, their first first place. So maybe
 |
| Scott |
I
think viewers are just getting to know London and Logan. They seem steady,
compatible, and their names are interchangeable. London’s the woman, right?
 |
| Logan |
Tough not a gamer, London did show some fierce intensity in the video game challenge. (Like Scott she adopted the Trumpian strategy of pretending she knew what she was doing even though she didn't have a clue. It worked.)
Sadly,
Redmond and Matt were the last of the four teams to finish Episode 11, done in
by their decision to take a train not a cab. That
was compounded later by a bad cab drive. So Phil gave them the boot. Did he have to? Haven’t some finales
featured four teams? I forget.
 |
| London |
I
realize that the boys won no good sportsmanship awards early on, but they were terrific at most of the challenges. Matt could climb. Redmond could stack
cups. They both made acceptable kimchi. And Redmond asked no favors despite his
prosthetic leg, though he punned about his appendage on every leg of the race.
Now
that it’s almost over, I think it’s safe to say that it was a good season.
For what it's worth, I’m not sure the strangers-when-we-met gimmick made much of a
difference.
The
duos generally seemed on good behavior, with the exception maybe of Brooke and
Scott, Michael and Liz and, way back, Sara and Shamir. If anything, couples who have come into previous seasons knowing each other seemed quicker to
quarrel. Go figure.
Time
to thank and to bash CBS. The network announced that the Amazing Race has been
renewed. That’s the good news. But the bad news is that the show is not on the
fall lineup.
In other words, it looks like it will be held in reserve, as it
was last year, to be slotted in for a show that bombs. So we probably won’t see
Episode 30 until next year. Sad.
Overheard:
Scott: You know what, a lot of
winners have never won a leg.
Redmond: Everybody we talk to over
here says, “Do not take a taxi.”
Scott: We are reminding Brooke that
patience is a virtue.
Redmond: I’m not a professional cup
stacker. You do it at parties. Impress the ladies.
Matt: The big guy can stack some
cups.
London: I’ve never played video games
in my life.
London: I will win, I will win, I
will win.
Tara: I feel I’m going to walk out
of here hating video games more than I hate them already.
Matt: You massage the cabbage. It’s
all about the love.
Brooke: People underestimated us, and
they were wrong.
Oder of Finish:
1) Brooke and Scott
2) Logan and London
3) Tara and Joey
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