The Race is over, let's look back

Amazing Race, Season 30, Episodes 11 and 12

Hong Kong/San Francisco – It’s been a week or so since #TeamBigBrother took home the $1 million, plenty of time to gather our thoughts about what host Phil Keoghan called the “most competitive season” ever of Amazing Race.

Cody and Jessica, winners Season 30

Phil says things like that, assuming, I guess, that no one out there is going to say, “What about Season Seven, that was pretty gosh-darn competitive?”

Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong. Certainly, most of the duos this season were competitors in their pre-race lives, winning everything from hot-dog eating contests to NBA championships.

But none of the racers seemed like win-at-any-cost competitors. 
And I don’t think the season had a true villain, though I know some people gave that title to Jessica of #TeamBigBrother.

Whatever, the season was a success, with the ratings significantly up from Season 29, even with a drop during the two weeks that the

Iceland from the air

Race aired opposite the Winter Olympics.

Once again, the scenery was stunning – we’ll always have Iceland – and the challenges were challenging. My favorites were surprisingly low tech – fishing by hand for frogs, tying up some hairy crabs.

This was the first season ever for head-to-head contests in which a member of one team squared off against a member of another team. That gave us the sight of Henry of #TeamYale trying, again and again to win a French-fry-carting race. (I guess that qualified as low tech, too.)

Henry and Evan  #TeamYale

Another first – changing partners – seemed pointless, as the teams were quickly reconstituted and the Race went on as it always does. If the Race is renewed, as it should be, I’d drop that gimmick.

As the season went on, some crowd favorites bit the dust, including Alex and Conor of #TeamIndy, who were eliminated in the next-to-last leg in Hong Kong, missing out on the finale. Nonetheless, the show’s producers should slip Conor a bonus for all his one-liners. The kid can quip.

In the finale, #TeamBigBrother was followed by #TeamYale and

Kristi and Jen, #TeamExtreme

then #TeamExtreme. (In the pool, TeamBushnell finished first, followed by Allison Chanler and then TeamBeltway.)

The $1-million win was especially surprising because it was Jessica who mastered the last challenge in San Francisco, assembling the pieces of a wooden plane to reflect the legs of the race.

During the Race, Jessica had let Cody do most of the work on most of the challenges, so it seemed likely that she would fail when out there on her own. But she had done her homework, and she kept her cool, and there she was, a winner. (Purists will note that Henry of #TeamYale could have won, as he had all the pieces in place and then doubted himself.)

And here's an update: Cody and Jessica are now engaged. He popped the question on Feb. 13. She accepted. All is well.

So far there’s no word – at least I haven’t seen any – on whether or not Amazing Race will return for a 31^st season. Given its strong pre-Olympics showing I would argue that it has earned a renewal. Are you listening CBS?

A sadder update: Julia Walker, of the English Department at SUNY Geneseo and an original member of the Amazing Race pool, died on Feb. 25. She was a devoted fan of the Race, relishing in its occasional absurdity.

Overheard (Episode 11):

Evan: Getting to the end, some people are going to push and shove.

Conor: The crabs were vicious killers.

Jessica: This challenge sucks, and I hate it.

Henry: I wouldn’t say I have a lot of aggression.

Conor: Henry’s honest, Evan’s not.

Order of finish (Episode 11):

1) Evan and Henry #TeamYale

2) Cody and Jessica #TeamBigBrother

3) Kristi and Jen #TeamExtreme

4) Alex and Conor #TeamIndyCar

Overheard (Episode 12):

Cody: I want the win more than the money.

Jessica: I want the money.

Evan (to Henry): I need you to communicate to me because I feel like I’m strategizing alone.

Jessica: Oh my god, I turned around, and (Cody) just pulled a propeller out of his butt.

Order of finish:

1) Cody and Jessica #TeamBigBrother

2) Evan and Henry #TeamYale

3) Kristi and Jen #TeamExtreme