The Amazing Race
Season 33, Finale, Episodes 10 and 11
By Jim Memmott
Lisbon and Los Angeles – The longest (not in miles, but in months spent) season ever of the Amazing Race turned out to be a season for the ages, or at least a season for older folks.
Internet personalities Kim and Penn Holderness, consistent leaders throughout the strange, pandemic-interrupted journey, finished first in the 11th episode, part of a two-hour, two-episode finale.
 |
| Phil Keoghan greets Kim and Penn |
She’s 45 now, and he’s 47. Their combined ages made them the oldest triumphant team ever.
Of course, there are some among us who say that the mid-40s are not that old. Good grief, Kim and Penn could still run; they could still interpret a map; they could eat maggot-laced cheese.
However, Penn didn’t have the sharpest vision – remember his nerd glasses? – and he thus struggled with a count the pillars challenge near the end of Episode 10, which took place in Portugal.
But he and Kim made relatively short work of the obligatory memory challenge that wrapped up the final episode, shot in Los Angeles, Kim having done her homework along the route. All in all, they were worthy winners of the $1 million prize.
Flight attendants Cayla Pratt and Raquel Moore, who had emerged as an especially strong team, finished a close second after winning the 10th episode and leading most of the 11th.
They were followed by best friends Dusty Harris and Ryan Ferguson, who lost valuable time wandering about a rooftop in L.A., not realizing that the solution to their problem was the number on a side of an elevator going up and down across the way.
Early season favorites, Ryan and Dusty lost their mojo as the season went on. Dusty was driven crazy by a find-the-hidden-coin challenge in Episode 9, a non-elimination outing, and it took them forever to finish a paint job in Lisbon in Episode 10.
Dusty (near left in episode 9) got a little unhinged as the team struggled, his rhetoric become increasingly jarring as he imagined that he and Ryan were hunters stalking the other racers: “We will find one of these lambs in front of us and we will feast.” Yikes.
The only reason Ryan and Dusty didn't get eliminated in Episode 10 was that the daughter/father combo of Natalia and Arun Kumar were there to finish fourth and last.
You gotta love em. No struggling Amazing Race team has lasted as long as Natalia and her dad. They were eliminated before the pandemic interruption of filming. They were then non-eliminated twice.
One challenge in Episode 11 had the teams add the sound effects to five memorable moments from past Races. Predictably, the most memorable of the memorable moments was from Season 17 in 2010 when Claire Champlin accidentally slings-shotted a watermelon into her face.
Season 33 was low on memorable moments, perhaps because the pandemic limited Race producers in their choices of challenges.
There were some scary leaps into spaces; I looked away. There was the previously mentioned maggot cheese. I looked away. Racers always seemed to be climbing endless flights of stairs. All of this is OK, but certainly not watermelon worthy.
Missing, too, was any real animosity between the teams, an ingredient that has made for not-so-guilty-pleasure viewing in the past. Not present, too, was the intrigue of alliances, as in Season 32, when the strong teams ganged up on the weak.
This season, once the filming resumed after the 20-month pandemic-caused hiatus, the Racers were in a bubble, flying together on a chartered plane, camping out together, getting to like their fellow racers. The other racers were even calling Kim and Penn, "Mom" and "Dad."
With the exception of Akbar and Sherri, who snapped at each other, the duos didn’t even turn on their partners, again the source of past viewer delight.
Though the greater part of the season was filmed during the pandemic, Race producers played the pandemic down, not stressing the challenges presented by local restrictions. (There was one shot of Dusty with a mask, but he quickly took the mask off.)
However, I do think that circumstances made the season more cautious than usual. The teams weren’t asked to travel as far, go to as many countries, or interact with as many locals.
Still, the Race managed to be close to its old self, similar to the old normal, which couldn’t have been easy.
In a sweet gesture at the end of the Race, Penn gave a shout out to the camera crew and other Race staffers who had accompanied them on their journey. They had earned their pay.
Succession plan: Should Phil Keoghan ever stop hosting the Race, and I'm not suggesting he should, Kim and Penn could take over the duties. It would work. And if you want a wonderful summary of the season click on the Holderness video below.
So there we are, another season done. Let’s hope the Race returns, perhaps with a little more bickering and, as the world opens up, a greater variety of challenges and stops along the way. Stay tuned.
Pool winners.
Team Democratic (Bob and Sandy Wilcox; Judith Hunter and Bob Sutor) took first place in the Amazing Race Pool for backing Kim and Penn.
Team Blue Devils (Allison Chanler and Dennis Doell) were second in the pool, having supported Cayla and Raquel.
Team Walkworth (Louise and Will Wadsworth) were third, as they selected Dusty and Ryan.
Overheard, Episodes 10 and 11
Arun: I really suck (at rowing).
Cayla: I lost the freaking map.
Penn: Kim and I have pretty bad vision… Evolutionarily, we would have been eaten by tigers.
Dusty: We came to drink beer and kick ass, and the cooler’s going to be empty.
Penn (on winning): It wasn’t being strong; it wasn’t being fast; it was studying.
Penn (to Kim): You were the hero: you took the notes; this is your win.
Kim (to Penn): You’re welcome.
Episode 10, Order of Finish
Cayla and Raquel
Kim and Penn
Dusty and Ryan
Arun and Natalia
Episode 11, Order of Finish
Kim and Penn
Raquel and Cayla
Dusty and Ryan
No comments:
Post a Comment