Amazing Race Finale Discussion and Recap *Updated*

Four teams enter but only one team can be named the winners of this seasons Amazing Race. Tonight is the two hour finale of this cycle and not to boast too much but I picked the top four. Of course I have my doubters that my preseason pick of the Twins will win it all but they gave a solid effort throughout and got to the finale so good for them.

If I’m being honest I think the Chippendales will win in the end. They seem the most dedicated to wanting it bad. With that said I wouldn’t be upset over any of the four teams winning in the end. I’ve enjoyed all four teams all season and they all have done what was needed to make it this far.

I look forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out. You can look for my recap later tonight.

Recap

We start with a season recap of the final four teams and the last two legs. Tonight the winner will be revealed as the final four race back to the US to the final pit stop.

Team Longhorn are the first to depart first. They must fly to Barcelona, Spain and then catch a train to the Loire Valley, France. Once there they will find their next clue on the windshield of an all new Ford Escape.

The Twins are talking trash on Team Goat saying they don’t belong since they have coasted. I will agree that they have been lucky on the race but no one can just coast to the end on this game. All four teams are on the same plane and train to France.

There is the “Dream Team” alliance of the Chippendales, Twins, and Longhorns and then Team Goat on their own. The goat boys over hear the teams discussing working together to make it to the final three.

At this point in the race it is time to advertise for Ford by showing the new Hand Free lift gate that opens by kicking the air under the bumper and I assume activating a sensor.  Hopefully this is less puke inducing then the time the teams had to demonstrate the self-park feature on the Ford Focus.

Teams must load eight crates into the Escape using the hands free lift gate and drive themselves to the Chateau de Villandry. They must find a stone dog to get their next clue.

The teams are all over displaying the lifting gate.  Josh even tells Brent  he can get one if they win the million.  Team Goat is playing smart by simply following the other three teams.  The Twins insulting Team Goat is really getting on my nerves.

As they get to the next spot they try to get help with finding the stone dog by woofing. Lucky for them Josh can speak French and gets everyone pointed in the right way. Watching Brent try to block the twins from passing him even puts a smile on my face.

Teams are now off to Da Vinci’s final resting place at Chateau D’Amboise.

The Twins have to complete their Speed Bump. They have to find a lady in a specific room and lace up her corset for their next clue.  There is war between the Twins and Team Goat as the Twins are telling the Longhorns and Chippendales to lose them and for his part Brent calls the twins bitches and tells them to have fun at the Speed Bump.

The Chippendales and Longhorns decide to follow Team Goat since he can speak French.  The Twins  finish the Speed Bump and are off for the next step as the front three need to stop for directions and Longhorns take the lead.

The Chippendales are looking for Leonardo DiCaprio’s resting place before realizing their error.  It’s now time for the finale’s first Detour:

  • Chow most make the daily meal for a pack of hunting dogs.
  • Plow requires teams to use a horse and plow to till four fields.

Chippendales choose Plow while Goats and Longhorns are going Chow. Team Goat ask Longhorns to wait for them but instead they take off and leave the Goats behind. Meanwhile the Twins choose Chow and the Longhorns change their mind and do Plow.

The Longhorns arrive first and start the challenge.  The Chippendales and Goats are having trouble finding the challenge and the Twins arrive first.  Team Goat is right behind them and both teams arrive at basically the same time.

The Longhorns are working on their third trail when the Chippendales arrive to start.

At Chow Team Goat is using a strategy to first grab pieces that do not need to be de-boned and then talk to the Twins while working to confuse them.  The Goats de-bone first and line out the meat to now get the kibble for the dogs to surround the meat.

Team Longhorn finish Plowing and are now off to La Cave Des Roches for their next clue.  Chippendales follow behind them.  At Chow Team Goat finish the detour and are off as the Twins are still de-boning the meat. Watching the dogs eat was crazy. It didn’t seems like enough food for all those dogs so hopefully there is more food coming for them.

At the next stop is the Roadblock. The must study three types of mushrooms and by memory go into the caves to find ten of each type.  The Longhorns arrive first and Lexi goes in for the mushrooms. Next James goes in for the Chippendales.

Team Goat is still driving as Team Twins are finished the detour and are off for the Roadblock.  Lexi and James are having trouble finding their way through the caves and finding the right mushrooms.  James is sent back. Lexi finishes it on her first try and Team Longhorns are off to the next Pit Stop at Chateau Chenonceau. Last team to arrive will be eliminated.

The Chippendales are now off to the Pit Stop.  The Longhorns go to the wrong castle but get the directions to the right place. The Twins arrive at the caves but go right into the cave instead of getting the clue in the shop. This allows the Goats to catch up and to get into the caves at about the same time.

The Chippendales arrive first and each get their own Ford Escape with the hands free lift gate. They are followed by Team Longhorn into the final three teams racing for the $1 million dollars.

Back at the caves Brent and Natalie are searching for mushrooms. Natalie finishes first and they are off to the pit stop as Brent is lost in the caves looking for the exit.

Josh finally finds his way out and gets the clue to go to the Pit Stop. Brent says that the Twins got about a 10 minute lead. The Twins seem lost while driving and stop a random car to get directions. After some driving they stop another car and find out that they have been driving in the wrong direction. After some tense editing Team Goat arrive first to be team three into the final leg.

My pre-season pick of the Twins is now out. They ran a great race but their issues with driving themselves places killed their chances.

It’s down to the Chippendales, Longhorns, and the Goats.  We start the next segment with James and Jaymes showing off their new Ford Escapes. They are off first flying to the final destinations of New York City. They must figure out that their clue is sending them to Coney Island Boardwalk to find their clue hidden in a sign.

The Goats are from New York City so they are locals and can have an advantage in this leg.  It looks like all three teams will be on the same flight. All three teams are ready to race for themselves with no sharing of information or helping each other.

Chippendales get off first in a taxi but all three teams are close to each other. Chippendales and Longhorns are having trouble finding the clue. They are in the right spot but don’t see the signs. They go into the actually park to try to find it.

Team Longhorn figure it out to go to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Team Goat figures it out next. Lexi thinks the Chippendales are their only competition but the guys can’t figure out the clue. They finally approach the signs and figure it out.

Roadblock:  They must escape a straight jacket which bungees them 15 storeys once they escape. Trey and Brent do the challenge. It kind of makes me think of a Fear Factor challenge. Apparently it is one person at a time cause everyone else is sitting around waiting as Trey does it and completes it fairly easily. He has seen Houdini do the trick so knew he had to get his arms over his head.  Team Longhorn is now off to Lombardi’s Pizzeria.  Lexi worries that she will need to eat pizza which on The Amazing Race seems far to easy to worry about. I mean pizza is awesome.

Josh keeps himself from panicking and completes the challenge.  The Chippendales follow them.

Team Longhorn arrive first. Teams must deliver ten pizzas to three specific locations. Each team will get three different sets of deliveries.  Longhorns and Goats each make one delivery correctly.  Goats make a mistake on the second delivery while the Longhorns finish their deliveries.

The Chippendales decide to run to the pizzeria rather than wait for their taxi to drive them.  The next clue is the emblem for the United Nations. Teams must figure this out and then proceed to the UN Headquarters for their next clue. Trey and Lexi need to ask a local to find out that it is the UN Headquarters and they are off.

Back at the pizzeria the Goats find out they made a mistake at two locations and have to re-do the two orders.  The Goats finish the challenge as the Chippendales make the first two deliveries correctly. Team Goat quickly realize that they must go to the UN Headquarters and the Chippendales complete the pizza deliveries and are off to the UN as well.

The Longhorns arrive first and it is time for the final Roadblock of the season. If you completed the first roadblock you cannot do this one.

Teams must place the correct translations for Hello and Goodbye with the correct flag. They must then raise the UN flag to get their next clue. This challenge is key for the Goat boys.

Lexi is starting first as Josh starts the challenge.  Longhorns and Goats have two countries done as Chippendales arrive. All three teams quickly complete Spain and France. The Chippendales remember Phil making sure teams knew that the words spoken at Pit Stops were Hello and Goodbye but they thought they were just being cordial. If they watched previous seasons they would know to prepare for things like this.

Lexi starts to lose it emotionally as she starts getting countries wrong. She gets nailed in the flag by a falling post as she tries bringing it down to correct it. Josh turns it into a math problem by trying all combinations until one is right before moving on. He’s also good with languages so can match some of the words based on how they are written.

We are 2 and a half hours into the challenge and Josh is down to the last one and the Chippendales are right behind them.  Team Goat finishes first and raises the UN flag. The next clue sends them to the finish line at Gotham Hall.

As Josh and Brent are off Lexi continues to lose it emotionally. Team Goat use someone’s one to get the address and Chippendales are off as well. We have some more solid editing as it is revealed that Team Goat arrive first and share a big kiss. It’s a nice moment in the race for Underdog teams.

The Chippendales arrive in second and Longhorns in third.

It was a satisfying ending to a good season. It wasn’t a great season but the teams were fun to watch for the most part and a very likable team won in the end.

I want to take this chance to thank MJ for letting me do recaps for Amazing Race and thanks to everyone who read and commented on the episodes every week.  The next seasons starts in February so if MJ wants the next season recapped I’d be more than happy to be back with weekly recaps.

Happy Holidays for those who don’t read the Survivor recaps. If you do I’ll be recapping Wednesday and will be doing a Live Blog for the Survivor Finale and Reunion show next Sunday.

Hope you enjoyed the finale and I look forward to seeing everyone’s comments on the finale.