The Amazing Race 12 - The Grand Finale
Logical and Methodical Wins The Race
January 21,2008
Commentary
By Eileen Witker
In my last column I said I didn’t want to name the team I wanted to win for fear of jinxing them. I didn’t and so they did!
TK and Rachel proved that by being kind to each other, by being calm and by taking each task logically and methodically, and that a team who plays fair can actually win the Amazing Race.
I must admit that Nicolas and Don were my next favorites. I think that Don is to be admired not only because he is the oldest person to make it to the final three, but also because he carried Nicolas through most of the race. Granted, we had shots of Nicolas carrying Don’s bags a time or two, but, as the recap showed, Don performed most of the physical challenges. I don’t think we’ll ever forget the sight of him pole vaulting in his underwear. Why on earth Don thought Nicolas could complete the final task, the memory challenge, is beyond me. Nicolas wandered through streets in a previous challenge in search of a building and was totally clueless. Just like he was during the final challenge. The only time we really saw Don upset was when Nicolas left the sports shop without the bag containing their gear. And Nicolas had the audacity to tell Don that he always had 20/20 hindsight. It’s called common sense, Nicolas. I wanted this team to do better, but because of Don, not Nicolas. I loved Don’s comment that he expected to be on the mat at the finale, just not in third place. I didn’t want him in third place either.
Christina and Ron accomplished what they wanted. They wanted to solidify and clarify their relationship. Although we have seen time and time again that the Amazing Race is not the venue for mending/repairing relationships, this time it worked. Ron was abrasive and almost abusive to Christina when the race started, and, as we got closer to the final leg, he became mellower. His asking for an upgrade to the lounge at the airport was one of the smarter moves, as it allowed them to search the Internet for the address of the sporting goods store. This team played hard and almost won. I hope Christina was sincere when she said that her relationship with her Dad was more important than the money, because it really is. Although the money to share would have been nice too. Can we all just see/hear Ron telling Christina how to invest it?
The Amazing Race shows us all some gorgeous scenery and some places that a lot of us would like to visit. TK and Rachel showed us how, while running a race for a million dollars, a team can have fun also. They were respectful of each other throughout the race and only once did a snipped of frustration show, but it was because of circumstances, not an individual. They had many, many setbacks on the race which should have philiminated them; however they persevered and diligently went about completing the tasks to get them to first place on the final leg. They previously had a three hour time deficit to overcome, a Speed Bump to complete and still managed to go about it calmly and efficiently and keep on going. There was no whining and complaining ala Jennifer and Nathan, there was no criticism ala Ron and Christina and they read every clue and made sure they understood what they were doing, unlike Nicolas. They were kind and supportive of each other much like Kynt and Vyxsin. They didn’t claim they were so much smarter than everyone else, as did the siblings, Azaria and Hendeaka and we heard no whining from Rachel about her manicure as we did from the blonde's, Shana and Jennifer. All in all, this team deserved to win and they did. Congratulations TK and Rachel!
I have some burning questions now that the race is completed. Where on earth did Ron get all those “Who’s Your Daddy?” T-shirts and will he wear them now that the race is over? Did the blonde's go get their manicures and pedicures immediately after the race, since they were still talking about missing them as they left? Do the siblings Azaria and Hendeaka now understand that book smarts don’t mean anything in the race and that you have to use some common sense and follow the rules? How did Vyxsin maintain that pink hair during the race? Do Kate and Pat know how refreshing it was to hear that contestants weren’t going to use their religion as a crutch during the race? And, finally, how did they get Phil up on that glazier? Or, more importantly, how did they get him off?
Till next time.
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