The Amazing Race: Down To The Wire
December 9, 2008 by Paul Secrest
Filed under Television, Uncategorized
After three months of hippies & Hinduism, mama’s boys & motorboats, communism & cattle, it’s all come down to this: Ken & Tina, Nick & Starr, and Andrew & Dan, the first two richly deserving of their positions, and the frats just along for the ride, consistently dumbfounded by their quasi-success. This finale was a constant thrill that had me shouting at the TV with each tiny development; a technical triumph in editing & cinematography, and an emotional triumph in the racers’ passion and determination.
Our finalists started out together from Moscow on an assuredly punishing flight across 1½ continents and an ocean to the vibrant northwestern metropolis of Portland, Oregon. As bad luck would have it, Andrew & Dan wind right back up in a distant third place due to taxi choice, and third is where they stay. Meanwhile it’s the constant back n’ forth between Ken & Tina’s dogged determination and Nick & Starr’s youthful athleticism that make this fight for the finish so damn exciting. K&T are the first to arrive at a detour of logging tasks: ropes course 30 feet in the air, or 800 foot floating log bridge. Everyone takes to the trees, but Tina’s fear of heights lets the whippersnappers edge into 1st. Taxi turnabout strikes again when age beats beauty to a stunning zip line ride off the aptly named Bridge of the Gods. What awaits them at the bottom is a demanding exercise in memory and sprinting wherein teams must identify pictures from specific road blocks, detours, route markers, and pit stops of each leg past. Tricky thing is, there’s 10 right answers out of 150 clue boxes scattered over an area the size of a football field. Ken & Tina build a nice 3 question lead for themselves, but leave it to a cheerleader and a Broadway dancer to dash about like caffeinated lemurs and regain the lead yet again.
A freeway ride into the heart of downtown Portland reaches near-Hollywood chase scene levels when Ken & Tina’s adventurous cabbie puts the pedal to the floor and overtakes Nick & Starr. Their driver responds in kind, and I half expect Jason Bourne to show up and crash through 8 lanes of traffic in a Mini. Nick & Starr make it into the city first to begin a small frenzy of on-foot “spot the local landmark” challenges. Ken & Tina keep in the fray with some help from the locals as Starr fights to keep up with Nick’s relentless pace. Both teams struggle to lock down a taxi for the ultimate race to the finish line and the winner is… Nick & Starr by a nose!
I may have been rooting for Ken & Tina, but there’s no denying that the money will have a bigger impact on Nick & Starr’s lives, and all the K&T fans out there get a deeply satisfying emotional conclusion when the separated duo tearfully agree to start wearing their wedding rings again. This 13th running of The Amazing Race wasn’t necessarily my favorite installment, but it’s at least top 5. Congrats to the cast, crew, producers, and other miscellaneous powers that be for once again creating the most lush and adventurous reality show on the air.
Season 13, Episode 11: You Look Like Peter Pan (originally aired December 7, 2008)
For another take on this episode, check out At least she can afford a ticket to Russia by Alana D.
The Amazing Race Returns to CBS on February 15, 2009.
For more on The Amazing Race, click here.
Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS
Photographs courtesy of CBS
