The Amazing Race Finale Review: Not Much Of A Race

This season of The Amazing Race has been an interesting and overall a good one. They tried to tweak their format a little, and for the most part it worked. There was also a lot of likeable teams this Race with no big villains to root against, which I didn’t miss (I gave Laurence a lot of grief, but he wasn’t as bad as some previous contestants).  It was a strong, competitive and entertaining season with lots of ups and downs. It’s just too bad that it ended with a fizzle instead of a bang.

The over-prepared, overachieving engaged couple Cindy & Ernie won the million dollar prize during the finale, in an episode that started off close and competitive but ended in a blowout.  It just goes to show, like the Boy Scouts say, always be prepared.

We left the teams in Panama City, Panama and at the start of this leg they were informed they were flying to Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta just happens to be where Amani and ex-NFL player Marcus are from. Marcus, trading his football metaphors in for a basketball one says “It’s home court advantage.”  The other two teams agree.

The first task takes them to a flight training center in Atlanta. They will be landing a plane in a training version of a Lear Jet flight simulator. One team member will pilot and the other will co-pilot. All three remaining teams are male/female combos, and of course all of the men want to be the pilot. Jeremy seems totally stoked about the challenge, and even though they were the second team to get there, behind Ernie & Cindy, he was able to land the plane in one try. Ernie & Cindy are close behind, completing it in two tries.

Marcus fails the simulator attempt after attempt after attempt. I wasn’t keeping count of how many time he landed the plane and veered off the runway, but my educated guess is about a bazillion. This is where the race pretty much ended for Marcus and Amani, and it was excruciating watching him fail time after time. They stick to their motto of never quitting, with Amani playing the most calm and supportive wife in the world. “It’s hard for a reason. Otherwise there’d be tons of pilots,” she reassures him. She deserves a medal or something.

The next clue tells the teams to “go to a former residence called The Dump.” The Dump happens to be the former home of Margaret Mitchell, who wrote “Gone with the Wind.” Jeremy & Sandy are in the lead, and ask some local guy for directions to The Dump. The man tells them that’s it’s the old Home Depot that’s now a furniture store with the charming name The Dump. They have their taxi drive all the way to the wrong Dump location and wander around the huge Costco for bedroom sets looking for a clue that is nowhere to be found.

This is the point where Jeremy & Sandy have pretty much taken themselves out of the Race.

That leaves just one team left…

Ernie & Cindy use the taxi driver’s cell phone and call a mysterious person who directs them to Margaret Mitchell’s house. Inside Ernie finds an old-time Remington typewriter. He has to actually type in order to receive the next clue. There’s an original copy he can reference but he has to recreate it perfectly. Sounds simple, but there is a little hiccup in the task, the typewriter has no key for the #1. He will have to figure out that the lowercase “L” is its substitute.

But Marcus & Amani are still at the flight simulator while Jeremy & Sandy are still shopping for furniture at wholesale prices. They eventually get a hold of someone’s smart phone, figure out they’re in the wrong place, and head on to the Margaret Mitchell house.

Ernie finishes the easy typing task and gets these numbers as his award: 44-751-74. It not a code, but Hank Aaron’s uniform number, his home-run total, and the year he broke the record. Ernie & Cindy leave the Dump before anyone else arrives and head to Turner Field.

It’s around this time that Cindy says the most obnoxious thing she has said the whole Race (and she has said some stupid things this season). Cindy in the taxi says “Losing to the other teams is like losing to C students and we’re the  A students.” It’s like she doesn’t realize that the other two teams have done everything they have to get to this point, but she still looks down on them, which is petty and inconsiderate. She doesn’t respect the other teams and she should.  I blame her parents.

Once Cindy & Ernie get to Turner Field, one of them has to navigate a side of a tall wall on ropes. The wall they’re climbing consists of a a huge map of the world. They have to hook a red rope through each country they’ve  traveled to, in order. Cindy does this challenge really quickly with no errors. They finish the task about the same time Jeremy and Sandy finish their typing challenge.

At this point Ernie & Cindy are on their way to the Checkpoint at the historic Swan House. They run up to Phil flanked by the other clapping and cheering contestants. The million bucks is theirs and they are ecstatic.

Phil asks what are they going to do with the money and Cindy tells them that they want to do something philanthropic.“ We would really like to create an organization that can multiply the million and help people in need, and contribute to the global economy.”

That description seems kinda vague but I’m all for them giving to charity. They are engaged and could just blow it all on a Kardashian-like wedding. So, good for them for not being jerks. Cindy adds that The Amazing Race “is the ultimate premarital counseling,” and then alludes that they needed to win the race to prove to her parents that Ernie is worthy of their daughter, I think. I’m not quite sure what exactly they were trying to say at that point, but I’m pretty sure that was the gist.

Jeremy and Sandy check in second and celebrate in their non-PDA way. The episode never showed  Amani and Marcus making it to the huge map wall, so I’m guessing they just called  to check them in. After checking in third Marcus complimented his wife by sayiing “She’s smarter than any quarterback I played with, and tougher than any linebacker.” Which is strangely the sweetest thing ever.  Along with the Snowboarders, Marcus and Amani were one of the best teams on The Amazing Race.

I didn’t care for the finale but I did enjoy the season. What did you think?

For another look at the finale, check out “Fumbled So Close to the Finish” by Keshaunta Moton.

Season 19, Episode 12 “Go Out and Get it Done” (original airdate December 11, 2011)

The Amazing Race airs Sunday nights at 8/7c on CBS

Images courtesy of Robert Voets and CBS Broadcasting.