The Amazing Race Review: Fumbled So Close to the Finish

On the season finale of The Amazing Race, Jeremy and Sandy run off course, Ernie and Cindy work like a machine and Marcus and Amani drop the ball just short of home. And while I go look up my sports analogies, here’s the rundown of this week’s episode.

The beginning of the leg starts off the confessionals with the teams. Sandy/Jeremy talk about how their goal for this leg is to be perfect and work together. Cindy calls this race the ultimate premarital counseling and that it’s been a strong bonding experience. Marcus/Amani are in last place as we begin but say that they’ve made it to the Super Bowl and are going to rally together to win this. Last week, we saw as the teams worked together (albeit unwillingly) to oust Andy/Tommy. This week, the camaraderie is over as it’s every team for themselves to the million dollars. Jeremy sums this up by saying that there are “no more friends right now.”

For the final leg of the race the teams are told to head to Atlanta, Georgia. Jeremy/Sandy and Ernie/Cindy are bummed about this because Atlanta is the home of Marcus and Amani. Marcus/Amani for their part are excited, not only to have the “home field advantage” but because going to Atlanta will put them closer to their children. All the teams are on the same flight and arrive to Atlanta in search of Flight Safety International, the location named in their clue.

Jeremy/Sandy are lucky enough to get a taxi driver who knows where he’s going so they don’t waste too much time trying to figure it out. Marcus/Amani get the address from some guy in the airport and give it to their taxi driver which puts them on their way. Cindy and Ernie are the last to arrive at the training facility. In this task the teams must serve as pilot and co-pilot in a flight simulator to successfully land a plane. Jeremy and Sandy make it through the first time with Jeremy as pilot. Ernie and Cindy have to do the course a second time when they go so slow that the plane falls out the sky. On their second go, Cindy maintains airspeed and they make it through.

This challenge seems like a cakewalk… that is until Marcus and Amani get their shot at the controls. Marcus doesn’t like flying, and I don’t know if that has any bearing on his ability to serve as captain of a simulated plane. I’d buy this excuse if Marcus’ problem was in the short time of flight and not the part after landing when he couldn’t stay on the runway. They run off the runway again and again, having to start the challenge over. Marcus gets frustrated by his inability to stay on course, but Amani remains calm and tells him she believes in him and then they start over once again. They’re on this challenge for the seventh time and by this point they are out of the race as the other teams have long moved on, so we’ll just leave them here.

Jeremy/Sandy and Ernie/Cindy are still in this race and are traveling on to the “former residence known as ‘The Dump’” which is the home of Margaret Mitchell. Jeremy/Sandy ask a local who tells them where to find “The Dump” which is a local home improvement store, unluckily named. This is, of course, not the correct place, so when Jeremy/Sandy run around looking for the clue they turn up empty. It takes them a while to figure out this isn’t right and by this time Ernie/Cindy have, with the help of a phone operator, made it to Margaret Mitchell’s former house.

In the car, Ernie/Cindy tell us what they think about their competition. Ernie says that losing to the boys (Andy/Tommy) would be one thing, but losing to any other team would be like losing to his brother. For some reason I doubt that’s what he meant to say, maybe it’s hesitation, the look on his face or the slightly contemptuous tone of his voice. For a moment I’m willing to accept this explanation, because I like to live in a fantasy world but then Cindy opens her mouth and dashes that saying it’s “like losing it to the ‘C’ student.” I suppose that in a way I can see where she’s coming from, they have run a tighter ship this race than the other teams, but seeing as how said other teams have been pretty consistent all the way through I refuse to let this insult just lie. This girl’s annoying. There, it’s said, and I’m moving on.

Inside the house Ernie is faced with the task of typing out their clue on an old-school typewriter. As an added difficulty there is no key for the number “1” and the teams have to substitute the lowercase letter “l” in it’s place.

Ernie is not the best typist in the world and has to start over several times. That’s okay though, seeing as how at this point Jeremy/Sandy are still slumming it in “The Dumps.” Ernie is a little stumped by the missing “1” at first, but by checking the typeface of each letter he sees the l and figures out to use that. He and Cindy are gone before Jeremy/Sandy arrive.

Seeing as how this is the last challenge, the teams are confronted with a memory challenge to retrace their steps along the race. Even without notes, Cindy/Ernie get it right the first time and are quickly through on their way to the pit stop. Jeremy/Sandy are actually pretty close behind them, but because they miss one of the countries while jotting across the map, they lose some time which they desperately need to catch up. They have another chance though when Ernie/Cindy are on their way to the pit stop.

Even though their driver has GPS, Ernie/Cindy can’t seem to make it to the pit stop. For some reason they just keep circling around it while the driver’s GPS says “Recalculating.” This is frustrating to no end I’m sure, as Cindy/Ernie are just steps away from the million dollars but can’t seem to lock it in just yet. After a while though, they finally find the pit stop and as the first to arrive are announced the winners of The Amazing Race. All the eliminated teams are back again, cheering them on and there’s a celebration where Cindy/Ernie give their reflections on the journey. I’m so disgusted by this point, my TV’s on mute so I can only assume it’s something like ‘oh, this race brought us so much closer together.’ Whatever, I’ve switched channels by then.

For more on this episode, check out Not Much Of A Race by Gabe Callahan.

Season 19, Episode 12: “Go Out And Get It Done” (original airdate December 11, 2011)

Image courtesy of Sonja Flemming and Jeffrey R. Staab/CBS