The Amazing Race Season 20, Episode 11 and 12 Discussion
Muttley76
Posts: 97,888 Forum Member
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And now the end is near, and so we face the final curtain...:p
Was bored so decided to start the thread early this week, what with it being the finale...;)
Another series draws to close, and, while, as I've said elsewhere, it's not been a favourite of mine I am quite excited about the finale based on the trailers (in spite of the fact that I don't really like any of the teams that much!)
And given it's Bank Holiday weekend I'm planning on staying up to watch it live even though it's going to finish at like 3am or some crazy time!
So let's hope it's a classic TAR final, and most of all let's hope Art and JJ get their arses kicked in the most embarrassing way possible...:p
Was bored so decided to start the thread early this week, what with it being the finale...;)
Another series draws to close, and, while, as I've said elsewhere, it's not been a favourite of mine I am quite excited about the finale based on the trailers (in spite of the fact that I don't really like any of the teams that much!)
And given it's Bank Holiday weekend I'm planning on staying up to watch it live even though it's going to finish at like 3am or some crazy time!
So let's hope it's a classic TAR final, and most of all let's hope Art and JJ get their arses kicked in the most embarrassing way possible...:p
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Comments
The cast I think was one of the better things about this season. Other things like the route, leg design and tasks were only intermittently good. As I think you said before they are doing it more on the cheap nowadays. And for a prime time show on a national TV station in the richest country in the world I don't think there is any excuse for that. I mean they even have this travel company sponsoring the whole program for god's sake.
I always try and watch live, but it's difficult with the delayed starts that can often be a problem with american TV because of the bizarre nature of US sports.
I don't think the cast has been that great really, I liked Mark and Bopper but they were the only ones I think that stand out for me. There were a couple of nice but forgettable teams, and this final three really don't interest me at all, being as they represent three very stereotypical TAR teams. Although I guess Art and JJ played the role of series villains well enough.
I think it's clear the show is done on more of a budget now, I think the increasingly prominent product placement shows that more of their revenue does come from sponsors, but for all that I wouldn't go so far as to say it looks cheap. Production values I think are still great.
I think the legs should be longer, tasks spectacular more often using great buildings/landscapes also more physically demanding (climbing, swimming, paddling etc), also visit more countries and no double legs in one place like they do now, also vary the climate again (up an icy mountain or up near the arctic again, go to a desert, rainforest). And go places they haven't been before more.
Casting this season was fair, not fantastic, but did have the huge benefit of an extremely strong boot order that saw all the boring teams leave early and the more prominent teams making it deep. It would have been nicer to have more likable teams near the end, but the cast in general was lacking in likable personalities, so having a final of hardcore racers isn't the worst outcome, and at the very least, all of the major rivalries have been allowed to play out.
I do wish that there had been a bit more competition in the legs. There were never really that many close finishes at the top or the bottom and it was pretty dull seeing Rachel & Dave and Art & JJ finish top all bar one week. In that respect, casting could have done a better job, because a lot of the teams were clearly never going to be that competitive.
In terms of my favourites, I obviously have a soft spot for Brenchel from their Big Brother days, and I do wonder what I'd have done without them to root for. Of the original contestants, Nary & Jamie were the only team who I actively supported and liked, and I do kind of wish they had made it further. I actually really liked blonde Rachel too. I think with a different partner, she could have been an outstanding contestant, but her husband is pretty boring so I haven't ever really got behind them that much.
Oh and on Art & JJ, whilst rooting against them has been fun, I don't think they were ever really that bad, at least not when you compare them to other villains from yesteryear. They are by far my least favourites of the season, but they aren't Jonathan & Victoria, or Nathan & Jen. I'd consider them more like Jaime & Cara or Kent & Vyxsin 2.0 - fun to root against, but not hatable.
I'm sure they travel far less in these later series, definitely cut price in that sense too I think. The actual camera work hasn't declined I guess, though the efforts to make it look like there is a close finish nearly every leg (even when it very obviously isn't) can look a bit silly. They seem to find clue boxes quite easily now, and they almost always seem to be on the same air flights. The German leg was more classic TAR I thought, it had them self-navigating and in having to cover distances there were also changes in position throughout the leg. Most of the legs though have been more processional with not so many chances for teams to catch up or fall back.
I said similar here or elsewhere. And the cast is ultimately the main thing for me. I couldn't even finish watching the second season because the cast just seemed too shallow and without big or interesting characters. And while this season is no doubt a lot cheaper than that one at least it has had some people who I've been interested enough in to keep watching.
hope you found somewhere to watch it
i have a link if your still needing one though.
Better boring winners than nasty winners...:p
OMG this final ep is so disappointing. They didn't even have some kind of memory task as a road block. And Art and JJ was such a fail. Really? Getting stuck on that sledge for 16 times?
I think the memory task has gotten stale, tbh, last years was dull as dish water
yeah but it's true. Two teams had made some crucial errors that could have made them winners if avoided. Still couldn't believe Art got stuck that long on the sledge
Thought the actual final leg was one of the most exciting yet to be honest. All three teams made horrendous mistakes that if avoided could have given them the win. Until blonde Rachel slid on past Art, I genuinely still wasn't sure which team was going to win, because I knew green Rachel was going to get down that slide pretty quickly!!
Really an exciting final all in all though. My heart absolutely sank when Brenchel got in the cab. They made the easiest of mistakes, but it seemed to cost them so massively and put them so far behind. It did suck to see Rachel take such a negative attitude from that point on, and to end the race in such a sour mood, but that's Rachel, I'm sure she's over it by now! (Or maybe not....)
Congrats to Rachel and Dave!
Anyway the good things...they finally put in some decent tasks. Of course that's to be expected by the final leg, but I wish they had put that kind of effort in some of the other legs. Tasks used interesting locations and a bit more (at least) physical prowess. They made a pit stop hard to find, and there was some difficulties in navigation which made the positions slightly more changeable. Though no airport drama there was some coach and ferry drama.
Strange things. Why only one team did the photo detour, it sounded the easier one to do, very strange. And then they were told to walk to the helicopter but even after saying it on the card two teams didn't? Or didn't I follow it properly? It was peculiar almost like they were encouraged to take cars, unlike Rachel and Dave. Maybe I've got this all wrong though as the edit can be confusing with them quickly cutting things together and not showing everything.
The predictable things. Dave and Rachel winning. Look at the edit over the series and even from the start of the penultimate episode where they seemed to be set up as winners (the loving couple). And I was kind of expecting it from what I read anyway, Mark and Bopper saying they wanted them to win for instance. I suppose they would back the winners. They were a safe enough winning team with the edit I suppose, though I suspect they could have put a far worse light on their arguments than they did if they wanted to.
Predictable and very annoying...reality TV shows and the manipulative edit. As usual we see Rachel's reactions to Brendon but not that much of what she was reacting to. So the whole missing the coach thing for instance made no sense, as we never saw what Rachel had wanted to do. Just like with the automatic parking in the earlier leg where we say Rachel reacting to Brendon but not what she was reacting to. We did see Brendon saying they should give up in two different legs at least, wish they had been far more even handed though. She said that he never valued her judgements and yet we rarely get shown much of that. Ultimately the story was she was the 'bad girl' with the 'good guy'. I suppose that pretty much plays up to what quite a lot of the audience want and expect though. Though I think the producers also underestimate the support Rachel can have too, but the haters are very loud. And Art and JJ were obviously meant to be the villains, that was their role. Them winning would have been the biggest shock ever.
Worst thing, Art and JJ beating Brendon and Rachel. Probably the worst moment of the series for me. They seemed to have a problem with a taxi near the end (which we saw nothing of) that cost them that second place.
Then Art and JJ, the cockiest and most arrogant team to possibly ever grace the finish line. The only thing I can salvage from the finale is that they didn't win.
And Team Green, like seriously Rachel? The only team I half wanted to win and Rachel threw about twelve hissy fits throughout the whole race? Poor Brendan, God knows how he puts up with her - it was like everything he said she replied to with a scream.
What a letdown, the casting department seriously needs to find some strong teams next season who aren't total morons.
Sorry for quite the negative post, it's just I don't think I've ever disliked a final three so much, there's normally at least one team to kind of be positive about...
if you click on the spoiler tag it will open and you can see what we said. We were using tags being considerate last night because we were aware it was early UK time to be posting about what actually happened in the finale because people who hadn't seen it might go in to the thread not expecting their to discussion of the episode yet.
And jonnythemoose, blame the editors. They gave you what they wanted you to see, they thought you would like to see that.
Only one team didn't follow the instructions, though Dave and Rachael almost didn't themselves. It happens sometimes that people don't follow the clues, it got a couple of teams eliminated in the past, and almost a third time actually, when people were told to walk to the pitstop and didn't. Theres no conspiracy theory and no evidence to support your notion that the other teams were "encouraged" to take cars at all. The clue was quite explicit but in the heat of the moment it's easy not to read things clearly, which is what happened here.
Yeah I guess, I think the whole "Army Dave" sort of thing just rubbed me up the wrong way, and it was probably left in because the editors though it made the team more likeable. Meh.