[Editors Note: This article and all others in this column WILL contain SPOILERS. If you have not seen the latest episode of The Amazing Race season 28, it’s highly suggested you do so before you read the below. You have been warned and may Phil Keoghan have mercy on your soul. And for a reminder of the super cool and descriptive nicknames we have for the teams, check out the coverage of Episode 1. You can also find all of our The Amazing Race recaps right here.]
Welp, That Finale Happened…
I hate to have this start this way, but I just gotta be honest as someone who has been a fan of The Amazing Race since it’s first episode. This was probably one of the worst finales of the show ever. It’s a shame, because this season, which featured YouTube-and-social-media-start-studded teams was for the most part a very fun ride.
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But let’s not jump too far ahead just yet and head back to the beginning of the end…
Teams are told they are heading to Los Angeles, CA to start their final leg of the race. And for the first time in Race history, teams get to fly Premium Class. Usually, teams have to travel coach and when they haven’t traveled coach, they’ve been penalized. I assumed the upgrade was some kind of product placement for a super cushy airline, but no, it appears Race producers decided to give teams a nice treat. Kind of a weird way to start off what is supposed to be the most challenging leg of the show, but okay.
In retrospect, I should have seen that as an omen of things to come…
#LeapofFaith
The first clue of the leg is at the Angelus Plaza in Downtown LA. Being a resident of LA and having spent plenty of time Downtown, I pretty much deduce right away that this challenge is going to have something to do with skyscrapers. #Torey must have deduced this as well, as Tyler and Korey start climbing up the building instead of looking for a clue box outside. This lets The Dancers and Team Family Time get ahead of them.
The clue is for the first RoadBlock of this leg, which is called #LeapofFaith and involves jumping from a height of 170 feet to grab another clue dangling in front of them. Sheri immediately agrees to do this one since it involves heights. The Dancers take a moment to strategize, as they know if there is a second RoadBlock this leg, whoever doesn’t do this one will have to do that. Matt decides he’ll go first. As those two teams head up to get rigged, #Torey finally finds the clue box and Tyler decides he’ll give it a shot. He also gets a nice surprise in his rigger, who is very handsome and named Brandon and is proclaimed almost immediately by Korey “Tyler’s Future Husband”.
Tyler after meeting his future husband.
Matt of The Dancers gets his clue on the first try. Sheri is…well, Sheri is freaking out. And I mean REALLY freaking out. She’s gotten emotional on the show before, but this was next level freaking out. Which leads to one of the most used edits on the show…what I like to call the “Cry To Commercial”.
#AmazingRace Drinking Game: Drink whenever a contestant saying “I don’t know if I can do this” leads to a commercial break
— Rob Cesternino (@robcesternino) May 14, 2016
I have faith that @SheriLaBrant will take the #LeapOfFaith! She is strong!!! @Thesupercole @AmazingRace_CBS #AmazingRace
— John G (@JohnG500) May 14, 2016
COME ON SHERI YOU GOT THIS HOT MAMA! #AmazingRace @SheriLaBrant @Thesupercole #leapoffaith
— PETE (@pickpeteee) May 14, 2016
But in the end, Sheri pulls herself together to get it done. It takes her two tries, but she’s a trooper and doesn’t give up. It takes Tyler three tries to get his clue, furthering the gap between #Torey and the other two teams. Tyler also has to say goodbye to his Future Husband Hot Rigger Brandon. This is not looking good…
It’s A Museum
From here, teams take helicopter rides to Santa Barbara, CA and are told that when they arrive, they need to find Teresa Ann in the Santa Barbara Harbor. What teams have to figure out is that Teresa Ann is a boat and not a person and it’s docked somewhere near the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.
The Dancers borrow a cell phone from their taxi driver and are able to look up details, so they have a good idea of what they’re doing before getting to the Harbor. Team Family Time is able to do some phone research as well, but for some reason, Sheri thinks the Teresa Ann is a museum. This gets them a bit off track before Cole finally corrects her. The Dancers finish this task first, but make the mistake of not having their first taxi wait for them and burn 20 minutes trying to track down another one. Surprisingly, Dana is keeping her cool and while she’s clearly frustrated, she’s not taking it out on Matt as she has in almost every other leg prior to this.
Dana and Matt. On a boat. Not arguing. #Goals
#Torey and Team Family Time pass each other in the harbor and it helps #Torey narrow down where the Teresa Ann is, but they still know they have a lot of time to make up. Both teams also let their cabs go and have to find new ones. Team Family Time gets in one first but the driver doesn’t know how to get to Gibraltor Rock, which is the location of their next clue. When they get out of the cab, #Torey end up getting in it shortly thereafter…something which proves to be a major problem for #Torey.
When Does the Action Happen?
From this point on, things just start to get…well…it gets pretty freakin’ boring actually. The next task teams need to complete is called Tyrolean Traverse. One member of the team pulls themselves on a wire out across a canyon to retrieve half of a clue. In the meantime, they are connected by rope to the other teammate, who has to scale down the side of a mountain to get the other half. They then both go back and meet each other to combine the two halves and have a whole clue.
I mean, this is the second to last challenge of the season and it’s just kind of boring. Yes, it looks pretty tough and I’m not knocking the athleticism that each of the teams had to have to get through it, but not even Dana, who traditionally gets pissed at everything, seemed to have too much trouble with this one. Hell, The Dancers have the whole task complete before any other teams get there. Sheri and Cole struggle with it a bit because AGAIN WITH THE HEIGHTS, but even they get it done relatively quickly. And #Torey basically FLY through it.
Pretty sure #TeamTylerAndKorey climbed a mountain/crossed a canyon in less time than it takes me to decide what to eat for dinner.
— Amanda Grigg (@Amanda_Grigg) May 14, 2016
Wait, Where Were Those Hashtags 11 Episodes Ago?
So at this point, The Dancers are so far ahead that this next bit ends up having no freakin’ use. Teams have to head to Grassini Family Vineyards to find their next clue, which is stuck in a bail of hay near the entrance. The Dancers cab blows right past it and drives them all the way into the Vineyard. The Dancers find the next challenge, but of course can’t start it because they don’t have their clue. This is all setting up the false hope that this mishap will lead to other teams catching up.
You probably already figured out by now that it didn’t matter.
The final challenge of the show (which is also a RoadBlock, so only one team member can complete it…so Dana is up on this one) is honestly way, way, way, WAY too easy and just generally kind of weird. It’s called Roll Out the Barrels and teams have to use barrel lids with letters on them to spell out nine cities the teams went to on the Race. But how did teams know which nine cities to do? Well, apparently, throughout the clues the whole season were hidden nine hashtags that correspond to each one.
Cole. Figuring it all out.
So wait, where were those nine hashtags all season long? I pay pretty close attention to things and try to figure out what the final challenge will be since they usually hide clues in previous episodes, but I don’t remember even getting any shots of clues with hashtags in them leading up to this. AND WHY NOT USE THOSE HASHTAGS IN THE EPISODES IF THEY WERE ALREADY PREPPED?
Regardless, Dana knows right away what the point of the challenge is and basically crushes it. Which is cool and all, but dang it, it made for one freakin’ anti-climatic ending where Matt and Dana basically could have crawled to the finish line. And just so you don’t think I am exaggerating, I’m not the only one who felt that way.
Terrible way to cap off a very good season. Awful finale, frustratingly easy final tasks, disappointing winners. Sigh. #AmazingRace
— Daniel (@danieldepe) May 14, 2016
The finale was so anticlimactic. There should have been something that mixed up the positions in the race. So disappointed. #AmazingRace
— Bri Amber (@BriannaYeomans) May 14, 2016
That’s a lesson kids. Yell at your partner and have the worst communication and you can win #TheAmazingRace. So sad for #TeamTylerAndKorey.
— Quentin Hodges (@Q_Man88) May 14, 2016
It’s all very frustrating. And it’s not Matt and Dana‘s fault. It’s the fault of Race editors and products. You can’t spend almost the entire season giving a team a Villains Edit to then try to switch the Villains the second to last episode (to Burnie and Ashley) and THEN try to give them a Heroes Edit at the very last minute. It was just super, super unsatisfying.
But all was not lost. Team Family Time comes in second, the highest position they’ve ever placed in a leg. And while #Torey came in third in the Race, to many fans of the show, they still came out on top.
I love how #TeamTylerAndKorey is trending with twice as many tweets as #AmazingRace
— maddie (@maddiewah_) May 14, 2016
they may have been number 3 in the race, but they are for sure number 1 in our hearts, love you #TeamTylerAndKorey pic.twitter.com/7azBU45g3r
— sydney (@oakleyspotatoes) May 14, 2016
That proves that Tyler & Korey are the real winners. They grew closer as friends & never lost their love for each other #TeamTylerAndKorey
— Erin (@sunsetsfranta) May 14, 2016
All in all I enjoyed watching this season and there were tons of great moments, but the finale almost ruins the whole experience for me. I do hold out hope, however, that #Torey and/or Team Rooster Teeth can return in a future All Stars season…because dang were those two teams super fun to watch.
What did you think about the finale? Which teams do you hope come back in the future? Let me know in the comments below. And to everyone who followed this column through the season, my sincerest gratitude. #Blodie.
