Richly Deserved: The Amazing Race All-Stars Finale

Shows

I didn’t know what to expect when a group of dedicated Amazing Race fans gathered at a bar in New York to watch the finale. I thought the passionate cheering for a certain pair on blonde ladies, the heartfelt booing for a (now no longer) dating couple, and the mixed reaction for America’s midget and her cousin, went a little over the top but what do I know? I either watch the show at home or between breaks at work.

Obviously, being at the event that serves as the after-party was a lot of fun. Meeting most of the racers was a blast. And generally, it was worth the trip.

Kevin Wong did a great job (I don’t expect anything less) giving you the nuts and bolts of the journey between Guam and San Francisco so I won’t rehash it.

For the last time, here is how the teams fared.

THIRD: CHARLA AND MIRNA
And boy, did Charla, all three feet of her, steal the show at the party. And you know what? Forget for the moment she is so little and she’s an attractive woman in person. Anyway did you expect them to do better? They luck out getting an earlier flight from Guam to Honolulu and do the ‘over’ detour. Charla is perfect at this but Mirna had a little more trouble. They lose their lead when they start running across the rocks on the beach. Their physical limitation hurts them. Then they have trouble paddling the kayak. Still, they completed the tasks in time to catch the same flight to San Francisco as the others. In the end, they simply got beat at the safe-cracking task (possibly my favourite task of all time). A great effort by these two.

SECOND: DUSTIN AND KANDICE
Wow, they are stunning in person. Pretty down to earth too. They do a good job on the ‘under’ detour but there’s also a little bickering between these two with Kandice complaining that Dustin doesn’t always listen to her. Dustin is upset by the complaint but they quickly make up and put it behind them. They arrived at the safe task second and while Dustin finished on par with Eric, Kandice could not get the right combination in the allotted 10 minutes. They are disappointed running to the finish line to see Eric and Danielle there but what an outstanding team. I will always enjoy remembering how they went from the team I loved to hate in Season 10 to honor roll members this time around. Good luck ladies!

WINNERS: ERIC AND DANIELLE
For those of us who didn’t know they had broken up, it was rather interesting to see another woman in his arm. But it seems Danielle has moved on as well. And how ironic that the team Eric by and large carried, won on the strength of Danielle being the only one of the second pairings to get the right safe combo. They had a solid leg otherwise. The only one of the three teams not to win a leg before the finish was suddenly, the winners of the Amazing Race: All-Stars and are certainly to be congratulated.

I enjoyed the season. I guess people can still argue why some teams were chosen over others. Maybe they should have started with 15 teams, have no non-elimination legs and a couple of mid-leg eliminations to boot. Perhaps then we might have had more former winners. Nonetheless, we’ll see in the coming months how well this show returns to its normal format.

Sir Linksalot: The Amazing Race: All Stars