Tonight marks the season finale of Around The World In 80 Ways, and it will probably serve as the series finale as well.
The show saw former monster truck driver Dennis Anderson and reality superstar ‘Boston’ Rob Mariano pair up and travel around the world using 80 different methods of transportation. While it certainly wasn’t The Amazing Race or Survivor, it was a new take on the reality genre and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Tonight’s finale is easily the best episode of the series and better than all of the other episodes combined. With Rob and Dennis having used 68 of their 80 ways already, they had to cram 12 into the last episode.
What I found to be the most interesting aspect of tonight’s show is how it started and ended. Before the title sequence, Rob is shown jumping out of a plane while Dennis is riding some sort of vehicle presumably as they each make their way to the finish line. Before we get more details on where they are, the show goes back to explain how the pair landed in their respective precarious positions.
We learn that over the course of the past nine episodes, Rob and Dennis travelled more than 30,000 miles and across four continents and 11 countries using 68 different methods of transportation.
The pair inexplicably begin their final leg already in San Francisco (I guess the plane that they took from Thailand back to the U.S. didn’t count considering they already used a plane in their adventure). The first vehicles they use are a suitcase car and a Yike Bike that they find in their luggage and they immediately begin their trek toward Los Angeles and the finish line directly from the San Francisco International Airport. The suitcase car that Dennis uses is totally impressive as he literally attaches wheels to his carry-on while Rob’s mini-bike is limited to travelling at a maximum speed of 15 mph.
From there, they stop at a cupcake stand and engage an impromptu cupcake eating contest. Dennis pulls off a rare victory and when the pair use a couple of Cupcake Cars, Rob is forced to ride in a fruity pink one as his punishment.
I found these methods to be the most unique on the entire journey and they also highlight the vehicular superiority that the States have to the other places in the world that Anderson and Mariano visited.
Another vehicle used in the final episode is the totally awesome “sea breacher” (a motorboat that is shaped like an actual dolphin). Dennis calls his the “Wave Digger” as an homage to his “Gravedigger” monster truck while Rob refers to his as “Mini Shamu”). They are drive hybrid car and stop at a junkyard where Dennis constructs a “Wind Digger” land boat and Rob creates the “Cart Attack” putting a motor on a grocery cart.
They also combine water skiing with a helicopter ride before finally getting down to their final two methods.
Before they square off for the last time, we are reminded that in their mini-contests, Rob has been the victor an incredible 14 times while Dennis has only won a pathetic four competitions. I guess that is what happens when you challenge the greatest reality television competitor in history. This is how we arrive at Dennis deciding upon a hovercraft as his final choice versus Rob’s decision to skydive.
The end of the episode is Sopranos-like swerve, but I will let you tune in to find out what it is.
I enjoyed this episode the most, not only because of the amazing ways that were used but also because of the great montage that is used to highlight all of the techniques that Dennis and Rob used along the way. Their relationship definitely grew from the first time they encountered each other in the opening episode where Dennis crushed Rob’s Cadillac with his Monster Truck. Dennis said that it started off with a smash and it did.
Before the episode ends, Rob refers to the experience as a “celebration of transportation,” and that, it most certainly was.
Tune in!
Around The World In 80 Ways airs tonight at 10 p.m. on History Television
