The Amazing Race Season 20 Recap - Finale, Part One
The Amazing Race Season 20 Recap - Finale, Part One
By Daron Aldridge
May 7, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
So for the last time this season, let’s head into the final TWO legs not with power rankings but with my predictions of how it will all end.
Here it is in dramatic countdown listing. (Please note these are my PREDICTIONS and I am probably really wrong.)
Fourth place: Anti-Big Brother divorcees Vanessa & Ralph - This couple just simply doesn’t have the mental skills to win this race. They are strong enough (well, Ralph is) and for the most part, they work well together but they have made too many mental errors over the last ten legs for me to think they will get to the final mat. Unfortunately for them, they will be outdone by mortal enemies Big Brother.
Third place: Team Border Patrol Art & JJ - After giving it some thought this week, Art & JJ are the ones that I think will mess up the Roadblock task that prompts Phil from naming them the winners. They have been on a downward spiral on tasks for the last four weeks and I can see them being the ones that overlook a detail here. I’m sure that if that is the case, JJ will find a way to rationalize that it is someone else’s fault. So I pray that if they are the team that flubs the Roadblock that it was JJ’s Roadblock to mess up.
Second place: Big Brother’s Brendon & Rachel - If the new previews are to be believed then it’s Big Brother that screws up the Roadblock. I don’t believe the commercials. The producers wouldn’t telegraph that "surprise" in the ads... unless they did mess up but are still able to correct it and win. That would be disappointing because they simply haven’t raced as well as…
First place: Army of Two Rachel & Dave - Despite their contentious and volatile relationship, the team has a whopping six first place finishes to their name. How they make it work, I don’t know but I doubt the advertised expletive-laden outburst by Blonde Rachel will derail them on their path. They should be able to take home the $1 million price or rather split it in half and go their separate ways. I hope they find some matrimonial harmony, and maybe winning the Amazing Race is the way to achieve it.
Let’s close out season 20 as we get comfortable and settle in for the final two legs of the Amazing Race.
As has been the case so many times this season, Army of Two Blonde Rachel & Dave are the first to leave. Their destination? Hiroshima, Japan, and the Miyajima Island more specifically. Dave expresses that he does value their relationship and marriage as more important than winning or a million dollars. It’s very sweet sentiment but their competiveness and actions/words toward one another tell a different story.
The Indian travel agent gives them the bad news that the first flight won’t get in until 8:10 the next evening, so it will be "all aboard" for their flight that night. As expected, JJ again says they are the best team remaining. It’s nice to be deluded, right, JJ?
The plane lands and so does the drama, courtesy of Bad Rachel. As the other three teams either figure out how to purchase their bus ticket or have a local help them, Brendon struggles with the machine while Rachel just turns on her shrill voice of contempt. They miss the first bus which doesn’t seem too far behind but Bad Rachel gets all yell-y and petulant on the bus, telling Brendon that he can make all the decisions from here on. The fact that they didn’t really show anything that Brendon did wrong or in contrast to Rachel’s wishes highlights that she can NOT handle the pressure of the race. I truly don’t know how they survived until the end. Or as JJ guesses, “I don’t even think they read their clues. They just run.”
Well, all Bad Rachel’s complaining was for naught, thanks to Brendon chatting up another passenger for information about the train system they have to get tickets for. They slink past the other three teams who are fumbling with the ticket machine and end up buying tickets from an agent. The roles flip for the time being as the other team with a Rachel on it – Army of Two – is now the sole team on the second train, which is 20 minutes behind them.
That is all it takes. Big Brother, Border Patrol and Anti-Big Brother are able to catch the last ferry of the night, which leaves Army of Two stranded until 6:25 the next morning. That is a looooong time for Dave to seethe and stew about the time wasting at the train station that he says put them behind. It seems that their discord will be at an all-time high this leg and that I may have been way off in my predictions. As the commercials unspool, I suspect that it doesn’t matter that they missed the night ferry because the Miyajima Island will probably not be open until the morning anyway. At least, I hope that is the case.
And I was right…Woohoo! As their ferry docks and the three leading teams hustle to the temple for the clue. The rug is pulled out from under them with a sign that reads, “You clue will arrive with the rising sun.” Maybe the decent night’s sleep that Rachel & Dave got in their hotel room will give them an edge of the others that likely slept on the ground outside the temple.
Their next clue points them to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial where they are given the chance to take in what happened to this city in August 1945. It sticks out to me that all the teams have some personal or poignant take away from the visit but the only thing that either Art or JJ says is “It’s powerful being here.” Either they are callous or deeply introspective.
Next up is a high speed bullet train ride to Osaka, Japan, and a TV studio. Unloading from the bullet train, Big Brother and Army of Two opt for the subway to avoid traffic but Border Patrol and Anti-Big Brother go the cab route because of advice from locals. Who’s right? Border Patrol, who get to the studio first. It’s a Japanese game show Roadblock... “Who wants to bring home the chicken?” It’s Art’s turn, which means that I may be right about JJ doing the final Roadblock and screwing it up. My fingers are crossed.
It’s pretty straightforward: The person has to run on a treadmill-like floor, jump up and grab three chickens and jump to the end of the moving track to get their clue. If Vanessa and her sprained ankle choose this task, hers and Ralph’s elimination is all but guaranteed.
Apparently, every time the person running falls down they have to return to the beginning of the track. Art is able to get all the chickens easily but does his best belly flops on the track when trying to complete the task.
Even though they left at the same time in a cab, Anti-Big Brother get dropped at the wrong studio and are stuck flagging down another ride. Meanwhile, the teams with Rachels kind of pair up to find the studio. This is smart on both of their parts because they will know that there is at least one team in sight and in contention for last place. All three teams are now in cabs again and heading to the right place.
Art finally sprints out the Roadblock and he is sweaty and tired but still slapping the congratulatory hands of the audience. Their next clue points them to the Umeda Sky Building which will be the scene of the Detour.
The other three show up and because of the rules about keeping the Roadblocks evenly distributed, we have Brendon, Blonde Rachel and…uh oh…Vanessa taking it on. This will be bad for the divorcees. And Vanessa’s trepidation is confirmed with the fact that they have to wear knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet.
Vanessa’s inability to do the Roadblock is amplified by the fact that Brendon and Blonde Rachel breezed through it with only a single fall each. Vanessa is soldiering on but Ralph stops her and tells her that they should just take the penalty now, which would let them keep up with the other teams and see what happens. That to me is a sound strategy because the only way this ends is with her severely injuring herself.
Amazingly, she pushes herself to finish the task (through rage and adrenaline, I assume) and now just needs to do the final jump. The extent of her ankle injury will probably not be known until they get to sit down.
Border Patrol is first at the tower and a bit nervous about the size and height of it. The Detour gives them the choice between Bingo Shout-Out and Photo Cut-Out. For Bingo, they play Sushi Bingo. A caller gives the name of a fish and they have to correctly identify it on a conveyor, place it on their Bingo board until they have a bingo. Then they must eat all five of the winning sushi pieces to get their clue. For Photo, they have to get two Sumo wrestler cut-outs and convince ten sets of locals to allow them to take their picture in the cut-out. Because I hate seafood and wouldn't be able to identify the fish at all, I would be a Sumo photo-peddling fool out there. Border Patrol opts for Bingo.
Vanessa powers through and gets the Roadblock clue. There doesn’t appear to be that much distance between them and the others, as no one has started a Detour task yet. Speaking of, Big Brother will be joining Border Patrol at Bingo and Army of Two will eventually get to Photo after they get over their latest argument. So what sets off Blonde Rachel’s “Then shut the ** up!” He calls her a "freak" and says “Silence is golden.” The race is looking more and more like the end of this relationship.
Anti-Big Brother completely catches up where they are getting the clue as Big Brother is leaving. The divorcees go with Bingo also.
As Art & JJ start a Bingo game, the difficulty of picking the right sushi piece is becoming clear but no worries, guys, Blonde Rachel & Dave aren’t exactly selling the Sumo photo cut-out option either to locals. And no worries, Rachel & Dave, as Vanessa & Ralph aren’t even moving. Their driver hasn’t a clue about where to take them. Basically, the race has stopped for the moment.
Things get back in gear as Big Brother gets their Bingo started and Army of Two is chipping away at the ten photo requirement with five done so far. Despite Dave’s insistence that Rachel should pull people in to get their picture, he seems to be more convincing. They are easily the first ones out of the Detour and heading to the last Pitstop of season 20 at Osaka Castle. Excelling at a task seems to have negated the animosity between them.
Art & JJ aren’t far behind as they have a Bingo and a mouthful of raw fish. It doesn’t matter, though, because Rachel & Dave are gleefully checked in at number one for the seventh time this season. They have tied the record for wins. If they win the whole shebang, then they will own the record.
Border Patrol gets the pleasure of being in second place at the Osaka Castle but the displeasure of not being able to find our host. Both Big Brother and Anti-Big Brother are done with the Detour, with Brendon & Rachel only slightly ahead.
The lost souls of Border Patrol are soon joined on their sprint to the wrong part of the castle by Big Brother, who literally race up stairs to an empty field. Oops. Their frustration leads to a commercial break. I still don’t think that they either of them will be beaten to the mat by Vanessa & Ralph.
After the commercial, all three teams seem to be at the castle. With Art & JJ finally stumbling upon Phil’s location, they are number two and still overconfident they will be the winners.
My dreams of a Big Brother-less finale are officially dashed as Brendon & Rachel are checked in as number three. Of course that means that Vanessa & Ralph are the last ones to hit the mat and they are eliminated amidst tears from both of them.