Finally, I caught up on episodes 8 to 11 of this season… About time really. The finale deserves it’s own special blog.
EPISODE 8
START LOCATION: Venice, Italy! Matt and Redmond are first off the mat to head to GREECE! Cheap as location right now…
WOAH a 16 hour ferry ride, eff that! There’s another bloody double U-Turn ahead! OK, seriously, how many double U-Turns this season?!
Brooke and Scott are so much more Will and Grace the more I see them. They may have their dramas and tantrums and want to kill each other, but they have each others back no matter what <3
As for Liz and Michael, omg I can’t even cope! YELLING CENTRAL.
Tara and Joey get to the plate-smashing party first, but they miss the U-Turn board. But Brooke and Scott don’t, and decide to U-Turn Liz and Mike. Not a bad thing to target the ‘weaker’ teams. Tara and Joey finally find it and U-Turn #TeamFun. Nooo!
DETOUR: For the Bride OR For the Groom. Saddle up a donkey and transport milk for cheese, or run up a marathon staircase to collect a sheep. Cheese please.
Matt and Redmond name their donkey, Seabiscuit and it’s uber cute.
Tara and Joey find both cheese ladies and finish first and head to Athens for some Olympia good times! They take their official lap around the original Olympic stadium; so fucking awesome!! As for Brooke, all we hear from her is that she’s not a runner, and it’s only one lap. Girl, seriously?! You drive me crazy sometimes.
Meanwhile, where the hell are Team Fun?! And even worse, where are Liz and Mike?! These two are completely lost. Is it the end for these two soon? Liz and Mike are ANGRY AF for being U-Turned… and oh no, flashback from Brooke saying she won’t U-Turn them. Oops! As for Team Fun, they know they’re a threat in this game and are completely fine and stay positive! I love this team!
Liz and Mike struggle on the marathon stairs and find their lucky goat. Sooo cute!!
Dun dun dun… they forgot to get TWO goats… Mike has to go back up the stairs. Dayum! Team Fun have caught up, but remember Liz and Mike have a Speed Bump coming up.
ROADBLOCK: Step in Time. Master choreography for the Changing of the Guard. Yep, I would absolutely suck at this. Army officer Tara totes thinks she’s got this! She attempts the Roadblock first. You go, girl!
Oh no, Brooke’s doing the drill and I’m already dreading it. Hahaha. Even Scott knows she needs encouragement. She gets it on her second go, yeah gurl!! And omg they didn’t even show her complaining once. 😉
Is it strange I keep forgetting about Ellen and Logan? They are consistently middle of the pack! C’mon Team LoLo.
Pit Stop is at the amazing Acropolis!! Team #1 are Tara and Joey, again! They win $7500 each. This is their 3rd time in 1st place. Matt and Redmond come in as Team #2. It’s getting dark, where the frack are Brooke and Scott?! They finally find the Pit Stop and come in third.
Liz and Mike’s Speed Bump is making Kokopetzi; had no idea what this was prior. Mmm intestines. Lucky Mike is a chef, winning!
It’s a march off between Becca and Liz, and did we hear that Becca used to be in a Marching Band? Gosh I love these nerds. Team Fun race off to the Pit Stop.
Liz and Mike check-in in last place and are eliminated from the race. To be honest this was imminent. It was great to see how they saw each other as brother and sister though; sweet.
EPISODE 9
START LOCATION: Athens, Greece! Tara and Joey race to the amazing Corinth Canal (never heard of it)! My hubby remembered this bridge from a previous season – Season 9 to be precise, wow! I’m impressed! This is totally an unpopular opinion, but I like Brooke and Scott… But, even more I love team #FUNSTOPPABLE.
ROADBLOCK: Bungee jump off the bridge at the Corinth Canal. Joey takes on this one. And this leads them to Vietnam!
Scott is freaking out about potentially doing a bungee jump. He’s about to pop a vein by yelling so much! Scott is so fucking scared, like this is a legit fear. Not a laughing matter at all. Brooke gives him some encouragement and then he takes the biggest leap of his life! Well done Scott! To me it looks hella fun!
All 5 teams are on the same flight to Hanoi, Vietnam. So really, that Roadblock was just a little bit of fun. No one gets left behind on the Amazing Race anymore.
Team Fun find their clue first amongst the dancing ladies. They head to a Buddhist Temple for their next challenge.
DETOUR: Bamboo Climb OR Window Design. Woah the bamboo detour seems cooler, but if you have an eye for detail then dressing mannequins is the way to go. Team LoLo get to the ladder first, and Brooke is pissed. There are no more ladders left, so Will and Grace are off to dress the Barbie dolls. Brooke blames Scott for not getting the ladder, my goodness.
It’s madness on the streets of Hanoi!! Meanwhile, pretty sure Scott and Brooke are making more noise than the cars driving by. Get to the other detour and quit your whingeing! Brooke’s voice is really grating on me, she needs to stop yelling and pull it together!! OHMYGOD!!
Meanwhile, Team LoLo are having an Austin Powers moment (remember the buggy?) with their ladder. Sure they’ve taken forever to get their ladder to the birdcage, but they don’t complain and just get the job done! Huge difference between London and Logan and Brooke and Scott.
AAAAND Team #1 is Becca and Floyd!! Woo, Team Funstoppable! Ooh a trip to the Galapagos Islands. And Team #2 are the Boys, Matt and Redmond.
Tara and Joey can’t figure out what they are missing, maybe one whole mannequin!!? LOL. This is pretty funny. They’re the last to the Pit Stop, BUT it’s another one of those non-elimination legs. Boo!
EPISODE 10
START LOCATION: Hanoi, Vietnam!
Team Fun are totally killing it right now. All the positivity helps! Matt and Redmond joins them on the first bus to Ninh Binh. Damn, I was hoping Team LoLo would make the second bus without the last two teams…
Teams cycle to Bich (not Bitch) Dong Temple, cute! Team Fun find a gnome first and head to their next clue.
ROADBLOCK: Basket Case. Throwing it back to Season 3 (who can forget Flo and Zach? They were pretty much before Brooke and Scott about 15 years ago!), it’s pretty much the bike ride of death. Floyd and Redmond take this challenge on. Matt rides off into the sunset, while Floyd tries his best dropping all his baskets. But at least he’s giving it his best shot!
Scott on Brooke doing the Roadblock: “OMG Brooke, you’re not giving birth! You take spin classes every day.” The best.
Tara and Joey take on their Speed Bump, foraging for 6-dozen duck eggs. Goodluck!! Matt finishes the Roadblock and wonders where Floyd is… marking the trail with his baskets, that’s where! Ellen D takes on the basket Roadblock and seeing how Floyd couldn’t offload any, this is gonna be a tough one!
It’s up to Matt to leg-row to Pit Stop. Sheesh, I can feel major foot cramps coming on.
London struggles with her bike, so Floyd helps her, but they both fall over. Eek! Someone drops baskets… And it’s Floyd’s. Aww man!! Ellen D gets to head off. Poor Floyd is left behind and Joey passes him. This sucks for Team Fun right now.
After a hundred thousand stairs, Phil yells down from the Pit Stop to Matt and Redmond, “you’re Team #1!”
Poor Floyd is completely out of it. The guy is dehydrated and medical comes to his aid.
Back at the leg-rowing, Tara says it’s harder than giving birth! Someone tell Brooke, please. They’re Team #2!
Needless to say, the last team are Team Fun 🙁 Floyd is just not well and dehydrated and Becca has to accept their fate. They had such a good run too. Absolutely devastated for them. Phil comes to meet them. Team Fun are eliminated from the race. More people need to be like Floyd and Becca, period.
EPISODE 11
START LOCATION: Ninh Binh, Vietnam! Matt and Redmond are back on top, baby! Time to fly to Seoul, South Korea. I’m SOOO ready for some K-Pop! Please let there be a karaoke challenge. Brooke and Scott are in 2nd place and I’m prepared for more complaints. Bring it on, Brookey!!
Mom and Dad are lookin’ fresh. And Team LoLo I’m most worried about. They really haven’t had that much airtime… Makes me think they’re not going to make the Final Leg.
Matt and Redmond are the only ones who take the subway, everyone else is in shitty taxi traffic.
OMG GANGNAM STYLE. YESSSSSSS!!
All the taxi teams arrive first and I’m loving the dance sesh!
Next stop, it’s Pitch Perfect time with the Cup Song. Well, kinda. It’s cup stacking time! Amazing.
Brooke takes on the stacking challenge, which her niece apparently taught her how to do. She thinks she’s got this one. And she definitely comes close the first time around. Girl just needs to calm her farm and she’ll be fine! Gosh cup stacking is hilarious. Brooke finishes the challenge first! Congrats, this is the first time we haven’t seen her completely break down. Haha.
All the teams finish playing with cups and I even forget Matt and Redmond are there! Eek. Also, Redmond cup-stacks for the ladies??
Scott and Brooke make it to the next challenge and it’s making Kimchi. Delicious! But Mom and Dad finish first, yet again, and head to the next locale. The oldies have been very impressive the whole race.
ROADBLOCK: This is probably one of the best Roadblocks I’ve ever seen!! It’s GAME ON, MOLES!! I would smash the shit out of this challenge!! Bring it on, bitches. Streetfighter is on! Scott chooses Chun Li, you go girl.
London does pretty well for someone who’s never played video games before! She came the closest to winning, but just falls short. Honestly, I’m loving her technique.
Tara, you cannot use Zangief as a beginner against pro gramers. Tut tut. and WOOO London KO’s her opponent first!! Scott finishes soon after. Poor Tara can’t catch a break, and Matt rocks up. He totes looks like a gamer dude. AND he chooses Zangief, but he knows how to play Streetfighter. 😉
Here we go, Pit Stop!! Brooke and Scott are Team #1. WOW, their first time in first place, and they make the Final 3. Team LoLo are Team #2! Man, I was so wrong, but ecstatic for them. I LOVE YOU ELLEN D!!
Joey’s whingeing about the pro gamer ‘not letting the mom win’ is getting old… And finally Tara beats him. The gamer totally let her win. C’mon!! Not sure how I feel about this.
And Team #3 are Mom and Dad, Tara and Joey. Aww man, I really wanted Matt and Redmond to make the final 3. So devo!! As the hubby just said, Redmond was one leg short of the finish…
FINAL THREE:
Tara and Joey, Brooke and Scott & London and Logan. Team Mom and Dad have been consistent the whole race, despite maybe being underestimated from the beginning; Brooke and Scott have overcome many obstacles (including each other) and fears along the way and have set up a great winners story for themselves; and London and Logan have been a little bit of the quiet underdogs of the season. I think all three teams are very deserving of the title!
Blog by Lynda Olson
ALL IMAGES USED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE COPYRIGHT CBS. THIS IS A PERSONAL BLOG AND ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN.
