The Amazing Race 17

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Woo, saw the finale but forgot to post yesterday because it was a slow day here :)

Jill and Thomas lost it on the taxi ride to the final challenge. I think it's a lesson for future races that if your taxi driver doesn't understand you need a computer or have a smart phone, get thee to a hotel or someplace that does! I think they just panicked when they couldn't get their taxi driver to understand that they needed the Internet, while when Brooke and Claire were confronted with the same situation, they directed him to a hotel.

Nat and Kat had it easier (sorta) in that they managed to convince the dispatcher to look up stuff for them.

Final challenge was a good idea, but due to everyone pretty much taking notes, it didn't seem to take too long. They tried to make it look like Brooke and Claire were still in it, but barring a traffic accident or something, Nat and Kat had it in the bag. I kinda miss the footrace at the end though.

All the final teams were fine teams, each deserved to win.
 
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EricBess

Guest
Have to agree that any of the final 3 teams would have been okay with me. I've sort of been rooting for the doctors for the last few weeks, but I couldn't really tell you why other than it may have been a bit of an "underdog" factor.

I was particularly impressed with Thomas's attitude. When it was clear that the taxi driver had completely messed them up, he managed to keep a good face about him and showed support for Jill regardless.

Clearly, as you said, this all came down to how much they were able/willing to have others do work for them, though I was very surprised that no one seemed to know that Sancho Panza was Don Quixote's sidekick. They all ended up resorting to Internet. I would have needed help with the second clue (which seemed to be about a local garden or something), but the first and the third clues were pretty easy.

Hard to say how much was "just luck". Like you said, sometimes you just need to cut losses and find another cab driver. That guy didn't seem eager to let them do that, though. I wonder how long it takes to get the camera guys set up in the cabs? It may be significant enough to serve as a deterent from switching as well.

The TV hosts didn't even try to get someone to help, opting to go straight to the internet themselves. That was clearly better than floundering like Jill and Thomas, but cost them valuable time.

Still, the doctors had good notes and the other teams didn't seem to that I saw, so even had they all gotten to the final challenge at the same time, it may have gone the same way. And yeah, showing the doctors in traffic and the TV hosts with clear streets was pushing it as it was still pretty clear who had won very early on.
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
but the first and the third clues were pretty easy.
heh, I had no idea what it was . :)

Well, Jill and Thomas found some way to get there, as they obviously finished, but who knows how long it finally took them or what they actually did.

I think Claire and Brooke just opted for the "sure" way once they found out that either the taxi driver didn't have a phone or didn't have one with internet. But yeah, it cost them time since Nat and Kat were gone from the challenge by the time they got there.

I thought it was funny when they did get there and they told Bob that they're his big(gest?) fans and Bob, clearly not knowing who they were, said they were his too but moved them quickly to the screen :)
 
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EricBess

Guest
lol - Yes, having Bob Eubanks there was great. He didn't really do much, but it was a nice touch and he was a great sport.
 
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