Image Credit: Robert Voets/CBS
For the 18th season of Amazing Race, eleven teams returned seeking redemption after losing their first time around. Of course, only one team could actually attain the sought-after redemption — going into last night’s two-hour season finale, seven teams had lost again, usually for the same reasons why they lost on their first go-round. (Message to Team Goth: Consider taking an orienteering course if you ever come back for a third Race.) In the end, though, one team successfully took home the $1 million prize. Find out this season’s Amazing Race grand champion team after the jump…
After a remarkably consistent season spent near the front of the pack, the sporty sisters Jen and Kisha finally got a first-place finish when it counted, beating the always-competitive Globetrotters and the Gary/Mallory All-American Combo for ultimate victory. Considering their infamous exit in their first Race — stopping for a bathroom break at an incredibly critical moment — it must have felt especially validating for the pair.
I was sad to see Zev and Justin — who were my ridiculously early pick to win it all — go out in the first half of the season finale. (Zev was undone by the Samba, like so many great men before him.) I was also sad to see Gary and Mallory, long a dark horse pick thanks to her hyper-caffeinated energy and his ability to be incredibly talented at almost everything, fall victim to the nefarious scourge of the Lost Cab Driver. It seemed for a moment like the Globetrotters might triumph, but the winds of Florida did them in. But let’s salute Jen and Kisha for putting on a great show. Their Race business, at least, is finished.
For a full report on the proceedings, click here for my full recap is live!). You can also start hitting up the comment boards. Anyone disappointed that Team Zinger couldn’t make it into the last leg? Sad to see Gary and Mallory undone by cabbie karma? Wish they could have worked in some sort of David Caruso cameo for the Miami leg? Start talking! I’ll be talking to the new Race champions tomorrow, so hit me up on Twitter if you’ve got any questions for Jen and Kisha.
It was nice to see a finale that was obviously actually close, not just appear close bcause of clever editing. All four of the final teams were good teams, so it didn’t matter much who won. It was an entertaining finale.
This whole season was really excellent. There were only a few episodes that were very obvious. I hope they can ride this momentum into future seasons. Lately it feels like there are one or two good teams and everyone else is just bumbling behind.
My Random Thoughts:
- The On The Beach Detour was an impossible task. The description stated that the teams had to walk around a beach and try to sell bikinis to people who would then model them, but let’s look at what it actually was: two people walking around a beach with bikinis who are trying to convince women to come into their little cloth cylinder, which they are holding for them, get partially naked in there, WHILE A TV CREW IS FILMING IT…and pay for the bikinis! Add in the fact that you’re trying to sell to a bunch of people who already have bikinis on, and that the only two people who tried it were half waxed/half hairy, with all of their exposed skin beet red from the waxing, and it’s justifiable that people on the beach wanted nothing to do with this. I’m surprised the police didn’t get called.
-As the teams departed the airport in their cabs, there was a great overhead shot which was reminiscent of a CSI: Miami opening sequence. I was waiting for Phil to show up and do his best Horatio Caine impression, taking off his sunglasses and stating: “Well, Frank. It looks like these three teams have some (pause)…Unfinished Business.”
I hope you’ll check out the rest of my Season Finale Recap at sfurfaro . blogspot . com
How about the lady’s hair at the Trailer Park? The wind blew everything else over, but HER HAIR was like an UNMOVEABLE FORCE.
How funny was it when Big Easy said he was going to make that trailor look as good as her hair. I loved how everyone called her Ms. Rose.
LOL – too funny! Hate to see HER carbon footprint! XD
She looked like an Oompa Loompa
Close What?? I thought it was the worste Ending ever. Instead of having even one task that could trip anyone up they set it up so every task was just time consuming so who ever got the lead right off basically was able to stay in the lead. So bad some of my family has sworn off the show
Except that the lead changed twice.
I totally agree. This was a great “race” and I enjoyed it to the very end.
I’m glad the black girls finally won!
And how appropriate that they won on Mothers’ Day!!?? (Or at least it aired on Mothers’ Day and they dedicated their win to MOM). If not the Cowboys, I’m glad Kesha & Jen won.
I know, huh?! It was SO appropriate that Kisha and Jen’s whole race outlook involved a determination rooted from their mother’s struggles. It was a great win.
I loved those cowboys! They could have a reality show and I would watch it.
My own mom and I both looked at each other like O_O when throughout the entire season did either of the sisters ever mention anything about their Mom??
What was the name and recipe for the drink the teams had to make in the finale while they were in Florida
I think the drink you’re thinking about is called “Caipirinha,” But the task was while they were still in Brazil (Copacabana Beach)
Caipirinha, the recipe(s) is online with not much variation between them.
If well done they’ll get you dancing (samba, of course) very fast…
I definitely want to try one now. Hey, if Snapple can come out with a Mango/Papaya tea when TAR was in India, can a Caipirinha not be far behind?
thank you everyone, i now want to give it a whirl and try it out.
I was so impressed that Gary and Mallory didn’t yell at that awful cab driver. Think if that happened to you in your everyday life, you would be incredibly pissed if you got into a cab and the driver rode around aimlessly for what must have been at least 30 minutes. Now magnify that by 1 million, and that’s the kind of anxiety they must have felt. They are some damn cool customers.
I agree. Very classy. depressed that it knocked them out of the competition, bc I think they would have won.
Glad to see another female team win. I didn’t care for the sisters a few years ago but they grew on me this season.
I agree. Mallory used to annoy me but I was won over by her enthusiasm (as opposed to constant complaining of some other teams). I thought they kept their cool well….not sure if I would be able to do the same.
Bummer!! I wish it was the globetrotters or Gary and Mallory!!! I never got the girls. They were always flying under the radar!! Ugh!
I was also rooting for either Globetrotters or Gary/Mallory. They certainly made it fun to watch. But the good thing about Amazing Race is that I usually can’t argue with who wins — whoever wins usually deserves it. In this case Jen & Kisha earned it, so I guess my hat’s off to them.
Agree!! But I’m still sad.
That definitely is the thing about Amazing Race. Unless it is so obvious TPTB are fixing it (the plane COMING BACK????!!!) you can’t really complain with who wins. The race is a combination of luck, skill and timing. Usually the person who wins is the person with the best balance between the three. I was rooting for Gary/Mallory (my early picks to win it all) but if not them, I was happy it went to the sisters. I couldn’t stand the Globetrotters aka some of the biggest bullies the game has seen (and no I didn’t like the goths but it’s true).
I loved the cowboy, had fun watching the Globetrotters, but I am totally glad that Kisha and Jen won for their Mom. It was obvious that they were better prepared this time around.
Everyone ignored Kisha and Jen, but as I said here several weeks ago, they’re the stealth assassin team. I knew they could win it all, and I’m glad they did. The second all female team to win it all.
Globetrotters should have been out weeks ago. In future seasons, teams should think twice before they share information.
Oh boo hoo. I think sharing information is smart. It creates allies that can come in handy in the future.
As long as those allies don’t beat you. You can only really share information if you are confident enough you’re going to come in first anyway.
Early in the race it makes sense. But you noticed in these final two episodes everyone went out of their way to avoid the other teams. By the final 5 it should be cutthroat, and it was.
Nice to see a pretty close final, now on to the very first Aussie version hosted by Grant Bowler.
I’m happy the sisters won… I would’ve been just as happy if Gary and Mallory won too.
Gary and Mallory should have WON! All because of the CAB DRIVER if not they would definitely win!
AMEN!!! they would have won for sure!! they caught up and if they werent behind it would have been them! so disappointed!!!
During past seasons cabbies have really cost contestants. It’s part of the chance you take, whether in an “Amazing Race” or on everyday streets (LOL).
I really hate how much the cab drivers become a major factor in who wins and loses. I wish there was some way to weight the challenges so that they are a bigger factor than the travel time getting to them.
I agree with u guys! The challenges were so easy too! Where was the detour? Two roadblocks?! If not they could have caught up from that cab driver incident and win this thing!
Agreed. They would have probably won, but were done in by a cab driver in the USA that couldn’t even understand English.
I don’t know… that 7 mile bike ride would’ve been a killer for them, more so than it was for The Globetrotters or Jen/Kisha.
Agreed. The bike ride into the wind would have killed Mallory. She’s strong but that wasn’t easy.
Well – they still FINISHED, so they did the 7-mile ride, anyway. So I’m not sure I understand….
I just wanted to know who won before I watched the final three episodes. I now deleted the shows from my DVR.
Time and time again it always comes down to a ‘bad’ cab driver. Frankly, I think it’s a way for the producers to rig it.
I think I can name at least 4 Amazing race finales(and I haven’t watched them all.) that had a bad cab driver decide the race.
I was so sad that Gary and Mallory didn’t win. I have never in my life watched a reality competition show where the players were always so happy and joyful. Mallory was one of the most enjoyable people I have ever watched on tv. I was glad the sisters won but I wanted Mallory to win.
Agreed. It was so nice to see someone so happy and just enjoying being on the race instead of being so negative. Even when things went wrong, she stayed positive which is a tribute to how strong she is. She reminds me so much of my friend Cassie. When you’re around her, you can’t help but feel good.
Yeah, Gary and Mallory are wonderful human beings, always so proper and happy!!
I agree – Gary and Mallory were so good natured. They always seemed so happy to be there, experiencing these new cultures and things. Kudos to them for having so much fun!
Agree completely. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a reality show contestant who was as unbelievably cheerful and good-natured as Mallory.
LOVE Gary. Mallory is annoying, over-acting and fake. She was so “on” all the time and hyper aware of where the camera was. She is going to have a hard time not being the center of attention anymore. And if not for her super dad, she would have been out of the race the first day. He carried her. AND, Mallory?, Jesus could not care less about how you do on a tv show, so QUIT calling to him for help every 2 minutes!
I have been watching amazing race since season one…one of the best seasons….
All the evil people got out so it was just the nice people. At the end. Glad those two girls got out in the last episode. The small girl was too whiny.
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I thought it was funny that Zev and Justin never got fully waxed in those 15 min….but I never really like those challenges anyway because teams can never get ahead while doing them. And soon as they switched from the selling bikinis to the drinks, I knew they were done for which was kind of sad. I kept hoping that someone would give them a break. But honestly, if two guys came up to me while I was on the beach with a portable change room….I don’t think I would buy from them either so…
But after they left I was rooting for Gary and Mallory but with that incompetent taxi driver and became less and less likely.
I was disappointed that there wasn’t any memory challenge though.
Yeah it sucked that there weren’t any opportunities for the teams who were behind to catch up a little.
I enjoyed a close race but the challenges were really lame. Is the staff running out of ideas? I was cheering for Gary and Mallory. So sad they were done in by a cabbie.
Zev and Justin were my favourites and I was so disappointed that they weren’t in the final I almost stopped watching…
Funny thing is, they left the Dance comp before the Globetrotters but didn’t make it to the waxing salon til everyone else left…what was up with that?
Zev and Justin got lost on their way to the waxing place. They showed it during the episode
They got Lost.
I was sooo happy they were eliminated…karma is a beeitch! Justin was so mean-spirited. Zev was okay, too bad J didn’t learn from him.
In what way was Justin mean spirited? I always thought he seemed very nice and tolerant.
Huh? When? He was pretty nice to everyone and went out of his way to help other teams more than once.