TAR 17.12 Hi. I’m Sorry. I’m in a Race

Sorry for the late update racers but as tradition dictates, I watched the finale episode with my group of friends who are avid fans of TAR. As usual, we watched with hearts palpitating, hands gripping at pillows in anxious anticipation. Could history be made at last? Would a girl team FINALLY win TAR?

Well the start of the leg began with (as expected) teams flying back to USA. This time it was Los Angeles, California. Annoyingly, the background music was Katy Perry’s California Girls which I thought was totally random. The bubblegum pop music didn’t match the frantic, frenzy and tension of the teams as they disembarked from the plane. It was really a weird mashup of scene and music I felt.

Anyhow, the doctors were the first to leave the airport and get to the first stop which was a port and much to Nat’s trepidation, she would have to bungee jump off it. She handled it really well I thought, for someone who is absolutely terrified of heights. She closed her eyes, took a leap of faith and cried as she plunged downwards.

 

It was really sweet when she finally touched the ground and exclaimed, I’ve never loved asphalt so much in my life (or something to that degree). At this time, Jill and Thomas were in a close second place with Brook and Claire in 3rd. The next clue directed teams to take a helicopter to a ‘surprise destination.’

That basically meant that teams hovered over the city and landed at the Rose Bowl where one member had to attempt a roadblock: putting together a float. Jill and Thomas lamented that their strategy didn’t pay off. They deliberately left the last roadblock to Thomas, assuming that it would be a task involving strength, skill and brains but little did they expect it to be a menial task of attaching flowers to a float. Sorry Thomas, in this game, you can never anticipate what’s gonna come up next!

Brook however, breezed through the roadblock as Claire comments: this is her thing. Thmoas proved to be crafty with his hands (and meticulous too) and Nat faltered for awhile, forgetting to fill the plastic holders with water thereby having to redo that task. But despite that, he couldn’t overtake Nat who sped off to solve three riddles:

“Who is Sancho Panza’s master?”

“I am the place to hear the Symphony in the Glen” and

“Monroe’s Year of the Itch” 

The doctors used the driver’s phone to call Information, trying to find out the answer which was Don Quixote. From this, they pieced together they needed to travel to Quixote Studios and used their call to information even further by getting the answer to the second riddle, Griffith Park, the location of Quixote Studios. The answer to the third riddle, which was 7, indicated stage 7. This was the specific place that they had to be at to receive their next clue.

Unfortunately for Jill and Thomas, they had a cab driver that didn’t understand English, or the fact that a GPS isn’t the same as the Internet. As a result, they wasted a great deal of time, allowing Brook and Claire to catch up and surpass them.

Now after 12 legs of the race, teams have to put their memory to the test and recall all 11 greeters that greeted them on the mat as well as the headgear they had on. This task was made more confusing because they were given 48 different options on flashing screens.

 The doctors quickly identified the knight from Eastnor Castle in Leg 1, but their problems began trying to remember the two greeters in Ghana. But thankfully, they had written down all the exact details that they needed and they managed to solve the puzzle and receive the clue that directed them to the FINISH LINE at Greystone Mansion!

And despite the horrendous traffic conditions that put them on edge, the doctors emerged as clear victors with a huge lead in front of them! As they were greeted by past racers, they excitedly ran to Phil and crossed the finish line in first place i.e. the WINNERS of TAR season 17 (correction, the FIRST all-female team to win TAR) YAY!!!

This meant that Brook and Claire came in 2nd and Jill and Thomas, (poor them, they were really victims of circumstance) came in 3rd.

All in all, it’s been an awesome season. So many fun and energetic characters with colourful personalities. I especially enjoyed the Brook and Claire flair and everyone was generally likeable (except the volleyball girls. They are super bitchy in Elimination Station!) There were many firsts as well. Chad and Steph’s engagement, their tardiness that made them leave 2hours after the actual departure time, and Nick quitting the detour. Hopefully season 18 will bring in more thrills and spills especially since…. IT IS THE ALL-STARS SEASON! jeng jeng jeng! I’m looking forward to seeing more familiar faces and hopefully my favourite teams can do better this time round (now that there’s a second chance) and try to go all out to win the million dollars!