The Amazing Race Recap
Say Your Deepest Prayers Ever
By Stephanie DeGateo
December 14, 2006
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Rob and Kimberly get their clue directing them to an unfinished church in the center of Barcelona. The teams must, according to the clue, "figure out" that this church is the Sagrada Familia. In this case, "figuring out" means asking the closest person they run into on the street, and each team gets directions fairly quickly. The harder part of this task is searching the park surrounding the church to find the clue box. Rob and Kimberly seem to find it fairly quickly and determine they must travel to Paris, France and get to the Eiffel Tower. Tyler and James and Karlyn and Lyn take longer to find the box, but they eventually get their clues.
Of course, as it is close to midnight, the teams get bunched in the airport as the ticket agents do not open until 4 a.m. Rob and Kimberly get the last two tickets on the first plane out to Charles DeGaulle airport, which leaves at 6 a.m. Tyler and James have their first tiff about the fact that they were beat onto the flight. The models end up on a flight to Charles DeGaulle leaving at 7 a.m. Meanwhile, Karlyn and Lyn take a 7:25 a.m. flight which gets them into the Orly airport. Apparently, the Orly airport is closer to the Eiffel Tower and they actually end up getting to the clue box first. Their fortuitous plane selection was just that � fortuitous. That does not stop Karlyn from giving themselves credit for figuring out that they would get an advantage time-wise.
So, Team Bama gets to the Tower first and finds the clue box. The teams are directed to take a train to Cannes and from there they are to go an airport. All the teams manage to get on the same train and arrive at the airport at relatively the same time, with Tyler and James getting there slightly ahead of the other teams. It's a roadblock � both members of the team go up in a prop plane, while the selected team member skydives with an instructor onto Normandy Beach - one of the beaches the Allies stormed on D-Day. The other team member is treated to a nose dive by the pilot. After the plane lands, the team member in the plane takes a taxi to the train station. The team member that jumped is driven there by a jeep driver. Tyler takes it for their team. Meanwhile, Kimberly completely wipes out running to the clue box (given how boring this finale ended, this wound up being about the most entertaining moment of the night). Kimberly takes it for her team, much to the chagrin of Rob, who really, REALLY wanted to sky dive. Karlyn goes for her team. During her flight and jump, Karlyn actually looks like she's having fun. She actually smiled! Anyway, each team completes the jump and the respective partners are reunited at the train station. The teams are directed back, via train, to Paris, where they are to find the Place de la Concorde, a square in the city.
For whatever reason, Rob and Kimberly decide to change money in the center of town. By doing so, they miss an earlier train that comes into the station, which Tyler and James and Team Bama get on. Rob and Kimberly get on the train at its scheduled time. All the stress of this little train drama is negated when Rob and Kimberly catch up to them at the connecting station. Therefore, all teams are on the same train getting into Paris. More edited drama � James and Tyler can't get a cab. But of course they do and end up getting to the square. Rob and Kimberly find the clue box first (despite Karlyn and Lyn actually getting to the square first) and get their detour clue. It's a choice between Art and Fashion. In Art, the teams must get a painting at a gallery and walk it through Paris to an artist, who will give them their clue. In Fashion, the teams must find Anatomy Fashion Studio, where they must create a jacket, fitting it to a mannequin. Something must have been left off of Phil's discussion of the tasks, because Art seems SOOOOO much easier. Yet, each of the teams chooses Fashion. James and Tyler justify their choice by saying because they are models, they've been fitted so many times. How that translates into making a jacket I don't know, but maybe they were onto something as they finish first. The judge for this task is quite a stickler � she in turns refuses to give the clue to Rob and Kimberly and Team Bama a number of times. But eventually, they all get their next clue.
The teams are off to their final city, New York! And here is where the show takes a turn for me. I'm from New York � I grew up right outside the City, I lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn for years, and I now live right outside again. I know the area like the back of my hand. And due to this, I spent the rest of the show yelling directions at the screen. The teams are to find the "News Building" where they will get their next clue. I'm like, oh...that's on East 42nd Street, right across from Grand Central. And then, I'm like, don't ask where the Daily News offices are, because they actually moved to the far west side in the '30s. I start mapping the fastest route from JFK to 42nd Street, and... Okay, back to the recap.
Tyler and James head off to Charles DeGaulle, as do Rob and Kimberly. Karlyn and Lyn direct their cab driver to Orly. Big mistake! As most people who live in a city that have more than one airport know, one airport handles more of the international flights and one handles more of the "domestic" flights. In NYC, if you are heading to Europe, chances are you are leaving from JFK...maybe Newark. You wouldn't want to be at LaGuardia. The Lyns essentially directed their cab driver to the LaGuardia of Paris. Meanwhile, on the ride to the airport, Rob is obsessing over the fact that he didn't get to sky dive. Not that he didn't get to sky dive over Normandy � just sky dive in general. I'm fairly certain they have sky diving facilities in California. He probably can do it when he gets home. The fight Rob and Kim have about this is just hilariously ridiculous. I'm chalking it up to the pressure of the end of the race, because if it wasn't that...they've got some real problems.
Tyler and James find out at the airport that the first flight out the next morning is at 8:25 a.m. and is fully booked � at least economy class is. They put themselves on the waiting list. Rob and Kimberly find out the same thing, only to sweet talk a manager into getting them on the flight. Team Bama learns that they cannot get a direct flight out of Orly and heads to Charles DeGaulle. They too are on the waiting list for the flight Rob and Kimberly got on. Tyler and James and the Lyns both have tickets for a later flight getting into Newark over an hour after the flight Rob and Kimberly are on. The waiting list is long, according to James.
Rob and Kimberly board the 8:25 a.m. flight, thinking they are the only team on it. Remarkably, Tyler and James get called off the waiting list and get on the 8:25 plane. Karlyn and Lyn cannot get on the flight and we con't see them again until the finish line. Once in New York, each of the teams gets a cab, and the models' cab driver seems to know where he is going, while Rob and Kimberly's driver does not. He's instructed by Kim to follow the models' cab, which he does until they hit a toll plaza. Tyler and James' driver has EZ Pass, while Rob and Kimberly's cab driver has to pay the toll in cash. And that, folks, is the big separation point leading to Tyler and James' victory. What should make it all the more galling to Rob and Kimberly is the fact that all NYC cab drivers are required to have EZ Pass to limit waiting time fare run ups at toll plazas.
Tyler and James get to the News Building first and get the clue, which directs them to walk to the "East Village" and find a sculpture that is pictured. (I'm like � ohh, that's at Astor Place, right near the subway stop...hey, that's not really the East Village...) Phil informs us that the sculpture's name is the Alamo, it's two miles by foot and they are to find a woman there who will give them a clue. Tyler and James leave and with the lead they have on Rob and Kimberly, they get there first. The clue directs them to "convince" a cab driver to drive them to Garrison, New York in Putnam County, where they will find St. Basil's Academy and the finish line. The camera crews must help because despite the fact that I would have trouble sometimes getting a cabbie to take me to Park Slope even though they are legally required to take a fare to any place in the five boroughs, the teams have no resistance to a drive that is literally one and half hours.
Here's where I really start yelling at the screen. My job takes me up through Garrison a lot and I know exactly where the Academy is. And I got to tell you, I would have won this race for Rob and Kimberly if I was with them. Both their cabbies went a route that was far longer than it needed to be. The way I would have gone would have shaved at least 15 minutes off the trip (for those of you scoring at home, that would have been FDR North, to the Major Deegan, exit off at Central Avenue North in Yonkers, get on the Sprain North, to Route 9A, which turns into Route 9, go around the traffic circle, turn left past Graymoor Seminary onto what I think is Route 403, turn right onto Route 9D and St. Basil's is on your left.) The fact that they made a right into St. Basil's meant they were going south down Route 9...they both passed the Garrison on whatever route (probably Route 301) and ended up in Cold Spring, the town just north of Garrison and had to swing back south. I'm basically yelling at the screen at this point, but the bottom line is, as both cab drivers seemed to have taken the longer route, James and Tyler get to St. Basil's first and win the $1 million prize.
The amusing part of all Amazing Race endings is the fake cheers of the former racers. After watching episode after episode of teams bitching about each other, it's always fun to watch the fake smiles of the losers. And boy, did the editors like Dustin and Kandice, who got a lot of play at the end. They were standing next to David and Mary, who also got a lot of shots, lending credence to the rumors that both these teams are competing in the Amazing Race All-Star edition which is debuting in February. Rob and Kimberly get there second and Rob says he'll still marry Kimberly even though they lost. Team Bama finally arrives, and it seems unlikely that the producers forced them to complete the New York tasks as they were so far behind due to the flight difference. They get lots of hugs from their alliance mates. Tyler and James have this weird moment when Phil seems to indicate that their families are there in Garrison, but he fakes them out and hands them the product placement phone for a telephone call to their parents. James' father has the scariest eyebrows...they are ridiculous. The teams hug, hug, all the teams cheer, another shot of Dustin and Kandice and David and Mary and then...we're done. It's been good traveling with all of you, hope you enjoyed the ride.