I can't believe that next week is the season finale. And, mind you, not one of those fake fall finales like Lost, Jericho, or Heroes - this season's TAR is almost history!
Speaking of history, in all of the previous seasons, not one all-female team has made it to the Final Three, the huge determining factor for this show. This season started off with two very strong female teams. Remember Jamie and Kelly? They were gone too soon for all the promise they held. The other strong female team is Dustin and Kandice. I refer to these teams as strong as they both have the physical strength and are in good shape. Since men tend to win, it takes strength, right? Hey, maybe not.
Four teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?
We last left the teams at a Berber camp in the desert near the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. Tyler and James (Model Rehab BoyToys) had arrived first, so they were the first to receive the clue and leave from the camp. Dustin and Kandice (Evil Blonde Beauty Queens) were saved from Philimination last week as they had arrived last. Because they weren't eliminated, they're marked for elimination in this week's leg. That means they have to come in first at the Pit Stop or face a 30-minute penalty. With it down to four teams, that could very well mean elimination for them. I noticed that Tyler and James had about a 45-minute lead on them taking off from the camp.
The clue led teams to Casablanca, Morocco. The route through the mountains was full of switchback roads similar to what I've seen in places in the Rocky Mountains, but much more treacherous without guardrails. Yikes! The teams had to drive it and, somehow, the Blondes scooted through and made up a lot of time. Best quote of the drive goes to Kim, "I can't believe all the dogs out here." Um, they're goats, not dogs. Rob didn't let her live that down for a while.
One thing I found interesting is that Casablanca has Shell gas stations. That struck me as a bit odd.
Once in Casablanca, the teams faced a Roadblock - a task only one member of a team can do. This one, though a traditional native food one, wasn't as bad as most as long as the person wasn't a vegetarian. It was buying, grinding, spicing, handing off to a chef to cook, then eating camel meat.
Article comments
1 - Triniman
The Lob It task was a weird one. Weird in the sense that unless dozens of tomatoes contained the instructions, the job of finding the correct one seemed near-impossible.
I wonder how much it hurts to be hit by a tomatoe? Is Kimberly really wwuch a whinner or was she really getting hurt? I honestly thought the Lug It teams would finish 1st and second.
2 - Publius
Hi, thanks for the review! You did get something wrong, however. Dustin and Kandice did say what an amazing experience the race was for them--as well as how grateful they were for the opportunity. You can see for yourself at this link, from the official site: http://www.cbs.com/sprint/video.php
I speculate that because of the constraints of time, the parting comments cannot be aired in their entireties on the show itself.
3 - Dumaguete Dreamin'
Next week they come back to the U.S., which always seems to be such a let-down for me. Gone are the language barriers (though you'd be stuck in some American cities if you didn't know Spanish), the unusual forms of transportation, and the animals roaming through the streets. The spirit of adventure that comes from walking the packed roads of India doesn't seem to carry over when the teams return to the mainland and walk the streets of, say, Dallas. Still, I enjoy each episode of TAR to the very end.