Great. Just what the world needs: two more Trustafarians. The surprise was that while the Hippies were using their high-falutin' educashun and brains and stuff to solve the flag puzzle, I found myself hoping the Frats would pull out the win. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Basically my opinion of them had mellowed over the past few episodes, and my patience with the Hippies grew thin weeks ago. I guess I started regarding the Frats' whole "Swingers" womanizer act as more tongue-in-cheek than offensive, and Jeremy made me giggle a few times. Also, they were good racers.
In contrast, the Hippies got on my nerves. I'm sure they're good guys. But the problem with these peace, love and good karma types is that in the course of a competition, they usually become hypocrites, or descend into some kind of self-delusion about themselves and/or their actions (see Survivor: Courtney). Both the Hippies and the Frats pulled some shady maneuvers over the course of the race, but the Frats never represented themselves as anything other than a couple of shady guys, so somehow it seems less distasteful. Maybe that's not fair. Maybe I just bring too much baggage with me after way too many years dealing with hippie Spirit Nazis on the ultimate field (if you don't know what I'm talking about, well, it's a long story. Never mind). Maybe it's because the Hippies managed to win even though they pulled a total Franimal at the snowshoe detour, but it didn't matter because every single task ended with a trip to the airport where all the teams caught up to each other again, so no mistake mattered until Eric messed up the flags. And maybe what's really bugging me is that the Hippies finished last TWICE, and if it wasn't for the lame non-elimination legs they throw into the race, they wouldn't have been in the finals at all.
That said, it was still an exciting, great final. Well, for two of the teams, anyway. I loved how difficult the legs were in all respects, from driving through Tokyo to snowshoeing uphill in Alaska through the combination physical/mental challenge at the very end, when everyone must have been totally spent and in a total panic. The race should be more about that stuff and less about Travelocity gnomes and extended swings through Europe on charter busses.
I wish I'd connected strongly enough with one team along the way to really root for them, but I didn't. And I couldn't bring myself to pull for the underdog, because what a dog it was. The difficulty of the Japan and Alaska legs showed just how weak Rolanda was compared to the boy teams. On previous seasons I don't think they would have lasted very long, since skills like navigating, communicating effectively with foreign strangers, and moving quickly through tasks are usually important on this show. Not so much this season. So there they were, completely out of their league and out of the running. Also, back to the dull bickering. So they had no chance, and they were boring. Not much to cheer for. Anyway, may they enjoy their fancy trip to Australia and live happily ever after (I didn't see it, but Ray proposed to Yolanda on the Early Show this morning).
As for poor Eric and Jeremy, well, I'm hardly heartbroken. The service industry will be waiting for them when they return from the bazillion trips they won along the way.
A funny: The Blogger spellchecker didn't recognize the word "womanizer." The auto-suggested alternative? "Homemaker." Hmmmmm. . .
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