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Part of the appeal of “The Amazing Race” is to see exotic locations and cultural practices, so it was strange to see it wind up in Washington D.C., a few miles from my house, making common mistakes like the difference between 11th Street and 16th.
Producers of the show made D.C. look like some scene from “The Americans,” in which every other person is a secret service agent, with sunglasses and briefcases. Suddenly we’re suddenly wise to their depictions of other countries as well — likely just as stereotyped.
The two hour finale Sunday was really the final two episodes of the season, presented together. The first hour was in Belfast, where Nashville singers Jennifer Kuhle and Caroline Cutbirth faltered a few times. First one of them refused to scubadive in a bog, looking like she’d quit first. And then they got lost on the way to a task it looked like they’d never be qualified to perform – completing some street art.
And while it was cut to look like they still had a chance over the roller derby moms Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere, who absolutely couldn’t follow directions on a five course serving competition, the blondes were cut in that first hour (and almost looked relieved to have done so).
At the same time Max and Katie Bichler, who had won two pit stops in a row, won their third in Belfast and had a bit of a head start and were filled with confidence.
But a “find the right agent and tell him the password” along the Tidal Basin happened to work owners for early powerhouses Bates and Anthony Battaglia. One of the first agents Bates asked gave him the secret combination to the next contest and there was no looking back.
They had enough time to complete a harder-than-it-looked baseball throw from a zipline to a constricting mascot costume at Nationals Park, where it was good to see the Presidential Mascots get a national audience, and they were off to the final test before the other two teams even got there (the roller derby moms were detained by confusing the address 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., with the White House (which everyone else knew was 1600).
In its 22nd season, most teams realize that the big contest at the end involves memory of where they had been and in what order. At Haines Point, they had to dig through a pit of globes and find ones with the countries where they had been were marked. The hockey brothers got through it quick and there was no question whatsoever they’d get the $1 million at Mt. Vernon, with no one on their tail for quite a while.
Max and Katie came in second with the roller derby moms third. Then everybody got free tickets to see the Wizards. (not really).
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