Amazing Race 10 Tidbits -- Thoughts and Outlook

Amazing Race Tidbits

CBS' The Amazing Race 10th Edition

Thoughts on Season FInale

First, this was only a one hour Finale, unlike all endings since AMAZING RACE 1. Could this be a sign of things to come? Still, it was an action packed hour.

Planes, Trains, and Cabs

Teams had to find a basilica in Barcelona under construction for 124 years. That is the famous Sagrada Familia, or Holy Family, church designed by A. Gaudi. The word gaudy certainly applies to the architectural style and is derived from the name Gaudi. They were instructed to look behind the church to find their next clue, a picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The last team to start, James and Tyler, found the clue quickly, while the other teams struggling to find the right park behind the church, especially Lyn and Karlyn. Lyn and Karlyn took the third flight out of Barcelona, on Iberia Airlines straight to Orly Airport (ORY), closer to Paris than the giant Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). As a result, the frontrunning Rob and Kim found themselves demoted briefly to second at the Eiffel Tower. There, teams were instructed to take a long train ride to Caen in Normandy, then to find the local airport, the Caen-Carpiquet Aeroport. But all three teams were on the same train. James and Tyler arrived at the airport to find the Roadblock first. Rob and Kimberly were next to arrive and open their clue. Kimberly did an unceremonious slide into the clue box, got up, opened the clue, and decided to do the Roadblock before even reading the part describing the task. They continued to fight over it all the way to the airplane.

Roadblock

Who wants to hit the beach? One team member had to tandem skydive from 13,000 feet to Omaha Beach, the bloody scene of the heaviest action in the Allied Normandy invasion in June 1944, and one of two American landing beaches. A red X marked the target on the beach. Meanwhile the pilot would treat the other team member to a nosedive over the beach. The skydiving team member would ride a jeep to the Bayeux train station. The non-skydiving team member would take a cab from the Caen airport to the Bayeux train station, where the two would meet.

Episode Twelve Roadblock
Team	Team Member	Result
Tyler and James	Tyler	Probably a better choice, less fearful than James
Karlyn and Lyn	Karlyn	Thrilled all the way down!
Rob and Kimberly	Kimberly	Rankled Rob by taking it

All Together Now

In a real quirk, the ticket agents told all teams that the train from Bayeux departed at 5:33, without mentioning an earlier train. James and Tyler and Lyn and Karlyn were surprised to find a train bound for Caen that left about 5:10, but boarded it anyway. At the same time, Rob and Kimberly took the time to convert money at the nearby Post Office, allowing them to avoid long lines in Paris. At the transfer station at Caen, all three teams got on same train back to Paris. There, they were to find a clue box at what turned out to be a bridge at the Place de la Concorde.

Detour

Art: Teams had to pick up a painting from a local art gallery and take it about a mile through the streets of Paris to a sidewalk artist who would hand them their next clue.

Fashion: "Teams had to travel on foot to Anatomy Fashion Studio where they needed to create a jacket. Using the provided tools and materials, they needed to cut, pin and fit the jacket to a mannequin. Once the designer approved of the fit, she would hand them their next clue."

Episode Twelve Detour
Members	Detour Selected	Result
Tyler and James	Fashion	Easy for them, they had been fitted "a million times"
Karlyn and Lyn	Fashion	Lyn growled about the judge always saying "non", as if she was the fashion Gestapo
Rob and Kimberly	Fashion	Rob could not find his place in the task, calling Kimberly boss

When they finished the jackets, teams received the clue that they were to take a plane to New York City, their final destination city, and locate the News Building and find the giant globe in the lobby to find the next clue.

Down to Two Teams Head to Head

Lyn and Karlyn figured on using Orly Airport trick again, but this time, it backfired, a fatal mistake dooming them to third. All flights to New York originate from the larger Charles de Gaulle Airport. Plus, the early flight to NY was fully booked for economy. Only by talking with a manager did Rob and Kimberly book tickets on the first Air France flight. James and Tyler settled for standby, as did the late arriving moms, and got tickets for the second flight. In the morning, James and Tyler sweated it out, and prayed. Their prayers, and those of James' father, were answered when they got tickets for the first flight at the last possible moment.

Landing at JFK, the race was on to find a taxi. James and Tyler have visited New York on a yearly basis, giving them an advantage over Rob and Kimberly. Rob could remember visiting New York once. James and Tyler knew about the E-Z Pass. In their conversation with their driver, they appeared to be confident, and of course their cabbie had the E-Z Pass. Rob and Kimberly found a taxi, but their cab driver did not have E-Z Pass, so they had to wait several minutes in a cash line at a toll booth going over the river into Manhattan. Really rotten luck for the couple, and worse, not even supposed to happen, according to the NYC taxicab regulations! That separation at the toll booth gave James and Tyler the lead they would enjoy all the way to the FINISH LINE. At the News Building, teams got a clue directing them to a large sculpture in East Village, titled "The Alamo", by sculpture Tony Rosenthal. A woman in a yellow cap would hand them their next clue. Rob knew where East Village was, and Rob and Kimberly have run together, but James and Tyler were more sure of the intersection they needed to go to, Astor Place. Even with a slower jog, and down to a fast walk at one point, the models maintained enough of a lead to be ahead at the black sculpture known to locals as The Cube.

The clue was to convince a local cab driver to take them 56 miles to the town of Garrison in Putnam County, New York to the St. Basil Academy. It is just across the Hudson from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The cab driver for James and Tyler simply started in the right direction, and got information over the phone, which was basically correct. When they got closer, they asked others on the road for information. In a timely fashion, they got the correct information. Crossing the bridge over the Hudson, and turning into the entrance, James and Tyler were still in the lead, even though Rob and Kimberly found a cab driver that was familiar with St. Basil. An alternate route is proposed in page 3 of the recap of the season finale written by Stephanie DeGateo. The Sprain is the Sprain Brook Parkway, and the Major Deegan is I-87. The former Graymoor Seminary, closed in the late 1960s, but still a local landmark, is now the Graymoor Spiritual Life Center. Rob and Kimberly's cab driver knew where Garrison was, but took the roundabout route coming in from the north. It was no surprise that James and Tyler's driver took the same longer route, as he was getting directions by phone.

To cheers, James and Tyler stepped on the mat in first to claim the grand prize in excitement and near disbelief at first. Once the win sunk in, Phil presented them with a phone to talk with their parents, Tyler's mother, and James' father. Then, about 10 to 15 minutes later, according to interviews with IGN TV at www.ign.com, Rob and Kimberly arrived to muted cheers and the inevitable questions about their relationship, which is still on despite the fighting and the disappointment of finishing second.

Lyn and Karlyn arrived to take third, having taken the later flight. Only the water on the wide camera lens suggested how much later. According to the IGN interview with Team Alabama, they did the run through Manhattan and the taxi ride to finish about an hour and a half behind the winners. Karlyn was eloquent in describing the good the Race has brought to her life. In their interview with IGN, Lyn and Karlyn recalled their toughest moments, rowing a sampan into the wind in Episode 4. That pivotal episode also featured Karlyn making a good climb on the rocks in the Roadblock. Though many wanted to see Dustin and Kandice in the final three, the moms progressed enough that they were in position to make the final three.

Congratulations to James and Tyler for winning the million dollar prize. The Amazing Race 10 final three teams made their appearances on the Early Show and James and Tyler appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly on Monday, December 11.

The theme of Amazing Race 10 was the promise of twists, turns, and surprises never seen before in the Race, clearly seen in Episodes 1, 3, 5, 8, and 11. But did they help or hurt in the quest for ratings? Watch for further announcements on the upcoming All Stars edition, AMAZING RACE 11, scheduled to start in February.