The final episodes were all out fight to the finish for the million dollar prize between the favored teams of Eric and Jeremy and BJ and Tyler. It was aired Wednesday, May 17 as a two-hour presentation with two AR episodes, Episode 12 ending in Lake Yamanaka Japan, and Episode 13 ending in the precise spot that the Race began, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver, Colorado.

Going into the final Episodes, the three teams had unique comnbinations of strengths and weaknesses.

Episode 12

BJ and Tyler made a huge mistake in booking a flight to Japan. They landed at least an hour and a half behind the other teams. Eric and Jeremy wisely got a map and directions from the concierge desk at the Hotel Nikko, while the dating couple did not. Mapless, Ray and Yolanda were so slow, lost, and confused that they lost their advantage on the Hippies by the time they reached the busy Shibuya intersection in downtown Tokyo. There, teams were to get the clue for the Detour.

Episode 12 Detour

Maiden: In Tokyo, Japan, Teams traveled seven miles by taxi to a Japanese garden and use a palanquin, a centuries old method of transporting Asian royalty, to carry a maiden one third of a mile to a tea ceremony.

Messenger: Teams had to travel on foot 200 yards to a parking lot where they picked up a pair of folding bikes and two messenger bags, each containing a parcel. Then, after assembling the bikes, they had to ride through the chaotic Tokyo traffic to deliver the packages to two separate buildings listed on each parcel.

Roadblock: Who Wants to Take a Ride on the Wild Side?

One team member had to ride three consecutive thrill rides and concentrate enough to spot a sign during one of the rides. They had to relay this message to the park manager as soon as they were done. If the answer was not correct, the team member had to repeat all three thrill rides.

End of Episode 12: Swan Boat Race

BJ and Tyler outpedaled Eric and Jeremy to the big Swan Boat to claim first place and a prize for winning that leg of the Race.

Episode 13 Detour

Drill It: On Mirror Lake in Alaska, Teams needed to use an auger to drill ten holes in the lake and then push a shack across the lake to cover at least two of the holes in order to set up an ice fishing camp. All teams ended up in Drill It.

Deliver It: Teams were to load a bush plane with medical supplies and, using a map to navigate, direct their pilot to an airfield to deliver the supplies to a first aid station. None of the Teams delivered it, due to a weather delay that had the plane grounded.

It appeared on the broadcast that Eric and Jeremy overcame an initial spurt by BJ and Tyler to pull ahead in the drilling phase of the Detour, and were soon leaving BJ and Tyler in their dust, or should that be snow powder!

After the flight from Anchorage to Denver shared by all three teams, the teams had to search a cluster of early settler and pioneer buildings at Clear Creek History Park. Unbelievably, each team arrived separately at the park, one leaving as the next arrived, first Eric and Jeremy, then BJ and Tyler, and finally Ray and Yolanda. The last Roadblock proved to be an unpleasant surprise to the frontrunners, changing the order of the teams on the way to the finish line where Phil and the previously eliminated teams awaited the finalists. Having already lost their lead over BJ and Tyler by struggling with the flags at the Roadblock, Jeremy and Eric noted that the Hippies must have finished. Eric called out, "the Hippies are running, Jeremy." A disappointed Jeremy replied, "They must have gotten it." Still, it appeared that Eric and Jeremy were very close to solving the order of the flags. Past the end of the flagged path, near the rocks below the amphitheatre, Tyler called out, "They're cheering, BJ!" BJ and Tyler came around the last bend by themselves. There would be no wild sprint to the finish as there was at Lake Bennett. Instead, there was time for the winners to savor the moment and receive Phil's congratulations. When they came to the mat, Eric and Jeremy were touted as one of the most competitive teams ever in the Amazing Race. Ray and Yolanda, who did not finish the last Roadblock, came in a "distant third place", according to the Recap on the AMAZING RACE Web site, but still smiling.

Final Analysis -- Gamebreakers

BJ and Tyler

BJ and Tyler made a fantastic recovery after missing the early flight from Thailand to Japan. They picked the ANA counter over just checking the general information. That slight delay meant that they could not get tickets on United's early flight. Still, they had a blast in Japan. Since Tyler had learned Japanese and had walked the length of Honshu, the main Japanese island, from south to north, he was intimately familiar with the main cities and attractions. They rarely had to consult maps or ask for directions, except inside the buildings for the Messenger detour. This allowed BJ and Tyler to gain time on the leading Frats, and leave Ray and Yolanda to founder. They did an excellent job with the pedal boats at Lake Yamanaka.

In Episode 13, BJ and Tyler had some problems at Clear Creek History Park, having to check more places than Eric and Jeremy, finally finding it outside under what looked like a pile of vegetation or pine branches. Still, the brainy flag challenge at the end tipped the scales in their favor. They worked quickly, pausing just a couple of times to get the right order. Most importantly, they never wavered from their memory of having competed in Russia before competing in Germany. Then, they realized that fixing their flags required finding the Russian flag and shifting the flags for the remaining countries to the right. They correctly used the flag plaque to find the Russian flag. BJ and Tyler did all the right things to solve the problems in this Roadblock as they encountered them.

Eric and Jeremy

Eric and Jeremy did well enough in Japan for not knowing the language. But, they did not pedal hard enough in the boats, allowing the Hippies to take first place at the Pit Stop. One of them claimed that the boat could not be pedaled any harder--obviously wrong!

Eric and Jeremy had trouble with the brainy flag challenge, just at the crucial time. Until then, they were cruising along easily in first, opening up an advantage every time they left an airport. They had at least a five minute lead as they found the clue easily at Clear Creek History Park. Surprisingly they did not remember the countries in the right order! They were sure they had visited Germany before Russia. Somewhat understandably, they had a lot of trouble with the flag for Oman. Instead they wasted time switching flags while retaining wrong choices in them. Then, they were looking for another red, green and yellow flag, based on the flag plaque, after having Oman correct, to replace Thailand. Instead, they had the flag of Benin in Africa. While they were trying to replace the Thai flag after putting back Benin's flag, the Hippies had corrected their mistakes. Game over!

Ray and Yolanda

The couple could not communicate with the locals in Japan at all, increasing Ray's frustration level. They could not understand most of the signs there. But they failed to get the map from the Hotel Nikko, figuring they could just drive there OK. It took them about two extra hours to get to the busy Shibuya intersection, allowing BJ and Tyler to pass them. After getting a 9:30 AM start time the next morning, they had a near disaster on the toll road to the amusement park. Incredibly, they got the ticket from one tollbooth, but lost the ticket by the time they got to the next tollbooth. Ray was lucky to not be arrested, but he had to pay what amounted to a fine of 900 Yen. That put them in last place at the end of Episode 12. As a result of it being a "non-elimination" leg, Ray and Yolanda had no money and no possessions going into Episode 13. They managed to be on all the same flights with the frontrunners all the way to Denver. Still, Ray and Yolanda fell behind everywhere after they caught up at the airports. They stopped early and often for directions in Alaska, costing them a lot of time. Yolanda was positive they had overshot Mirror Lake, thinking it was two exits earlier, but the person at the store said it was still just ahead. Could she have misread the map? Then in Colorado, they were the last team to arrive at the Clear Creek History Park near Golden. They had a hard time finding the next-to-last clue at the historical park, finally finding it in the hen house. Yolanda called the henhouse the only place they had not looked. Now that is an exhaustive search, rendering their chances as nil.

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