Episode 13:
Tasks on this leg:
Leaving the Wildnerness cabin, contestants
are told to put on their snow shoes and follow the yellow flags in the
snow to the next route marker, Takosha Lodge, which does not open until
6 in the morning. There, they are presented with a Detour: Take a
fast snowmobile 30 miles to an SUV, or take a slow dog-sled 11 miles to
an SUV. When they find their SUV, they get information directing
them to the edge of Fish Lake.
At Fish Lake, they are given a road block.
They have to strip down to a bathing suit and completely submerge themselves
in the frigid water of the lake to recieve the route info. The route
info directs the contestants to find Vincent Daniels Square in Queens,
New York. Teams took flights from Anchorage to New York with a connecting
stop in Seattle.
Once in New York, they took taxis to Vincent
Daniels Square. The Route Info was apparently dispensed in a way
that prevented either team from knowing whether the other team had arrived.
This final route information packet directed the teams to ride a train
to Flushing Meadows Park, nearby Shea Stadium, and follow the yellow flags
to the finish line.
Contestants ran down a tree-lined alley where
they were cheered on by Phil and the previously eliminated teams.
The final mat was in front of a large globe statue in the Park that was
created as part of a World's Fair.
Rob and Brennan left the cabin at 4:17 AM
in the dark, but their flashlight batteries had been drained by the cold
weather. They needed the flashlight to see the yellow flags in the
snow, so they waited until Frank and Margarita left and followed them,
apparently upsetting Frank. They waited inside a cabin for the lodge
to open so they could get the detour information.
Both teams chose to use the dog sled option.
Frank's dog team was in the front of the other 3 teams, but it was the
slowest of them. Eventually, Rob and Brennan urged their dogs to
pass Frank and they managed to get a slight lead by the end of the detour,
in the range of 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Team Guido were doing the blanket
toss and headed over to Matanuska Glacier to climb the ice wall.
Its not looking too good for them. When they finish that task, they
still have to wait 12 hours to continue on.
Rob and Brennan make it to Fish Lake and quickly
complete the Road Block and grab the route info. As they run to their
SUV, Frank and Margarita arrive, to the surpise of Rob and Brennan who
thought they had a bigger lead.
Rob and Brennan pay a woman $300 for the use of
her cell phone, which they say they will mail back to her. They use
the phone to make flight reservations as they drive to the airport.
When they arrive at the airport, they wind up at the same counter as Frank
and Margarita. Both teams speak in whispers and coded language to
the ladies at the counter, both suspicious that the other team will try
to follow them. Rob and Brennan even ask to use fake names.
In the end, they both ended up on the same flight.
When they arrived in New York, both teams
started off walking, but when Rob tried to squeeze around Frank and Margarita,
the running began. The teams sprinted through the airport to the
taxi stand. Rob and Brennan grab a taxi and take off immediately,
while Frank and Margarita argue with their driver and then pick another
cab because he will not commit to driving fast.
Rob and Brennan offer the cabbie extra money
to get them to Vincent Daniel's Square as fast as he can. Frank and
Margarita, on the other hand, tell the cabbie which route to take, believing
theirs will be faster.
Rob and Brennan arrive at the route marker
first. Apparently this route marker dispenses route info in a way
that prevents either team from knowing if the other has arrived.
Rob and Brennan head up to the token counter. As they arrive to the
loading platform, the train is approaching, and Frank and Margarita are
arriving at Vincent Daniel's Square. Rob and Brennan get on the train
while Frank and Margarita narrowly miss it, apparently not even aware that
a train had just left.
Frank and Margarita jump up and down in excitement,
believeing they are in first place. They are unaware that as they
are boarding their train, Rob and Brennan are departing from theirs.
Rob and Brennan are running through the park to the finish line as Frank
and Margarita spot the globe from the train. Rob and Brennan cross
the finish line and are met by all the eliminated teams and Phil Keoghan.
They have won The Amazing Race and are rewarded with $1 Million.
Rob says that they won a million dollars, and got to see the world while
doing so, and he did it with his best friend.
Frank and Margarita leave the train and start
their sprint for the finish line. The eliminated contestants cheer
them on and Margarita takes that as a good sign. But, as she gets
closer, Frank spots Rob and Brennan and Margarita slumps, stunned.
But, she quicky smiles and grabs Frank's hand and begins running again.
I've got chills at this point. This was the best ending ever to a
reality show i think. In a retrospective interview, Margarita says
that Rob and Brennan may have won a million dollars, but she and Frank
won a lot more than that. They have reconciled, and Margarita believes
the Amazing Race is what made them realize their love for each other.
Team Guido (remember them?) arrive at the
Takosha Lodge detour and recieve notification that Rob and Brennan have
crossed the finish line and that the race is over. They say they
are glad the Lawyers won and that they are happy for them, then they take
a dog sled out of the woods.
And that wraps up this season of The Amazing
Race. Its been great, and I think I can say without a doubt that
this is THE best reality show around, even if everyone else doesn't realize
it yet. Bring on Amazing Race 2.