What's up - I know I kind of fell off the wagon with my wee-caps somewhere around Germany, but rest assured I watched every minute of the racers in Mongolia (one of the best legs in the whole race, in my opinion), South Korea, Vietnam, and NZ. And, yes, I watched the non-fast-forward-able, ad-packed, TWO GODDAMN HOUR finale today in my office.
First of all, congratulations and mazal tov to Lee and Anne, the best sister act of all time (sorry, Whoopi Goldberg). These two ladies deserve every shekel of their win. And to think, it took HaMerotz 10 seasons to have 3 F/F teams as winners, and in the USA, we're up to season 37 with the same number of FF winners.
It was apparent that Lee/Anne were going to win maybe 20-ish minutes into the finale. They were first at the rope ladder task, and easily halfway done by the time the next team (Inbar/Avishai) arrived, and even further ahead by Lior/Sapir's arrival. Even though Inbar/Avishai worked quickly, they could not catch the sisters, not even close. By that time, Lior/Sapir had basically already quit, even before Yehuda came and made it official. I felt bad for Sapir, who, even though she had her fair share of screaming and freak-outs, spent most of the race with a "can-do" attitude. When Lior turned on the charm and got his head in the game, he was a decent partner, but I think Sapir might have won the race had she selected a different partner. To be fair, the rope ladder task looked incredibly tough and scary, and Lior choosing to bow out there was totally understandable.
So then there were two. It seemed to have been ages between Lee/Anne's finish at the rope ladder and Inbar/Avishai's finish. I presume that even though Lee/Anne were shown struggling and Inbar/Avishai seemed to get lucky in finding a car to borrow, that the I/A segments were filmed much, much later. It would have been hysterical had Inbar/Avishai shown up at the bridge in their junker of a clunker ahead of the sisters, but it just did not feel realistic that they would have made up that much time. Also, Yehuda was clearly smiling when Lee/Anne hit the mat and looked more neutral when Inbar/Avishai arrived. At least the editors didn't do us dirty and show the later team stepping onto the mat first; seeing Lee/Anne actually stepping on the mat first solidified their win for me, and the INTERMINABLE and repetitive mat chat between Yehuda and each team, with TWO commercial breaks in between was pure torture, but watching Dubi and Dubi celebrate was a great payoff, the perfect ending to an awesome and challenging season. Inbar/Avishai were also hardcore competitors until the end, and the definition of underdogs, outlasting some seemingly more athletic and driven teams. I believe that they are the top uncle/niece finishers (and probably the only ones, since I can't name any season in any franchise with that specific relationship combo).
Afterthoughts: If I were to pick a team outside of the final 3 that deserve to come back in a future all-stars/unfinished business season (which is highly unlikely to happen anytime soon), it would no doubt be Itzik/Esti. They never won a leg, but they never ever gave up. Itzik was probably one of the most supportive, try anything, "go-getter" racers of the season, and Esti was no doubt THE smartest racer of the season. They defied all stereotypes of Haredi people while keeping their own values intact the entire time and not letting it stop them virtually anywhere (aside from possibly entering the church in the first leg in Iceland). If they wanted a second chance and I had any say, I would recast them on the spot. It sucked that we did not get to meet their children during the family visit in South Korea (they met with two random hometown friends instead), but since their children are minors there were probably liability issues in getting them from Israel to South Korea and back without being accompanied by a legal guardian rather than a producer. At least we got to hear their voices in the Squid Game task. My second choice for returnees would be Racheli/Miri - this might be a surprise choice, but their elimination was the absolute worst, and even though it was fair and square, they had virtually no control over a really poorly placed Yield. My final choice would be Sahar/Yiftach; along with Lee/Anne, they were my winner pick from the start, and I feel like if they were given another shot, they would probably be in a final three.
That's a wrap on this season of HaMerotz LaMillion, folks - l'chaim. Peace in the Middle East. Next year in Jerusalem.
