Now that this season’s over, I’m just going to write an unnecessarily long but edited and written wrap-up of my personal thoughts of the season. :P
Let’s begin! (I'll spoiler tag them to not bother viewers :P)
SEASON 25 FINAL THOUGHTS:
Show content
So TAR has finished it’s silver anniversary. And I’m happy to say that season 25 is definitely not just worth the silver, but the gold as well.
From the horrendous and god-awfulness of “All Stars”, with its horrible cast, poorly planned task, and terrible boot order, TAR25 comes raging in with a refreshed feeling of “Amazing”. The reason why most of us watch The Amazing Race is not because we enjoy watching people bicker. People bickering is part of the experience, of course, but the reason why we watch The Amazing Race is because of the competition and the thrill of experiencing different cultures from the comfort of your home. This is precisely why TAR25 succeeds.
First, the cast. There were no “gimmick teams” from this season (exclude Adam/Bethany), everyone stood out. From the #MiamiRealtors to the #SweetScientists, we truly had teams from different walks of life, and every single team was memorable in a way. Lisa/Michelle went out with drama, Dennis/Isabelle went out with sadness and heartbreak of TAR fans being out early, Michael/Scott went out on an injury that Dave would easily have yelled “IM SIXTY” at, yet they pushed through, the list goes on and on. There was not a single team I would not mind seeing in a returning racer season, and as a fan, it’s just amazing to see.
Second, the route. I’m kind of bummed we didn’t go to more legs in Asia, or that South America/Oceania was snubbed, but the route we got was really good and stood on it’s own merits. Every location looked pretty damn good in HD, and unlike last season, they didn’t have to rely on so much famous landmarks just to say “LOOK AT THIS PLACE IN HD OMG OMG OMG SO GORGEOUS”. The tasks as well were pretty good and culturally relevant most of the time. Not even the lack of Roadblocks could ruin this definitely good route.
Lastly, the fan service and the “freshness” of it all. Do you remember your first episode of The Amazing Race? You probably had no idea what a Roadblock/Detour even was, yet it hooked you in and now you’re a fan. TAR25 keeps the freshness with new twists such as the Save and Final Four Finale, as well as keeping the viewing experience brand new with Phil stand-ups as the teams ran around the world, #TeamNames, and the overall more cinematic feel of the season at times. Even though there were a lot of editing hiccups (no team placement calling, not all teams shown getting the clue or reading it), they weren’t enough to sully the experience and fun of this season.
Overall, The Amazing Race 25 is an amazing top tier season of this show. Here’s to 25 more seasons! :hrt:
Season Grade: 9/10
SEASON 25 LEG/EPISODE RANKINGS:
Show content
#1. Morocco 1 (Leg 5)- Just amazing all around. The Speed Bump was harder than most Speed Bumps we’ve seen, and the whole leg design just added all around mayhem which is always fun to see on the Race.
#2. Malta (Leg 8)- The drink delivery task was good, the Roadblock showcased the Blue Grotto beautifully, Speed Bump was good, the Detour was very fun (the Gosta especially), and all in all just an amazing leg, task wise and location wise.
#3. Singapore (Leg 9)- This leg is basically the love child of TARA+TARUS rolled into one mega leg. The Roadblock, the Fast Forward, and the “GO TO ONE OF FIVE LOCATIONS” luck task
was from TARA and the Cupping Detour and Crab meat extraction (TAR15 Finale) was from TARUS. Yet somehow, the leg completely worked with solid drama and good locations and felt fresh being in TARUS. One of the best Asian legs in a long time with an unfortunate boot.
#4. Denmark (Leg 4)- I have nothing much to say except that the Detour was fantastic and the Roadblock with Ida Stevensen was amazing as well. The Ford task was also nice, showing the teams getting to their next destination all the while having them do a task and product placement at the same time. Very good leg, helped with Shelley/Nici’s meltdown and Misti/Jim’s mega collapse episode-wise.
#5. Philippines 2 (Leg 11)- After the mediocrity of Philippines 1, this leg fully captured how crazy Manila could be. Having the tasks be purely in the Urban Jungle of Manila surely limited what they could do, but the leg ended up being pretty good (minus the basketball Detour) and had a gorgeous Pit Stop. (Hello TARPH 2 Starting Line <3)
#6. Shetland Islands (Leg 3)- Even though the Detour was not the best (the animals were fun, the torch was NOT aside from Brooke/Robbie having NO idea how to hammer a nail :lol:), the sheep Active Route Info was great and the locations were gorgeous. Unfortunately it didn’t hold out that good episode-wise, considering how we didn’t see all teams get their clue and it was a little boring at the Detour. Still good though!
#7. US Virgin Islands (Leg 1)- It was a very simple premiere, but all the mini Active Route Infos followed by a Roadblock reminded my HEAVILY of the TAR17 premiere. And that premiere was definitely top tier, and this one was good in it’s own right as well. It was a combination of the TAR17 and 22 premieres and it ended up being a very good leg.
#8. Morocco 2 (Leg 6)- It wasn’t as manic as Leg 7, and the Roadblock was really linear. However the Detour and ARI were decent and the episode ended up being very fun. Good leg!
#9. London (Leg 2)- Very boring, the Detour was very meh and the Punting didn’t deliver as well as it could have. The Express Pass task was also very poorly placed and should definitely have been at the beginning of the leg. Winston Churchill greeter though <3 Episode-wise, meh. It focused too much on the Detour to let the viewers enjoy the Punting and drama.
#10. USA (Leg 12)- Leg design wise, it reminded me too much of the TAR23 finale. The Roadblock was linear and the elimination point was definitely weird. The memory task tho OMG, it was amazing and good in it's own right. Unfortunately, a good memory task cannot save the finale design-wise, like what the TAR23 finale did. But I’m definitely happy with the episode especially the winners <3333333
#11. Philippines 1 (Leg 10)- A very boring Detour (tricycles were eh minus Jim failing, the fish was only brought to life by Brooke whining about everything, which I don’t blame, they went to MANILA BAY out of all places!) and disappointing Ox Switchback made the first leg in the Philippines after 20 seasons disappointing. Episode-wise, it was nothing special as well.
#12. Italy (Leg 6)- Pretty disappointing. The Roadblock was a generic speed task, the Detour wasn’t good as well. The painting was boring as hell, while the Opera was very under edited. So it’s easy to say despite the good locations that the episode definitely suffered as well.
SEASON 25 CAST RANKINGS:
Show content
#1. Amy & Maya- Amazing. From the start, they seemed to have wonderful personalities and even though they were VERY invisible for the first four legs, they soon gradually got more screen time and we learned more about them. Mainly, Maya is an extremely eager ball of energy (a more toned down Mallory probably :lol:) and Amy is a fighter. They were far from the strongest team, but they hit their stride and fought hard and brought it home when it counted. Definitely one of my favourite winners of all time.
#2. Brooke & Robbie- Hilarious. Their team dynamic is unique for sure. Brooke is the “racer who complains 100% of the time” and Robbie is the “racer who appreciates everything and is not afraid to give their best”, yet they remained being a fun, energetic team without any major meltdowns (ignore the finale). And somehow, they were the unexpected train wrecks from the cast, doing tasks completely horribly and then making up a lot of time with the final task and placing well, and they kept the momentum in, especially winning the penultimate leg. Not to mention them randomly morphing into a villainous team in the Singapore leg :lol: Even though they are no longer together (I think?), they’re definitely one of my favourite dating teams ever, and I hope they could pull a John Vito/Jill and race as friends on a returnee season <3
#3. Shelley & Nici- I love parent-child teams, but after the horrendousness of Dave/Connor and Laurence/Zac, I was not ready to see another parent-child team for a long time. Until Shelley/Nici made it on the Race. With them being true fans of the Race, having fun personalities, hilarious moments, drama, and a very interesting story (Mother/Daughter who worked together until they end up fighting in Leg 4 to the point of not speaking only to reconcile and finish strong even when they were going to be eliminated), Shelley/Nici proved to be an amazing and hilarious team, and it was such a bummer that they went out pretty early at 7th place. They definitely deserve Redemption.
#4. Kym & Alli- Ever since I saw Kym & Alli spoiled in New York, I was excited. An all female team who: A. Looked Fierce, B. Had unique occupations (Cyclists <3), and C. Had amazing personalities (I watched Kym’s YouTube channel prior to the season airing), Kym & Alli were definitely a team I wanted to see. And boy, they did not disappoint. Kym & Alli remained fun to watch without their schtick becoming old, and they truly dominated, placing in the top 3 most of the time. Definitely a very strong team aside from being a strong all-female team. Their risk and eventual elimination in Singapore over the Fast Forward was very heartbreaking because they would have easily made the finals and won it all. I would love to see them on a returning racer season <3
#5. Misti & Jim- From Leg 1 to 3, I hated Misti & Jim. I found Jim’s overconfidence irritating and Misti being too passive and overconfident as well. They screamed “gamebots with no soul who dominate” for several legs. That is, until Leg 4. Leg 4 may not have been the huge “dominating team collapses” edit Nicole/Travis got, but what it did was show that they were simply a team who wanted to keep fighting and show that they could win it all. And from that on, Misti & Jim became an incredibly good team (based on their edit). Misti was a positive angel who absolutely loved the experience and Jim, well, was simply happy to be there and keep on racing. They remained fun to watch while being competitive, and they went from a team I wanted to be eliminated to one of my favourite teams of the season. Second place is not bad for them, they certainly left an impact <3
#6. Keith & Whitney- Whitney Duncan was amazing on Survivor, so I was definitely excited. Being a reality show crossover team, I just knew she was either going to either: A. Pull a Brendon/Rachel and go really far, or B. Pull an Ethan/Jenna or Rob/Amber (AS) and get eliminated early. Unfortunately it was the latter, because Whitney was amazing. She brought major TAR22 deja vu on Leg 1 by making the last three teams quit, she fell in the water the most times in Leg 2’s Punting ARI, and she just continued making amazing moments. (Leg 3: “We got some SEAMENT over here!”.) Although they were the ONLY team to be successfully U-Turned out of the Race this season, they were definitely memorable enough to leave a dent before they were eliminated. A shame too, considering they were racing pretty well prior to Leg 5.
#7. Lisa & Michelle- These two reminded me of Natalie & Nadiya (TAR24). They were the pink team, and they weren’t afraid to do anything to stay in the Race. They knocked over a team over a sign-up sheet, tried to steal a cab, and they had hilarity (THE SUN SETS IN THE EAST <3 :lol:). Unfortunately, a major case of karma hit them earlier than expected and eliminated them first. A very very tragic first elimination, considering they were pretty memorable. First Boot season returnees please <3
#8. Dennis & Isabelle- If Lisa & Michelle were tragic, then Dennis & Isabelle is heartbreaking. What little we were shown of them were basically them being a fun rootable dating couple. (Less Amanda/Kris, more Jessica/John TAR24) But their bonus clips from TAR though, they were absolute train wrecks. It wasn’t edited, but they found the clue way earlier than Shelley/Nici on Leg 1, but they dropped their clue in the ocean and they had to dive in to get the completely damp and destroyed clue. And then they READ IT ON CAMERA :lol: They also had an airport fight on Leg 1 and had a meltdown after completing the Detour on Leg 2. They seemed like a couple that would provide the drama and the competition, not to mention they were real TAR fans, which makes this elimination a hundred times worse. They broke up, so again, JVJ scenario for them in a potential First Boot season please <3
#9. Adam & Bethany- Bethany Hamilton is an inspiration. No doubt about that. However, the way they were portrayed on the Race was very questionable. They didn’t get the Dave/Connor treatment (Thank God! <3), but they got the OMG LOOK AT HER DO THIS edit. I’ve seen several interviews of Adam & Bethany and they’re definitely people with amazing personalities and hilarious quotes, but their edit didn’t let it shine. They’re still an amazing team, but I have to rank them lower because of their edit which was basically WATCH BETHANY DO THIS OMG or the generic couple edit. “Hunuhbun” though <3
#10. Michael & Scott- While I wasn’t a big fan of Michael & Scott on Leg 1, we soon saw a better side of them. They were people who wanted to finish “Boston Strong” and even though they had an injured ankle, they fought hard and would have survived had they not gotten lost on the way to the Leg 3 Pit Stop. They ended up being a likeable and rootable team, not to mention they seemed to enjoy the experience along the way.
#11. Tim & Te Jay- They were alright and fun, but nothing super special. They fit the more “generic dating couple” mold than Dennis & Isabelle, which was surprising. That montage at the end though of their elimination LOL :P