The Race is over, and Flo and Zach won. After Zach carried Flo, not letting her quit in the second to last leg, she should give him all the money. I suppose one of the things I like about the show is how its about people in pressure situations. And Flo crumpled like a cheap suit whenever the going got tough, while Zach not only had to deal with the situation, but with a crybaby five year old in a woman’s body. You have to wonder what Flo thinks when watching the show – does she cringe right along with us? Hopefully my wife will tape the interview on the Morning Show so I can clutter up my mind with more trivia, oops I mean find closure on the whole sorry spectacle.

It would have been nice if Ken and Gerard had won, as they seemed to be a couple of nice guys; I would have been OK with Terry and Ian who, to my amazement, got better and nicer as the race went on. It ground down some of the teams (see Flo), but Terry and Ian seemed to get stronger and nicer as the race went on. Yes, they had annoying tics (hey Ian, just once couldn’t you have put on your reading glasses and read the clue?), but he did stop wearing that goofy hat, he cut back on the yelling and bellowing, he did the road blocks instead of making Terry do them, and they did far better than any other married couple on the show — the marrieds have had a pretty dismal performance record. Instead, we got uber-geek Zach — the headband and light was even more annoying than Ian’s goofy hat — and crybaby Flo (an even odder couple than Oscar and Felix). The race isn’t always to the swift blah blah blah life isn’t fair yada yada yada there’s always next season.

I like all the home improvement shows in part because I’d like to improve my house into a mansion, but I don’t have the money so I’m contented to do so vicariously through TV strangers. I like to travel, so it’s fun to watch a show with all the travel in it that Amazing Race has. The contestants have all the stress, I actually get to enjoy the sights and sounds, but unfortunately they get the experience (and the money).

The race part is fun, but lets face it, there is a huge element of luck to it. Often elimination or victory comes down to the taxi driver, or the helpful stranger on the street. The format constantly levels the playing field as the participants bunch at airports or locations that have set operating hours. It makes for good TV as no lead is permanent; really it isn’t one big race, but thirteen separate ones. That’s enough analysis – it’s only a TV show.