Amazing Race - Season 22

[MNNHFLTX]

YES, this! I screamed, 'that's Mt. Vernon!' and my son gave me the crazy look.

I was excited to see that too! Have they ever included DC in the race before? I don't recall it in all the seasons I've watched.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I was excited to see that too! Have they ever included DC in the race before? I don't recall it in all the seasons I've watched.

Nope, never been there. They've ended in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Arizona, Hawaii, Miami, San Fran and other parts of California, Seattle?, the Keys and a few more I've probably missed, but pretty certain they've never been to DC, unless it was Family Edition which I do my best to forget.

[PirateLover]

Nope, never been there. They've ended in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Arizona, Hawaii, Miami, San Fran and other parts of California, Seattle?, the Keys and a few more I've probably missed, but pretty certain they've never been to DC, unless it was Family Edition which I do my best to forget.

They didn't end in DC, but they did go there on family edition. There are reports that the finale will include a switchback of the tidal basin spy challenge

[Melanie]

Loved the finale being in DC. It's just way cool when you know exactly where they are. We park in that Tidal Basin lot all the time, and of course, loved the part at Nats Park. From the time they landed at Reagan National, to the end at Mt. Vernon, they really didn't cover a lot of area.

Woohoo Bates and Anthony! So glad they won, and even though luck played a huge part in how quickly Bates found his agent, they still ran a great last leg. The powers that be may need to find some more challenging tasks at the end though, because everyone taking good notes now sure helped there.

[NJDad]

Well, they did need to be able to recognize the countries on the globes which they probably didn't take notes on.

Almost exactly a year ago I was around the Euston tap and actually had read about it but it wasn't beer o'clock when there. Yelled at the screen at them to finish their pints, figuring there'd be a wait ahead.

[Melanie]

Well, they did need to be able to recognize the countries on the globes which they probably didn't take notes on.

True! I liked Bates and Anthony saying they had hours and hours on the flights to study the maps and where they were going.

[MNNHFLTX]

Great finale! Loved that they didn't try to edit it to create more drama at the end-- it was clear that Bates and Anthony were way ahead so they just let the viewers enjoy their moment at the finish line.

Sometimes I wonder why many of the couples don't split up after the race, with all the acrimonious comments made about each other (Kate and Max as an example). If I was Max I would have been majorly peeved at some of the snarky things she was saying under her breath. But maybe that was editing.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I have some mixed feelings about the finale. Extremely glad that Bates and Anthony won, a rare time when both a team that I liked and picked to win back in leg 1, actually does. But I still think (as shown again when they followed Max and Katie in Belfast, and once gain left a marker first only to arrive 3rd at the next one) that Bates and Anthony are an average to slightly above average team at best. But I'm glad that they won.

Disappointed that they didn't have to find more locations once they got stateside. Despite Mona and Beth once again putting on their dunce caps, everywhere they had to go was extremely easy to locate. So from that perspective I was disappointed in the finale. The switchback was from the worst season ever of Race and I didn't really care for it. It was the reason Max and Katie lost (so I guess that's good) but it was basically just walk around the tidal basing asking every guy in a black suit a secret question. Not really a lot of skill involved, just observation. I didn't think it lived up to a finale type roadblock.

The finale challenge was pretty good, but I think it would have really been interesting to see all three teams in there at the same time. I'm sure that is what they were hoping for.

They do need to start making some changes though. Every team now is like what Bates did, whip out their travel diary of notes taken along the Race. Every team knows to do this now, so its starting to dilute some of the challenges.

Glad they didn't over edit the finale for suspense. They did a bit, they kept showing the hockey bros saying "I hope weren't not lost" and they never showed the cab driver say whether or not he knew where he was going. Then when Max switches out with Katie I think they had one maybe two balls pulled out at most, then all of a sudden they have all of them. So there was some false editing, but not the usual over the top that we are accustomed to seeing.

I did love the Titanic challenge, again, just not sure why Mona and Beth decided to get out of bed that morning.

Overall all, probably a sub par season, made better by having great locations and a very likeable winning team.

[Granny Jill A]

Liked the Hockey Bros winning it all. So much of this game depends on luck, but it also depends on people reading and understanding the clues. The stress the teams were under must have been awful. I felt bad for the Roller Derby Moms when they couldn't get the Titanic menu items in the correct order. Max and Katie surprised me by turning into somewhat decent people at the end.

All in all, a pretty good race, and then best men won.

[PirateLover]

In the end, I liked Max, but still never came around to Katie. As others had said the Tidal Basin challenge was basically all luck. The only thing he could do was say a phrase over and over and hope to find the right guy. That's not something you can really call someone an "idiot" over, which she did more than once.

Overall I liked the finale. I think the memory task was a bit more challenging than some of the others and hey, at least they had one. There have been finales where there wasn't one, which is disappointing. While most teams know to write things down, you are never quite sure what you will need, so I don't have a problem with that. Finding inflatable globes in a huge bin full of decoys is a bit more challenging than just finding the locations on a regular old map.

I laughed a lot during the finale. When they all thought they were actually meeting the president and then realized they were in a gift shop and it wasn't real was great, and having to dress up in the baseball costume while the Nationals mascots laughed at them and made fun of them was great as well.

[MNNHFLTX]

I did love the Titanic challenge, again, just not sure why Mona and Beth decided to get out of bed that morning.

Yes, I mentally wrote them off at that point--their heads were not in the game at all. I cannot understand why they did not stop and re-assess the situation earlier instead of wearing themselves out repeating the same (wrong) actions over and over. But then again, it was almost alarming how distraught Mona became doing the mud-snorkeling. Sure, it was cold, dirty water and unpleasant but she was almost in hysterics. Maybe that unnerved her for the rest of the race.

[JanetMegan]

I enjoyed the finale. That Titanic task was hard if you didn't understand, it was a LONG way from the plates to the diners. I felt bad for them but then again I was pleased they gave them something challenging to do to actually possibly change the course of the game. Was glad to see the guys win although by the end I was ok with pretty much any of them winning.

[Ian]

If I had a magic wand and could have waved it over the finale to determine finish order, it would have been:

• Bates and Anthony - They just ran a great, clean, friendly race with no drama and no fighting. It was clear to me that in a right and just world they deserved to win. What struck me the most about them was that, even for being professional athletes, they seemed to be very humble and appreciative of it all. No arrogance really. Then again, they're not very good so ... lol
• Derby Moms - Not for any other reason than I admired their grit and the fact that they were able to do enough and power through to the final three. They always seemed to turn it on or step up right at the exact moment when they needed to.
• Max and Katie - Max kind of grew on me over the season, but I'm sorry ... Katie is not a nice person. You could see the real woman lurking below the surface whenever things went even the slightest bit wrong. Calling Max an "idiot" because random luck didn't go his way quickly enough was really disgusting. If I could give Max advice, I'd tell him to run away from him ... fast. She's bad news.