The Amazing Race 21: Finale

The kiss-smack heard round the world

It's weeks later, but I just have to write about the two-hour finale of The Amazing Race Season 21. I was totally in shock about the outcome of the Beekmans winning. (I feel as if I know them because I did meet them in person at the Hudson Farmers Market, we both have houses in upstate NY, and I watch their other reality show on the Cooking Channel, plus we're all gay.) The underdogs almost never win on that show, it's always a team that has finished first many times--like Rachel and Dave on Season 20. That's why I loved this season, obvious alpha teams like the rock musicians and Team World Domination got eliminated and anyone could have won, no one team dominated throughout like Rachel and Dave.

There have been many comments on the internets that the Beekman Boys did not deserve to win, that it should have been the Chippendales because the strippers won more legs or worked harder or something. Balderdash, as they used to say. The only thing that matters is who crosses the finish line on the very last leg and Josh and Brent accomplished this feat.CBS sort of suckered us into thinking the Jamae would win because every five minutes both strippers were talking about their parents and how much the money would mean to them. Well, they both got a free product-placement car out of it. (I wonder if the producers told the contestants to make a big deal out of the trunk-opener feature on the Ford Escape.)

It was especially sweet to see the Beekmans win after the Sri Lankan twins tried to push them out in France and seeing Team World Domination cheering lustily was gratifying. Ryan and Abby were obviously ecstatic that none of the teams who connived to U-Turn them would triumph. The first part of the two-hour finale was a race to the bottom between the twins and the Beekmans with the twins attempting to convince Texas and Chippendales to join with them in keeping Josh and Brent down. Their reasoning did not make sense, why should the two Jameses and Trey and Lexy want to keep the Beekmans out of the final three? The Sri Lankans were saying "They don't deserve it, they're just coasting along, we want it more!" I'm sorry, but if I were the Chips or the Texans, I'd want the Beekmans because they would be less competitive (or so it seemed.) At least the twins did not get all grouchy and self-pitying when they were eliminated like Ryan and Abby did the previous week.

The last segment in NYC was lots of fun with pizza deliveries, dangling from a crane upside down in a straitjacket, and the final challenge which tied together all those hellos and goodbyes from every episode. It was really neck-and-neck and Josh figured out that it was math problem rather than a memory problem and gained a few vital extra minutes. I loved the big kiss Josh gave Brent right on the mouth as they were declared the winners. I remember on the very first season of TAR, the Guidos did not kiss, not even on the cheek when they hit the mat. You could see one of them was about to kiss his partner, but stopped himself for the cameras. This was in 2001 and now gay people are kissing openly on reality TV.

The new Amazing Race season is scheduled for Feb. 17 and Project Runway (the real thing, not this All-Stars crap) starts Jan. 24.