History is Made on The Amazing Race!!!

Tonight begins the last leg of The Amazing Race! Will one of the all-female teams make history or will Thomas & Jill (and his superior Notre Dame intellect) pull it off? Let’s find out!!!!

The teams begin in Seoul, South Korea at the Temple of Heaven. Thomas & Jill leave at 3:57 a.m. The clue tells them to fly to their final destination, Los Angeles, California, go to the Port of Long Beach and find Pier J. Thomas says he doesn’t care about history and wants to keep a female team from winning. Brook & Claire say they deal with pressure all the time, and if they can communicate well, they can win. Brook says “we have to be more hungry than Thomas. And I’m starving.” Nat & Kat leave at 4:57 a.m. and know they can work together well when they’re stressed.

At the airport, the teams meet up at the ticket counter to wait for it to open. Brook & Claire are wearing cheetah-print pants, saying they saved the outfits for the last leg. All the females tease Thomas about being the last guy standing, making cracks about “being one of the girls” and going for pedicures later. Thomas didn’t look like he was going along with the jokes - lighten up, man!

All the teams are on the same flight. Nat & Kat get out of the airport first and as they get to the port, Nat notices all the cranes and platforms high above the water, and is getting tense thinking she’ll have to deal with her fear of heights once again. The clue tells them “Welcome to the drop zone.” Teams will ride an elevator to the top of the crane, get their clue, and then bungee off the side of the crane together (one wrong jump and they can crash into each other!) Once they get back to the pier and climb to dry land they can open their clue. Nat tells Kat that she doesn’t even want to think about it, to just get going. Getting into the gear, though, gives Nat time to think and she looks like she’s losing it already.

Thomas & Jill and Brook & Claire see the cranes and Jill looks like she’s not overly find of heights either, and Brook isn’t thrilled about the bungee jump, saying “I’ll just have to deal with it.” Kat gets strapped in and Nat stands with her eyes closed and tears dripping off her face. She’s a real trooper, even as she’s crying. They get dropped and as they swing slowly, Nat says “that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done and I’m never doing it again.” Brook sees them drop and says “I’m feeling petrified.” Nat & Kat are lowered to a small raft in the water and Nat is proud that “I didn’t even pee my pants!” Their clue tells them they will ride a helicopter to a surprise destination. After Brook & Claire drop they spend their time swinging and screaming. Brook sounds like she’s going to hyperventilate.

I guess fear of heights doesn’t mean helicopters, because Nat seems just fine as they take off, with Thomas & Jill and the shopping hosts right behind. All the teams remark that it’s the best way to travel through LA, and not having to sit in traffic. They land at the Rose Bowl and the clue is a Roadblock. The teams will have to work on a float that takes 10,000 man hours to complete by decorating three sections of the float. If they do it correctly, they’ll get their clue from the Rose Queen. Nat dashes off to glue mums to the first section, hoping she’s doing it as well as the woman who is demonstrating. Thomas & Jill tell us that they’ve been working the Roadblocks so Thomas would do the last one, and when they saw what it was they realized Jill would have been better at it. Thomas says he’s never decorated anything before (what???!!!! Your Notre Dame education didn’t include interior decorating?) Brook is going to do this task, and is really excited about being able to decorate something. She says she’s been on a couple floats and “these are my people.” (She really is strange sometimes!)

Nat asks for a check of her work and finds out that she didn’t put water in her little rose tubes so she has to redo them, but still manages to finish first. Their clue is a mystery - they have to answer three questions:

1. I am Sancho Panza’s master.
2. I am the place to hear The Symphony in the Glen.
3. Monroe’s Year of the Itch.

They’ll have to go to that location for their next clue. They run off and ask the cab drivers if they have any ideas or an iPhone, and with all of the waiting taxis it doesn’t seem that any of them will be of any help. They grab a cab and use the driver’s phone, but the woman on the other end tells them she has a line of people and can’t help - but eventually tells Nat if she makes it fast, she’ll try to help. Thomas & Jill ask their cabbie to call dispatch and let them talk to them - and Jill grabs the phone but Thomas insists on talking. The other person on the end of the line doesn’t have Google and they can’t get their cabbie to understand that they need someone with an internet connection. Nat & Kat are told that Sancho Panza is a character in Don Quixote. She asks if there is such a place as Quixote Studios and is told yes. In the meantime, Thomas asks his cabbie if he knows what the internet is, and is told no.

Brook & Claire ask the cab driver to take them to a hotel that has internet, and Thomas begs his cabbie to use the phone while the cabbie talks on it. By the way, they’re driving right now. Somewhere. Racking up a fare. Smart? Not.

Nat, still on the phone, asks where to hear the Symphony in the Park and is told Griffith Park, and realizes they’re going the right way. Thomas’ cabbie keeps telling them that he has GPS and they keep trying to get him to understand that they need a computer. Why they haven’t dumped him for another cab is beyond me! Nat & Kat get to Quixote Studios and tell us that they figured out clue #3, that it was in reference to Marilyn Monroe’s movie, “The Seven Year Itch.” They pull up at Studio 7 and grab their next clue. Phil tells us that Hollywood game shows have tested people’s trivia knowledge, and now it’s time to find out if the teams have been paying attention to everything around them. They see a wall of 48 flashing pictures of people wearing hats. 11 of the people are the greeters from every Pit Stop. They’ll have to use a control pad to select the greeters in the proper order, and Bob Eubanks will give them their next clue.

Nat & Kat being picking people as Brook & Claire use the internet and figure out their destination. Thomas & Jill finally get out of the cab and go to a shop asking to use their internet. Nat & Kat had written down all their destinations and referred to their notes as they picked through the pictures. Thomas yells to some people asking about the internet and gets nowhere, so they jump back in the cab. Brook & Claire are on their way to the studio as Nat & Kat finish the task correctly and get their clue from Bob Eubanks, which tells them to go to the Finish Line. It’s the Graystone Mansion, where Phil waits on the giant mat with all the eliminated teams.

Brook & Claire get to the studio and the girls squeal to meet Bob Eubanks. They don’t have notes to refer to but still seem to be doing okay. Nat & Kat are hoping that the lousy traffic they’re in doesn’t last, and we’re shown shots of them sitting in the cab and Brook & Claire picking the photos - are we getting the sense of drama here? Don’t think so, looks like the doctors might have this all sewn up! (Or should I say “sutured up?” Haha, what a pun!)

Thomas & Jill are thinking they should have gotten another cab, with Thomas remarking that they have more of a language barrier in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world so far. Brook & Claire seem to be moving pretty well, and Nat & Kat finally get moving themselves. We see the back & forth shots of the cabs, and then Nat & Kat running to the final Mat, making history as the first female team to win The Amazing Race!!! Nat is happy that she finished the Race to show diabetics that they can do anything. Kat says they’ve bonded like no one can understand, except the other Racers. Brook & Claire show up and Claire says they literally “laughed their way around the world” and Phil says “I know.” Thomas & Jill, of course, are third, and Phil mentions that their Race has been pretty much mistake free, except for today. Jill gets teary talking about it and Thomas says “It’s been fantastic is what she’s trying to say.”

Phil tells us about the next Amazing Race - that former “favorite” teams will be back for another shot. We see glimpses of Brook & Claire, Gary & Mallory, Michael & Kevin and Connor & Jonathan from this season, plus quite a few from past seasons that sorry, I just can’t remember their names - but I know they’ll be liked! It will premiere on February 20, 2011. Until then, have a great Christmas and wonderful New Year!