The final leg of the race turns out to be in Atlanta, which just happens to be Amani and Marcus's hometown. So at least they shouldn't get lost, for once. Everyone gets on the same flight from Panama City to Georgia, then races to a place called FlightSafety International, where they have to perform a landing in a flight simulator. Jeremy and Sandy get there first, followed by Amani and Marcus and then Ernie and Cindy. Jeremy and Sandy succeed on the first try, while Marcus and Amani swerve off the simulated runway and Ernie and Cindy stall out. From there, they have to proceed to "The Dump," which turns out to be the name of Margaret Mitchell's former home. Ernie and Cindy land their fake plane on the second try, while home field advantage proves irrelevant in a flight simulator as Marcus and Amani fail ten more attempts.
However, Jeremy and Sandy end up at a furniture store called "The Dump" and are totally flummoxed, which allows Team Control to steal the lead. At the home of the Gone with the Wind author, a Roadblock requires racers to type out a clue on an old-fashioned Remington typewriter with out a "1" key, and watching thirtysomethings try to operate a manual typewriter proves surprisingly amusing. Ernie manages not to lose the lead, but all they know about their next destination is the numbers 44, 715, and 74. Somehow that's supposed to lead them to the ballpark. After using Google at a hotel, Ernie and Cindy are en route to Turner Field just as Amani and Marcus are leaving the flight simulator at last.
At the ballpark, one racer has to climb a giant map and rappel along it, looping an actual Amazing Red Line in the form of a red rope through carabiners attached to each (unlabeled) country that they've been to on the race. Cindy does brilliantly, so they're still in first place as they head to the Finish Line at the Swan House. But their cabdriver seems to be having trouble figuring out how his GPS works. They'll be hearing the word "recalculating" in their nightmares for a long time to come.
But when it's Jeremy and Sandy's turn to do the map-climb, they totally space Indonesia on the first attempt, which doesn't cost them as much time as one might think. It's edited to suggest a close finish, but Ernie and Cindy are the first to arrive, and they win the million dollars, with which they plan to fix the world. Jeremy and Sandy come in second, and claim they'll stay together. Amani and Marcus come in third, but Amani still finds a way to pull some kind of win out of this, making it a lesson about never quitting even though we never even saw Marcus finish the Roadblock. And that wraps up a season that seems to have gone on so long I hardly remember some of these people gathered around the giant mat.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!
"Panama is the gateway between North and South America," Phil informs us, when I always thought of it as the gateway between the Atlantic and the Pacific. I guess it depends on which direction you're going. Phil does remind us of the Canal, and a place near the capital city called Panama Viejo. Phil strolls among the ruins, telling us, "This historic settlement, built by the Spanish almost 500 years ago, is where teams will start the final leg in a race around the world." Phil sounds like he's keeping a straight face as he tells us that Jeremy and Sandy won the previous leg, so they'll be starting out first, at 12:04 AM. Well, why not, since these times are obviously randomly selected anyway.
Sandy opens the clue and reads, "'Fly your way to -- oh, no, we're going to Atlanta." They both seem pretty disgusted by this news. What do they have against the ATL, is what I want to know. Phil confirms for us that the final destination is Atlanta, Georgia. After they've landed, they'll have to get to a place called "FlightSafety International" (which seems like someplace you'd want to go before you got on a plane) to find their next clue. They run over to the waiting taxis, still upset about Atlanta for reasons we're about to discover. Jeremy reminds us this is the final three (although he leaves out the part that they probably shouldn't even be among them, and almost certainly wouldn't have been any other season), and Sandy adds that they have to be perfect this last leg. "We've got to continue to work together as a team." In other words, keep not yelling at me Jeremy. In the cab, they explain that both other teams have been to Atlanta and they haven't. "Marcus and Amani live in Atlanta," Sandy says, saying that gives them an advantage that she describes as "huge" five times. How embarrassing for Amani and Marcus if they don't win this now, right?
Ernie and Cindy are leaving at 12:05 AM, and aren't much happier about Atlanta than Jeremy and Sandy were. Before the leg starts, Cindy describes the race as "the ultimate premarital counseling" and says they've learned a lot about each other. I can see that; in married life, it's vital to know whether your spouse can cut it as a spelunker or as a dramatic interpreter of poetry. As they get in their cab, Cindy learns one more thing about Ernie, namely how funny he sounds telling the driver "International Aeropuerto." We hear them conclude that the race has been a bonding experience at almost the exact same time we're hearing Cindy laugh at Ernie, "Nerd!"
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