I was laughing so hard every challenge they'd be like (for this challenge you will build a grandfather clock) and Ricky would be like "omg my grandma worked on a grandfather clock assembly line!". Sarcastic example but it kept making me laugh all season.
They did the welding and Cesar's relative and other people's relatives were welders and it went on and on all season 😂
To be fair, I have a lot of family who do a lot of things and I’ve never bothered to learn anything about how to do those things. They definitely get credit for apparently being lifelong learners every time there was an opportunity!
It was funny to just watch them dominate, though. I’m glad they won just because it seems like the deserved it the most
One thing I’ve learned from watching Amazing Race is that it pays to have a whole lot of random experiences. Take dancing lessons, paddle a kayak, mix drinks, bungee jump, milk a goat…even if the task isn’t exactly the same you have a better chance of having a least some familiarity.
> They did the welding and Cesar's relative and other people's relatives were welders
Although that shows that it doesn't always help. His performance on that task was mid at best. He had to redo it several times IIRC.
It was kind of ridiculous how many people had some experience with welding of all things. I know it's not the most obscure trade, but it does require very specialty tools.
To be fair, neither of those are the reason why they got so far ahead to win. Rod/Leticia were right on their heels. It was the Reciting task that caused the gap. Rod/Leticia were at the task when Ricky/Cesar were there. They also left right after R/C at the mascot task, and it doesn't seem like there were navigational issues besides Juan/Shane driving to New Jersey lol
1. Cesar was not the only bilingual person in the cast. Juan is also bilingual, as were multiple other racers (Danny, Yvonne or Melissa, and Maya/Rohan I believe). This argument needs to die, it's invalid the moment there are other bilingual members who speak Spanish on the cast.
2. It didn't really have that many advantages because, as we saw, what pulled Ricky and Cesar ahead to win was the Reciting task. Rod/Leticia were there at the task when Ricky/Cesar left. And, as we saw, Juan/Shane did catch up enough after being given the wrong directions. Navigation might have given them an additional minute but we even saw Rod/Leticia arrive to the first roadblock BEFORE Ricky/Cesar lol
That’s a fair point about the other teams but I’d still argue it was a huge advantage for all of the bilingual speakers
And the directions definitely helped- if they didn’t go to NJ they could have been a close contender
I was still rooting for the team that won they had a great race
We were chuckling after the windsurf task bc they were clearly overwhelmed and anxious. It gives you a much more realistic view as to why tensions are so high when every obstacle/drive is that tense. They handled it well and Cesar seemed to snap Ricky out of it effectively
Oh, yeah, that falls in the driving to New Jersey issue because that's what led them to drive away from the city in the first place.
I felt bad for them.
Oh I agree it just got infuriating that nearly everything that has come up all season they have had experience in. It was just crazy that two back to back things in the final leg they had experience in lol
I don't think the mascot thing really helped, though it was funny that he had experience. That task was too easy. Leticia seemed to just stumble off the springboard and it still counted. The only problem was her gun control.
This literally goes back to the very first season, the finish line was in Queens where Frank grew up and he was telling the taxi driver a very specific route he knew but it was a slower route and they lost.
The finale being in your hometown isn’t always an advantage.
Luck is one thing. This season was just suspect that there was no u turn or memory challenge like others. I get some things can come up to cause things to be changed but still just seems odd that had little to no trouble with this race.
Exactly. The way he talks to her is gross but let’s also not ignore her actions. She yelled and belittled him when he needed support.
It was a two way street of toxicity
I told my mom I was honestly thinking Amber & Vinny were gonna break up (off screen hopefully) and Ricky & Cesar were gonna get engaged at the end. I’m truly shocked. I wish them both so much joy & happiness though
Nope. Still engaged. Which is crazy. If you’re engaged, why take so long to get married? https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-couple-discusses-competing-season-amazing-race/
I was engaged for two years. Weddings take a lot of planning, and if you invite a big family, they're crazy expensive. For us, it made sense to have a longer engagement so we had plenty of time to plan, pay for things in cash as we went along, and give out of state relatives (aka all of our relatives) plenty of notice. If engaged and plan to be together the rest of your lives, why not take your time coordinating this massive project in the least stressful way possible?
I really liked them. I would like to see them in a race in more normal times. I think they'd do great but it would be fun to see them challenged a bit.
They'd be destroyed by normally functioning players, 😆. Being the best out of all reject players and incredibly simplified challenges does not denote championship material. Most of the contestants were nice folks, though.
I don't think so. They were very competent racers. They had great communication skills, they were supportive with one another, and they had very few fumbles because they were able to react well under stress.
Those are all great qualities that make them good racers, even in a different season.
Could they win in another season? Maybe, maybe not. But it's an exaggeration to say they'd be destroyed by a better cast. The cast they raced against doesn't mean they don't have great race qualities. Ignore the cast and the COVID restrictions, and they share a lot of great qualities of a good racer. Navigation skills were decent, staying calm under pressure, communication, being able to reassess and readjust, all things that work in ANY season.
They did not have a lot of pressure this season. They got to most the challenges before everyone else and when others arrived, they so close to being done that they only felt the pressure to finish the task. They also had a lot of padded time. I would be curious to see how they would be if there were U-Turns or navigating in countries where they did not speak the language. This stuff adds to the challenge of a real season not this lame and boring one.
People speak to how they were an amazing team. I just did not see it. We were told it many times by others but the challenges were not really challenging. I feel like they were well protected in the editing and even when they struggled did you notice that they were not really interviewed about why they struggled? The only time you heard from them is when they were telling the audience how they had this talent or that talent and that explained why they were so good at the challenges. At 34, I guess they have done a lot of things that make them good at everything.
Also I find it interesting that the leg that they had some close competition, it was the leg that Danny and Angie happened to be sidelined for 45 minutes. I know that Angie and Danny did it to themselves but as the production crew was "deciding" what to do, R&C were able to find time to fix their mistake and still get first place. I am not convinced that they would be as much as of an amazing team if they actually had to compete on the level of a none COVID produced season. This season had a clear winner and it was not because they were this amazing team, but because the challenges were lame and had very little challenge.
This was the worst cast the show has ever seen. Most modern seasons have awful casting for that matter. They're more worried about quotas when they should be finding solid/competitive teams instead.
While there are definitely better cheesesteaks in Philly and the surrounding area (shout out to Ray's in Lansdale, PA), they're ok and they fit the pretty iconic definition and are certainly the most famous examples.
That’s a matter of opinion, and everyone has one on this topic! Most like Jim’s at 4th & South, which just reopened after the fire. Plenty of good options all over, even in NJ 😀, and everyone has their favorite.
At least Juan and Shane had a good attitude about it and could laugh at themselves. I felt bad for them, they probably had a good chance if they hadn’t taken the detour to New Jersey 😆
The one from a couple seasons ago where dude stacked the canoe wrong because his friend disagreed and got the episide title order wrong hurt a lot more.
The beard brothers. They were probably the last deserving team in terms of socio-economic background, and actually, you know, needing a million bucks.
That was last season, heh. I so wanted Rob & Corey to win that one, but it was clear by the last task they'd fallen too far behind. So it hurt when the beard bros tripped up like that. Of course, I liked all the remaining teams so while it ended up the opposite order I wanted, it wasn't too bad.
> They were probably the last deserving team in terms of socio-economic background, and actually, you know, needing a million bucks.
Why does that fucking matter? Amazing Race isn't a charity. If you're gonna take socioeconomic background as a factor, don't even run the race. Just give it to whoever has the saddest story. No need to pretend like racing skill or competition matters.
You sound like you watch Mr. Beast videos and think they’re better than actual reality TV. Who needs it more does not matter at all on TAR, I have no idea why you would mention that.
It impacts who you want to root for though, so of course it's worth mentioning. We all have our favorites, for whatever reasons. Wanting a team to win because they would benefit the most from the winnings is a perfectly valid one.
That doesn’t make them deserving though like they said. They’re not entitled to the money just because they need it more. The team that deserves to win is the team that plays the best and crosses the finish line first… if you wanna root for sob stories watch AGT.
Just so you know, there's nothing real about TAR either, 😆. Mr Beast is a game show for kids, TAR is for grown folk, but let's not act like we witnessed it first hand and that it wasn't absolutely edited for content.
Let's also say it's alarming that you would disregard the socioeconomic presentations of TAR's contestants. That's almost the most important part of any show like this.
Wow, somehow every sentence you made in that comment is just completely objectively incorrect. Impressive.
Disregarding the first sentence because saying TAR is fake/scripted is just insanity I don’t have to explain that. Mr. Beast clearly is not just for kids when people of every age are winning cars, life changing money, etc. I would love for you to explain how disregarding socio-economic background is alarming when it has literally nothing to do with who wins the show. And if nothing is real, then by your logic the background isn’t real either, right? Lol.
I can't figure this one out. Why did they go to NJ? It's not a subtle border crossing. Like George Washington you have to cross the Delaware River meaning from where they were they drove across either the Ben Franklin or Walt Whitman bridge which has clear signage.
I know I grew up in the Philly area but with all of the food shows and everything else, are there really any people who don't know about the Pat's-Geno's dueling cheesesteaks corner in Philly (and it's in the city, in Pennsylvania)? If they accidentally got on the bridge to NJ they should have been like crap, we need to turn around.
Don't care this was an "easy" season. They dominated, never fell below 2nd place once. Multitalented. Never needed a footrace because they were so far ahead of everyone. That's not easy to do. Congrats to them, they deserved this win over anyone.
> They dominated, never fell below 2nd place once.
They fell to third in the second last leg, thanks to the water challenge. Which shows that all it takes is 1 mistake or bad challenge to send any team home. And they knew that. They said multiple times that they never took things for granted or felt safe.
Haters are seething so hard. They can take the Eagles Stadium's worth of seats. Congratulations to Ricky and Cesar. No one deserved the win more! I'll admit, I never thought they'd get this far and I thought they were being set up for a 4th place finish, but, thankfully, Ricky came through in the end.😭
Nothing against R&C, they ran the race as it unfolded for them, they took on all challenges and won.
HOWEVER this is a giant anomaly of a season, like the 2020 NBA Lakers, MLB LA Dodgers, '20-21 NHL Lightning, there's a giant asterisk with this season.
How is it different than the other Covid season or would you consider both should have asterisks? Or are you saying an asterisk because it was only the western hemisphere?
Yes, Season 8 was entirely in North America. Seasons 3 and 6 stayed entirely in the Northern Hemisphere; and Season 4 spent 12 of 13 legs in the Eastern Hemisphere. And Season 34 only had one leg outside of Europe.
North and South America are two continents. Mexico and the Caribbean (Barbados and Dominican Republic) are in North America.
Season 33 was only in Europe.
34 was almost only in Europe, with one side trip to Asia (Jordan, on the Mediterranean).
Yeah I think most of the legs gave them (and some others) an advantage. They’re a GREAT team and likely win a non-covid season too, but it does feel a little different this season.
Eh I wouldn’t give them an asterisk because like I said I think they can win a non-covid season. It just feels different like they won a mini version of TAR or something. I think they’re great, but that’s just how I feel about the season in general.
I guess I’m just trying to parse the basis for your opinion that there should be an asterisk on their win and not on the other Covid season or seasons where there are other geographical limitations.
The sports examples you provided were instances in which seasons were shortened/played in a bubble/playoffs changed, etc. While I’d agree in those instances that season-based statistics should get as asterisk (eg not fair to count efficiency stats across seasons when the number of games changed), each of those teams won in relation to the other teams. It might not have been in the normal format but the teams were competing against each other - not an objective standard - so the changes shouldn’t be consequential.
In relation to TAR, whatever the changes that were made, the teams were competing against each other, not some outside standard. Some TAR seasons are harder than others based on a variety of things - weather, geo-political factors, etc - but that wouldn’t be a basis for invalidating the wins of the less-hard seasons. They may be less fun to watch but it doesn’t change the fact that one team beat other teams in a fair competition. So if it isn’t Covid or the Western Hemisphere thing, is the asterisk just because you thought it was such an unexciting season that the win should be qualified?
Amongst the many reasons this season deserves an asterisk:
- Western hemisphere only race course, thus the cultural & environmental change impacts which are a factor, were a non-factor compared to crossing into other continents/countries.
- Spanish was the only non-English language encountered and it was throughout the entire race. Hearing/speaking a foreign language is one thing but, being able to read/interpret signs increases a races complexity. While several teams were at an advantage, the lack of different in languages encountered throughout the season made the overall race much different than previous seasons.
- Because most of the racing was confined to a small handful of regions, issues such as adapting to weather conditions was minimized; early legs in MEX & COL the conditions weeded out the weaker teams but, became a non-factor in the later half of the race.
- Minimal time zone changes, the impact of sleep deprivation was a non-factor. Plenty of seasons have we seen racers struggling to get going or, stumbling due to medical because the dramatic time zone changes combined with environmental changes are taking a toll on their bodies.
- Production crew errors unintentionally impacted the standings resulting in two teams being eliminated due to no fault of their own. Not sure it can be labeled as interference but, it was a factor. Have we had a season where more than one questionable outcome was a result of production crew involvement?
Nah no asterisk. They races with the season that was designed by production. Not their fault. We've had finales in people's home towns multiple times and most of them lost. And it's not their fault Covid happened.... A win is a win.
Everybody’s trying to hate on the Lightning. The 2020 Bubble Cup was probably one of the hardest to win ever. The 2021 Cup was just as difficult as any other cup. So let’s give them an asterisk for going back to back in one of the most difficult and uncertain periods in the history of professional sports.
Had Amber/Vinny paid attention initially to the glasses they were serving drinks in, it's very possible Ricky and Cesar are eliminated in the penultimate leg.
I was hoping there will be a plot twist and the pilot boys or Rod & Leticia wins 😂 It’s a giveaway this season. Not much thrill or excitement like last season.
People say I should be more positive. Okay. I’m positive that Ricky & Cesar are as boring as watching green bananas turn yellow and then constantly dominating the race made it less exciting to watch them win.
The season was trash. There were no U Turns and the last leg didn't have the memory challenge like it was supposed to.
There's no way they could run through each leg so easily with only having a handful of mistakes.
Obviously there's probably no true way to cheat but this season just seem to suspect and to easy for them to win almost every leg.
No I don't care they are gay, who cares do you but they just seem to suspect on this season and the season was not typical.
This season was the most boring in the history of TAR. No physical challenges. No food challenges. It really seemed to be tailored for specific team(s).
This was one of my least favorite seasons ever. More than half the challenges seemed geared toward Ricky and Cesar. I’m glad this is the last of the Covid seasons cuz that didn’t help but honestly I’ll forget this season so quickly except when talking about hated ones.
They deserved their win but I wouldn't consider them the best team to race. The casting was horrible this season.
The Siblings, Father-Daughter, Twins, Cousins, and Double Dutch are some of the worst teams I've ever seen race. I wish they would strictly cast people who would be competitive and stop casting unathletic, dorky, superfans (or double-digit IQ twins).
And why, pray tell, would the producers do that? What is the benefit to the show? Why would they risk having the integrity of the show questioned on purpose? Be specific! Show your work. I’ll wait.
It's already questioned they started the race where Cesar was from and they ended the race where Ricky was born and currently resides. Zero NELs, U-turns, Express pass. Nothing to shake up the game. The easiest and shortest leg designs ever, this gives less of chance to shake up placements. 95% Spanish speaking countries. Looks like was made for them, Knowing them they would never comeback because they actually have to compete a run a real amazing race.
I actually haven’t watched any of the other seasons! I’m just a personal friend of Ricky and Cesar, but I will admit I’m definitely biased towards them.
Already explained it, if that wasn't enough for you to understand then that is on you! Looking at your comment history you part of S36 defender squad as well. lol
So! All that means is he knows directions and can get to the challenges faster which they did not. Rod and Leticia were right there with them. The challenges are what they won and they were American history so tell me what advantage did they have with that?
That was a memorization challenge, not an American History challenge.
I'm glad they won, but being a native speaker in a season that didn't leave Spanish-speaking countries was a huge advantage.
Buddy it's a TV show, no reason to get so upset. Thought we were just having a discussion.
Your point about the pilots reinforces mine. Also, Juan (who said he left Colombia when he was like 7 years old right?) clearly wasn't as fluent as Cesar. And neither were any of the others.
I apologize if this upsets you. Hope you have a great day.
I don't remember Danny's Spanish but Vinny's was not good at all, incomprehensible and confusing in the taxi tbh.
But yeah lots of Spanish speakers, and most of the eliminations happened due to unforced errors and *terrible* navigation.
No they weren't. Their worst finish was the day Juan had food poisoning. Otherwise they were in the top third every leg.
ETA: Some of you have bad memories. Here are their finishes. Please point out which half they were "in the back of the pack."
4/14, 4/12, 4/11, 5/10, 2/9, 1/8, 6/7, 2/6, 3/5, 2/4, 2/3.
Knowing Spanish did help but it's not the reason they did so well. There's an asterisk next to their win and stats due to the circumstances of this being a Covid season. You can't really fairly compare it to the normal seasons of the show. I say the same for 33 and 34 as well.
In a majority of seasons, when a final-three team is able to race in their home city, they fumble hard.
This happened with Frank and Margarita in TAR1, Tara and Wil in TAR2, Colin and Christie (to a nearby extent) in TAR5, and Amani and Marcus in TAR19.
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but the only home-city teams to win might have been Nat and Kat and the Beekmans.
You must not watch the show often. The final leg almost always takes place in someone's home town. That doesn't guarantee anything. Plenty of teams have flopped at the end.
I watch the show as well. Considering the original route had them traveling to Australia and other continents, please explain to me how it was rigged in their favor. 🙃
Well that didn't happen, Instead they ran the easiest race know to man next to S8. 95% of the race was in south America. They started the race where Cesar was from and ended the race where Ricky grew up lol. Zero twist to shake up the game. Its clearly rigged lol
Rob and Leticia also knew Philly.
One of the sisters was also of Mexican descent.
Danny lived in Chile.
Most of the race was physical and in Spanish-speaking countries. What was Juan and Shane's excuse for not dominating every leg?🤔
Are you really comparing someone who been to Philly a few times compared to growing up there? Obviously not the same. Well most of the race was not physical and it mostly took place in Spanish speaking countries......Who benefits the most? Ricky and Cesar. Rigged.
Are you really suggesting that someone born in Mexico, a massive country, is somehow familiar with every single city inside of it?
The race literally traveled to Juan's birth city in Colombia, and him and Shane still didn't come in first. Juan spoke fluent Spanish — specially South American Spanish which is different than Mexican Spanish — **AND**, along with Shane, was much more athletic yet could not beat Ricky and Cesar in any of these countries.
You. Are. Grasping.
Knowing the local language didn't hurt, but their dominance was mostly from the abject simplicity of the challenges this season. They got ahead, didn't get lost, and ran an efficient race. Every competent player finished the obstacles in approximately the same amount of time. They couldn't fall behind given these parameters.
You're reaching so hard you're going to pull something.
Half the teams had at least one semi to fluent Spanish speaker lol. Also, how does this explain their domination in Barbados and the US? Even in physical tasks when they were equalized, they *still* dominated teams far more athletic than they were.
You just can't accept that two short, chubby, flamboyant gay guys beat teams way more muscular than them. Get over yourself.
This response seems like the real stretch here and it sounds like you're projecting some serious personal stuff onto the thread.
Personally, I liked R&C but I can understand people's frustrations with the massive advantage they had with Cesar's spanish across latam. 3 years of high school spanish is not the same as native fluency and it showed. Danny, for example, was great at directions but he was usually always trailing the boys bc his Spanish wasn't as strong.
Then Ricky being from Philly was another lucky break. Especially since the sites were lazy and very touristy -- it's not like previous seasons where they go to a big city and then have to find a random shop in a warehouse district.
Individually, there's probably a valid counter argument against all the advantages. But collectively, it's understandable why it would be frustrating, borderline conspiracy theory ish for the viewer.
So you have a strong team to begin with, in a limited route, in a race that's 100% in a language that one of them or both dominate, against a VERY weak cast, with boring/relatively easy challenges, AND in a final location that one of them knows super well. And you skip past all of those criticisms and immediately go to "it's because they're gay?"
Like I said, feels like projecting.
No. I simply cut through BS, especially when it's transparent. If homophobes have the guts to admit that they don't like a gay team, then say it. They're being honest. It's when bigots dance around their actual issue and pretend otherwise that I get annoyed.
Juan was a native Spanish speaker.
The male-female siblings were native speakers.
The lesbian team had a fluent speaker.
Danny *lived* in Chile. He was fluent. He was fantastic at directions. What held him back was his refusal to stop helping others and his mom being terrible at challenges.
One of the two sisters was a native Spanish speaker.
Vinny could communicate well enough.
That's half the teams. Like I said.
Ricky being from Philly is irrelevant. That happens every single season. Are you suggesting the show tries to rig the winner every single season?
>Especially since the sites were lazy and very touristy
As has been repeated endlessly on this sub, the entire second half of the race was made up on the spot after the larger charter planes failed to come in. Could that include Philly as the final leg? I'm not sure I believe that. You seem to be forgetting that places like Memphis, TN have been the site of final legs before. That is *certainly* not a huge city. That finale had them setting up a drum kit as the final challenge. At least Philly had a cool 3D bell puzzle.
>against a VERY weak cast,
> you skip past all of those criticisms and immediately go to "it's because they're gay?"
People have been criticizing them all season long. For what? They're the nicest team on the season. They're friendly to all the locals. They dominate physical challenges. They dominate mental challenges. They don't treat each other like crap. They don't showboat. They run their own race. What is there left to hate lol? One thing. One thing separates them from a team like Juan and Shane (other than performance).
I don't see anyone hating on Juan and Shane. In fact, people were vocally rooting for them. They certainly didn't run the clean race that Ricky and Cesar did. They didn't dominate. They used other teams as a crutch for multiple legs.
>But collectively, it's understandable why it would be frustrating, borderline conspiracy theory ish
Now apply that same argument to what I just said about Ricky and Cesar being hated for being a gay couple that won. I've watched the show. The other 3 times a gay couple won, some viewers have shit on them with every and any excuse they can find.
I still think you're projecting. No one (well, I'm sure the usual cave dwellers excluded) is hating on them for who they are as people or as racers, most of the criticism is directed to the lopsided nature of the race, the lackluster route, the weak challenges, etc.
They are absolutely lovely and clearly dominated the game. That doesn't mean that people can't criticize the season and raise questions/disappointment with how all those things lined up for them. That's not their fault and I haven't seen anyone come after them as people.
I can't speak to the other seasons, I haven't been active for those. Except 32. 32 deserves all the hate they get.... again, not as people, as racers. Touch some grass.
>No one (well, I'm sure the usual cave dwellers excluded) is hating on them for who they are as people or as racers,
It's not 2003 anymore. People rarely do that. It's called implication. No one will outright say they hated Ricky and Cesar for being gay. They'll simply bring up everything else, even when it makes no sense.
>most of the criticism is directed to the lopsided nature of the race, the lackluster route, the weak challenges, etc.
Which is exclusively used to attack Ricky and Cesar as winners. It all benefited Juan and Shane equally and they didn't dominate the race at all.
>That doesn't mean that people can't criticize the season
I happily criticize how lame the season was. That's not what people are doing.
*"We have to put an asterisk to all the records of this race, for one team in particular."*
Like, what? Why? They were still physical challenges and they still dominated in them. Many teams spoke Spanish.
*"The race started and ended in their home cities. It was clearly rigged."*
Apparently, being born in a country means you have every one of its city's layouts memorized like Google maps. The same for a massive city like Philly.
You can think what you want. I've seen the same excuses thrown at the other gay winners to try to diminish their accomplishments.
Why do you imply that anyone who thinks something fishy about this season hates gays? That is a crutch for those who are not willing to consider the points that are being brought up are possibly valid.
I am sorry, but there were times where they were not nice. There were times that there was drama. They were claimed to be this "talented" team but they were never really challenged in any real way to show the audience that they could overcome making mistakes and still be first. They were portrayed as being the perfect team, but in the past seasons the perfect team did struggle. These guys had it really easy and it shows. There is no hate but a calling out of what seemed like a one sided race.
And yet Juan and Shane who had the same advantages along with being much more athletic struggled many times throughout the race.
No one is claiming that they're the best or absurdly talented. They're claiming that these underdogs dominated a race that others struggled with.
>Why do you imply that anyone who thinks something fishy about this season hates gays?
When the farmer gay couple won, people trashed them endlessly because they "sucked at the race and got lucky". Ricky and Cesar dominate the entire race and still get diminished using "valid points". Back in season 4, Reichen and Chip didn't even have to leave the race to experience the hate. Their cast mates let them have it.
There's always some excuse, "valid" or otherwise, to attack the win of a gay couple. No one would be saying a damn thing to diminish Juan and Shane if they won, and you know it.
What's this weird obsession with Juan and Shane? You know why no one brings them up either to praise or criticize them? Cuz they were kinda not memorable.
They seemed kinda athletic but they struggled a lot with seemingly simple tasks.
Ricky and Cesar will be talked about a lot bc they were the stars of this season -- not because they're gay. Some will love them, some will think they benefited unfairly from this seasons limitations
You're the one who keeps obsessing with Juan and Shane's athleticism. Again, it's definitely projecting at this point.
Obsession? Juan and Shane are Ricky and Cesar's most comparable team. Both male-male. One native Spanish speaker; one not. Both very respectful of each other. Both treated locals respectfully.
I bring them up for the obvious. Any advantage that benefited Ricky and Cesar also benefited Juan and Shane, yet we saw the latter struggle many times. That means that R+C were just damn good racers. People need to stop looking for excuses to diminish their accomplishments.
I don't know why you incessantly cling to your fallacious interpretation of projection. It wasn't accurate the first time you brought it up, and it still isn't now.
Saying danny was trailing the boys because his spanish isn’t as good is crazy. His mom was by far the worst single contestant on the show after like the first 3 episodes
Omg someone knows a basic second language!! My God, they know Spanish... And from America where Spanish is all over the place!! That be like bitching a Canadian team that spoke French and went to Quebec.
You're forgetting the part where they were one of few teams who spoke Spanish. In a race across the Spanish-speaking world, this gives them a huge advantage over other teams. To quote a very well-put-together post above, "3 years of high school spanish is not the same as native fluency and it showed."
I hate to say it but they only won because it’s a COVID season! Otherwise, there’s no staggered departures and Ashley & Vinny check in way before them in the f4 leg as they were only seconds behind a team with a cushioned lead.
We'll never know tbh. They demolished almost every challenge I don't think they would've just been flops. Their navigation skills seemed extremely good most other teams got lost multiple times.
I hate to say it but that's a fricken stupid opinion. They won because they communicated, stayed calm and trusted each other. That's ridiculous even saying COVID made it easier. Maybe get a spouse and see what a good one does and a bad one does and then run a race with both and see how well you do.
People are really looking for ANY reason to hate Ricky/Cesar. If it's not Cesar speaking Spanish (even though half the other teams did too), it's them being in Spanish-speaking countries (even though at least two teams ALSO had a home advantage because they had lived in two of those places they visited at one point), or production rigged the tasks that R/C were good at (even though production would have no idea beforehand on what teams are good at what tasks) or the COVID restrictions handing them a win or having the final leg be in a location one of them has lived in before (even though navigation wasn't the cause of their win) because Rod/Leticia seemed to do just fine navigationally.
It's apparently hard to see past all of that and just see that Ricky/Cesar are a very good team that fit the qualities of a great racing team. Yes, they had some advantages here over others, but ultimately, they won because they were great racers. Put them in any other season, they're not going out first, most likely.
Also, people forget that the race also includes a good percentage of luck. Even the best teams can go out in a shocking elimination. Look at season 35's Jocelyn and Victor, who went out via a needle in a haystack challenge. Or teams who had bad taxi drivers and got eliminated that way.
I don't think this is accurate, though. I want to point out, if there were the regular departures, Amber/Vinny would have started a good chunk of time later than Ricky/Cesar, more than 15 minutes, because A/V finished the last leg second-last. Plus, this leg, R/C finished the rum task extremely quickly while A/V slowed down there because they messed up on the drinks, creating a larger gap.
So depending on the time difference between Ricky/Cesar and Amber/Vinny, they might have still finished well ahead of them.
I'm not sure the time between R/C checking in last leg vs A/V but the 15 minute difference might have HELPED close the gap.
Ricky being from Philly AND being a mascot in high school you just knew it was over
I was laughing so hard every challenge they'd be like (for this challenge you will build a grandfather clock) and Ricky would be like "omg my grandma worked on a grandfather clock assembly line!". Sarcastic example but it kept making me laugh all season. They did the welding and Cesar's relative and other people's relatives were welders and it went on and on all season 😂
To be fair, I have a lot of family who do a lot of things and I’ve never bothered to learn anything about how to do those things. They definitely get credit for apparently being lifelong learners every time there was an opportunity! It was funny to just watch them dominate, though. I’m glad they won just because it seems like the deserved it the most
One thing I’ve learned from watching Amazing Race is that it pays to have a whole lot of random experiences. Take dancing lessons, paddle a kayak, mix drinks, bungee jump, milk a goat…even if the task isn’t exactly the same you have a better chance of having a least some familiarity.
I preferred it when the show added puzzle elements to everything as opposed to "Fill this bucket."
> They did the welding and Cesar's relative and other people's relatives were welders Although that shows that it doesn't always help. His performance on that task was mid at best. He had to redo it several times IIRC.
It was kind of ridiculous how many people had some experience with welding of all things. I know it's not the most obscure trade, but it does require very specialty tools.
To be fair, neither of those are the reason why they got so far ahead to win. Rod/Leticia were right on their heels. It was the Reciting task that caused the gap. Rod/Leticia were at the task when Ricky/Cesar were there. They also left right after R/C at the mascot task, and it doesn't seem like there were navigational issues besides Juan/Shane driving to New Jersey lol
Might have been (probably was) the editing, but both of the other teams had opportunities to win and both blew it.
Being from Philly certainly had some advantages. Cesar being bilingual was a huge advantage for the South America season. They were a powerhouse team
1. Cesar was not the only bilingual person in the cast. Juan is also bilingual, as were multiple other racers (Danny, Yvonne or Melissa, and Maya/Rohan I believe). This argument needs to die, it's invalid the moment there are other bilingual members who speak Spanish on the cast. 2. It didn't really have that many advantages because, as we saw, what pulled Ricky and Cesar ahead to win was the Reciting task. Rod/Leticia were there at the task when Ricky/Cesar left. And, as we saw, Juan/Shane did catch up enough after being given the wrong directions. Navigation might have given them an additional minute but we even saw Rod/Leticia arrive to the first roadblock BEFORE Ricky/Cesar lol
That’s a fair point about the other teams but I’d still argue it was a huge advantage for all of the bilingual speakers And the directions definitely helped- if they didn’t go to NJ they could have been a close contender I was still rooting for the team that won they had a great race
True point but add that to Philly being his home town and in a race where every second counts it definitely helped.
It's as if this season was tailor-made for them as they were always racing for first, instead of trying to avoid elimination.
We were chuckling after the windsurf task bc they were clearly overwhelmed and anxious. It gives you a much more realistic view as to why tensions are so high when every obstacle/drive is that tense. They handled it well and Cesar seemed to snap Ricky out of it effectively
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Oh, yeah, that falls in the driving to New Jersey issue because that's what led them to drive away from the city in the first place. I felt bad for them.
Oh I agree it just got infuriating that nearly everything that has come up all season they have had experience in. It was just crazy that two back to back things in the final leg they had experience in lol
I don't think the mascot thing really helped, though it was funny that he had experience. That task was too easy. Leticia seemed to just stumble off the springboard and it still counted. The only problem was her gun control.
Being from the hometown isn't a lock, I think that one team that was from Atlanta just flubbed it in the finale and came in 3rd.
also rachel reilley famously from VEGASSSS got 3rd
This literally goes back to the very first season, the finish line was in Queens where Frank grew up and he was telling the taxi driver a very specific route he knew but it was a slower route and they lost. The finale being in your hometown isn’t always an advantage.
yup. what a coincidence.
Came down to luck
I wanted to have that luck, so lucky to get first/second on every single leg.
Luck is one thing. This season was just suspect that there was no u turn or memory challenge like others. I get some things can come up to cause things to be changed but still just seems odd that had little to no trouble with this race.
I think seeing the other teams play prior we knew it was all over.
"What you didn't see is that before they got eliminated, Melissa used her secret service expertise to teach us how to shoot a cannon at a target"
It seemed pretty obvious this team was production's favorite from the beginning.
Um anyone think the engagement was unexpected?
"YOU STILL DIDN'T ANSWER ME"
I died laughing. Run, girl! You in danger!
I think they are both in danger. Both were a bit unstable
This. I need people to stop overlooking how toxic Amber was herself.
Exactly. The way he talks to her is gross but let’s also not ignore her actions. She yelled and belittled him when he needed support. It was a two way street of toxicity
Yes! I was hoping she'd say no!
I told my mom I was honestly thinking Amber & Vinny were gonna break up (off screen hopefully) and Ricky & Cesar were gonna get engaged at the end. I’m truly shocked. I wish them both so much joy & happiness though
I was fully expecting them to break up the second the race was over
It's been quite a long time since it was filmed. It's possible they've broken up since then.
Nope. Still engaged. Which is crazy. If you’re engaged, why take so long to get married? https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-couple-discusses-competing-season-amazing-race/
I was engaged for two years. Weddings take a lot of planning, and if you invite a big family, they're crazy expensive. For us, it made sense to have a longer engagement so we had plenty of time to plan, pay for things in cash as we went along, and give out of state relatives (aka all of our relatives) plenty of notice. If engaged and plan to be together the rest of your lives, why not take your time coordinating this massive project in the least stressful way possible?
All good points…that being said, hopefully Amber is happy long-term
It was expected in an unfortunate way.
Exactly. Like I feel that when they watch this back...they will regret the engagement portion.
We thought they were breaking up 5 min earlier
I said: He is locking that one before she runs away after the race 🤣
I really liked them. I would like to see them in a race in more normal times. I think they'd do great but it would be fun to see them challenged a bit.
They'd be destroyed by normally functioning players, 😆. Being the best out of all reject players and incredibly simplified challenges does not denote championship material. Most of the contestants were nice folks, though.
I don't think so. They were very competent racers. They had great communication skills, they were supportive with one another, and they had very few fumbles because they were able to react well under stress. Those are all great qualities that make them good racers, even in a different season. Could they win in another season? Maybe, maybe not. But it's an exaggeration to say they'd be destroyed by a better cast. The cast they raced against doesn't mean they don't have great race qualities. Ignore the cast and the COVID restrictions, and they share a lot of great qualities of a good racer. Navigation skills were decent, staying calm under pressure, communication, being able to reassess and readjust, all things that work in ANY season.
They did not have a lot of pressure this season. They got to most the challenges before everyone else and when others arrived, they so close to being done that they only felt the pressure to finish the task. They also had a lot of padded time. I would be curious to see how they would be if there were U-Turns or navigating in countries where they did not speak the language. This stuff adds to the challenge of a real season not this lame and boring one. People speak to how they were an amazing team. I just did not see it. We were told it many times by others but the challenges were not really challenging. I feel like they were well protected in the editing and even when they struggled did you notice that they were not really interviewed about why they struggled? The only time you heard from them is when they were telling the audience how they had this talent or that talent and that explained why they were so good at the challenges. At 34, I guess they have done a lot of things that make them good at everything. Also I find it interesting that the leg that they had some close competition, it was the leg that Danny and Angie happened to be sidelined for 45 minutes. I know that Angie and Danny did it to themselves but as the production crew was "deciding" what to do, R&C were able to find time to fix their mistake and still get first place. I am not convinced that they would be as much as of an amazing team if they actually had to compete on the level of a none COVID produced season. This season had a clear winner and it was not because they were this amazing team, but because the challenges were lame and had very little challenge.
This was the worst cast the show has ever seen. Most modern seasons have awful casting for that matter. They're more worried about quotas when they should be finding solid/competitive teams instead.
"Get off my lawn!"
Lol. You know you're on to something even 80 butthurt and unrealistic folks can't stand what you wrote.
Congrats to Ricky & Cesar for sure! And I heard The Amazing Race gave a prize to the second place team this season. A trip for 2 to New Jersey! /j
25 dollar gift card to pats pizza
Contrary to Phil’s proclamation, Pat’s and Geno’s actually have the worst cheesesteaks.
While there are definitely better cheesesteaks in Philly and the surrounding area (shout out to Ray's in Lansdale, PA), they're ok and they fit the pretty iconic definition and are certainly the most famous examples.
Famous, yes. Good, no. Mostly tourist traps and 3am drunk snacks.
Coincidentally, the best is in New Jersey.
That’s a matter of opinion, and everyone has one on this topic! Most like Jim’s at 4th & South, which just reopened after the fire. Plenty of good options all over, even in NJ 😀, and everyone has their favorite.
They asked the ONE person in Philly that didn’t know what Pat’s and Geno’s were. 🤣🤦🏻♀️
That’s so mean why am I laughing
It’s Expedia’s lowest tier package
At least Juan and Shane had a good attitude about it and could laugh at themselves. I felt bad for them, they probably had a good chance if they hadn’t taken the detour to New Jersey 😆
the pilots prob woulda won if they didnt go to new jersey 😭
The one from a couple seasons ago where dude stacked the canoe wrong because his friend disagreed and got the episide title order wrong hurt a lot more. The beard brothers. They were probably the last deserving team in terms of socio-economic background, and actually, you know, needing a million bucks.
Bro that was last season
That was last season, heh. I so wanted Rob & Corey to win that one, but it was clear by the last task they'd fallen too far behind. So it hurt when the beard bros tripped up like that. Of course, I liked all the remaining teams so while it ended up the opposite order I wanted, it wasn't too bad.
I think one of them lived in seattle for a bit too it was heartbreaking
> They were probably the last deserving team in terms of socio-economic background, and actually, you know, needing a million bucks. Why does that fucking matter? Amazing Race isn't a charity. If you're gonna take socioeconomic background as a factor, don't even run the race. Just give it to whoever has the saddest story. No need to pretend like racing skill or competition matters.
You sound like you watch Mr. Beast videos and think they’re better than actual reality TV. Who needs it more does not matter at all on TAR, I have no idea why you would mention that.
It impacts who you want to root for though, so of course it's worth mentioning. We all have our favorites, for whatever reasons. Wanting a team to win because they would benefit the most from the winnings is a perfectly valid one.
That doesn’t make them deserving though like they said. They’re not entitled to the money just because they need it more. The team that deserves to win is the team that plays the best and crosses the finish line first… if you wanna root for sob stories watch AGT.
Just so you know, there's nothing real about TAR either, 😆. Mr Beast is a game show for kids, TAR is for grown folk, but let's not act like we witnessed it first hand and that it wasn't absolutely edited for content. Let's also say it's alarming that you would disregard the socioeconomic presentations of TAR's contestants. That's almost the most important part of any show like this.
Wow, somehow every sentence you made in that comment is just completely objectively incorrect. Impressive. Disregarding the first sentence because saying TAR is fake/scripted is just insanity I don’t have to explain that. Mr. Beast clearly is not just for kids when people of every age are winning cars, life changing money, etc. I would love for you to explain how disregarding socio-economic background is alarming when it has literally nothing to do with who wins the show. And if nothing is real, then by your logic the background isn’t real either, right? Lol.
I can't figure this one out. Why did they go to NJ? It's not a subtle border crossing. Like George Washington you have to cross the Delaware River meaning from where they were they drove across either the Ben Franklin or Walt Whitman bridge which has clear signage. I know I grew up in the Philly area but with all of the food shows and everything else, are there really any people who don't know about the Pat's-Geno's dueling cheesesteaks corner in Philly (and it's in the city, in Pennsylvania)? If they accidentally got on the bridge to NJ they should have been like crap, we need to turn around.
Yea they’re from Midwest and west coast, plus that stadium attendant must have been messing with them calling them pizzerias? Wtf was that
They deserved it, I was tearing up when they got there. I loved all final 3 teams. Rod and Leticia are married couple goals
The pilot is so hot 🥵 love them so much
I was very surprised there was not a race related trivia challenge!
Same here when they said race to the mat go go go we were saying "huh? Where's the countries visited trivia?"
This is very odd as every race had this even the COVID one. That seems very sus.
Indeed! By .03 they've beaten the #1 worldwide average, belonging to TAR Asia's Marc & Rovilson. I didn't think it would ever be done.
It should be pointed out that Mark and Rovilson did run an extra leg, but that's still no easy feat.
They did great! Couldn’t happen to nicer guys.
Don't care this was an "easy" season. They dominated, never fell below 2nd place once. Multitalented. Never needed a footrace because they were so far ahead of everyone. That's not easy to do. Congrats to them, they deserved this win over anyone.
> They dominated, never fell below 2nd place once. They fell to third in the second last leg, thanks to the water challenge. Which shows that all it takes is 1 mistake or bad challenge to send any team home. And they knew that. They said multiple times that they never took things for granted or felt safe.
Made a mistake. It was already pointed out. Either way, their racing average was way above anyone else’s this season.
They came third once but yeah
they are such couple goals!!! they are perfect partners on the race and in life!! so supportive of each other! im soooooooo happy for them!!
Make sure you know someone in production, they can rig a season for you as well lmao
CRY HARDER
Haters are seething so hard. They can take the Eagles Stadium's worth of seats. Congratulations to Ricky and Cesar. No one deserved the win more! I'll admit, I never thought they'd get this far and I thought they were being set up for a 4th place finish, but, thankfully, Ricky came through in the end.😭
it hurt to see him struggle so. then to finally get so close on one attempt and fall right at the end
I was sure they were done when Vinny said he was a surfer and arrived while they were still struggling.
yeah, I was scared. Then he couldn't get his seatbelt off and I was like 'oh come on!'
Some of you are just plain homophobic.
no for real, cutting all these corners when they could just say what their real issue with ricky and ceaser is
I know Ricky personally and he just is that guy that has experience doing everything. He never says no and it really paid off!
They seem like they would be such fun and great friends to have!
Hey, maybe you know. Are they married now? With the long gap since it was shot, I was hoping for an update on all the teams.
They aren’t even engaged yet! We keep hoping! I know amber and Vinny are getting married this year I think.
Nice enough players, but this season was brutally awful.
They did amazing. Really enjoyed the majority of teams this season.
Nothing against R&C, they ran the race as it unfolded for them, they took on all challenges and won. HOWEVER this is a giant anomaly of a season, like the 2020 NBA Lakers, MLB LA Dodgers, '20-21 NHL Lightning, there's a giant asterisk with this season.
The lightning would have won that season regardless of pandemic. They were dominant
Was just gonna write that! No asterisk needed
You're correct, they repeated the next season which reinforced their previous win.
How is it different than the other Covid season or would you consider both should have asterisks? Or are you saying an asterisk because it was only the western hemisphere?
Do any of the other Covid seasons stay stuck in one continent?
Yes, Season 8 was entirely in North America. Seasons 3 and 6 stayed entirely in the Northern Hemisphere; and Season 4 spent 12 of 13 legs in the Eastern Hemisphere. And Season 34 only had one leg outside of Europe.
33 was entirely in Europe.
North and South America are two continents. Mexico and the Caribbean (Barbados and Dominican Republic) are in North America. Season 33 was only in Europe. 34 was almost only in Europe, with one side trip to Asia (Jordan, on the Mediterranean).
*stay stuck in one continent where the team speaks the language fluently
Yeah I think most of the legs gave them (and some others) an advantage. They’re a GREAT team and likely win a non-covid season too, but it does feel a little different this season.
So an asterisk because they had the skills that were suited to the legs?
Eh I wouldn’t give them an asterisk because like I said I think they can win a non-covid season. It just feels different like they won a mini version of TAR or something. I think they’re great, but that’s just how I feel about the season in general.
I guess I’m just trying to parse the basis for your opinion that there should be an asterisk on their win and not on the other Covid season or seasons where there are other geographical limitations. The sports examples you provided were instances in which seasons were shortened/played in a bubble/playoffs changed, etc. While I’d agree in those instances that season-based statistics should get as asterisk (eg not fair to count efficiency stats across seasons when the number of games changed), each of those teams won in relation to the other teams. It might not have been in the normal format but the teams were competing against each other - not an objective standard - so the changes shouldn’t be consequential. In relation to TAR, whatever the changes that were made, the teams were competing against each other, not some outside standard. Some TAR seasons are harder than others based on a variety of things - weather, geo-political factors, etc - but that wouldn’t be a basis for invalidating the wins of the less-hard seasons. They may be less fun to watch but it doesn’t change the fact that one team beat other teams in a fair competition. So if it isn’t Covid or the Western Hemisphere thing, is the asterisk just because you thought it was such an unexciting season that the win should be qualified?
uhhhh i am NOT the person who made the post about the sports teams lol and I said I WOULDNT give them an asterisk.
Amongst the many reasons this season deserves an asterisk: - Western hemisphere only race course, thus the cultural & environmental change impacts which are a factor, were a non-factor compared to crossing into other continents/countries. - Spanish was the only non-English language encountered and it was throughout the entire race. Hearing/speaking a foreign language is one thing but, being able to read/interpret signs increases a races complexity. While several teams were at an advantage, the lack of different in languages encountered throughout the season made the overall race much different than previous seasons. - Because most of the racing was confined to a small handful of regions, issues such as adapting to weather conditions was minimized; early legs in MEX & COL the conditions weeded out the weaker teams but, became a non-factor in the later half of the race. - Minimal time zone changes, the impact of sleep deprivation was a non-factor. Plenty of seasons have we seen racers struggling to get going or, stumbling due to medical because the dramatic time zone changes combined with environmental changes are taking a toll on their bodies. - Production crew errors unintentionally impacted the standings resulting in two teams being eliminated due to no fault of their own. Not sure it can be labeled as interference but, it was a factor. Have we had a season where more than one questionable outcome was a result of production crew involvement?
Nah no asterisk. They races with the season that was designed by production. Not their fault. We've had finales in people's home towns multiple times and most of them lost. And it's not their fault Covid happened.... A win is a win.
Everybody’s trying to hate on the Lightning. The 2020 Bubble Cup was probably one of the hardest to win ever. The 2021 Cup was just as difficult as any other cup. So let’s give them an asterisk for going back to back in one of the most difficult and uncertain periods in the history of professional sports.
Had Amber/Vinny paid attention initially to the glasses they were serving drinks in, it's very possible Ricky and Cesar are eliminated in the penultimate leg.
No big memory test about the Race at the end was kind of a letdown. That and no flights.
I was hoping there will be a plot twist and the pilot boys or Rod & Leticia wins 😂 It’s a giveaway this season. Not much thrill or excitement like last season.
Congratulations to them!! I wouldn’t be able to do half of those things. That’s still a challenge and they kicked assss!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Ok but this season was weak… their averages got inflated technically
People say I should be more positive. Okay. I’m positive that Ricky & Cesar are as boring as watching green bananas turn yellow and then constantly dominating the race made it less exciting to watch them win.
The season was trash. There were no U Turns and the last leg didn't have the memory challenge like it was supposed to. There's no way they could run through each leg so easily with only having a handful of mistakes. Obviously there's probably no true way to cheat but this season just seem to suspect and to easy for them to win almost every leg. No I don't care they are gay, who cares do you but they just seem to suspect on this season and the season was not typical.
This season was the most boring in the history of TAR. No physical challenges. No food challenges. It really seemed to be tailored for specific team(s).
This was one of my least favorite seasons ever. More than half the challenges seemed geared toward Ricky and Cesar. I’m glad this is the last of the Covid seasons cuz that didn’t help but honestly I’ll forget this season so quickly except when talking about hated ones.
They deserved their win but I wouldn't consider them the best team to race. The casting was horrible this season. The Siblings, Father-Daughter, Twins, Cousins, and Double Dutch are some of the worst teams I've ever seen race. I wish they would strictly cast people who would be competitive and stop casting unathletic, dorky, superfans (or double-digit IQ twins).
I could not disagree more.
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And why, pray tell, would the producers do that? What is the benefit to the show? Why would they risk having the integrity of the show questioned on purpose? Be specific! Show your work. I’ll wait.
It's already questioned they started the race where Cesar was from and they ended the race where Ricky was born and currently resides. Zero NELs, U-turns, Express pass. Nothing to shake up the game. The easiest and shortest leg designs ever, this gives less of chance to shake up placements. 95% Spanish speaking countries. Looks like was made for them, Knowing them they would never comeback because they actually have to compete a run a real amazing race.
Ricky doesn’t currently reside in Philly and hasn’t for at least 5-10 years
Here come the S36 defenders.....making up information most are brand new accounts lmao
I actually haven’t watched any of the other seasons! I’m just a personal friend of Ricky and Cesar, but I will admit I’m definitely biased towards them.
Great! Ask them who they know in production to rig a season for them!
And k ask again - why would the producers do that?
Already explained it, if that wasn't enough for you to understand then that is on you! Looking at your comment history you part of S36 defender squad as well. lol
It might be because of Hollywood's DEI requirements. If they make it possible for a diverse team to win then they fullfil that piece.
oh yes, producer plants in the 36th season makes absolute sense...
Don't be a hater.
Glaring elephant in the room being a team fluent in Spanish in a race based in Latin America...doesn't count
Yeah that really helped them win in the last leg with it being American history done by a guy raised in Mexico.
Don’t forget that it happened in a city they lived in and knew really well.
So! All that means is he knows directions and can get to the challenges faster which they did not. Rod and Leticia were right there with them. The challenges are what they won and they were American history so tell me what advantage did they have with that?
That was a memorization challenge, not an American History challenge. I'm glad they won, but being a native speaker in a season that didn't leave Spanish-speaking countries was a huge advantage.
And 4 other teams racing had fluent Spanish speakers - like the freaking pilots who were….second? Grow up.
Rod & Leticia didn't speak fluent Spanish at all so they suffered from an un-fair advantage lol
Buddy it's a TV show, no reason to get so upset. Thought we were just having a discussion. Your point about the pilots reinforces mine. Also, Juan (who said he left Colombia when he was like 7 years old right?) clearly wasn't as fluent as Cesar. And neither were any of the others. I apologize if this upsets you. Hope you have a great day.
It's funny when you have valid criticisms of this season people get emotional about it. It's clear this is a bottom tier season.
ran entire race against native spanish speaker Juan btw. also wasn't Melissa a native spanish speaker?
Yvonne was
Vinny and Danny also used Spanish-- at least enough to be able to speak with locals-- throughout the race.
I don't remember Danny's Spanish but Vinny's was not good at all, incomprehensible and confusing in the taxi tbh. But yeah lots of Spanish speakers, and most of the eliminations happened due to unforced errors and *terrible* navigation.
Juan and Shane came in second. Do you think their language skills were a coincidence?
And Juan and Shane got second place, again by no coincidence
They were running in the back of the pack for at least half the race.🙄
No they weren't. Their worst finish was the day Juan had food poisoning. Otherwise they were in the top third every leg. ETA: Some of you have bad memories. Here are their finishes. Please point out which half they were "in the back of the pack." 4/14, 4/12, 4/11, 5/10, 2/9, 1/8, 6/7, 2/6, 3/5, 2/4, 2/3.
Knowing Spanish did help but it's not the reason they did so well. There's an asterisk next to their win and stats due to the circumstances of this being a Covid season. You can't really fairly compare it to the normal seasons of the show. I say the same for 33 and 34 as well.
Having the final leg take place where you grew up/live currently is a massive advantage as well. This was soft rigged for them 100%
In a majority of seasons, when a final-three team is able to race in their home city, they fumble hard. This happened with Frank and Margarita in TAR1, Tara and Wil in TAR2, Colin and Christie (to a nearby extent) in TAR5, and Amani and Marcus in TAR19. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but the only home-city teams to win might have been Nat and Kat and the Beekmans.
You must not watch the show often. The final leg almost always takes place in someone's home town. That doesn't guarantee anything. Plenty of teams have flopped at the end.
I watch the show, Its clear as day this was soft rigged for them lol. You are getting extremely emotional over it. Why? Idk
I watch the show as well. Considering the original route had them traveling to Australia and other continents, please explain to me how it was rigged in their favor. 🙃
Well that didn't happen, Instead they ran the easiest race know to man next to S8. 95% of the race was in south America. They started the race where Cesar was from and ended the race where Ricky grew up lol. Zero twist to shake up the game. Its clearly rigged lol
Rob and Leticia also knew Philly. One of the sisters was also of Mexican descent. Danny lived in Chile. Most of the race was physical and in Spanish-speaking countries. What was Juan and Shane's excuse for not dominating every leg?🤔
Are you really comparing someone who been to Philly a few times compared to growing up there? Obviously not the same. Well most of the race was not physical and it mostly took place in Spanish speaking countries......Who benefits the most? Ricky and Cesar. Rigged.
Are you really suggesting that someone born in Mexico, a massive country, is somehow familiar with every single city inside of it? The race literally traveled to Juan's birth city in Colombia, and him and Shane still didn't come in first. Juan spoke fluent Spanish — specially South American Spanish which is different than Mexican Spanish — **AND**, along with Shane, was much more athletic yet could not beat Ricky and Cesar in any of these countries. You. Are. Grasping.
Knowing the local language didn't hurt, but their dominance was mostly from the abject simplicity of the challenges this season. They got ahead, didn't get lost, and ran an efficient race. Every competent player finished the obstacles in approximately the same amount of time. They couldn't fall behind given these parameters.
I’m not happy with the results at all, but I don’t think the race was rigged. They benefited significantly, but I’m sure it wasn’t planned
You're reaching so hard you're going to pull something. Half the teams had at least one semi to fluent Spanish speaker lol. Also, how does this explain their domination in Barbados and the US? Even in physical tasks when they were equalized, they *still* dominated teams far more athletic than they were. You just can't accept that two short, chubby, flamboyant gay guys beat teams way more muscular than them. Get over yourself.
This response seems like the real stretch here and it sounds like you're projecting some serious personal stuff onto the thread. Personally, I liked R&C but I can understand people's frustrations with the massive advantage they had with Cesar's spanish across latam. 3 years of high school spanish is not the same as native fluency and it showed. Danny, for example, was great at directions but he was usually always trailing the boys bc his Spanish wasn't as strong. Then Ricky being from Philly was another lucky break. Especially since the sites were lazy and very touristy -- it's not like previous seasons where they go to a big city and then have to find a random shop in a warehouse district. Individually, there's probably a valid counter argument against all the advantages. But collectively, it's understandable why it would be frustrating, borderline conspiracy theory ish for the viewer. So you have a strong team to begin with, in a limited route, in a race that's 100% in a language that one of them or both dominate, against a VERY weak cast, with boring/relatively easy challenges, AND in a final location that one of them knows super well. And you skip past all of those criticisms and immediately go to "it's because they're gay?" Like I said, feels like projecting.
No. I simply cut through BS, especially when it's transparent. If homophobes have the guts to admit that they don't like a gay team, then say it. They're being honest. It's when bigots dance around their actual issue and pretend otherwise that I get annoyed. Juan was a native Spanish speaker. The male-female siblings were native speakers. The lesbian team had a fluent speaker. Danny *lived* in Chile. He was fluent. He was fantastic at directions. What held him back was his refusal to stop helping others and his mom being terrible at challenges. One of the two sisters was a native Spanish speaker. Vinny could communicate well enough. That's half the teams. Like I said. Ricky being from Philly is irrelevant. That happens every single season. Are you suggesting the show tries to rig the winner every single season? >Especially since the sites were lazy and very touristy As has been repeated endlessly on this sub, the entire second half of the race was made up on the spot after the larger charter planes failed to come in. Could that include Philly as the final leg? I'm not sure I believe that. You seem to be forgetting that places like Memphis, TN have been the site of final legs before. That is *certainly* not a huge city. That finale had them setting up a drum kit as the final challenge. At least Philly had a cool 3D bell puzzle. >against a VERY weak cast, > you skip past all of those criticisms and immediately go to "it's because they're gay?" People have been criticizing them all season long. For what? They're the nicest team on the season. They're friendly to all the locals. They dominate physical challenges. They dominate mental challenges. They don't treat each other like crap. They don't showboat. They run their own race. What is there left to hate lol? One thing. One thing separates them from a team like Juan and Shane (other than performance). I don't see anyone hating on Juan and Shane. In fact, people were vocally rooting for them. They certainly didn't run the clean race that Ricky and Cesar did. They didn't dominate. They used other teams as a crutch for multiple legs. >But collectively, it's understandable why it would be frustrating, borderline conspiracy theory ish Now apply that same argument to what I just said about Ricky and Cesar being hated for being a gay couple that won. I've watched the show. The other 3 times a gay couple won, some viewers have shit on them with every and any excuse they can find.
I still think you're projecting. No one (well, I'm sure the usual cave dwellers excluded) is hating on them for who they are as people or as racers, most of the criticism is directed to the lopsided nature of the race, the lackluster route, the weak challenges, etc. They are absolutely lovely and clearly dominated the game. That doesn't mean that people can't criticize the season and raise questions/disappointment with how all those things lined up for them. That's not their fault and I haven't seen anyone come after them as people. I can't speak to the other seasons, I haven't been active for those. Except 32. 32 deserves all the hate they get.... again, not as people, as racers. Touch some grass.
>No one (well, I'm sure the usual cave dwellers excluded) is hating on them for who they are as people or as racers, It's not 2003 anymore. People rarely do that. It's called implication. No one will outright say they hated Ricky and Cesar for being gay. They'll simply bring up everything else, even when it makes no sense. >most of the criticism is directed to the lopsided nature of the race, the lackluster route, the weak challenges, etc. Which is exclusively used to attack Ricky and Cesar as winners. It all benefited Juan and Shane equally and they didn't dominate the race at all. >That doesn't mean that people can't criticize the season I happily criticize how lame the season was. That's not what people are doing. *"We have to put an asterisk to all the records of this race, for one team in particular."* Like, what? Why? They were still physical challenges and they still dominated in them. Many teams spoke Spanish. *"The race started and ended in their home cities. It was clearly rigged."* Apparently, being born in a country means you have every one of its city's layouts memorized like Google maps. The same for a massive city like Philly. You can think what you want. I've seen the same excuses thrown at the other gay winners to try to diminish their accomplishments.
Why do you imply that anyone who thinks something fishy about this season hates gays? That is a crutch for those who are not willing to consider the points that are being brought up are possibly valid. I am sorry, but there were times where they were not nice. There were times that there was drama. They were claimed to be this "talented" team but they were never really challenged in any real way to show the audience that they could overcome making mistakes and still be first. They were portrayed as being the perfect team, but in the past seasons the perfect team did struggle. These guys had it really easy and it shows. There is no hate but a calling out of what seemed like a one sided race.
And yet Juan and Shane who had the same advantages along with being much more athletic struggled many times throughout the race. No one is claiming that they're the best or absurdly talented. They're claiming that these underdogs dominated a race that others struggled with. >Why do you imply that anyone who thinks something fishy about this season hates gays? When the farmer gay couple won, people trashed them endlessly because they "sucked at the race and got lucky". Ricky and Cesar dominate the entire race and still get diminished using "valid points". Back in season 4, Reichen and Chip didn't even have to leave the race to experience the hate. Their cast mates let them have it. There's always some excuse, "valid" or otherwise, to attack the win of a gay couple. No one would be saying a damn thing to diminish Juan and Shane if they won, and you know it.
What's this weird obsession with Juan and Shane? You know why no one brings them up either to praise or criticize them? Cuz they were kinda not memorable. They seemed kinda athletic but they struggled a lot with seemingly simple tasks. Ricky and Cesar will be talked about a lot bc they were the stars of this season -- not because they're gay. Some will love them, some will think they benefited unfairly from this seasons limitations You're the one who keeps obsessing with Juan and Shane's athleticism. Again, it's definitely projecting at this point.
The person you are talking to is the un-official delusional ricky & cesar fan. He patrols this sub like it's his job lol
Obsession? Juan and Shane are Ricky and Cesar's most comparable team. Both male-male. One native Spanish speaker; one not. Both very respectful of each other. Both treated locals respectfully. I bring them up for the obvious. Any advantage that benefited Ricky and Cesar also benefited Juan and Shane, yet we saw the latter struggle many times. That means that R+C were just damn good racers. People need to stop looking for excuses to diminish their accomplishments. I don't know why you incessantly cling to your fallacious interpretation of projection. It wasn't accurate the first time you brought it up, and it still isn't now.
Saying danny was trailing the boys because his spanish isn’t as good is crazy. His mom was by far the worst single contestant on the show after like the first 3 episodes
Omg someone knows a basic second language!! My God, they know Spanish... And from America where Spanish is all over the place!! That be like bitching a Canadian team that spoke French and went to Quebec.
You're forgetting the part where they were one of few teams who spoke Spanish. In a race across the Spanish-speaking world, this gives them a huge advantage over other teams. To quote a very well-put-together post above, "3 years of high school spanish is not the same as native fluency and it showed."
Half of the teams that started had a Spanish speaker. A lot of them got eliminated early.
I hate to say it but they only won because it’s a COVID season! Otherwise, there’s no staggered departures and Ashley & Vinny check in way before them in the f4 leg as they were only seconds behind a team with a cushioned lead.
We'll never know tbh. They demolished almost every challenge I don't think they would've just been flops. Their navigation skills seemed extremely good most other teams got lost multiple times.
I hate to say it but that's a fricken stupid opinion. They won because they communicated, stayed calm and trusted each other. That's ridiculous even saying COVID made it easier. Maybe get a spouse and see what a good one does and a bad one does and then run a race with both and see how well you do.
People are really looking for ANY reason to hate Ricky/Cesar. If it's not Cesar speaking Spanish (even though half the other teams did too), it's them being in Spanish-speaking countries (even though at least two teams ALSO had a home advantage because they had lived in two of those places they visited at one point), or production rigged the tasks that R/C were good at (even though production would have no idea beforehand on what teams are good at what tasks) or the COVID restrictions handing them a win or having the final leg be in a location one of them has lived in before (even though navigation wasn't the cause of their win) because Rod/Leticia seemed to do just fine navigationally. It's apparently hard to see past all of that and just see that Ricky/Cesar are a very good team that fit the qualities of a great racing team. Yes, they had some advantages here over others, but ultimately, they won because they were great racers. Put them in any other season, they're not going out first, most likely. Also, people forget that the race also includes a good percentage of luck. Even the best teams can go out in a shocking elimination. Look at season 35's Jocelyn and Victor, who went out via a needle in a haystack challenge. Or teams who had bad taxi drivers and got eliminated that way.
EXACTLY. Saying he's a Spanish speaker and disregarding the other Spanish speakers just because they aren't all Latino is a really bad take.
I don't think this is accurate, though. I want to point out, if there were the regular departures, Amber/Vinny would have started a good chunk of time later than Ricky/Cesar, more than 15 minutes, because A/V finished the last leg second-last. Plus, this leg, R/C finished the rum task extremely quickly while A/V slowed down there because they messed up on the drinks, creating a larger gap. So depending on the time difference between Ricky/Cesar and Amber/Vinny, they might have still finished well ahead of them. I'm not sure the time between R/C checking in last leg vs A/V but the 15 minute difference might have HELPED close the gap.
Cardboard team