# The Amazing Race 17 Finale 12/12 \[SPOILERS!\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918 "2010-12-12T21:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/61 "2010-12-13T14:47:55Z")
> [@zut](#): > > I don’t think everyone would or should know who Sancho Panza is, but I am surprised that _none_ of the six remaining contestants knew. There are thousands of classic books out there, yes, but I’ve always thought of _Don Quixote_ as one of the giants, like _The Odyssey_, where the average person is more apt to be familiar with characters and details of the story than they would be for other books. Everyone knows Don Quixote attacking a windmill. I had forgotten he even had a little sidekick until it was mentioned during the show last night. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/62 "2010-12-13T14:48:18Z")
So we can now add another guideline to The Amazing Guidelines: Do your best to pick a taxi where the driver has an Internet-connected smart phone that the driver will let you use. (Woe to the next team to make sure the driver has a smart phone, only to find out 10 minutes into the ride that the driver won’t let them use it.) The Race would be much more Amazing if every leg had at least one critical clue that was, well, a clue. And none of this “fly to the city hinted at by THIS photo / trivia / etc.” A critical clue has to be after any early-leg bunching point and before any first-come first-win task. That way figuring out the clue becomes a major part of the Race. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/63 "2010-12-13T14:48:24Z")
Was there some requirement I missed where Jill & Thomas had to stick with the cab they originally picked? Why couldn’t they just dump the guy and find another cabbie? > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > This happens pretty much every time a reality show throws in a real world clue. There are howls and shrieks about “How could nobody know this? Are they all _ **uneducated** _ fools?” [swoon for effect] > > I think I even made a thread complaining about it (and challenging the notion that whatever was expected to be common knowledge wasn’t), but damned if I can find it now. Damn straight. I’m waiting for the season where a clue refers to Ohm’s Law so I can poo-poo all the cultural snobs who don’t instantly respond V=IR. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/64 "2010-12-13T14:49:23Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Yeah, I was an English major in college and I didn’t know it. I’ve read a lot of books and “Don Quixote” wasn’t one of them. I know the basics of the story, but don’t know most of the character names. And Nat and Kat were med-students. Which generally means, you know, lots of science and math at the undergraduate level. Even if their university had a lit class as a required gen-ed, what are the chances that Don Quixote, which is, amongst other things, incredibly long and not originally written in English, was on the reading list? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/65 "2010-12-13T14:51:53Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Okay, so I _might_ have gotten Sancho Panza without having to look it up, although I probably would have wanted to check my work and make sure. And I got the Seven Year Itch reference immediately. But WTF was the middle clue about? Pretty much the same for me. I new Don Quixote immediately, but at first I thought they were asking for the year the movie was made. And I had no idea about the middle clue. I was expecting Nat & Kat to finally own up to what many of the viewers have been speculating all season, but maybe they really are just “sisters” and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/66 "2010-12-13T15:37:22Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Damn straight. I’m waiting for the season where a clue refers to Ohm’s Law so I can poo-poo all the cultural snobs who don’t instantly respond V=IR. Ha! Maybe it’s Kirchoff’s reformulation! J=_σ_ E where _ **J** _ is the current density at a given location in a resistive material, _ **E** _ is the electric field at that location, and _σ_ is a material dependent parameter called the conductivity. M y team of physicists will pass your team of electronic engineers!😛 (Thanks, Wiki.) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/67 "2010-12-13T15:52:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Apparently, the Symphony in the Glen performs at Griffith Park. From what the docs were saying, there is more than one site for Quixote Studios, and the one they wanted was Stage 7 at the Griffith Park facility. Yeah, which makes that fact that none of them knew the Quixote clue a moot point, because they would still have to find out the Griffith Park clue. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > Was there some requirement I missed where Jill & Thomas had to stick with the cab they originally picked? Why couldn’t they just dump the guy and find another cabbie? I think the problem was that for a while they were on the highway, and then in some crappy neighborhood. I kinda wanted to see how they eventually figured the clue out. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/68 "2010-12-13T16:28:25Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Yeah, I was an English major in college and I didn’t know it. I’ve read a lot of books and “Don Quixote” wasn’t one of them. I know the basics of the story, but don’t know most of the character names. I was a Computer Science major in college and I did know it (and have never read the book). I think we could start an interesting thread (actually, I’m pretty sure it’s been done already) on cultural literacy - - what are the cultural references any reasonably civilized person in the western world should get. and back to the Race…uninteresting leg; rooting for Brooke & Claire, but happy for Nat & Kat; and Yay! cowboys. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/69 "2010-12-13T16:46:08Z")
I have seen every season of the Amazing Race and I have to say this season was by far my least favorite. Glad Nat and Kat won but honestly I cared almost not at all. Never have I seen a season where I just did not care for any of the teams…at all. A few I was glad to see go. Team Glee Club got on my nerves fast despite seeming a likable pair but the spontaneous singing was just too weird…no matter how well they sing. I felt bad for the woman (forget her name) in Team Tatoopid. I grew to like her some but she was saddled with her miserable boyfriend. Somehow Brooke didn’t grate as much as I suspected at the beginning of the season, Claire was sadly overshadowed by her but Claire kept plugging along admirably. This was also the least interesting finale I have ever seen. The penultimate episode was blah because team Tatoopid was out before it started. The final…meh. Never felt like it was ever much in doubt. Hope next season is better. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/70 "2010-12-13T17:47:01Z")
It was nice to have a race finale without any teams I hated and two that I actively liked. Good to see Nat & Kat win, although I would have been happy with Brook & Claire too. I thought maybe Sancho Panza was from Don Quixote, but I also thought that maybe he was a Mexcian war hero, so I would have had to check the internet also. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/71 "2010-12-13T17:55:06Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I thought maybe Sancho Panza was from Don Quixote, but I also thought that maybe he was a Mexcian war hero, so I would have had to check the internet also. You’re thinking of Pancho Villa. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/72 "2010-12-13T17:58:14Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You’re thinking of Pancho Villa. No, that’s the Mexican restaurant chain, right? Actually you’re right, I probably was. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/73 "2010-12-13T18:19:37Z")
LA is not a great “wave down a taxi” city (and I’d assume Pasadena wouldn’t be better) so I’m not surprised they’d stick with a cab longer than would be prudent. That said, the whole time they’re in the cab asking to use his phone, does dispatch have the internet, blah blah blah the cab is going somewhere. What I want to know is, absent any idea where they were going at that point, where exactly was he headed? Also, no need to beg for internet. Just find a Starbucks and pay a “screenwriter” wasting his day away there to let you use his computer. Finally, Bob Eubanks is old. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/74 "2010-12-13T18:24:04Z")
Nat, Kat, Brooke and Claire were all on a morning show I caught a bit of today. Brooke mentioned that while she and Claire were invited to be a team on next seasons TAR, they had to decline because Claire is pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyMarine2092](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JerseyMarine2092](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyMarine2092)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/75 "2010-12-13T18:40:03Z")
I was utterly bored by this finale. Normally there’s a team I either really want to see win in the final 3, or one I despise enough to see lose. I think I would have preferred Claire and Brooke, but I just couldn’t find myself actively rooting for any team. Nat & Kat have given me the closeted lesbian vibe for a couple weeks now too. I’m excited to see Jet and Chord again next season. They’re definitely one of my favorite teams ever. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/76 "2010-12-13T18:49:50Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Nope. I thought the same thing, until one referred to the other as “like a sister” in the post-race interview. That’s not a phrase anyone uses about their lover, no matter how closeted. That comment really did put a bit of an odd spin on their relationship to me as well. Their body language often spoke to me like they were more than just two good friends, but maybe they are just more touchy-feely than most. Either way, they are obviously intelligent and capable Racers, and deserved to win based on their overall performance. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/77 "2010-12-13T18:55:53Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Also, no need to beg for internet. Just find a Starbucks and pay a “screenwriter” wasting his day away there to let you use his computer. Yeah, I couldn’t believe they didn’t think of going to a Starbucks and finding someone with a laptop or iPhone. Race fatigue, I guess. Plus, there seemed to be a lot of cabs hanging around in the parking lot of the Rose Bowl. That seemed particularly odd. Wondering if the producers arranged for 6 cabs (or so) to wait in the lot because I’m sure “hailing” a cab at the Rose Bowl is not easy without a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/78 "2010-12-13T19:15:53Z")
I don’t think Nat and Kat are a couple. I thought they might be at first but now I believe they are just very close friends that happen to be affectionate people. Congrats to them! Also I now have a huge crush on Brooke. That schtick never gets old with me. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/79 "2010-12-13T19:25:24Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Yeah, I couldn’t believe they didn’t think of going to a Starbucks and finding someone with a laptop or iPhone. Race fatigue, I guess. > > Plus, there seemed to be a lot of cabs hanging around in the parking lot of the Rose Bowl. That seemed particularly odd. Wondering if the producers arranged for 6 cabs (or so) to wait in the lot because I’m sure “hailing” a cab at the Rose Bowl is not easy without a cell phone. The producers should provide cars/drivers to the racers on the final leg. The drivers are instructed to obey all traffic laws and only go where the racers tell them. No cell phones etc. In this case, even if a team had figured out the clues, they still would have to go to a Starbucks (or Library or similar) and get directions themselves. Heck my local McDonalds has Wifi now and there are people in there w/computers. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918/80 "2010-12-13T21:44:23Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Also I now have a huge crush on Brooke. That schtick never gets old with me. That schtick got old with me by the second episode. I was rooting for the docs, against Brook & Claire (although Claire seemed cool). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-17-finale-12-12-spoilers/563918.md?page=5)