It’s the final showdown in the upcoming finale episode of The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) Season 4! Coming head to head will be the youngest team in TARA history versus the first father-and-daughter team versus the super athletic best friends, Richard and Richard! Smelling victory at hand, the teams have upped the game and kept fans teetering on the edge of their seats, as they race neck to neck and check in at stops within minutes of one another!
With the last leg of the race taking place in Singapore, it is the unlikeliest of teams that have made it to the final three that will fight for the first place in TARA 4.
In the only Fast Forward of the race, the Richards sacrificed their lovely locks by shaving their heads, which gave them a significant head start. While their physical fitness placed them at a solid advantage as they led in the top three for seven legs, the Richards hit a spate of bad luck in the last two legs, where they got terribly lost and even broke a race rule that had them backtrack their route and cost them a near-elimination.
As for Michelle and Claire, the girls showed that their youthful age and pint-size builds were anything but a handicap. The best friends beat the other teams with a lot of grit and determination. No one can forget how the feisty duo swallowed 275 chicken balls, out-eating even the men from the other teams! Besides, they managed to trail close behind the Richards with top three rankings in five legs, even after being yielded by the Indian team Dimple and Sunaina!
Despite having a familial bond that is the envy of many, Natasha and Hussein have been cracking under the pressure, which led to constant bickers that saw them end up at the bottom of the pack in several portions of the race. Natasha’s patience was duly tested by her father's antics during the race, especially during his attempt to cheer her on with his whistle blowing during the log sawing session. As the oldest participant this season, Hussein also had some physical limitations in completing some of the tasks, like the high-wire walk in Galle or the trapeze act in Sydney. Not all’s lost though, for in the penultimate leg, the father-daughter team rise to form to take the lead for the first time!
Throughout the race, there have been some pretty extreme challenges presented to the teams, with some that resulted in unexpected outcomes. The underwater dive in Malaysia for example, saw not one or two but five teams failing to complete the task, which resulted in a four-hour penalty for each team. Transportation woes also saw teams arguing, haggling and at times, flirting with pilots to set off early, while others got lost on the roads so much, it almost became a routine. Add in complex dance numbers, eating of exotic food (think crunchy fat grubs with the consistency of jelly!) and death-defying acts and there is no question that this race has become the ride of a lifetime for all teams.
With very little rest and an even tinier time gap among the three teams, will the Richards do Pinoys proud by finally changing TARA history of strong teams not fulfilling their potential (think Marc & Rovilson, Geoff & Tisha), or can underdogs Natasha and Hussein put aside their generational conflicts to emerge as the winner? Or can Michelle and Claire bank on their home advantage and continue to show that age and size matter not in this race around the world?
All will be revealed in the gripping grand finale of The Amazing Race Asia Season 4 on AXN, 9 December at 8PM (JKT)/ 9PM (SG, MY, PH)/ 10PM (HK)!