(Apologies for being a couple of days late.)

Wow! So. I can say with no hesitation that season 37 of The Amazing Race might just be the best, most enjoyable season since season 25. And I believe season 25 is one of the stronger seasons overall in addition to being the strongest and most complete season of the HD Era.

If you look at my rankings below, I basically have three groupings. I have a top tier season. Then a middle mish-mash group of seasons. And then seasons I would rather forget ever happened lol. Now, take these rankings with a grain of salt as for many of the seasons, I have not watched them more than once. And even the older seasons, I haven’t watched in a long time too. Though I was able to relive some seasons when Pluto aired SD seasons last year.

Still, TAR37 (maybe powered by some recency bias too) slots in right below the gap after the top tier. So I wouldn’t say it is top tier, but it is also better than a lot of the seasons that are jumbled up in the middle.

A lot of people are saying “We are so back!” And in many ways, perhaps that’s true.

I know for sure that TAR37 is the most enjoyable season of 30s. And again, maybe the most enjoyable and complete season since TAR25 which is still the closest the HD Era has gotten to matching any of the SD Era’s competition, fun, drama, and destinations.

The 90-minute episodes are still a work in progress. But this season was able to make the best use of that extra time than either 35 or 36 did. And that is in spite of the Legs still being quite barebones, especially in the beginning.

The show really wasted visits to Osaka and Kyoto with not maximizing their time in two iconic Japanese destinations.

The Legs picked up a bit later on, but still even just one more actual task and even one or two more Route Markers in each Leg would go a long way. Not just to fill the episodes, but also help kick up the competition another notch.

Give teams more opportunities to succeed or fail, get ahead or fall behind. I know budget is still a big concern for the show in 2025.

But, and this will be forever a critique, if The Amazing Race Australia can do more with less, why can’t TARUS? I mean, they are able to pay celebrities (however loose you might think they use the term) to Race AND still have very full Legs. Including tasks that don’t even make it into the episode because they’re already as full as can be without going to two hours.

So again, if TARAu can do it, there’s no reason TARUS can’t.

Nevertheless, many of the tasks we did get were pretty good overall.

The first Bali Leg (4) was really great. The two Bulgaria Legs and the Naples Leg too. And the Final Legs, save for the finale, were solid as well.

But the show can still do more.

That said, even with the barebones Legs, the episodes were still fun and enjoyable. And that was very much thanks to the teams. The teams this season were dynamic and competitive. And they proved that you can be nice and friendly to each other while still Race hard and be competitive. No need to hold each other’s hands every other second. And that is very refreshing to see.

It’s sad that being nice AND competitive is so rare these days on TAR that we have to mention it. But that’s the reality. And TAR37 showed that the contemporary Race isn’t too far gone from the format’s basic qualities that made it so amazing over 25 years.

However, please Bertram and Co., don’t use this as justification for the barebones Legs! You won’t be able to find the perfect cast every season! lol So just one more task each Leg, please? Lol

Now for the new twists this season. First, the “twist every Leg” idea was fine. It’s good that at season 37, there are enough twists to trot out to fill each Leg. The two bigger ones though are of course the Driver’s Seat and a tweaked U-Turn Vote.

First to the U-Turn Vote, I still don’t think they need to do this roundtable/public vote. Yes, they had some nice drama this season. But there’s also drama to be had when teams have no idea. So I’m not against a U-Turn Vote (until an alliance abuses it lolol), but I would prefer just voting in private.

Then for the completely new twist, the Driver’s Seat. I think it was alright. It’s certainly far better than any of the lame and/or horrible things TAR Canada has come up with. And it provided just enough drama to carry through that Leg and the next one. It will have to depend on the kind of task though and also its placement in the Leg. It can’t be positioned in a way that will doom the team with the biggest handicap from the decision. So just like the U-Turn, it needs to be early in the Leg. And also provide each team an equal chance to reach it first. Have one task and then the Driver’s Seat. And then two more tasks after.

The good news was this was probably the best implementation of the Head to Head on TARUS ever. Good challenge and placed in the right spot in the Leg.

It was also great to have the return of the Non-Elimination Leg after seasons of the show trying to have them by different names. Hopefully this means they’re back permanently and no more of this false touting of “No mOrE NoN-eLiMiNaTiOn LeGs!!!11!”

It was a great surprise when it popped up in the Naples Leg, though I kinda had an inkling considering Phil specifically mentioned a twist at the start of the Leg and there was no twist yet with only a few minutes left in the episode lol

I think one change that TARUS needs to make is to stop announcing twists coming up on the Leg. Like, especially at the start of the Leg. No warning of teams of U-Turns or something in that first clue. Just let teams encounter the things when they get to them. Surprise them. Catch them off guard. Things like that.

Overall, this has been a pleasant surprise of a season. My expectations were low after meh seasons the last few years, even before COVID. But even so, this season was enjoyable and fun and exciting. And at this point in TAR’s history, that is a big accomplishment.

Team Thoughts

Again, I think this season’s strength was its teams. Maybe one of the best top-down casts of TAR… ever!

When first boot teams Jackye & Lauren and Mark & Larry leave a bigger impact and have more memorable personalities than some Final Leg teams in other seasons, then that is a good sign. Both of these teams left great impressions and I would’ve loved to have seen them Race more.

Then you had Ernest & Bridget who were also a promising team. Courtney & Jasmin as well who had a fascinating final Leg.

Then of course the drama with Bernie & Carrigain. Reminded me of the iconic (lol) Luz & Chen from the real TARPH2 hehe But with a happier ending I guess.

Scott & Lori were on track to becoming the biggest contenders until the U-Turn derailed that. It would’ve been very interesting to see them go toe-to-toe with the other teams that emerged as front-runners.

Pops & Jeff were a great team as well. Awesome to have a father-son team like them. Unlike certain other father-son teams *cough* lol

Nick & Mike were a very likeable team. It’s too bad they had such bad luck. But it was also refreshing to see a pair of bros that didn’t just steamroll the competition.

Melinda & Erika were a big surprise. And it was so great to watch them do well for eight Legs.

Alyssa & Josiah were another surprise. They started off quiet, somewhat boring. But their great personalities really came out and shined as their Racing got even stronger as well.

Brett & Mark are also similar. A rough Leg 2, but they picked themselves up and had a consistent and positive momentum that yielded some good wins.

Carson & Jack were an early force and emerged as the biggest contenders early on. They stumbled a bit, but recovered well. Which was not a surprise considering how well they had Raced from the start. It was a well-deserved win for them.

And finally, my two All-Star teams from this season.

First, Jonathan & Ana were a great team to watch. They are the kind of team we don’t see enough of on TAR anymore. Some people might not like them. But they are absolutely needed on TAR. Especially in contemporary TAR. Great Racers. Sometimes bickering couple. Sometimes sweet couple. Competitive. A good combination! Whatever their issues or otherwise, that’s for them to deal with on their own without the crazy fans diagnosing them online. As Racers and characters, they were great.

And then Han & Holden. I honestly would not have expected them to make it to the end. But they found ways to keep themselves in the thick of it . Able to make up time when they needed. Stepped up when they needed. Never gave up. And it resulted in great success for them. Fun, interesting personalities. A real joy to watch them and it would’ve been so great to see them win in the end.

And overall, I like all the teams of this season! I can’t say that for many, if any other seasons. But they really did elevate this season and help make it even better than it already was.

To be honest, every season, I just add on to these lists. But I haven’t truly gone back and taken a good long look at whether or not these rankings are still valid for me. Especially when I haven’t watched most of these seasons in years. Some even 10 years ago. So my rankings here now are pretty loose, though as close as I will ever get to my overall thoughts of them.