The Amazing Race 16 Finale

Amazing Race teams depart China for the good old USA, specifically San Francisco, CA. All teams meet up at the airport, where brothers Dan & Jordan who are in last place (4 hours behind the toher racers), decide putting a backpack on the floor in front of a napping Cord secures them a place in line at the ticket counter ahead of the cowboys. Then, once on the plane Dan & Jordan are allowed to go sit in first class, which a lot of people thought is against the rules. I believe the rules state that racers cannot PURCHASE first class tickets; they don't say anything about getting a free upgrade.

When racers arrive in San Francisco, race teams have to make their way to Battery Godfrey, a small park near the Golden Gate Bridge where they will find their next clue.

Amazing Race Clue Riddle

Because of the upgraded seats in the front of the plane, brothers Dan & Jordan are the first off the plane and the first to find a taxi. Their taxi driver easily finds Battery Godfrey where the brothers read the next race clue which is a riddle, "I was built in 1933. I'm 210' tall. My insides are lined with murals painted by 26 different artists. What am I? When you know, go to me to and search for your next clue." The answer is Coit Tower which is located on the top of Telegraph Hill. Dan & Jordan chase down a local bike rider asking for help in solving the riddle; turns out bike riders are pretty smart.

Caite & Brent must feel like they are back in a foreign country with a taxi driver who doesn't seem to know his way around and Brent is not real sure about his English speaking skills. Brent decides to have the taxi driver stop so he can look at a map he has spotted on the side of the road. While Brent is reading the roadside map, the cowboys pass them up on the road. After reading the clue, Jet & Cord realize a guidebook about San Francisco that they picked up in Shanghai had the answer to the riddle and their taxi driver knows exactly where Coit Tower is.

Amazing Race Roadblock: Climb Coit Tower

Using a mechanical ascender, race teams must now scale the outside of Coit Tower to reach their next clue dangling from the top of the towers' archways. Jet & Cord catch up to the brothers just as Dan is about to reach the clue. Brent & Caite are just finding the clue at Battery Godfrey as Cord starts his climb up the tower wall.

Amazing Race Clues: Find the Yoda Fountain and Navigate a Virtual World

The Yoda Fountain is located in front of Lucas Film, home to special effects company Industrial Light and Magic. After reading the clue that tells teams to Navigate a Virtual World, race teams will be escorted by Darth Vader and Strom Troopers into Industrial Light and Magic where one team member will don a motion capture suit and enter the sound stage. The second team member will be the director telling their teammate where to go inside a virtual world that will lead them to their next clue.

Dan decides to be the director leaving Jordan to be the searcher. Dan can only see what Jordan sees - virtually. Jordan is can only see a big empty room, so when Dan says to Jordan, "Go to the blue start ring," Jordan has no idea which way to go, but Dan quickly figures out how this virtual world works. Meanwhile, Jet & Cord have entered the virtual world. When Cord walks into the director's room, he hears Dan giving instructions to Jordan and decides to begin giving his own false directions while waiting for Jet to suit up to try to trip up Dan. Cord is saying crazy things like, "Hop and skip, then crawl to your right; now do a ballet move and spin around." If he hears Dan say, "Go," then Cord says, "No, stop." Cord's ploy to slow down the brothers is working as Dan is getting frustrated listening to Cord instead of concentrating on his task. Jordan completes level one as Jet enters the virtual world. Jordan finds the goal marker and Dan sees a clue racing around Jordan in the virtual world but it is too fast to read. (Back at Coit Tower, Brent is just now retrieving his next clue.) Dan figures out that if Jordan spins, the words on his screen slow down enough for him to read, but there are a lot of words to copy down. As Jordan begins spinning, Jet meets up with him and needs to pass through the space that Jordan is occupying. He cannot go around him because that would take him off the path in the virtual world and cause his team to have to start over. Jet has no (apparent) choice but to wait for Jordan to leave that space. (This seems like bad planning on the Amazing race executive/game planners part. Jet should have been able to reach his goal without coming into contact with another team.) Once Dan deciphers the clue, Jordan leaves the virtual word and the brothers begin the search for the next clue box located in the Tonga Room. When Jet reaches the goal, both Jet & Cord apparently forget that Jordan was spinning in circles for a reason when he was holding them up earlier. Meanwhile, Brent & Caite have entered the virtual world with Caite being the searcher while Brent directs her. Brent & Caite catch up to Jet & Cord while Cord is trying to figure out how to slow down the spinning clue, but for some reason Caite is able to finish without having to occupy the same space as Jet.

Amazing Race Clue: Find the Tonga Room

When race teams finds the Tonga Room they must find a trunk and carry it to their next destination. The trunks have a sticker on the top reading, "The Great American Music Hall." (And might I add on a side note, the musicians that were playing in the Tonga Room were awful!) Dan & Jordan stop at a hotel to ask for directions. Having finished the virtual challenge at almost the same time, Jet & Cord and Brent & Caite get in their taxis and take off for the Tonga Room; that is until Caite realizes they left their belongings behind and have to go back for them. Jet & Cord ask a taxi driver how to find The Great American Music Hall.

Amazing Racers in Order at The Great American Music Hall

In the 1960s, San Francisco was the heart of the psychedelic music scene with rock shows in concert halls like The Great American Music Hall. Inside the trunks the teams have been carrying are psychedelic fliers of 8 Amazing Racers that have been eliminated and 3 non-elimination posters. Teams must put the posters in the order they occurred during the race in order to receive their final race clue.

Dan & Jordan, being big fans of the Amazing Race, expected a challenge similar to this at the end so they have been taking meticulous notes during their race journey. My question is this - Was Jordan getting the answers from the notes he had taken (it looks like he is reading a piece of paper he has in his hand as he is calling out the names of racers to find) and is this really allowed according to Amazing Race rules? They get the order right on the first try and receive the next clue that reads, "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, to find the finish line, jump over to ______." How easy a final clue can you get??

Amazing Race Finish Line at Candlestick Park

Amazing racers easily figure out the final clue is telling them to go to Candlestick Park where the San Francisco 49ers play football. Editing is showing the brothers having trouble finding a taxi making them in a close race to the finish against the cowboys. But that was just editing, Dan & Jordan are the official winners of the Amazing Race 16.

Amazing Race Final Order of Finish

1. Official winners - Dan & Jordan, Brothers
2. Jett & Cord, Cowboy Brothers
3. Caite & Brent, Dating Models
4. Louie & Michael (Detectives)
5. Carol & Brandy (Dating Couple)
6. Steve & Allie (Father & Daughter)
7. Jordan & Jeff (Newly Dating)
8. Joe & Heidi (Married Couple)
9. Monique & Shawne (Mom Attorneys)
10. Jody & Shannon (Grandmother & Granddaughter)
11. Dan & Adrian (High School Sweethearts)

So were the brothers Dan & Jordan cheaters in this final leg of the Amazing Race by cutting in line, getting upgraded to first class or by using notes to complete the final challenge? I believe the upgrade to first class is what won the race for Dan & Jordan. What's your opinion?

The Amazing Race 16 finale aired Sunday, May 9 on CBS.

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