‘The Amazing Race 26’ finale review: Were Hayley & Blair, Laura & Tyler, and Jenny & Jelani the winners?

Amazing Race -This season of “The Amazing Race” has been competitive, and to be fair, this has also turned out to be a much better season than we imagined it would be. We just didn’t love the idea of the twist.

So did the elimination of the super-likable Mike & Rochelle in fourth place prove that blind dates are better than couples with existing relationships? We’re not going to go that far here, mostly because of the fact that many of the blind dates teams that were cast were far more athletic than the others. Aly & Steve were the only super-athletic team in a relationship, and they just made some bad mistakes on the road.

The episode tonight was at least fun, since we had everything from the Dallas Cowboys to some real-life cowboys to repelling down Reunion Tower. As someone who has lived in Dallas, we did enjoy the opportunity to see some familiar places show up on the leg. It was also pretty competitive for the most part. Mike & Rochelle were actually in the lead at first, but the football task really benefited people with NFL experience.

In the end, though, we had a strong suspicion that Laura & Tyler were going to win this. They were super-likable throughout, extremely athletic, and this is the sort of team that does tend to do very well and win the show. The whole blind-date thing seems to be a bust, but who thought that was actually going to work anyway? Jelani & Jenny finished in second place, and the super-entertaining (and at times terrifying) Hayley & Blair were in third.

Finales of this show are never the most intense or the best episodes of the season, but at least this season had a nice conclusion. Cheers to that. Grade: B.

What do you think about the winner of this season, and the season as a whole right now? Share with a comment, and head over here to see some of what we would like to see on the upcoming 27th season! Also, race over here to get some other TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!