They came up with plans to prevent suicide and tackle climate change. Then on Day 4 of the reality TV challenge came a final twist. They took on the final obstacle: the reality of death.
“At the end of the show, we are all going to die,” said Paul Lamere, who competed in the competition with a wife and nine-year-old daughter.
On the first episode of Season 2, he was asked to explain what he wanted his life to look like. Now as he approaches the end of his battle with cancer, Lamere said the real question was this: “What do I want now, five minutes later, when this is over?”
“I was thinking about that,” he said, after watching the final four contestants come to terms with their mortality. “They were thinking of their families and their loved ones. They were thinking about what they wanted to say to their family members and to their loved ones — that they loved them unconditionally and would help them to get through this — and that it’s going to be OK.”
A handful of contestants on the latest season of “The Amazing Race” faced the reality of death, and their stories — and the show itself — provide a rare glimpse into the most unusual and enduring reality TV competition.
That is why a pair of veteran race show producers and a social commentator were on hand to capture the story of the final four.
“The Amazing Race” is the longest running reality television competition in the world, with 21 seasons running since its first episode aired in 2000. The show features four teams of four who race around the world through various challenges. Each season is broadcast on the Fox network on Mondays.
It’s never the first choice of race show producers, who typically use reality TV shows for testing the competition and seeing where the viewership is, said David Zlotnik, the show’