America’s Toughest Jobs, Episode 10 Commentary – Finale: I Fought the Bull and the Bull Won
Boom Boom Boom
Welcome to the end of America’s Toughest Jobs – a really cool show that sadly got very low viewership. Why shows like this don’t get a chance while Two and a Half Men continues to plug along…well, I’ll never know.
I must admit that this was a really good finale. I like the early review of the past jobs – for those scoring at home, or even if you are alone (thanks for that oldie from Keith Olbermann’s ESPN days) – Crabbing (with Steven almost out), Trucking, Gold prospecting, Monster trucks, Oil Rig, Bull riding (the beginning of Ben’s run of excellence), Bridge maintenance, Logging and Mountain Guiding. In the finale, they revisit three of them and one by one they will fall until there is only one standing to earn the combined paychecks of all the jobs for $298,000. I would imagine $300,000 takes them to a different tax bracket or something.
But first, each of the Final Four has won a new Dodge RAM. We get many pimp shots of the truck. Did you know that Dodge RAM sponsored this show?
RAM
To review – our Final Four…
• Ben the Carpenter. Better known as Dreds. He struggled early on and came on like gangbusters down the stretch having done really well in the last four jobs.
• Sandy the Teacher. She of the Nell speech and the insane behavior. She rocked early, but since an injury in the rodeo ring she has struggled.
• Michaela the Recruiter. She has been consistently good if unspectacular having won both the first and last challenges of the season.
• Steven the Unemployed…I mean, Steven the College Graduate. He has managed to not lose. He made the bottom four or bottom two several times, however, he has done well the last three jobs so perhaps he has some late momentum working.
Personally, I was rooting for Michaela but once I heard the first task I worried for her. First we go back to San Angelo, TX and the Southern Cross Ranch of the Farlows (no, not really, but I needed to recycle that Dallas joke) and this time they must grab a ribbon off the head of a charging bull. For those that know little about rodeo – like me – this is the final task in Stir Crazy between Gene Wilder and the defending champ. That’s right, that’s right, we bad.
Steven is first – and he tries to grab the bull by the neck. Not as popular of an expression, I might add. He is getting his ass kicked by this bull as he gets all Chumbawumba on us and gets knocked down and back up again. Eventually, he is able to get the ribbon after 1:11 have expired. Pretty good effort for the big guy.
Ben is next – He says that he will head butt the bull if he had to. I would like to see that. Anyway, Ben rushes up and…wait, it’s over already and I didn’t even finish my snarky comment. Ben finishes in 12 seconds! Although I am sure we didn’t need the shirtless Ben confessional.
Sandy is third. I am instantly frightened for Michaela as we have already seen the shots of someone being carted off and I know how editing works. Sandy gets right in there with the bull and is actually verbally taunting him. Boom! Sandy is down and is STEPPED ON by the bull. Seriously. A bull stepped on her back. After 36 seconds they stop it and she is getting treated.
Michaela is up. Now, the viewer knows that all she has to do is kill 36 seconds and she moves on, but they were all sequestered and had no idea how the others did. She talks about how boring her job is – really, a recruiter job is boring? Stunning – and says that she was afraid of the bull. She goes right in there and gets taken off balance and is essentially taken down by the bull. It looks like she bounces back up and pukes, but on slow motion she is just wincing in pain. They stop it immediately and Michaela is hurt badly. As Miles the Boss describes, she was focused on the front end of the bull and forgot about the back end. The hind legs went up so high and she got too close that they essentially dropped down on her head and neck. Ouch. That sucked.
In a nice gesture, the others give her flowers as she comes out of the hospital. She will need 6-8 weeks to recover. Sandy tells her that she is “one tough chick.” True. And from Sandy, the highest complement.
They now go to Odessa, TX and a visit to Primatech Paper and an encounter with Sylar. Well, no. Odessa, TX and the oil rig. We learn that the bull not only took out Michaela, but injured Ben’s ribs; Steven’s jaw and that Sandy broke her finger punching the railing in frustration. Hey, she’s Kevin Brown! Yankee fans will get that one.
Bleee, blah, blah, blah bleee, something with a pipe and something about a monkey board, and then a zip line. Seriously, I have no idea what they are talking about. Basically, they have to undo a big pipe and move it. Climb a giant ladder and move the pipe again before zipping to the ground. Slowest time is eliminated.
Ben is first. He continues to rock as he does the whole thing in 3:12 with nothing to mock other than the swinging dreds.
Steven is next and he struggles. He cannot move the pipe properly and falters to a 4:37 time.
Sandy goes last and it is clear that her broken finger is slowing her down. She just can’t move the pipe easily and then struggles up the ladder. It is a testament to her that she only falls short by 13 seconds. I am sad that Temple had to use the catchphrase and say she was not tough enough, because of all the contestants, that is not true of Sandy. To their credit, they didn’t say it to Michaela either. Ben says she was “one tough ass Texan.” Nice to hear that about a Texan and have it actually be true.
Holy Crap – Steven made the Final Two!
Last stop, back in Washington and Awesome Gabe the Boss and logging. The last time, Ben was a master chainsaw man, and Steven was “tenacious setting cables.” Sadly for Steven, it seems that setting cables is not part of the finale.
Ben talks some smack that Steve’s presence in the Finals is an example of how it is better to be lucky than good. Steve says that being in the bottom so often has hardened him and that he “keeps popping up.” That sentence can be dirty – please forgive me.
Anyway, they have to run down a hill crisscrossed with logs, cut down a 100 foot tree with a chainsaw, chop it into sections and use a crane to load the logs on a platform and then race to grab the winning checks.
Here are my real time notes as I watched….
Ben’s ahead and Steven falls. Steven finds a flat area and runs down while Ben walks along the logs. They are tied at the chainsaws. Ben starts, and Steven can’t start his. Ben has his undercut in and Steven is butchering the tree. Ben has a problem with his wedges and Steven is still butchering his tree. Ben gets scolded by the awesome logging team for doing the wedges wrong and all of a sudden his tree goes down. Steven struggles while Ben starts to chop them up. Steven’s goes down seemingly without the wedge stage, meaning that he did it wrong. Ben is loading onto the platform and he is doing a bad job. It looks like the platform may explode. Steven is actually walking! He starts to cut, Ben continues to beat the hell out of the platform when all of a sudden it is on and he is off and running. Ben wins.
Temple congratulates him and sports some incredible helmet hair as he does so. Ben deserved the win; he really stepped up his game after struggling early on. Good for him.
• Ben is now trying to become a monster truck driver and is buying a house with the winnings. Hopefully without a mortgage!
• Steven is now travelling the world as a member of the film industry. Not sure what that really means.
• Sandy is back to teaching and trying to be a basketball coach.
• Michaela quit recruiting and is working with biologists in the Bahamas.
Anyway, NBC…I would like a second season of this show. Please get it done. Thank you.
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