The Winner’s Circle: Zach & Flo – Winning ‘Amazing Race 3’ with Dead Weight

I had noted before that the second season of The Amazing Race left me feeling a bit bland because I didn't think there were enough memorable teams. Well, that was not a problem at all when it came to the third season of teams. There may have actually been too many memorable teams! Who will ever forget complete opposite brothers Ken & Gerard? There was the nastiness of Aaron & Arianne, the twins Derek & Drew, everyone's favorite couple John Vito & Jill, the competitive and bickering yet loving married couple Teri & Ian, and the team of friends that might date after the race was over – the compassionate Zach and the dramatic Flo. I'm still not sure how they pulled off the win, but let's take a look.

Physically, I don't think Zach & Flo were at that much of a disadvantage as compared to the other teams. They were both in shape, and although they struggled with some of the more physical tasks, most of the other teams did too, so it wasn't much of a problem.

In fact, the only real problem was the way Flo would always throw in the towel because she was ready to quit. Who will ever forget the time she knew that she and Zach were in last place at the moment, so she threw in the towel and then got to the pit stop to find out that it was a non-elimination round? After that, she claimed that she learned her lesson, but managed to "quit" the race about three more times in two legs, including several mini-quits during the final episode when she thought they had no chance of winning. In the end though, Flo mustered up some energy to run to the finish line where shocked fans threw shoes at their television to try and make her trip before she crossed it. Well, maybe that was just me.

When it came to Detours and Roadblocks, that's where Zach showed he was the brains and the leader of the team. He did every Roadblock during the race except for one. Flo sold snails. You heard me correctly – that's the only one she did during the entire race. (Remember that the rule about no player doing more than six Roadblocks did not take effect until the sixth running.) Detours were a problem for this team sometimes. Flo always wanted to do the slower Detour because she was scared of something, while Zach wanted to do the quick and more adventurous one all the time. Well, it was an experience of a lifetime so you might as well live it up, right? Not according to Flo, who always thought her life was in danger. Give me a break!

As far as the Fast Forward was concerned, Zach & Flo did a good job here. After having a pretty bad leg during the race, they decided it was time for them to go for it and catch up with the rest of the pack. I can't fault them for when they went for it or why because they did it at the perfect time. A case could be made that they still would have been safe had they not gone for it, but I don't really think that's true because we all know how luck plays a big part in this race, and Zach & Flo were just covering themselves by going for the Fast Forward when they did.

For the most part, Zach & Flo were nice to the other racers, except when they joined Twin Hunt 2002, but quickly realized that it was going nowhere. Flo got "involved" with one of the twins at one point, but that really didn't have an effect on the way they raced either, except that the two teams occasionally shared information with one another.

In the end though, I'm still not sure I can give a reason as to why they won the race, although I'm sure it was due mostly to Zach. In fact, I feel now that Zach should have gotten three quarters of that prize money – or more – since Flo wanted to quit so many times. Oh well, they won the third TAR and I guess that's all there is to say. I wasn't exactly happy about it, and in a perfect world, either of the other two teams in the final leg with them would have would have won, but Zach wanted to win it all, and he dragged Flo along for the ride.

While Flo and Zach ended up in The Winner’s Circle here at the Reality TV Hall of Fame, Flo also landed in the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and both earned a Hall of Shame Moment:

• Hall of Shame Moment: Zach Unzips While Flo Gives Up
• The Amazing Race 3's Flo: The Queen of Tears and Complaints

Phil Kural is a recent graduate from Temple University, with a degree in journalism. You can reach him at pkural@gmail.com with any feedback that you may have.

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