Top Shot - Finale

Great Episode!

Warning... spoilers below so if you haven't seen the episode... abort this session now!
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Three great challenges to eliminate three of the final four competitors. My money was on JJ and Iain in the final with Peter falling first, then Chris. The final would be decided by the final competition. Who's strength would it play to?

First one was a series of metal plates that when hit flip over to the competitors side. Shot with the Baretta 92F. Forty shots and sixty seconds. Only thing that matters is who hits the most plates last. So winning requires skill and timing. When the music stopped, Peter didn't have a chair. Called it right.

Second challenge was a really good call. "Horse" where each competitor called challenge. What better way to make the competitors "play your game". Unfortunately JJ missed his own call and the others as well. That put him out. Heck, with enough variables you could probably make a series out of this one contest itself. Missed that call which means I missed the final matchup as well.

The final contest was IMHO a great call as it was a nice collection of everything that lead up to this point. Knives, long bows, pistols and rifles. Great call... gotta perform well all around to win. In the end both were firing at the same 300 yard rifle target with the M-14. First one to hit wins. Iain had the slight advantage as he started loading the magazine first and part of the strategy was how many rounds to you load. He loaded enough and made the first hit.

They also brought back the individual competitors back to watch the finale. Nice touch, and somewhat reversed... the past nine episodes sitting on the bench meant safety and standing meant risk of going home. But now it's reversed. The losers are sitting and the finalists are standing. I applaud the turnabout.

The one Uggh moment in the episode came after Iain's winning shot. Time to celebrate the winner and console the loser... when Adam stuck his face in the shot like a fan jumping into the background of a live news shot even before the competitors could shake hands. Only thing missing was a big foam #1 hand and the mouthing "Hi Mom!". And he looked as silly. Watching the rerun it appears the producers tried to edit that out as much as possible (Adam's extremities are visible at the edge of the screen as Iain shook hands with Chris.) Dude it was their moment, not yours. Everyone else seemed to get that.

The high degree of sportsmanship at the end was a credit to the competitors. Once the emoSurvivorcrap was over, every uttered wish was for success, not failure. That well reflects the attitude of shooting sports in general. Competitors are always willing to help others with whatever is needed... Talk through strategy, lend ammo, magazines, even loaning a gun to shoot.

The next season should be interesting to see what they come up with next. Also I hope for more Tara's next year. I know there are skilled women shooters out there, Guns are a great equalizer, lets see the head to head competition. (I also wonder how many skilled shooters both M & F were disqualified because they weren't sufficiently "photogenic".)

PS. Nice getup there Peter!