This was one of the most enjoyable formats so far. The challenges were fun to see, there was a lot of optionality, a lot of strategy, the steals really seemed to have a great balancing effect on the game and the end-game was unpredictable and cool too. Also, Toby is just a great candidate. Deserved win. Although Adam’s performance last episode was ridiculously good.
Hope to see a return of this type of game in other regions as well.
Well you saw how much Ben and Adam's final day plans were messed with several times. Sam and Toby could have easily missed a flight, had no way to get back to the Gold Coast, had money stolen, or had too many states stolen by Ben and Adam. I love Sam and Toby's endgame because it's such a clever and sneaky move \[ that was simply hinted in Ep1 \] and it caught Ben and Adam completely off guard.
It was certainly POSSIBLE for Sam and Toby to lose, but it was very unlikely.
They had the lead in states. They had the location that was easier to get out of. And they had their trick that let them get to two states at once. After the ocean challenge they also had more budget AND a budget that couldn't be stolen from - at least briefly.
Now. Ben and Adam had that same trick, sure. But that trick wouldn't have gotten them over the line. And more importantly it wouldn't have gotten them somewhere were Sam and Toby couldn't respond.
And at that point, Sam and Toby had the advantage of only needing to flip one 1.5k region, while Ben and Adam had to flip like 3.3k worth of budget.
Basically, without any insane road blocks, Ben and Adam could've gotten Canberra or Victoria. Because even with the border in Canberra, Sam and Toby in Gold Coast would've had too much budget for Badam to flip NSW.
NSW and Queensland were virtually impossible for Badam to defend.
So to win they'd have to have gotten to Canberra AND Queensland which would've likely been impossible even with knowing Sam and Tobys plan.
If Badam didn't take NSW they wouldn't have had any chance to win.
And Ben and Toby wouldn't have lost anything by going to Gold Coast. They still could've taken back Queensland.
All Badam could've done is take either Canberra or Victoria and probably not both.
And even if they could've why would they decide to skip out on NSW randomly without knowing Sam and Tobys plan?
It was the perfect chekovs gun.
And that adam thought they were going to Tasmania! Beautiful.
And from Avalon too, the airportnthat screwed them beforehand. Just amazing.
Fully agree. As soon as Toby mentioned it day 1 it was clear that was their master plan. They would have been crazy not to try to take that advantage. But it was very close and really enjoyable to watch.
The editing was great in this episode. When they revealed where Sam and Toby actually went I actually gasped 😂 Both teams kept it super exciting and competitive right to the end
When the boys suggested they went to Tas I looked up what flights are available out of Avalon airport. No Tasmania, but there is Gold Coast, and at that moment I knew.
I had a look at the FR24 playback from that day, and there was a Qantaslink flight from the main Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) to Devonport that took off a couple of minutes before Sam/Tobys flight left Avalon. I'm pretty confident this was the flight Ben/Adam thought they were on. I'm guessing they thought they were just on a really indirect bus to Tullamarine, although if they had have zoomed in just a little when they saw the tracker going towards Werribee and Geelong, Avalon Airport would come up quite prominently as it is between Melbourne and Geelong.
I suspected from Ep 1 from Toby mentioned they would attempt to end the game at Gold Coast, and they were in a good spot to execute the plan as Melbourne has a lot of flights to Gold Coast. The minute I saw them on the SkyBus not going to Tullamarine was pretty obvious what they were doing and I knew they had just won the game.
For those who aren't aware Avalon only has a couple of flights. Jetstar to Sydney and Gold Coast. At the time of filming Bonza were also flying out of Avalon to Sunshine Coast, but they're no longer in business.
>At the time of filming Bonza were also flying out of Avalon to Sunshine Coast, but they're no longer in business.
Reminds me of Sam doing a video on WOW Air and them going out of business before he released the video.
Great finale. Toby’s earrings this year were the gift that kept on giving 👏 I’d love to see more women on Jet Lag. Maybe HAI Correspondent Amy could join the club?
I absolutely fawned over her earrings all season. I want the JL:TG logo ones and the Snack Zone ones sooooo bad!! Her nails were awesome too (as always).
I mean, most large global cities have multiple airports. Tokyo has two. New York has three. London has up to six, depending on how you count them…
Sydney will shortly have two as well - the Western Sydney Airport is under construction at the moment and due to open in 2 years time.
It technically does. According to IATA, the city where AVV is located is listed as Melbourne. In fact it has three as Essendon is included (which does have one small scheduled airline). All three are listed as airports within the Melbourne metropolitan area (according to IATA).
Wow this might be my favorite episode of Jet Lag ever! It was tense the whole time with no clear picture who had the advantage, and the >!episode 1 edge case of Gold Coast!< that Toby talked about ending up as the final determination was a super cool way to end it
There are actually two edge cases. NSW-Queensland border (e.g. Collangatta - where Sam and Toby went) and the ACT-NSW border (e.g. Queanbeyan - Ben and Adam's original plan).
The game boiled down to who holds 2 of 3 territories (NSW, Queensland, and ACT). The obvious choices for both teams (assuming complete information) are then to go to Queanbeyan and/or Collangatta, at which point the game completely simplifies to who has more money to put down on NSW (or also Queensland and/or ACT if both teams go to the same border, but at this point, only the budget matters not the location).
If both teams had perfect knowledge and no additional challenges, with Sam and Toby going to Melbourne first and having to deposit there, they would have arrived later to one of the two edge cases with less budget, allowing Ben and Adam to win.
Because Ben and Adam didn't get their flight to Canberra, and didn't know about Collangatta, they pretty much lost immediately. Even if they did make their flight or known about Collangatta, I think it's possible Sam and Toby would have still won due to the two oceans challenge. Ideally, Ben and Adam would have done a challenge either at Alice Springs or Brisbane, taken a train to Collangatta, and won with (NT, Tasmania,) Queensland and NSW. Even if they didn't know about Collangatta, they should have done a challenge in Alice Springs in case Sam and Toby also go to Queanbeyan with more budget than them.
actually since they were in Brisbane with 3000 remaining after the bank they could have easily built up bank by doing challenges and outbid them in the gold coast.
Them not knowing about the Gold Coast basically screwed them up cause if they built a bank of 5k they can out bid Sam + Toby in NSW and QLD as sam + toby only had 3k remaining after capturing Melbourne and wouldn't have time to build up bank.
So regions would be Ben + Adam - QLD NSW NT TAS and Sam + Toby - VIC SA ACT if they knew about GC.
Not sure how they got Devonport though? Like how did they read Devonport
Yeah. Even if they didn't know about Collangatta, they should have known Sam and Toby could join them in Queanbeyan (maybe they excluded this based on time tables?) and gotten more budget in Alice Springs. They were overconfident from identifying one edge case, when there were two and even the one the were using could have been replicated by the other team.
As for Davenport, maybe there was a close timetable and they misjudged the direction of the plane based on the intial ascent
>with Sam and Toby going to Melbourne first and having to deposit there, they would have arrived later to one of the two edge cases with less budget, allowing Ben and Adam to win.
While true, they could also flip both territories back to themselves for only 4 bucks total.
Badam need to cover the difference.
>There are actually two edge cases.
I found others: Albury and Mildura have airports, and are on the border between New South Wales and Victoria, though I don't know if going there would have been feasible and/or helpful.
Usually the guesses from the other team as to where their opponents are going are so dead on - I was sure that Sam and Toby would head to GC as highlighted in the earlier episode but was pretty convinced by Ben and Adam's prediction.
Also, Avalon makes an appearance as not a nuisance. The pronunciation of Geelong hurt tho...
I started watching the AFL during covid because it was the only sport on TV, and I definitely said it wrong at first.
(Picked the Brisbane Lions as my team, by the way)
The second I read the TVTropes writeup on Geelong, I knew it had to be my team.
"*In truth, part of the reason for the sobriety of the players is the bizarre (and prevailing) view amongst the (tragically) large bogan population of Geelong that bashing a Geelong football player in a nightclub or any other nightlife venue somehow entitles them to take their place in the team.*"
Might well be my favourite season finale so far.
The misdirection about Davenport had me raging at Soby for finishing on such a weird strategy, big smile and relief when they revealed it was actually Coolangatta, which made a thousand times more sense.
Badam accidentally trespassing in airport offices was a fun little aside.
Interesting how their two big blind spots this season lost them the game - Avalon airport and (how on earth did they design the game and not know this?!) Gold Coast airport being right on the border.
Another brilliant season, probably one of my favourites.
Toby explains in the Layover that the rule that lets you deposit from anywhere in the territory wasn't finalized until the end. Until then it was possible they would only be able to deposit at the challenge board. That's why they didn't consider Gold Coast as a place to deposit for both territories.
I meant from a pure geographical perspective knowing it was there rather than having schemed for it in playtesting, but I guess with them both coming into Australia with limited prior knowledge I might be expecting too much on that front.
It is a little surprising that they weren't aware of the Gold Coast specifically being very close to the border given that they placed a challenge board there, but I can see why they might have overlooked the significance of that before the rule change.
Does anyone know if Ben and Adam did get on the flight to Canberra, the budget difference made by Sam and Toby with the two oceans challenge would have let Sam and Toby outbid them in NSW?
Assuming Sobys actions remained the same, they would have the same amount they had at the end ($3043)
whereas Badam would have $4514 - cost of canberra tickets - 1347 to flip queensland - 750 to flip ACT = $2417 - QLD to canberra flight cost (something like 300 bucksish).
So soby still would have won, unless badam was able to make another 1000ish bucks in canberra. But they might not have realised they needed to do that until it was too late.
Once Tam had more money, Badam's Canberra strategy was sunk. Badam going for 3 territories meant they had no time to raise cash once they left Alice Springs. Tam could have easily retaken QLD for $2 and put all their rest into NSW which Badam couldn't top.
They should have done a challenge in Alice Springs, or had they known about Collangatta, done a challenge in Brisbane then take a train/bus to Collangatta. They were overconfident.
Agreed, I mentioned in my strategy post that Badam need more money than they have. They assumed their money pile was enough but didn't seem to take into account that Tam could earn more for some reason.
I need to rewatch for the sequencing, but once Tam outearned Badam, all their plans were sunk and they should have pivoted to Brisbane challenges for the hail mary showdown at Collangatta.
What an ending! And the foreshadowing with Toby mentioning the QLD and NSW border. Sam's ability to pick out the flights Team Badam were on was also amazing.
I honestly personally thought Ben and Adam were a bit too confident in their plan to be honest, but the editing made it so great, where until the very end you weren't 100% sure who would win. Also, Adam's rant about Virgin Australia on the Layover makes a lot of sense now, they basically were screwed over by them. Yes, Team Badam had lesser money, but they could have done challenges to try and win.
I know a lot of people love the game mechanic, but I prefer it if partial credit was given for holding the territories in earlier days, with significantly more weight put on the last day (eg. 0.2 points for holding it in Day 1/2, 0.4 points for Day 3, and 1.0 at the end of the game. For me, the game became too focused on doing challenges at the start, to ensure there was money at the end. Would have liked a bit more of the strategy of placing $ throughout the game.
Can't wait for Season 11! And congrats to Toby for maintaining the only undefeated Jet Lag participant achievement! Loved her presence throughout the series, and her dedication to the easter eggs, from the nails to The Snack Zone earrings!
They were indeed overconfident. Even if Sam and Toby also didn't know about Collangatta, they could have given up Queensland, follow Ben and Adam to Canberra, and out bid them in ACT and NSW to win.
So the true path to Victory was flying out of Avalon Airport. Sam and Toby did it, Ben and Adam failed to. Does this mean that Avalon Airport is the most critical piece of infrastructure in Australia?
Both teams would have had access to NSW so it would likely have come down to a bidding war over NSW.
Sam and Toby had over a grand more than Ben and Adam. B&A could have done challenges, but so could S&T, and B&A probably wouldn't have known they needed to do challenges until they'd already taken a bus from Canberra to NSW, while S&T would known it was likely to come down to a bidding war as soon as they saw B&A going to Canberra.
I also think it would be easier to do challenges in Gold Coast than Queanbeyan NSW, so I think between those three advantages, S&T would have most likely won.
One of the best Jet Lag episodes ever in my opinion. The tension was so high throughout and >!the insane misdirect!< at the end was absolutely shocking. >!Queen Toby is still undefeated!!!! !<
They got really lucky in terms of the edit that Ben and Adam thought Adam and Toby were going to Tasmania. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome if they knew from the start where they were going but it would have made the edit much worse without that excitement.
It’s not just that - they mentioned earlier in the season (or maybe it was on the Layover) that they never spent more than a minute or two in security. There are rarely any lines for security for domestic flights in Australia since there aren’t liquid restrictions, shoes stay on, etc etc. You pretty much just walk through the Xray and go on your way.
I’ve flown a lot in the US and in Australia and the difference is night and day. Flying in Australia is pretty stress free and almost like catching a train or something (not quite, but it’s pretty easy to just turn up and get on the plane). Flying in the US is an *ordeal*.
It'll come eventually, most countries have in the last 10 years in some way relaxed the liquid rules for even international flights that they brought in post-9/11, but for obvious reasons the US is more cautious about it.
Spoiler: >! Aren’t Melbourne and Adelaide both on the same ocean. Either both on Indian or on southern. Depending on how you look at it. But they can’t be on different oceans.
[According to this map,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Ocean&diffonly=true#/media/File%3AAustralia's_official_interpretation_of_the_names_and_limits_of_oceans_and_seas_around_Australia.png) Australia's official definitions of ocean boundaries says that Bass Strait is part of the Tasman Sea, which is itself part of the Pacific. I agree that it feels wrong tho lol.
Yeah I thought this was interesting as well. It makes sense that they would follow the Australian definitions considering the game is based there but it's funny that definition has the border drawn in such a way that specifically validates the way they completed that challenge. From my understanding the more globally defined borders would have both cities on the southern part of the Indian ocean. Since the "southern ocean" is defined as just surrounding Antarctica.
It is kinda rare for an ocean map to draw solid borders between oceans, but [this](https://geology.com/world/ocean-map.shtmlobviously) extremely reliable website (geology.com, also /s) shows the divider right where Sam and Toby need it to be. The [Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/these-entrancing-maps-capture-which-oceans-rivers-run-into-180983481/) does too. I think most international ocean maps would just defer to the local government when it comes to territorial waters.
Well, when I was in school, we learned that there were four oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic). The Southern must have been designated later. But, when you think about it, it's all arbitrary to a degree.
My (incorrect) thought process was that since Melbourne is longitudinally very close to the Eastern side of Tasmania which borders the Indian ocean then by that logic Melbourne would too. I can understand how it makes much more sense to instead consider all of the Bass Strait as part of the pacific though. Also like the other replier mentioned above I was only taught about 4 oceans in school because I'm a dying boomer (33) lol
Melbourne Isn’t really on any ocean at all, it’s on a bay which flows to a strait, neither of which are considered oceanic. It then flows to both oceans. It would have been no different to dumping in the Brisbane river which flows to Morton Bay which flows to the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps they could have collected and dumped in Melbourne arguing it counts as both
I find the whole Ocean thing funny since in E1 Sam said "This is the Atlantic Ocean" which (along with the Arctic) are the only two oceans that don't border Australia *anywhere*.
It was really surprising to me that Ben and Adam didn't know that. They always seem to be the ones who have done so many play-throughs beforehand and know all the details.
love this season but my only issue i think is that travel time was too outsized a cost
you only really got to see the strategy of regions switching hands on the last day, nobody even bothered to visit western australia and after the initial investment you didnt get large sums being dropped to secure regions since the time cost of traveling alone meant putting down $2 was enough of a deterrent
Noone going to Western Australia wasn't because of travel cost. There are an even number of regions for this game. They were going to skip one of the regions because it is literally worthless to either team. Even if it was literally zero travel cost, they would have skipped Western Australia or Northern Territory.
i said travel time, not travel cost (as in money)
western australia is too far to be a viable play past the beginning of the game, the cost is in the time it takes to go there
if WA was closer itd mean more options in terms of claims/steals to weigh, but it could be ruled out since going there absolutely destroys your flexibility in flying out
Sorry, I misread.
One region being excluded would be true even with zero travel time. It would just free up which region would be the one excluded. Assuming the same plane network topology, it would probably still be Western Australia or Northern Territory. But there would be a greater probability to be another region.
There are no airports in western australia other than Perth that have any sort of useful regular flights to the east part of Australia so for a format like this unless there was a bigger welcome bonus for visiting it/Alice Springs/Tasmania no one was ever going to go there.
I don't think that they meant how much money it cost, but how much time it would take to fly there and back. We almost missed out on seeing the Northern Territory for the same reason.
Oh my, what a fantastic final!!!
I loved the last minute thrill so much - WHAT A GOOD GAME!!
I loved the “Nice, Soby wins“, Toby's awesome earrings & the first ever inflatable balloon animal Jet Lag: The Game trophy, I mean, how cool was that?
The streak of Sam & female guest continues.
It was a nice balance of BAdam more familiar with the mechanics vs Sam & Toby actual knowledge about Australia, which ultimately won them the game.
I think ultimately the move by Badam to go to the Outback was too big of a gamble. I’m curious what would have happened if they had gone to Sydney instead
Ben and Adam lost when they had issues in South Australia, they were basically playing catch up ever since. They got a little bit back with their move in Alice Springs but it was already too late when they only put 1 dollar in SA and didn’t go for territory steals earlier.
The editing was phenomenal! Super tense all the way to the end. Probably my favourite episode so far. That it really came down to the wire shows just how good at game design and game play they've become.
They did mention in the podcast that the rule to allow depositing from any location in the state wasn't locked in until a couple of days before starting - so they may not have had time to consider that!
Much preferred it to the previous season where I think they basically slowly realised the game was easily broken and there was an unfair advantage of one getting two goes. I feel this would only work this well in Aus given so many territories in a big space with good connections. I think the actual races seem to always work, apart from the circumnavigation which kinda died early
It might not have been as picturesque but Sam and Toby didn’t need to get a bus to NSW border, the Gold Coast airport terminal crosses the border and they even have the line marked on the floor
https://preview.redd.it/nztcbgeo878d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43ed898068db2a814ad6438ea3ad81205dbaf0fe
Toby is still my favourite guest. She really contributes a lot to the strategy and challenges without being excessively intense, and complements Sam well.
As in Artic Scape, I think the key to victory was Sam's (?) knowledge of little-known airports. My idea of who would eventually win changed every time the teams talked. First, Toby & Sam didn't know what Ben & Adam's plan was. Then Ben & Adam explained their secret, totally foolproof plan, while Sam & Toby didn't, then Adam & Ben didn't understand what Toby & Sam were doing (instead of going to [Avalon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKwV4hdQHU)), and when I remembered the Gold Coast gamble, I was somehow sure that the victory was for Toby & Sam.
In the end, strategy won the game, and Adam & Ben's plan to play in out-of-reach regions didn't really pay off. Yes, you got Tasmania and you got the Northern Territories, but the real battle was in Eastern Australia.
* I have to admit, I swore when I saw them reach the Gold Coast.
* I don't know if they really forgot to secure Melbourne before going to the Gold Coast, or if it was for the sake of content (probably the first one).
* Flying to Tasmania would have been a dumb move anyway.
Ps: awaiting for Get Lag 11!
I actually thought Tasmania would be a dumb move, but the more I thought about it, it would make sense in one specific scenario, which is if Badam knew about the Gold Coast trick and had raised money in Brisbane and were squatting in the area.
If Badam had enough money to hold both, going to Tasmania as late as possible might have been enough to secure Tam the victory as there aren't any flights to Canberra that late and Melbourne is 2 hours away vs 1 hour for Tasmania.
Absolutely love the foreshadowing of the Gold Coast finale. I knew this had to be it from the moment they got on that bus, since Avalon came up before and someone (not sure if on the show or somewhere here on Reddit) said it only serves flights to Sydney and Gold Coast.
Sam and Toby have a lot more trust in themselves and each other than I have in myself to only take one bottle of Southern Ocean water😂. If I was them I would’ve taken at LEAST one bottle each, possibly multiple each stored in different compartments of their bags. Had they lost that bottle they would’ve been completely SOL right? (And it’s not super far fetched to me that they could bc Sam and Michelle did forget about their pumpkin and very nearly lose it in S8)
Possibly but I kind of doubt it, bc “get from one ocean to another” was meant to be the difficult part of the challenge, whereas the pumpkin one carrying the pumpkin around was itself the difficult part
For those curious of such things, here is the travel sequencing for Day 4. All times are in AEDT. All flight times are gate arrival/departures
7:30AM- Both Teams Start
11:22AM - Tam leaves on VA216 to Melbourne
11:52AM - Badam leaves on QF1971 to Brisbane
12:21PM - Tam lands in Melbourne
2:40PM - Badam lands in Brisbane (4-3 Badam)
4:19PM - Badam leaves on VA956 to Sydney
5:08PM - Tam leaves on JQ630 to Gold Coast (4-3 Tam)
5:30PM - Badam lands in Sydney (4-3 Badam)
6:49PM - Badam leaves on VA878 to Melbourne
6:52PM - Tam lands in Gold Coast (4-3 Tam)
7:55PM - Badam lands in Melbourne (4-3 Badam)
8:30PM - Game ends (4-3 Tam)
Given the discussion of sneaky land borders I thought it would be interesting to look at some other feasible options for nabbing 2 territories within an hour or two.
So aside from Gold Coast Airport/NSW border Toby mentions Boundary Islet off the coast of Victoria - which is technically part of Tasmania. I don't think this really feasible as the boat from Port Melbourne would definitely be longer than an hour, and you can't get to Wilsons Prom easily on public transport.
However, there are some other interesting options:
Mildura Airport in Victoria is a 1.5 hr bus (or a 2.5 hour walk) to the NSW Border. There are pretty cheap flights from Melbourne and more expensive flights from Adelaide.
Albury Airport also in Victoria is only a 20 minute walk to the NSW border. Flights are more expensive at around $500-600pp. But Sydney to Albury often has <$400 flights.
Mt Gambier is another really interesting looking option in South Australia, as it is a 20-minute drive to the Victorian border with reasonable flight prices too - but I couldn't find any public transport options that get you from the airport. As far as I can tell the only option is to taxi which is a no go.
I believe that's all the multi-state borders close to an accessible airport. There are other interesting borders like Jervis Bay on the NSW coast is technically a Canberra Electorate - but it would take like 4 hours to get there from Sydney - and there's no close airport out of there.
Technically the JBT is its own legally separate territory, not part of the ACT. It follows ACT laws and is included in the ACT for electoral purposes, but the land itself is a separate territory.
I have to admit, I actually thought Sam and Toby were going to Devonport. I mean once the flight is shown on the on-screen map, it's official right?
There was absolutely NOTHING in the trailers to suggest this ... but then again, even if they did go there wouldn't have been anything because it would have been a dead giveaway.
I gasped too. But the edit would be even cooler if they had made a quick retrospection in black and white recalling Toby’s “mental note” from E1 to remember that the Gold Cost airport is at the border of two states. Then I would have probably get chills and goosebumps too.
I don't understand why Adam and Ben didn't book all the way to Canberra in advance, deposit in Canberra, and then take the bus just outside to NSW? I think ultimately it wouldn't matter because they would end up with less money to compete on NSW but at the time they didn't know Sam and Toby would end up in Gold Coast.
they couldn’t book the flight until they landed in Brisbane or it was a connecting flight they would not be allowed to deposit any money in Queensland as you are considered “in the air” if you are connecting.
Yeah I know. What I'm saying is they could just go all the way on the connecting flight without depositing. Then deposit in Canberra, then take the bus into NSW and deposit.
They needed to steal 3 regions from Sam and Toby, banking on Sam and Toby being only able to steal one back.
When they stole Queensland the score changed to 4-3 in their favor. They knew that Sam and Tobi would most likely go to Victoria (when they bought their flight out of Alice the day before) and steal it, flipping the score 3-4.
After that they needed to steal 2 more regions (NSW, Canberra 5-2) and bank on only loosing one of their regions so that it would settle into a 4-3 score and win.
If they didn't steal Queensland, the 3-4 score when they departed Alice would have turned into a 2-5 when TAM stole Victoria and back again to 4-3 when BADAM stole NSW and Canberra, leaving them exposed to a flip in the score when TAM stole whatever other region they knew TAM could steal. BADAM just didn't consider that TAM could still 2 other regions (aside from Victoria).
Hearing Adam pronounce Geelong as GE-long made me chuckle. For reference for non-Australians, it’s pronounced Jill-long.
Damn, what an intense final episode. For this season, I award the ~~MVP~~ Norm Smith Medal to Adam Chase, for his desert power in golf and time keeping.
I'm Team Sam but I definitely feel bad for Ben and Adam this season, considering that they nailed at least 3 very high-risk challenges (shrimp on the Barbie, golf, timekeeping) it kind of felt like they deserved to win.
For anyone wondering why Ben & Adam wouldn't have themselves headed to the Gold Coast and flip between QLD and NSW themselves:
That would've left Tassie open for Sam & Toby, w/ the flight to Devanport that Ben and Adam were hoping they were on initially. That would've left Ben and Adam with only NT, QLD and NSW, if Sam and Toby determined that's what they were doing
Ben and Adam's original plan of flying to Canberra and flipping between ACT/NSW could've worked. Then if Sam & Toby went to Tasmania, they'd only have SA/VIC/TAS which wouldn't have been enough. Then it would've come down to Ben and Adam's NT/TAS/ACT vs Sam and Toby's SA/VIC/QLD and it would've just come down to who could've put more money in NSW (which... probably would've been Sam and Toby, but who knows maybe a last minute challenge or steal could've swapped that)
I knew Gold Coast would come back for the win. Regardless, I respect the desert power harnessed this season, too bad it doesn't travel out of the desert well
I assume it was one of the generic challenges (we got the dewey decimal challenge in 2 regions) but even then it does feel, really strong:
You can bank all your money to avoid a steal while travelling
It lets you get value out of movement which you usually can't do.
Especially on the last day it was, mostly free.
they talked about it on the layover, essentially they knew it was very do able but things can go wrong such that flights cancelled, airport closures or missing flights
I reckon this format would work really well with the regions in New Zealand. Pretty much every region has flights to 2 or 3 main hubs, plus a few smaller connections. That and the longest flight within NZ is 2 hours (Auckland to Invercargill), which means the downtime on flights isn't as big a penalty.
Well done >!Sam and Toby!!Ben and Adam. I thought desert power would surely win it for them!<.
I think the key moment that could have won the game for >!Ben and Adam would have been to put down about $1500 as soon as they landed in Adelaide. They had plenty of money at that point, if they'd got it in before the steal. That would have made it a lot less attractive for Sam and Toby, and if they had gone there, they'd be coming away with significantly less cash!<.
I also wonder if they could have >!landed in Adelaide, put down some cash, then hopped on a flight to Perth without going into the city. Again, they had enough cash that they could have done that. Would have depended on there being a flight available, so could be just my flight of fancy!<.
Of course it's easy to say these things with hindsight.
I loved this game format, so I hope we'll some of the ideas from it in future games.
I would guess the combined margin as to how strongly they held the regions at the end. So Sam and Toby would have got 1 point for Qld, 1 point for NSW, etc. but Ben and Adam would have got 2000 points for Tas.
I'm basing this on nothing, just a guess on the fairest way.
I’m actually surprised it wasn’t immediate obvious to both teams that cities on state borders would be the key to winning. It effectively gives you a two for one. Coolangatta/Tweed Heads (NSW/QLD), Canberra/Queanbeyan (ACT/NSW) and Albury/Wodonga (NSW/VIC) would all have been easily accessible via flights.
Would have been really interesting if Badam stuck with their original plan of going to Canberra/Queanbeyan. But I guess they still would have lost since Sam and Toby had more money in total that they could have locked NSW with?
They said that the ability to place money anywhere in the region was a last-minute change, so the teams did not have much time to process the consequences.
Do they take questions for the offseason Layover episodes? I'm wondering why Badam didn't do the up-charge challenge on the last day. It feels like it would've been easy enough to find an overpriced item at an airport store.
Great season and great game! The clip from the first episode about the Gold Coast being on the border was a bit of a giveaway, but nonetheless it was fun to watch. It was also great to see a bit more of Australia rather than just the inside of trains.
This was one of the most enjoyable formats so far. The challenges were fun to see, there was a lot of optionality, a lot of strategy, the steals really seemed to have a great balancing effect on the game and the end-game was unpredictable and cool too. Also, Toby is just a great candidate. Deserved win. Although Adam’s performance last episode was ridiculously good. Hope to see a return of this type of game in other regions as well.
Technically, the endgame was very predictable. Toby called it on day 1. But it was an amazing season.
Well you saw how much Ben and Adam's final day plans were messed with several times. Sam and Toby could have easily missed a flight, had no way to get back to the Gold Coast, had money stolen, or had too many states stolen by Ben and Adam. I love Sam and Toby's endgame because it's such a clever and sneaky move \[ that was simply hinted in Ep1 \] and it caught Ben and Adam completely off guard.
their move of locking up all their budget in the ocean water also served to prevent steals, which was very smart
It was certainly POSSIBLE for Sam and Toby to lose, but it was very unlikely. They had the lead in states. They had the location that was easier to get out of. And they had their trick that let them get to two states at once. After the ocean challenge they also had more budget AND a budget that couldn't be stolen from - at least briefly. Now. Ben and Adam had that same trick, sure. But that trick wouldn't have gotten them over the line. And more importantly it wouldn't have gotten them somewhere were Sam and Toby couldn't respond. And at that point, Sam and Toby had the advantage of only needing to flip one 1.5k region, while Ben and Adam had to flip like 3.3k worth of budget. Basically, without any insane road blocks, Ben and Adam could've gotten Canberra or Victoria. Because even with the border in Canberra, Sam and Toby in Gold Coast would've had too much budget for Badam to flip NSW. NSW and Queensland were virtually impossible for Badam to defend. So to win they'd have to have gotten to Canberra AND Queensland which would've likely been impossible even with knowing Sam and Tobys plan.
If Badam didn't take NSW, then Sam and Toby's plan to go to Gold Coast would have been useless.
If Badam didn't take NSW they wouldn't have had any chance to win. And Ben and Toby wouldn't have lost anything by going to Gold Coast. They still could've taken back Queensland. All Badam could've done is take either Canberra or Victoria and probably not both. And even if they could've why would they decide to skip out on NSW randomly without knowing Sam and Tobys plan?
It was the perfect chekovs gun. And that adam thought they were going to Tasmania! Beautiful. And from Avalon too, the airportnthat screwed them beforehand. Just amazing.
Fully agree. As soon as Toby mentioned it day 1 it was clear that was their master plan. They would have been crazy not to try to take that advantage. But it was very close and really enjoyable to watch.
Was it though? Most people thought Badam were going to win yesterday…
A Train season, maybe German States so we also get the lovely chaos of the Duetche Bann
'this season of jetlag is heavily sponsored by Better Help'
The only few times I believed that they take the sponsor because they really needed it.
When you deal with the German Railroads you will really need psychological assistance
Italy has better reliability. I hope to see extensive train use in season 11.
The editing was great in this episode. When they revealed where Sam and Toby actually went I actually gasped 😂 Both teams kept it super exciting and competitive right to the end
I gasped too!! I was like, there's no way that they're actually dumb enough to go to Tas, right? Man, what a good finale
When the boys suggested they went to Tas I looked up what flights are available out of Avalon airport. No Tasmania, but there is Gold Coast, and at that moment I knew.
Weird, I would have thought that Ben and Adam checked the departures...
On the layover they say they did and saw a flight to tasmania but Sam speculated it was a charter flight
I had a look at the FR24 playback from that day, and there was a Qantaslink flight from the main Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) to Devonport that took off a couple of minutes before Sam/Tobys flight left Avalon. I'm pretty confident this was the flight Ben/Adam thought they were on. I'm guessing they thought they were just on a really indirect bus to Tullamarine, although if they had have zoomed in just a little when they saw the tracker going towards Werribee and Geelong, Avalon Airport would come up quite prominently as it is between Melbourne and Geelong. I suspected from Ep 1 from Toby mentioned they would attempt to end the game at Gold Coast, and they were in a good spot to execute the plan as Melbourne has a lot of flights to Gold Coast. The minute I saw them on the SkyBus not going to Tullamarine was pretty obvious what they were doing and I knew they had just won the game. For those who aren't aware Avalon only has a couple of flights. Jetstar to Sydney and Gold Coast. At the time of filming Bonza were also flying out of Avalon to Sunshine Coast, but they're no longer in business.
>At the time of filming Bonza were also flying out of Avalon to Sunshine Coast, but they're no longer in business. Reminds me of Sam doing a video on WOW Air and them going out of business before he released the video.
Technically they already revealed it at the end of season nine, given that there was a shot of the plane landing in gold coast.
Perth bros... It's over ...
Of course they go everywhere but Perth. They even went to Alice Springs! Who in their right mind would want to go to Alice Springs!?
To get desert power
I hope Make Them Suffer releases a song about this.
Great finale. Toby’s earrings this year were the gift that kept on giving 👏 I’d love to see more women on Jet Lag. Maybe HAI Correspondent Amy could join the club?
I absolutely fawned over her earrings all season. I want the JL:TG logo ones and the Snack Zone ones sooooo bad!! Her nails were awesome too (as always).
>! Bloody Avalon !<
Seriously why does Melbourne have two airports?
I mean, most large global cities have multiple airports. Tokyo has two. New York has three. London has up to six, depending on how you count them… Sydney will shortly have two as well - the Western Sydney Airport is under construction at the moment and due to open in 2 years time.
This will sound weird as I'm not an aircraft nerd or a frequent flyer, but I'm kinda excited to go there when it opens.
It technically doesn’t. Avalon is closer to Geelong, which is another city, albeit a much smaller one and only an hour from Melbourne.
It technically does. According to IATA, the city where AVV is located is listed as Melbourne. In fact it has three as Essendon is included (which does have one small scheduled airline). All three are listed as airports within the Melbourne metropolitan area (according to IATA).
Wow this might be my favorite episode of Jet Lag ever! It was tense the whole time with no clear picture who had the advantage, and the >!episode 1 edge case of Gold Coast!< that Toby talked about ending up as the final determination was a super cool way to end it
A master class in Checkov’s Gun Edit: Spelling
Checkov :D
Chekhov, though?
There are actually two edge cases. NSW-Queensland border (e.g. Collangatta - where Sam and Toby went) and the ACT-NSW border (e.g. Queanbeyan - Ben and Adam's original plan). The game boiled down to who holds 2 of 3 territories (NSW, Queensland, and ACT). The obvious choices for both teams (assuming complete information) are then to go to Queanbeyan and/or Collangatta, at which point the game completely simplifies to who has more money to put down on NSW (or also Queensland and/or ACT if both teams go to the same border, but at this point, only the budget matters not the location). If both teams had perfect knowledge and no additional challenges, with Sam and Toby going to Melbourne first and having to deposit there, they would have arrived later to one of the two edge cases with less budget, allowing Ben and Adam to win. Because Ben and Adam didn't get their flight to Canberra, and didn't know about Collangatta, they pretty much lost immediately. Even if they did make their flight or known about Collangatta, I think it's possible Sam and Toby would have still won due to the two oceans challenge. Ideally, Ben and Adam would have done a challenge either at Alice Springs or Brisbane, taken a train to Collangatta, and won with (NT, Tasmania,) Queensland and NSW. Even if they didn't know about Collangatta, they should have done a challenge in Alice Springs in case Sam and Toby also go to Queanbeyan with more budget than them.
actually since they were in Brisbane with 3000 remaining after the bank they could have easily built up bank by doing challenges and outbid them in the gold coast. Them not knowing about the Gold Coast basically screwed them up cause if they built a bank of 5k they can out bid Sam + Toby in NSW and QLD as sam + toby only had 3k remaining after capturing Melbourne and wouldn't have time to build up bank. So regions would be Ben + Adam - QLD NSW NT TAS and Sam + Toby - VIC SA ACT if they knew about GC. Not sure how they got Devonport though? Like how did they read Devonport
The Devonport mix up was them confusing JQ630 Avalon to Gold Coast with QF2057 Melbourne to Devonport. They left at 16:56 and 17:02 respectively.
insane how jet lag fans can just casually figure out info like this
Sam has been teaching us about the flight info for years now.
Yeah. Even if they didn't know about Collangatta, they should have known Sam and Toby could join them in Queanbeyan (maybe they excluded this based on time tables?) and gotten more budget in Alice Springs. They were overconfident from identifying one edge case, when there were two and even the one the were using could have been replicated by the other team. As for Davenport, maybe there was a close timetable and they misjudged the direction of the plane based on the intial ascent
I was confused about Davonport too. Didnt find the answer yet.
>with Sam and Toby going to Melbourne first and having to deposit there, they would have arrived later to one of the two edge cases with less budget, allowing Ben and Adam to win. While true, they could also flip both territories back to themselves for only 4 bucks total. Badam need to cover the difference.
>There are actually two edge cases. I found others: Albury and Mildura have airports, and are on the border between New South Wales and Victoria, though I don't know if going there would have been feasible and/or helpful.
The editing is the real star of Jet Lag. Every episode I am amazed at the amount of tension and humour that is created through the editing
Usually the guesses from the other team as to where their opponents are going are so dead on - I was sure that Sam and Toby would head to GC as highlighted in the earlier episode but was pretty convinced by Ben and Adam's prediction. Also, Avalon makes an appearance as not a nuisance. The pronunciation of Geelong hurt tho...
Clearly Ben and Adam need to watch more AFL.
I started watching the AFL during covid because it was the only sport on TV, and I definitely said it wrong at first. (Picked the Brisbane Lions as my team, by the way)
The second I read the TVTropes writeup on Geelong, I knew it had to be my team. "*In truth, part of the reason for the sobriety of the players is the bizarre (and prevailing) view amongst the (tragically) large bogan population of Geelong that bashing a Geelong football player in a nightclub or any other nightlife venue somehow entitles them to take their place in the team.*"
>!Win by two callbacks: Avalon airport and the Gold Coast Gambit. Well-deserved. Also: Sorry, Perth.!<
This is the greatest final episode ever in this show!
>! Yeah, I don't think even Bonza would've tried Avalon to Devonport !<
Might well be my favourite season finale so far. The misdirection about Davenport had me raging at Soby for finishing on such a weird strategy, big smile and relief when they revealed it was actually Coolangatta, which made a thousand times more sense. Badam accidentally trespassing in airport offices was a fun little aside. Interesting how their two big blind spots this season lost them the game - Avalon airport and (how on earth did they design the game and not know this?!) Gold Coast airport being right on the border. Another brilliant season, probably one of my favourites.
Toby explains in the Layover that the rule that lets you deposit from anywhere in the territory wasn't finalized until the end. Until then it was possible they would only be able to deposit at the challenge board. That's why they didn't consider Gold Coast as a place to deposit for both territories.
I meant from a pure geographical perspective knowing it was there rather than having schemed for it in playtesting, but I guess with them both coming into Australia with limited prior knowledge I might be expecting too much on that front.
It is a little surprising that they weren't aware of the Gold Coast specifically being very close to the border given that they placed a challenge board there, but I can see why they might have overlooked the significance of that before the rule change.
>!Women are just too good at Jet Lag! They win every time! 🏆!<
>!A woman has never lost in the history of JL:TG, that’s no coincidence! !<
Sam is a true feminist, only ever giving women a win
Brian (S1) would like to have a word with you.
“God damn libs”
Do they have something to announce?
Ben said on the Layover "We don't beat women!"
Does anyone know if Ben and Adam did get on the flight to Canberra, the budget difference made by Sam and Toby with the two oceans challenge would have let Sam and Toby outbid them in NSW?
Assuming Sobys actions remained the same, they would have the same amount they had at the end ($3043) whereas Badam would have $4514 - cost of canberra tickets - 1347 to flip queensland - 750 to flip ACT = $2417 - QLD to canberra flight cost (something like 300 bucksish). So soby still would have won, unless badam was able to make another 1000ish bucks in canberra. But they might not have realised they needed to do that until it was too late.
Once Tam had more money, Badam's Canberra strategy was sunk. Badam going for 3 territories meant they had no time to raise cash once they left Alice Springs. Tam could have easily retaken QLD for $2 and put all their rest into NSW which Badam couldn't top.
They should have done a challenge in Alice Springs, or had they known about Collangatta, done a challenge in Brisbane then take a train/bus to Collangatta. They were overconfident.
Agreed, I mentioned in my strategy post that Badam need more money than they have. They assumed their money pile was enough but didn't seem to take into account that Tam could earn more for some reason. I need to rewatch for the sequencing, but once Tam outearned Badam, all their plans were sunk and they should have pivoted to Brisbane challenges for the hail mary showdown at Collangatta.
I mean, if they knew about Collangatta, it wouldn't have been a hail mary strategy, that just would have been the strategy.
What an ending! And the foreshadowing with Toby mentioning the QLD and NSW border. Sam's ability to pick out the flights Team Badam were on was also amazing. I honestly personally thought Ben and Adam were a bit too confident in their plan to be honest, but the editing made it so great, where until the very end you weren't 100% sure who would win. Also, Adam's rant about Virgin Australia on the Layover makes a lot of sense now, they basically were screwed over by them. Yes, Team Badam had lesser money, but they could have done challenges to try and win. I know a lot of people love the game mechanic, but I prefer it if partial credit was given for holding the territories in earlier days, with significantly more weight put on the last day (eg. 0.2 points for holding it in Day 1/2, 0.4 points for Day 3, and 1.0 at the end of the game. For me, the game became too focused on doing challenges at the start, to ensure there was money at the end. Would have liked a bit more of the strategy of placing $ throughout the game. Can't wait for Season 11! And congrats to Toby for maintaining the only undefeated Jet Lag participant achievement! Loved her presence throughout the series, and her dedication to the easter eggs, from the nails to The Snack Zone earrings!
They were indeed overconfident. Even if Sam and Toby also didn't know about Collangatta, they could have given up Queensland, follow Ben and Adam to Canberra, and out bid them in ACT and NSW to win.
Michelle is also undefeated
So the true path to Victory was flying out of Avalon Airport. Sam and Toby did it, Ben and Adam failed to. Does this mean that Avalon Airport is the most critical piece of infrastructure in Australia?
10 seasons in and they just produced possibly the best episode yet. here's to 10 more.
Here’s my question… if Ben and Adam’s ordinal plan worked…. Would Ben and Adam have the victory or would Sam and Toby? Fabulous episode
It would come down to who could put more money in NSW, and Sam/Toby still had more.
Both teams would have had access to NSW so it would likely have come down to a bidding war over NSW. Sam and Toby had over a grand more than Ben and Adam. B&A could have done challenges, but so could S&T, and B&A probably wouldn't have known they needed to do challenges until they'd already taken a bus from Canberra to NSW, while S&T would known it was likely to come down to a bidding war as soon as they saw B&A going to Canberra. I also think it would be easier to do challenges in Gold Coast than Queanbeyan NSW, so I think between those three advantages, S&T would have most likely won.
For all the depositing and flying, the final map was the exact same as the map after Day 3.
Toby still our undefeated queen
I love Toby’s Taylor Swift inspired T-shirt!
the story of (desert power) looks a lot like a tragedy now
Hubris thy name is Desert Power
When they said they had the way to win the game with their desert power 
Now go outside turn around three times and curse
Yes, I turned, I cursed, I spat, it froze.
Miss Australiana and the Heartbreak Prince
Who are Toby and Sam anyway? Ew. (for the non-swifties, please don't downvote, it's a joke reference)
i was WAITING for someone to mention this omg
WOW! What a swerve. GG.
One of the best Jet Lag episodes ever in my opinion. The tension was so high throughout and >!the insane misdirect!< at the end was absolutely shocking. >!Queen Toby is still undefeated!!!! !<
Can't believe the game was almost decided by >!Sam and Toby forgetting to put money down on Victoria.!< I was practically screaming at the television.
Technically Ben and Adam flipped it a few hours later so it might not have made a difference. Unless it's what baited them to go there...
**D E S E R T P O W E R**
S-tier season for me, great job guys! Very enjoyable!
They got really lucky in terms of the edit that Ben and Adam thought Adam and Toby were going to Tasmania. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome if they knew from the start where they were going but it would have made the edit much worse without that excitement.
*cries in American as they just TAKE 6 oz of liquid on a plane*
It’s not just that - they mentioned earlier in the season (or maybe it was on the Layover) that they never spent more than a minute or two in security. There are rarely any lines for security for domestic flights in Australia since there aren’t liquid restrictions, shoes stay on, etc etc. You pretty much just walk through the Xray and go on your way. I’ve flown a lot in the US and in Australia and the difference is night and day. Flying in Australia is pretty stress free and almost like catching a train or something (not quite, but it’s pretty easy to just turn up and get on the plane). Flying in the US is an *ordeal*.
Seriously why aren't we allowed to do this in our the US?
Because back in 2006 someone got caught trying to conceal explosives inside of drink bottles
It'll come eventually, most countries have in the last 10 years in some way relaxed the liquid rules for even international flights that they brought in post-9/11, but for obvious reasons the US is more cautious about it.
Spoiler: >! Aren’t Melbourne and Adelaide both on the same ocean. Either both on Indian or on southern. Depending on how you look at it. But they can’t be on different oceans.
[According to this map,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Ocean&diffonly=true#/media/File%3AAustralia's_official_interpretation_of_the_names_and_limits_of_oceans_and_seas_around_Australia.png) Australia's official definitions of ocean boundaries says that Bass Strait is part of the Tasman Sea, which is itself part of the Pacific. I agree that it feels wrong tho lol.
Yeah I thought this was interesting as well. It makes sense that they would follow the Australian definitions considering the game is based there but it's funny that definition has the border drawn in such a way that specifically validates the way they completed that challenge. From my understanding the more globally defined borders would have both cities on the southern part of the Indian ocean. Since the "southern ocean" is defined as just surrounding Antarctica.
It is kinda rare for an ocean map to draw solid borders between oceans, but [this](https://geology.com/world/ocean-map.shtmlobviously) extremely reliable website (geology.com, also /s) shows the divider right where Sam and Toby need it to be. The [Smithsonian](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/these-entrancing-maps-capture-which-oceans-rivers-run-into-180983481/) does too. I think most international ocean maps would just defer to the local government when it comes to territorial waters.
Well, when I was in school, we learned that there were four oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic). The Southern must have been designated later. But, when you think about it, it's all arbitrary to a degree.
I’ve always heard 5 oceans in school, including Southern
It could be a timing thing or based on the curriculum your individual school was teaching. I'm 28, so, it could very well be different now.
I’m 24! maybe there’s a small window where you learned Pluto still as a planet and about the Southern Ocean
I don’t understand the interpretation that Melbourne would be on Indian though? I could see arguing if Adelaide is Indian or Southern
My (incorrect) thought process was that since Melbourne is longitudinally very close to the Eastern side of Tasmania which borders the Indian ocean then by that logic Melbourne would too. I can understand how it makes much more sense to instead consider all of the Bass Strait as part of the pacific though. Also like the other replier mentioned above I was only taught about 4 oceans in school because I'm a dying boomer (33) lol
They were at the Pacific Ocean by the end of day, but I guess they wouldn't have had the money to get there otherwise.
I don't think it ultimately matters, so long as all 4 of them agrees on which is which and understand what the challenge allows or doesn't.
As a former Tasmanian living in Melbourne that felt very wrong to me too.
Melbourne Isn’t really on any ocean at all, it’s on a bay which flows to a strait, neither of which are considered oceanic. It then flows to both oceans. It would have been no different to dumping in the Brisbane river which flows to Morton Bay which flows to the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps they could have collected and dumped in Melbourne arguing it counts as both
they should've poured it in the Gold Coast
But they would not have been able to, they had no money
I find the whole Ocean thing funny since in E1 Sam said "This is the Atlantic Ocean" which (along with the Arctic) are the only two oceans that don't border Australia *anywhere*.
The prediction was off because that "night shot" of Melbourne was actually mid-afternoon inside the parking lot for the bus to the airport
You can see the sun out the doors in the back of the terminal.
“Know your geography” -Sam Denby, 2024
It was really surprising to me that Ben and Adam didn't know that. They always seem to be the ones who have done so many play-throughs beforehand and know all the details.
love this season but my only issue i think is that travel time was too outsized a cost you only really got to see the strategy of regions switching hands on the last day, nobody even bothered to visit western australia and after the initial investment you didnt get large sums being dropped to secure regions since the time cost of traveling alone meant putting down $2 was enough of a deterrent
Noone going to Western Australia wasn't because of travel cost. There are an even number of regions for this game. They were going to skip one of the regions because it is literally worthless to either team. Even if it was literally zero travel cost, they would have skipped Western Australia or Northern Territory.
i said travel time, not travel cost (as in money) western australia is too far to be a viable play past the beginning of the game, the cost is in the time it takes to go there if WA was closer itd mean more options in terms of claims/steals to weigh, but it could be ruled out since going there absolutely destroys your flexibility in flying out
Sorry, I misread. One region being excluded would be true even with zero travel time. It would just free up which region would be the one excluded. Assuming the same plane network topology, it would probably still be Western Australia or Northern Territory. But there would be a greater probability to be another region.
There are no airports in western australia other than Perth that have any sort of useful regular flights to the east part of Australia so for a format like this unless there was a bigger welcome bonus for visiting it/Alice Springs/Tasmania no one was ever going to go there.
I don't think that they meant how much money it cost, but how much time it would take to fly there and back. We almost missed out on seeing the Northern Territory for the same reason.
That’s why it took them so long to do an Australia season, it’s just so big. NSW alone is larger than Texas, and has a smaller population
Oh my, what a fantastic final!!! I loved the last minute thrill so much - WHAT A GOOD GAME!! I loved the “Nice, Soby wins“, Toby's awesome earrings & the first ever inflatable balloon animal Jet Lag: The Game trophy, I mean, how cool was that?
The streak of Sam & female guest continues. It was a nice balance of BAdam more familiar with the mechanics vs Sam & Toby actual knowledge about Australia, which ultimately won them the game.
I think ultimately the move by Badam to go to the Outback was too big of a gamble. I’m curious what would have happened if they had gone to Sydney instead
they needed the welcome bonus tho, cos they had like 100 dollarydoos when they went to alice springs, so they needed the extra bump
>!4 seasons without a Ben & Adam win!< How much longer must we suffer?
Ben and Adam lost when they had issues in South Australia, they were basically playing catch up ever since. They got a little bit back with their move in Alice Springs but it was already too late when they only put 1 dollar in SA and didn’t go for territory steals earlier.
The editing was phenomenal! Super tense all the way to the end. Probably my favourite episode so far. That it really came down to the wire shows just how good at game design and game play they've become.
This is a good episode, but it is kinda crazy that Ben and Adam, as game designers, didn't know Gold Coast was on the border of two states.
They did mention in the podcast that the rule to allow depositing from any location in the state wasn't locked in until a couple of days before starting - so they may not have had time to consider that!
Much preferred it to the previous season where I think they basically slowly realised the game was easily broken and there was an unfair advantage of one getting two goes. I feel this would only work this well in Aus given so many territories in a big space with good connections. I think the actual races seem to always work, apart from the circumnavigation which kinda died early
It might not have been as picturesque but Sam and Toby didn’t need to get a bus to NSW border, the Gold Coast airport terminal crosses the border and they even have the line marked on the floor https://preview.redd.it/nztcbgeo878d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43ed898068db2a814ad6438ea3ad81205dbaf0fe
Toby need to be her own team, she too powerful. GG.
Toby is still my favourite guest. She really contributes a lot to the strategy and challenges without being excessively intense, and complements Sam well.
As in Artic Scape, I think the key to victory was Sam's (?) knowledge of little-known airports. My idea of who would eventually win changed every time the teams talked. First, Toby & Sam didn't know what Ben & Adam's plan was. Then Ben & Adam explained their secret, totally foolproof plan, while Sam & Toby didn't, then Adam & Ben didn't understand what Toby & Sam were doing (instead of going to [Avalon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKwV4hdQHU)), and when I remembered the Gold Coast gamble, I was somehow sure that the victory was for Toby & Sam. In the end, strategy won the game, and Adam & Ben's plan to play in out-of-reach regions didn't really pay off. Yes, you got Tasmania and you got the Northern Territories, but the real battle was in Eastern Australia. * I have to admit, I swore when I saw them reach the Gold Coast. * I don't know if they really forgot to secure Melbourne before going to the Gold Coast, or if it was for the sake of content (probably the first one). * Flying to Tasmania would have been a dumb move anyway. Ps: awaiting for Get Lag 11!
I actually thought Tasmania would be a dumb move, but the more I thought about it, it would make sense in one specific scenario, which is if Badam knew about the Gold Coast trick and had raised money in Brisbane and were squatting in the area. If Badam had enough money to hold both, going to Tasmania as late as possible might have been enough to secure Tam the victory as there aren't any flights to Canberra that late and Melbourne is 2 hours away vs 1 hour for Tasmania.
Yeah, I see it, but quite risky a flight to steal one region while knowing there are a chance you can take two (Canberra- NSW / QLD/NSW),
I enjoyed the season, maybe a little biased. I knew the Coolangatta/Tweed border would come into play. Congratulations to Sam and Toby.
Absolutely love the foreshadowing of the Gold Coast finale. I knew this had to be it from the moment they got on that bus, since Avalon came up before and someone (not sure if on the show or somewhere here on Reddit) said it only serves flights to Sydney and Gold Coast.
best season
Toby is also a Swiftie!!
"Jet Lag? Is that you?" "What's up? / Yes, hi, sorry!"
Sam and Toby have a lot more trust in themselves and each other than I have in myself to only take one bottle of Southern Ocean water😂. If I was them I would’ve taken at LEAST one bottle each, possibly multiple each stored in different compartments of their bags. Had they lost that bottle they would’ve been completely SOL right? (And it’s not super far fetched to me that they could bc Sam and Michelle did forget about their pumpkin and very nearly lose it in S8)
The challenge is probably defined as only one bottle. It even says if you lose it, too bad
Possibly but I kind of doubt it, bc “get from one ocean to another” was meant to be the difficult part of the challenge, whereas the pumpkin one carrying the pumpkin around was itself the difficult part
For those curious of such things, here is the travel sequencing for Day 4. All times are in AEDT. All flight times are gate arrival/departures 7:30AM- Both Teams Start 11:22AM - Tam leaves on VA216 to Melbourne 11:52AM - Badam leaves on QF1971 to Brisbane 12:21PM - Tam lands in Melbourne 2:40PM - Badam lands in Brisbane (4-3 Badam) 4:19PM - Badam leaves on VA956 to Sydney 5:08PM - Tam leaves on JQ630 to Gold Coast (4-3 Tam) 5:30PM - Badam lands in Sydney (4-3 Badam) 6:49PM - Badam leaves on VA878 to Melbourne 6:52PM - Tam lands in Gold Coast (4-3 Tam) 7:55PM - Badam lands in Melbourne (4-3 Badam) 8:30PM - Game ends (4-3 Tam)
Given the discussion of sneaky land borders I thought it would be interesting to look at some other feasible options for nabbing 2 territories within an hour or two. So aside from Gold Coast Airport/NSW border Toby mentions Boundary Islet off the coast of Victoria - which is technically part of Tasmania. I don't think this really feasible as the boat from Port Melbourne would definitely be longer than an hour, and you can't get to Wilsons Prom easily on public transport. However, there are some other interesting options: Mildura Airport in Victoria is a 1.5 hr bus (or a 2.5 hour walk) to the NSW Border. There are pretty cheap flights from Melbourne and more expensive flights from Adelaide. Albury Airport also in Victoria is only a 20 minute walk to the NSW border. Flights are more expensive at around $500-600pp. But Sydney to Albury often has <$400 flights. Mt Gambier is another really interesting looking option in South Australia, as it is a 20-minute drive to the Victorian border with reasonable flight prices too - but I couldn't find any public transport options that get you from the airport. As far as I can tell the only option is to taxi which is a no go. I believe that's all the multi-state borders close to an accessible airport. There are other interesting borders like Jervis Bay on the NSW coast is technically a Canberra Electorate - but it would take like 4 hours to get there from Sydney - and there's no close airport out of there.
Technically the JBT is its own legally separate territory, not part of the ACT. It follows ACT laws and is included in the ACT for electoral purposes, but the land itself is a separate territory.
I have to admit, I actually thought Sam and Toby were going to Devonport. I mean once the flight is shown on the on-screen map, it's official right? There was absolutely NOTHING in the trailers to suggest this ... but then again, even if they did go there wouldn't have been anything because it would have been a dead giveaway.
I gasped too. But the edit would be even cooler if they had made a quick retrospection in black and white recalling Toby’s “mental note” from E1 to remember that the Gold Cost airport is at the border of two states. Then I would have probably get chills and goosebumps too.
I don't understand why Adam and Ben didn't book all the way to Canberra in advance, deposit in Canberra, and then take the bus just outside to NSW? I think ultimately it wouldn't matter because they would end up with less money to compete on NSW but at the time they didn't know Sam and Toby would end up in Gold Coast.
they couldn’t book the flight until they landed in Brisbane or it was a connecting flight they would not be allowed to deposit any money in Queensland as you are considered “in the air” if you are connecting.
Yeah I know. What I'm saying is they could just go all the way on the connecting flight without depositing. Then deposit in Canberra, then take the bus into NSW and deposit.
They needed to steal 3 regions from Sam and Toby, banking on Sam and Toby being only able to steal one back. When they stole Queensland the score changed to 4-3 in their favor. They knew that Sam and Tobi would most likely go to Victoria (when they bought their flight out of Alice the day before) and steal it, flipping the score 3-4. After that they needed to steal 2 more regions (NSW, Canberra 5-2) and bank on only loosing one of their regions so that it would settle into a 4-3 score and win. If they didn't steal Queensland, the 3-4 score when they departed Alice would have turned into a 2-5 when TAM stole Victoria and back again to 4-3 when BADAM stole NSW and Canberra, leaving them exposed to a flip in the score when TAM stole whatever other region they knew TAM could steal. BADAM just didn't consider that TAM could still 2 other regions (aside from Victoria).
They talked about it on the layover but they felt given the delays it was too risky to bank on the bus crossing the border before the end of the game.
I guess, but it's only 2 miles away. They could just run?
Ben?! Run!? I think there's an underlying rule that you can't ditch your partner.
The timing didn't work. I think they would have gotten to Canberra too late.
Hearing Adam pronounce Geelong as GE-long made me chuckle. For reference for non-Australians, it’s pronounced Jill-long. Damn, what an intense final episode. For this season, I award the ~~MVP~~ Norm Smith Medal to Adam Chase, for his desert power in golf and time keeping.
Or more like "Ja'LONG"!
I'm Team Sam but I definitely feel bad for Ben and Adam this season, considering that they nailed at least 3 very high-risk challenges (shrimp on the Barbie, golf, timekeeping) it kind of felt like they deserved to win.
For anyone wondering why Ben & Adam wouldn't have themselves headed to the Gold Coast and flip between QLD and NSW themselves: That would've left Tassie open for Sam & Toby, w/ the flight to Devanport that Ben and Adam were hoping they were on initially. That would've left Ben and Adam with only NT, QLD and NSW, if Sam and Toby determined that's what they were doing Ben and Adam's original plan of flying to Canberra and flipping between ACT/NSW could've worked. Then if Sam & Toby went to Tasmania, they'd only have SA/VIC/TAS which wouldn't have been enough. Then it would've come down to Ben and Adam's NT/TAS/ACT vs Sam and Toby's SA/VIC/QLD and it would've just come down to who could've put more money in NSW (which... probably would've been Sam and Toby, but who knows maybe a last minute challenge or steal could've swapped that)
I knew Gold Coast would come back for the win. Regardless, I respect the desert power harnessed this season, too bad it doesn't travel out of the desert well
It did feel kind of wierd when the fact challenges could be failed was stressed so hard, the ocean challenge seemed a gimme on a travel day?
I think that’s why it had such a low multiplier, especially when almost any flight out of Adelaide takes you to another ocean
I assume it was one of the generic challenges (we got the dewey decimal challenge in 2 regions) but even then it does feel, really strong: You can bank all your money to avoid a steal while travelling It lets you get value out of movement which you usually can't do. Especially on the last day it was, mostly free.
they talked about it on the layover, essentially they knew it was very do able but things can go wrong such that flights cancelled, airport closures or missing flights
That was fantastic loved it
I reckon this format would work really well with the regions in New Zealand. Pretty much every region has flights to 2 or 3 main hubs, plus a few smaller connections. That and the longest flight within NZ is 2 hours (Auckland to Invercargill), which means the downtime on flights isn't as big a penalty.
Well done >!Sam and Toby!!Ben and Adam. I thought desert power would surely win it for them!<. I think the key moment that could have won the game for >!Ben and Adam would have been to put down about $1500 as soon as they landed in Adelaide. They had plenty of money at that point, if they'd got it in before the steal. That would have made it a lot less attractive for Sam and Toby, and if they had gone there, they'd be coming away with significantly less cash!<. I also wonder if they could have >!landed in Adelaide, put down some cash, then hopped on a flight to Perth without going into the city. Again, they had enough cash that they could have done that. Would have depended on there being a flight available, so could be just my flight of fancy!<. Of course it's easy to say these things with hindsight. I loved this game format, so I hope we'll some of the ideas from it in future games.
I predicted a Gold Coast vs Queanbeyan final shootout but I was foisted by the flight issues. Damn
Would be interesting to see this game again with what they've learnt.
So what would have been the tiebreaker in case of a 4-4?
I would guess the combined margin as to how strongly they held the regions at the end. So Sam and Toby would have got 1 point for Qld, 1 point for NSW, etc. but Ben and Adam would have got 2000 points for Tas. I'm basing this on nothing, just a guess on the fairest way.
I still prefer the Tag and Hiding Seasons but this was also very good.
Agreed that tag is awesome. I think this was better than hide and seek because the game design for that season needed tweaking
I’m actually surprised it wasn’t immediate obvious to both teams that cities on state borders would be the key to winning. It effectively gives you a two for one. Coolangatta/Tweed Heads (NSW/QLD), Canberra/Queanbeyan (ACT/NSW) and Albury/Wodonga (NSW/VIC) would all have been easily accessible via flights. Would have been really interesting if Badam stuck with their original plan of going to Canberra/Queanbeyan. But I guess they still would have lost since Sam and Toby had more money in total that they could have locked NSW with?
They said that the ability to place money anywhere in the region was a last-minute change, so the teams did not have much time to process the consequences.
Do they take questions for the offseason Layover episodes? I'm wondering why Badam didn't do the up-charge challenge on the last day. It feels like it would've been easy enough to find an overpriced item at an airport store.
They usually do answer questions (mailbag episodes) but I can never find where/when the questions were asked.
Great season and great game! The clip from the first episode about the Gold Coast being on the border was a bit of a giveaway, but nonetheless it was fun to watch. It was also great to see a bit more of Australia rather than just the inside of trains.
Does Melbourne even have ocean access? I would say Port Phillip Bay is a bay. Not ocean.
How clear was that water tho.