Monday, March 11, 2013

Amazing Race - I Love Monkeys!


To catch everyone from last week’s episode: the leg was not ended, no one was eliminated, and teams had to continue to complete the leg.  The first notable thing to mention is that the father and son team decided to continue even with Dave’s injury (that supposedly requires surgery).  There must be a lot of adrenaline pumping through his veins, because not once has he complained about pain.  He keeps hobbling along at a steady pace, with no grimace in sight.  Chuck and Wynona were the last to leave for the continuation of the leg. 
Teams traveled to Bali, Indonesia.  The first flight, which landed at 8:30 consisted of Dave and Conner, Pam and Winnie, Caroline and Jen, and Mark and Katie.  There were two separate groups that arrived at 12:05.  The first of these two groups, the Youtubers and the surfers, switched to a 10:35 arrival time flight.  The rest of the teams (roller derby moms, hockey players, and the Alabama couple) arrived at 12:05. 
They traveled by taxi to their first stop.  Since their cab driver gave them each a flower, Caroline and Jen decide to sing one of their horrifying questionable songs.  They arrived at the Sacred Monkey Forest, where they presente the monkeys with a coconut in hopes that the monkeys would shred the fruit open to reveal the next clue.  With tourists running amuck and Joey’s terrible British accent to distract them, the monkeys are not the fastest at this task, even though they are equipped with humongous sets of canine teeth.  We are told by the country singers that one of them had a flying squirrel that she kept in her bra.  It was said to have died of loneliness, but one would have to disagree.  It probably died of suffocation.  Not sure what a flying squirrel had to do with monkeys.  The hockey players get to the monkeys last because their taxi driver did not know where to go, but still assured them he did.  When they finally received their clue from a monkey, one of them had the audacity to state, “Looks like lipstick.  Maybe the girls left it for us.”  Clearly they did not realize it was a bison tube, or that they are on the Amazing Race, not the Bachelor.
For the detour, teams had to pick “Sandy Bottom” or “Fruity Top.”  In "Sandy Bottom", teams were to clamber down an extremely steep hill to the water.  They had to place a large basket on their head and fill it with sand from the bottom of the river.  Then, they had to go back up the monstrous hill and take the sand to the brick maker.  It took two trips for each team to complete.  In "Fruity Top" teams had to assemble an offering made of fruit to resemble the example.  It was then carried on a woman’s head to the priest for a blessing.
John and Jessica go to the wrong house number and begin recreating some sort of envelope of flowers with a Halls Fruit Breezer in it.  The locals even adorned them in traditional sarongs before they realized that they were not at “fruity top.”  Rule number one in the Amazing Race: always look for red and yellow.
Most teams picked “fruity top”.  While everyone’s counting skills seemed to be up to par, it was rather a challenge to put fruit onto sticks for some.  All in all, the local women got some great entertainment out of it.  The hockey players could only go to “fruity top” because their cab driver shouldn’t quit his day job.  Mona and Beth were the only team to choose “sandy bottom”, until the surfers decided to switch tasks instead of just using their express pass. Not sure what was going through John’s mind.  Jessica asked him to use the express pass, but backed down when he assured her that they would use it if they needed to.
The roadblock was located at Uluwatu Surf Beach and seemed like a simple task.  One team member had to go down to the surf shop to find an image on the surf board that they had seen before.  The correct boards pictured the Tahitian priest who had blessed the teams in Bora Bora.  Teams then joined back up to race to the mat for the pit stop. 
The Youtubers ended up at Padang Padang, the wrong beach, so they ran on foot to Uluwatu on what looked like a fairly busy road.  The Asian girl got lost again, even though there were clearly red and yellow arrows in front of her.  This has to make people wonder if Asians really are bad drivers because they can’t drive or just because they never know where they are going.  Relentless, I hope they have navigation systems of some sort for their personal use at home.  Dave and Conner make it to the pit stop first, landing them the prize of $5,000 each.  Conner had looked at Winnie’s board to figure out which to choose, even though she was trying to conceal it.  Pam and Winnie come in second place, and the newlyweds were third.  Chuck also got lost.  Wynona noted, “Chuck’s lost.  I saw his head.”  And who could miss his head with that curly, blond mullet?  
Caroline decided after her first two tries that she needed to sit down and “just cry for a minute.”  This is something I’m sure her ancestor, Daniel Boone, would not condone.  The country girls came in fourth on their third try.  Joey and Meghan placed on their first try and they helped the roller derby moms by telling them the correct picture.  Mona and Beth came in sixth on their second try but would not give up the answer to non-alliance members, sending Chuck and Wynona back for another guess.  Anthony and Bates placed seventh, and Wynona and Chuck were eighth on their second try.
Darkness began to fall as John and Jessica realized they were the last team to check in, and John had yet to try a single time.  It was too late to use the express pass, but John refused to give up.  John’s first try was incorrect, and he asked Phil to see the other team’s boards.  Phil, of course, refused.  The episode only shows a second try before John guesses correctly, but the team is eliminated with express pass still in possession, a first in Amazing Race history.  The episode ends with Phil saying, “Oy vey,” to the camera.
In the preview for next week, Dave and Conner are jumping onto another mat.  We are to believe that they have decided to continue.  Next week also brings the double u-turn, which seems to affect Mona and Beth, Mark and Katie, Caroline and Jen, or Joey and Meghan.