“Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something!”
December 30th, 2007
While I took last week off in order to spend some time Christmasing with the family, I did watch as Kynt and Vyxsin were saved by the first non-elimination round in Florence, Italy. Their meltdown was an unfortunate one, struggling to overcome both personal tensions and unfortunate race problems. Their last place finished put them at a severe disadvantage in this leg, as they have to overcome a mandatory Speed Bump where they must complete a task no other team needs to complete.
Now, as you’d expect, bunching means that they will be on the same playing field as their competitors to start off. This means they need to find a way to finagle their way with airport haggling and some strong performance in roadblocks and detours. It means that they need to run a flawless leg, and using performance tactics they might be able to knock a few teams off in the process. And, well…they did a pretty damn good job at it. But, was it enough?
The leg starts as the teams leave Florence, Italy and have some airport times ahead. As the leading three teams jump onto an easy flight, perennial backbenchers T.K. and Rachel and Kynt and Vyxsin fight it out to find flights. The goths are able to find a superior inferior flight, if that makes any sense, and act their way to convincing their competitors to get on a worse one. Unfortunately, or fortunately for T.K. and Rachel, a 6am bunching results in everyone being on the same page.
A brief newspaper search results in Kynt and Vyxsin emerging ahead going into the first task, a solid start to what will be a rough ride.
The Speed Bump
Unfortunately for Kynt and Vyxsin, their cab driver was incapable of finding the location they needed to find. The result is that they get into the Speed Bump in 4th Place. The task itself is quite simple, a series of yoga poses – as Kynt says, it could even be a little relaxing.
The Detour – Paste ‘Em or Thread ‘Em
A choice between pasting a Bollywood poster and placing some flowers on a string is not an easy one: both sound quite confusing and complicated. Except that, unfortunately, the paste part is somewhat complicated. The problem is that the poster requires everything to be even, and even is not an easy task…especially for Ron, who is unable to present an even demeanor. Nick and Donald race through the task quickly through precision, but Ron struggles with his height and his inability to not yell at his daughter.
The flowers seem to be the easier task, but maybe this is just that Rachel has been working as a florist for four years – Jennifer seems to have considerably more problems. The result is that she’s still around when Kynt and Vyxsin arrive at the detour. The result is that we have bickering Ron/Christina and Nathan/Jennifer and the calm demeanor of our dating goths. It provides a sad and unfortunate scenario, where Christina’s logic and the goths’ determination is the only thing keeping me from throwing things.
Did I mention there was a U-Turn ahead? Because, there is. And our top three teams all choose not to yield, which leaves struggling Nate/Jen and Kynt/Vyxsin to see whether or not the Goths will be able to overcome their Speed Bump. The result is a tense showdown which sees the goths reach the U-Turn mat first – and then U-Turn Nicholas and Don for no reason whatsoever. Kynt seems to think they’re behind them because they’re usually slow, which is terrible logic.
The Roadblock – Propane Follies
Essentially, the Roadblock is propane delivery, which means the men are out delivering tanks. The problem is that Nicholas is generally slow (And gets heat stroke), Ronald has a crippling hernia, which leave T.K. to emerge in first place. In the meantime, it’s a battle between the final two teams (Nate/Jen and Kynt/Vyxsin).
Unfortunately, Kynt loses the brakes off of his bikes, and then Jennifer forgets the receipt from her first delivery…and then Kynt leaves his order form behind at his first delivery. And at his second location. The result is that Jennifer has more than enough time to return to the first location and take time to find a taxi that speaks English before Kynt can even complete the task.
The Conclusion
T.K. and Rachel easily finish first, Nicholas and Donald struggle into second, Ronald and Christina make third with ease, and then we have our conclusion. A horribly misleading edit makes Nate and Jennifer appear to be struggling far more than they actually are, as there was no way Kynt could overcome such a monumental mistake. As expected, Nathan and Jennifer make it to fourth place.
The Eliminated Team
Alas, it is Kynt and Vyxsin who simply did not pull up their socks enough to stay in the race. It’s depressing, really, because it was based on two crucial mistakes by Kynt in the episode’s conclusion. It does not dampen, however, Vyxsin’s tearful goodbye which continues to demonstrate her positive demeanor and outlook. It’s a refreshing, if heartbreaking, exit – if they had U-Turned Nate and Jen and avoided that Roadblock mistake, they would have waltzed into the final four. It just goes to show you that heart, ultimately, is not able to make up for race mistakes. Just goes to show you that witch powers can’t overcome a couple of tough, tough mistakes.
Next Week’s Episode
Donald is slow and T.K. and Rachel disappear into the night.
Cultural Learnings 