“I Just Hope He Doesn’t Croak on Us”
January 6th, 2007
You know those episodes of the Amazing Race that just are not suspenseful in the least? Well, I’m not going to pretend that this one was anywhere close to interesting in terms of its conclusion. Luckily for us, however, the three teams who were competitive were neck and neck, the tasks were interesting and difficult, and there was still some signs of where the race goes from here. And, well, the Amazing Editors still have “it” when it comes to misleading the viewer.
For all of the details, click below the jump.
We open the episode with some airport scrambling as the teams need to travel from Mumbai to Osaka, Japan. I admittedly missed this portion of the episode, but the end result is TK & Rachel jumping on a flight all alone (And in front)…only to have it be the slower flight. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, the other three teams waltz into the lead without even trying. That’s a poor piece of airport strategy from the team who was leading, anyways, and sets the tone for the rest of the episode.
Once the leading three teams land in Osaka, they find a castle of sorts where Donald continues to slow down, Ron and Christina benefit from being able to speak Japanese, and Nathan and Jennifer continue to alpha male/alpha female their way to strong performances. A highlight is Christina saying “I’m never driving in Japan” followed by an extremely ominous gong. And, well, then we find out first hand why.
Roadblock – Backseat Driver
The complicated streets of Osaka are the subject of much discussion in the taxis, and the gong was because the racers need to drive a taxi through the streets of Osaka. Christina is in trouble after she falls into this one, as she has no sense of direction and isn’t a very good driver. Fortunately, if unfortunately considering her situation, she does read Japanese, so she’d otherwise be great at this task. Jennifer, meanwhile, doesn’t speak the language, but seems capable of operating motor transport. Christina, meanwhile, leaves the keys in the car. It seems dangerous. I’d be terrified.
The good thing is that even as Christina struggles to avoid Austin Powers-ing the car, she speaks the language and can follow the directions and get further directions a little easier. All of the teams end up on one-way streets close to the building, but it is Jennifer who arrives first. The teams arrive in the order they left, and now have to make their way back to their teammates. And no – no sign of TK & Rachel yet. What kind of back alley travel agency did they buy tickets at? Nicholas struggles with completing the task, but considering that the other team is nowhere to be found it really isn’t all that suspenseful.
Detour – Sense of Touch vs. Sense of Smell
As the sun sets while two teams head to the detour, TK & Rachel finally arrive while Nicholas is still lost. Meanwhile, let’s ignore them before their obvious last place finish. The Detour is between either using miniature robots to score soccer goals (Using Cell Phones, it’s ridiculous), or identifying one real flower hidden among thousands of artificial ones amongst a two-story store. It’s like a Pushing Daisies episode all over again, really.
Jennifer thinks that she has the nose of a bloodhound, so they head off to smell it – Ronald and Christina are doing the same, I believe, but it is somewhat more confusing. Nicholas and Donald, meanwhile, don’t know what a real flower is like. Ron and Chris start on the second floor to avoid retracing the steps of their competitors. Nicholas seems at least technically minded, but is a little concerned by the lack of directions outside of a sheet of paper. Donald…hideously uncomfortable with technology.
Ronald says he’s working on more encouragement, which is good, but it isn’t finding the flower any faster. Nicholas scores his goal, which means its the olfactory glands of four individuals versus the ability for a low-tech man to figure out a difficult task. It’s Nathan and Jennifer who finish first, and head to the pit stop to attempt to finally finish in first place. Ronald and Christina, meanwhile, finish shortly after and are the first to jump into a cab thanks to a lack of indecision.
The Results
Yep – Nathan and Jennifer are shot down again. Ronald and Christina are continuing strong, which is always good as they finish in first place heading into the next leg. Nathan and Jennifer’s drive is boiling over, which is extremely dangerous for their future performances. The longer they stay away from #1, the harder they will try to win first again and again. Their bickering is lessening, and they’re fighting through it. Nathan has a cute bumble in the interview, but they still have time ahead of them. Nicholas and Donald, meanwhile, finish in their unfortunate first place and Donald’s age struggles is going to prove more difficult ahead.
And yes, we don’t get to see TK & Rachel struggle to finish tasks while dusk takes over and have to handle the taxi challenge at night. Their interviews are sweet, and they appeared to at least have fun with the final tasks. They seem genuinely happy, which is a definite positive heading forward. All signs point towards their elimination, and…sure enough they are not eliminated from the race at all. They are nearly three hours behind the other teams (Man, it seemed like a whole lot more than three hours, eh?), and bunching might not play a role considering how close they already are to the obvious jump across the Pacific. With a Speed Bump ahead, things will be interesting in the final two legs.
It was a solid edit, though, and I’m glad that they weren’t eliminated in such an anti-climactic fashion.
Cultural Learnings 