Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Couch Trip
By M. Giant | Season 18 | Episode 8 | Aired on 04.17.2011
Justin and Zev are getting tired, and the Cowboys are closing in on them. Gary and Mallory are not, however, bickering with each other instead. At the University, Zev and Justin get directions sending them upstairs, which is a fun carry. The Cowboys arrive outside, and thanks to Team Asperger's vertical Detour, Jet and Cord get to deliver their couch and receive their Salzburg clue in fourth place. Running back to the parking lot and seeing two cars still there, Jet pants, "There's still hope for us." Meanwhile, Zev and Justin are just learning that they went up three extra flights of stairs, and by the time they drop off their couch, it's the fifth one there. "That's not good, Zev," Justin says. Zev knows, because Asperger's doesn't mean stupid.
Gary and Mallory are at the museum, and although the pillow has fallen off, Gary is kicking it along and then carrying it in his teeth as they become the last team to deliver their couch. "That ain't good," Gary says, continuing with his color commentary. Back to the cars.
En route to Salzburg, Flight Time explains, "When your car leaves the Detour first, everything starts looking la little better. Teammates start looking a little better..." "Whoa, I wouldn't go that far," Big Easy says from the front seat.
Meanwhile, Kent and Vyxsin are back into fighting over directions. Zev and Justin manage to pass the Cowboys on the highway without being seen. "Means we're not in last," Justin says. Kent and Vyxsin have wound up in a town somewhere as she says, "I cannot deal with your, like, fricking psycho behavior. I can't handle it." What was it that Freud said about projection? Kent calmly points out that he's calm, but she blames him for driving around in circles. "If we get eliminated today, I swear to God I'm never going to speak to you again." Right here is where I'd put the car in park and say, "Done!" Like the man said, "No reward is worth this." The ads are really just a brief pause before we see her calming down enough to harangue him into getting back on the freeway, where they can more fully enjoy some of the features of their 2012 Ford Focus.
Meanwhile, in lovely, historic Salzburg, Flight Time and Big Easy (who is again wearing a Band-Aid on his head, which I hope wasn't a result of carrying a couch on it) are the first to find the Road Block clue, which asks, 'Who's feeling lucky as can be?" Not that luck, skill, or anything else beyond being a warm body will be related to this Road Block in any way, but Flight Time nominates Big Easy. From a Salzburg rooftop, Phil gives us a little lecture on chimney sweeps being considered lucky. "Still, it's a dirty job, and right now, somebody's got to do it." As Phil explains, one of them will put on the black suit and stovepipe hat of a chimney sweep, then climb to a roof, "Where they will use a specialized, weighted tool to clean out their chimney." That almost makes it sound tricky, but the "specialized tool" is little more than a circular brush with bristles radiating out from the center of it, attached to weights and a rope, so all you have to do is dangle it. After cleaning all three shafts, they go down to the "clean-out" door in the building's basement, open it up, and get their clue from inside. And that's it. I think the only reason this is a Road Block and not a Route Info is that it's too easy for two people to do at once. Big Easy enters the restaurant, where half a dozen chimney sweeps are sitting at a table, and picks the closest guy to come with him. In back is a rack of uniforms, one for each re-racer. "You wear this like me," the chimney sweep says, and Big Easy says he'll get as close as he can. Then it's out to the street and into an alley, carrying a small ladder and the tool and the rope it's attached to. Big Easy was saying he'd look good in this outfit, but he'd look better without his Globetrotters jersey poking out under the bottom of his black uniform jacket.