Episode Report Card M. Giant: B- | 44 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT They Are The Egg Men
By M. Giant | Season 23 | Episode 10 | Aired on 12.01.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Teams have to start off their second leg in Indonesia by eating cobra. There's a lot of speculation about whether the notoriously picky Marie will be able to do it, but first there's the question of whether she and Tim can even find the place. They don't get there until the other teams have already finished, though Leo & Jamal tell the other teams that the exes have been and gone, lying for no good reason as usual. And Marie manages to power through like everyone else did.
From there, the teams have to venture to a volcanic crater for a road block. Travis, Jason, and Jamal carry dozens of eggs down a rugged motorcycle trail, where they have to hard-boil the cackleberries in scalding natural springs. Alas, none of them leave them in long enough, and have to go back to do it again in a time-consuming process. Also, Travis endorses lying to Marie about how long the boiling takes, so apparently dishonesty is okay when it benefits him. Not that it matters, because Marie ends up being the only one to do it right one the first try, which means she and Tim make up a fair amount of time going into the Detour.
That ends up being a choice between searching an expansive tea field for a pair of clipper-handles sticking out of the leaves, or applying elaborate makeup to each other in the style of a traditional Javanese bride. Everyone but the Afghanimals opts for the latter task, in which Amy's pageant experience comes in handy. Sure enough, she and Jason handily win the leg, making up for some of his humiliation. Nicole continues to be her team's LVP, repeatedly smudging Travis's makeup and letting Tim & Marie finish before them. In a reversal-filled taxi and footrace to the mat, Tim & Marie barely edge out the ER docs.
As for the Afghanimals, they have their worst Detour ever. Initially choosing the tea task, they give up on that once they fully apprehend the enormity of it. But when they arrive at the makeup task and realize how hard it's going to be -- not to mention the fact that they'll have to shave -- they return to the tea fields yet again. Where they spend hours before finally locating a pair of clippers and making it to the mat in last place. But it's a non-elimination leg, as everyone probably knew. Including them.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!"This is Indonesia," Phil says, "A country that stretches more than three thousand miles across the Indian and Pacific Oceans." Hard to capture it all in just a few camera shots, then, not that the Amazing Cameramen and Amazing Editors don't make an heroic effort anyway. "And on the most densely populated island of Java, [insert missing verb here] Bosska Observatory." Phil's back out on the lawn outside the domed building as he says, "Built in the 1920s, it is home to seven telescopes and is now the start of the tenth leg in a race around the world." Seven telescopes? I hope the astronomers look at each other through the wrong ends and go, "I'm crushing your head!" once in a while.
Leo & Jamal won the ninth leg, so they're starting this one at 7:25 AM, when the sunlight is practically horizontal. Leo mumble-reads another clue unintelligibly, but fortunately the subtitles tell us they're going to King Cobra House. Phil says that's a "street stall" (though it looks more like a stand) where they'll have to eat what Phil calls "an exotic dish that locals savor for its healing benefits." Specifically, grilled cobra. Looks like the stand also has some live ones on hand, like restaurants where you get to pick your own lobster out of a tank but with lots more neurotoxins. Phil holds up a serving in a big palm leaf as he says that devouring this delicacy will earn teams their next clue. Their allowance for this leg is $27, according to some additional mumble-reading from Leo. As they run down the hill from the Observatory (where the racers presumably slept in those planetarium seats that lean way back), they remind us how they lost their allies at the end of the last leg, when Ally & Ashley were eliminated. That was a pretty one-way alliance anyway; all the guys ever got out of it was some flirting. As we see the Afghanimals getting into one of several colorful cabs waiting for the racers at the parking lot, they still seem to think they're the biggest target and the team to beat. Leo thinks the proof of this is the fact that they're the first team in race history to survive being U-Turned twice. No, Leo, you were U-Turned the second time because you're incredibly irritating. And you were U-Turned the first time because you're incredibly irritating. And you're still here because you're incredibly irritating.
Tim & Marie are starting the leg at 7:26 AM, and Marie seems a little alarmed by how the clue says, "Start yourselves off right in this leg of the race with a hearty snack." Tim tells us that she's the toughest girl he knows -- if "tough" is the word -- but she's got some food issues. As they run for the cabs, she notes the part where the clue says, "You must each finish your own serving." And her biggest fear? "Some kind of meat." Tim says that given Marie's issues, this could be the end of their race. If that even threatens to be the case, Tim, it's time to turn some of her shit back around on her.